Why Are Well-Child Visits Important?
Well-child visits let us monitor your child’s general health and development. During your child’s well-child visit, we assess their growth and development, test their vision and hearing (for ages 4 and up), perform any immunizations that are recommended for your child’s particular age, and more because we believe early detection gives us the best chance to properly and successfully treat your child. This is also a time when we can offer advice about any concerns you may have with your child whether it is family history concerns or regarding safety and emotional issues.
All well-child visit components play an integral part to promoting a healthy childhood and some of the key benefits include:
…Prevention. Immunizations and vaccines help to protect the body from certain infections, illnesses, and diseases. The AAP has created a recommended checkup and immunization schedule from the time of your child’s birth through their teens because we believe all children should have the right to be protected from preventable infectious diseases. Well-child visits also serve as a good time to catch any concerns early on so effective treatment can be administered – even if you think it may not be worth mentioning, you never really know so we always encourage our parents to bring any concerns to our attention during these visits rather than waiting until an actual problem presents itself!
…Promotes a team approach. We believe it takes a team effort to ensure your child’s health. As parents you spend a great deal of time with your children and are ultimately their biggest advocate when it comes to their health. During well-child visits we can build a team of support for your child because there should be genuine trust among pediatrician, parent, and child. We want to be your first resource for answering any questions you may have so bring in a list of topics you want to talk about (this can range from sleep patterns, nutritional needs, behavioral development, etc.) and we can tailor your well-child visit around your child’s needs.
…Growth and development tracking. As parents ourselves, it seems our kids grow up way too fast; one day they’re tiny infants, the next, they’re loading the school bus for the first time. Well-child visits let us track their milestones (like how much they’ve grown in between visits, how they’re developing socially, and even their learning progression).
