Often Should Your Child Have a Wellness Visit
If your child is sick, it is pretty common knowledge that they should be seen by a doctor. However, your child should be seen by a doctor on a regular basis for regular wellness checkups. This is especially important in the early years of your child’s life. In the early stages of your child’s life, your child’s immune system is not quite as strong and still needs to build up it’s immunity. The best way to do this is to ensure that your child is up to date on their immunizations. During well child Wellness Visit, your child will get all the necessary immunizations needed according to how far along they are on the recommended immunizations schedule.
Keeping your child up to date on their immunizations is not only important for the safety and health of your child, but also ensures that the more vulnerable members of your community – such as the immunocompromised and eldery. Immunizations are an essential part of ensuring that viruses and diseases from the past, such as smallpox and polio, that used to be devastating to communities never reemerge. However, there has been an increase in the number of parents who have decided to not immunize their children. This has caused diseases like the measles to make a comeback in certain pockets of the United States and around the world. Vaccines are a victim of their own success. Only 100 years ago, diseases like tuberculosis killed thousands of people a year. Now this vaccine-preventable disease has been greatly decreased. Ensuring that these diseases stay diseases of the past is entirely dependent on herd immunity of communities.
Another reason to bring your children in for regular wellness visits is to check for any latent problems that only a trained, professional eye could catch, such as scoliosis or asthma. During a wellness check, your child’s doctor will check your child’s coordination, vision, and hearing. They will also check for any health risk factors such as your child’s height and weight and/or ask about your child’s behavior and lifestyle. Are they a rambunctious, fun-loving child or do they prefer to stick to the sidelines and play quietly by themselves? The best pediatrician will screen for any behavioral issues, such as ADHD, anxiety, or depression in the child. This could warrant a second appointment for further screening and analysis.
As kids get older, they will most likely be interested in participating in sports, whether for school or a club team. Some children start participating in intramural sports as early as four years of age. Before allowing your child to participate in sports, take a second to decide if you feel they are developmentally (both physically and mentally) ready for sports. While they can teach great cooperation and teamwork skills, they also are a commitment and introduce the possibility of injury. To mitigate risk, many sports teams will require kids to have a sports physical. These are one in the same as well child visits. During this time, the doctor will check to make sure that your child is physically well enough to participate in sports activities. Depending on where you live, your school might have specific physical forms your child’s pediatrician will need to fill out and turn in. The rules might vary between New York pediatrics and Beverly Hills Pediatrics.
If you are unsure if your child is up to date on their well child visits, check with your pediatrician’s website. On their site, you should find a full calendar of recommended well child visits. You might also find a recommended immunization schedule according to your age. If you do find that your child is due to be seen, give your pediatrician’s office a call to schedule an appointment. Many busy offices prefer to schedule appointments a couple months in advance to fit their schedules. Call today to get on their books!
