This post was contributed by a community member. The views expressed here are the author's own.

Community Corner

Time To Schedule Your Child's Check Up

Timing is right, ahead of busy sports and camping season.

We had a glimpse of spring last week and with that comes a reminder to pick up the phone and make an appointment for your child’s well-child check-up.  Many people ask, “Why should I think about scheduling a well-child check-up now when my child does not really need to go until just prior to school starting next year?”

Here’s why:  pediatrician’s offices book up quickly because of the increased demand for school, sports and camp physicals.  It is not unusual for it to take six weeks or more to get in for a well visit appointment.  A pediatrician has a lot to juggle.

It’s tough trying to keep enough time set aside to see all the sick children yet still be able to spend enough time with the well children to thoroughly evaluate and screen them.  Add into that mix the somewhat unexpected arrivals and increased demands of newborns, and well, it’s a scheduling nightmare.   According to the American Academy of Pediatricians, normal healthy children should be seen at least once a year from age two until age 21 for an annual physical. Additional visits may be necessary if your child has a chronic illness or any deviations in their growth and development.

Find out what's happening in Creve Coeurwith free, real-time updates from Patch.

Seeing your pediatrician annually provides your child with the opportunity to update and complete their immunizations required for school attendance.  It enables your trusted healthcare professionals to update your family history, and to monitor growth and developmental milestones while assessing motor, speech and social development.  It provides the opportunity to screen for safety, hearing, vision, scoliosis, and oral health.  It also helps to establish and monitor baseline lab information, including monitoring for lead exposure and poisoning.

In order to be complete and thorough, it is recommended that parents and children be adequately prepared for the well child-visit with your pediatrician.  Before the day of the visit, do the following:

Find out what's happening in Creve Coeurwith free, real-time updates from Patch.

  • Write down any questions and concerns that you have regarding your child’s health and behavior, even if they seem trivial.
  • Know the names and dosages of all the medications your child is on and if you have noticed any adverse affects from those medications.
  • Prepare your child for the visit. Be honest and thorough so that your child isn’t caught off guard by anything the doctor says, does or orders.
  • Try to make it a fun and open experience.

If your child is older, discuss with the child prior to the visit whether or not they would like you in the examining room.  Once your child is a teenager, it is important to allow them to establish a relationship of trust with the pediatrician. Let the child begin to take responsibility for the relationship by visiting with the physician one-on-one and asking their own questions.

Be available for support as needed. Most important, bring along all the forms that you anticipate you will need for sports, camp and school.  This is a great time to have those needs addressed.  You might need to pick the forms up at a later date to allow the physician to be thorough in filling them out.

So, pick up the phone and make that appointment. The continuity of care that comes with regular well-child visits enables your pediatrician to detect and address any health problems before they become more serious.  It also keeps you from getting stressed out if you can’t get an appointment by the time you absolutely need one.

We’ve removed the ability to reply as we work to make improvements. Learn more here

The views expressed in this post are the author's own. Want to post on Patch?

More from Creve Coeur