Well-Child Visits
WHAT ARE WELL-CHILD VISITS?
Well-Child visits are yearly checkups that keep track of your child’s physical, social, and emotional health. Tracking developmental milestones is critical for preventing health problems in children of all ages from infancy to adolescence. This includes children with specialized health care needs who may be seeing a specialist.
Well-child checkups also allow children to get up to date on recommended vaccines that protect children against diseases like whooping cough and measles. These diseases are extremely serious and contagious, especially for young children. In fact, the CDC and the American Academy of Pediatrics (AAP) recommend every child continues to receive recommended vaccinations during the COVID-19 pandemic.
WHEN SHOULD I SCHEDULE WELL-CHILD VISITS?
The American Academy of Pediatrics (AAP) developed a schedule of recommended well-child visits based on age (Shown below). It is common to schedule these appointments toward the end of summer before children go back to school. Including well-child visits in your back-to-school checklist will help you remember every year.
The first-week visit (3 to 5 days old)
1-month-old
2 months old
4 months old
6 months old
9 months old
12 months old
15 months old
18 months old
2 years old (24 months)
2 ½ years old (30 months)
3 years old
4 years old
5 years old
6 years old
7 years old
8 years old
9 years old
10 years old
11 years old
12 years old
13 years old
14 years old
15 years old
16 years old
17 years old
18 years old
19 years old
20 years old
21 years old
WHAT TO EXPECT AT WELL-CHILD VISITS
During the checkup, health care professionals will conduct examinations and ask various questions. Each age of life brings new developmental discussions. Some topics of interest are:
Milestones
Growth
Nutrition
Safety
Vaccines
Sleep
Social Development
Discussing these topics will determine if the child is healthy and on track or if there are any health concerns that need to be addressed. Well-child visit also gives parents and caregivers a chance to ask questions and ensure healthy development. Health care professionals can offer resources and advice for any area of concern.
If you are curious about the specific milestones to track for children up to age 5, the AAP has developed a helpful resource found HERE.
HOW TO PREPARE FOR WELL-CHILD VISITS
Taking time to prepare for your appointment will allow you to get the most out of your visit. Ways to prepare include:
Educate Yourself – If there are topics you are unsure about, do some background research to get a better understanding
Take Notes – Write down anything you have noticed about your child's health
Write Questions – Think of important questions you would like to ask your doctor. If you are don't know what to ask, try using this Well-Visit Planner. This planner is an online tool to help identify personalized questions to discuss
Resources
https://www.aap.org/en-us/Documents/periodicity_schedule
https://www.healthychildren.org/English/family-life/health-management/Pages/Milestones-Matter.aspx