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What kind of care should your child get at the doctor’s office, clinic, or
health maintenance organization (HMO)? This Article explains the services
you can expect and provides tips to help you ensure that your child receives
the best possible care. It will first look at routine checkups and then give you information
about how to get prompt medical care when your child is ill. And don’t
skip over the final sections—there you’ll learn how to calm your child’s fears and
how to use a favorite bit of advice from parents: Trust your instincts.
Childhood Checkups
Regular checkups help give your child the best possible start in life. They allow
the doctor to monitor your baby’s growth and development—physical, mental, and
emotional.
These checkups also will alert you to any problems that may be better treated if
caught early. Because your baby’s body and brain are still not fully formed, early
treatment can completely correct some potential problems. But if treatment is
delayed, problems may be permanent. For instance, a child with a lazy eye (amblyopia)
often can achieve full vision if the condition is treated early, usually by covering
one eye with a patch temporarily. Otherwise, the child may have permanent
vision loss in one eye that glasses can’t correct.
In addition to problems that need treatment right away, a checkup may reveal
an abnormality that the doctor will keep watching at future visits to see whether
it resolves on its own or eventually needs treatment.
Well-Child Visits: How Often?
Even the healthiest child should become a familiar face at the doctor’s office. The
American Academy of Pediatrics (AAP) recommends more than a dozen routine
checkups (and even more immunization shots) by the time your child enters
kindergarten, with most clustered in the first year.
These are the routine visits recommended
by the AAP:
• Before your newborn is dischargedfrom the hospital
• Within 48 to 72 hours of dischargeif your baby left the hospital within48 hours after birth
• For breast-fed infants, three to fourdays after birth
• For both breast- and formula-fedinfants, around two to four weeks of age
• During the first year of life at 2, 4,6, 9, and 12 months of age
• During the second year of life at 15,18, and 24 months of age
• Yearly at age three, four, and five
If your baby is small or premature or was born with a health problem, you are
likely to visit the doctor even more often. And then, of course, there may be random
visits for a cold, fever, rash, or ear infection and follow-up visits to check on
a problem found earlier.
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