Well-child visits are an opportunity for the doctor to:
- Evaluate the child’s development and growth
- Identify new medical conditions or assess any existing ones
- Administer immunizations
- Provide essential information regarding healthcare
- Address health questions and concerns
The recommendations for well-child visits tend to vary slightly among the national medical organizations.
The AAP (American Academy of Pediatrics) recommends the following: Pediatricians should see newborns inside the first 2 to 4 days of birth. Most pediatricians see babies that are bottle fed in 3-4 days and babies that are breast fed in 2-3 days. Typically, breast fed babies are seen one day earlier as compared to bottle fed babies. This is to address all concerns that parents usually have regarding breastfeeding. It’s also to monitor the weight of the breast fed baby. In case the parents have experience, a few pediatricians schedule the first visit until the baby is 1 to 2 weeks of age.
Once this visit is over, the toddlers and infants need to be examined once again by
- 1 month of age and then at the following ages:
- 2 months
- 4 months
- 6 months
- 9 months
- 1 year
- 15 months
- 18 months
- 24 months
- 36 months
- 48 months
Adolescents and school-going children need to be seen by the doctor once every year for the well-child visit.
For every well-child visit, the immunization record is needed for verifying whether the vaccines are up to date.