What you should know about well-child visits
Just like adults, children should visit the doctor’s office for regular checkups.
These routine preventive appointments are called “well-child visits” – and the exams are important for your child’s health, development, and wellbeing. The appointments are an opportunity for your child’s doctor to check basic health indicators – such as height, weight, blood pressure, vision, and hearing – potentially catching medical concerns early on or stopping them before they start. The visits are also important opportunities for your child to get vaccinated against a variety of common and more serious illnesses.
While adults should come in once a year for a physical, the recommended frequency of well-child visits depends on age. We asked Nancy Waller, MD, an M Health Fairview pediatrician, what doctors look for during these appointments, when you should bring your child in, and how to get connected with a provider.
What is a well-child visit?
A well-child visit is a preventive appointment, also called a checkup. It’s an appointment that you schedule even if your child seems healthy so that a healthcare provider can monitor the child’s growth and spot any signs of a medical concern or illness before it becomes serious.
During the visit, your doctor will measure your child’s growth and advise you on preventive care such as good sleep, proper nutrition, and safety risks. They will also test your child’s vision and hearing and screen for any behavior or mental health concerns. If your child is due for any routine vaccinations, or needs to catch up, your doctor or nurse may also administer needed vaccines to make sure your child is fully protected.
“In the younger age group, we screen for developmental delay and behavioral problems,” said Waller. “In the older age group, we do additional screening for depression and anxiety, which we know are on the rise in children and teens today.”
Why are well-child visits important?
Your child’s primary care provider can help you keep your child safe and healthy. They’re a first point of contact for everything from vision to anxiety screening, and well-child visits are a convenient way to see how your child is doing in a variety of areas. These appointments are crucial even into the teen years to catch everything from depression to a rare heart defect.
Waller and her colleagues are specially trained around problems that can happen due to abnormal growth.
“There can be rare conditions like growth hormone deficiency that aren’t common knowledge for a lot of families,” said Waller. “We can catch and treat problems earlier if we’re seeing children regularly.”
How often should I schedule well-child visits?
When you should come in for a well-child visit depends on your child’s age. We follow guidelines set by the American Academy of Pediatrics. Well-child visits are recommended at the following ages for infants and toddlers:
- First-week visit (3-5 days old)
- 2 weeks 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)
Children and young adults age 3 to 21 should come in for a visit once a year.
“Babies born in a hospital are seen by providers until they’re cleared to go home,” said Waller. “After hospital discharge, it’s important to start bringing them into a primary care clinic for well-child visits. We recommend choosing a provider toward the end of your pregnancy; this is often part of your prenatal care visits, and your physician can work with you to start planning for these checkups.”
Can my child get vaccinated during a well-child visit?
Yes, many routine childhood vaccinations for diseases like influenza, measles, polio, hepatitis, tetanus and others are offered during well-child visits. To understand what vaccines are offered when, review recommended vaccination schedules from the American Academy of Pediatrics.
Can I combine a well-child visit with a sports physical?
Yes. But if your child needs a physical for a fall sport, Waller recommends scheduling the physician a few months in advance to avoid delays. July through September is the busiest time of year because many families come in for check-ups and vaccinations before heading back to school.
In addition to school sports, many programs such as summer camps require physicals for participants.
“That’s another reason why it’s important to stay on top of physicals. If we’ve seen your child within the past year, it’s easier for us to complete that paperwork remotely,” said Waller. “If we haven’t seen the child in over a year, we’d need to see them in person before signing off.”
If I have more than one child, can they share a visit?
Yes. At M Health Fairview, we can typically see two siblings at a time. These are scheduled as separate visits – one for each child – but take place at the same time with the same provider. If you want to bring in two children at once, Waller again recommends booking further in advance because of the longer amount of time needed to see both children.
What providers are available for well-child visits?
There are a number of different primary care providers who can see children for well-child visits in our system. These include pediatricians, family medicine physicians, nurse practitioners, and physician assistants.
“If your child has special needs, a pediatrician might be a good choice because our training is entirely in pediatrics,” said Waller. “If you see a family medicine provider yourself, you may find it convenient to bring your child to the same doctor, physician assistant, or nurse practitioner.”
Click here to search a list of our providers. For a list of M Health Fairview primary care clinic locations, click here. to schedule a well-child visit, please call the number of your preferred clinic or make an appointment online through the M Health Fairview app or MyChart.
