Well Checks
Parents know who to call when their children feel ill, but did you know checking in with a pediatrician is just as important when children feel great? At VIP Children’s Clinics, we believe well-child care is the foundation for keeping children healthy. Because childhood is a time of rapid growth and change, regular well-child visits to the pediatrician are important for your child’s health and well-being. Even if your child is currently healthy, well-child visits are a good time to talk about ways to improve ongoing care and even prevent future problems.
The Bright Futures/American Academy of Pediatrics (AAP) developed a set of comprehensive health guidelines for well-child care, known as the “periodicity schedule.” It is a schedule of screenings and assessments recommended at each well-child visit from infancy through adolescence.
Schedule of well-child visits
The benefits of well-child visits
- Prevention. Your child gets scheduled immunizations to prevent illness. You also can ask your pediatrician about nutrition and safety in the home and at school.
- Tracking growth & development. See how much your child has grown in the time since your last visit, and talk with your doctor about your child’s development. You can discuss your child’s milestones, social behaviors and learning.
- Raising any concerns. Make a list of topics you want to talk about with your child’s pediatrician such as development, behavior, sleep, eating or getting along with other family members. Bring your top three to five questions or concerns with you to talk with your pediatrician at the start of the visit.
- Team approach. Regular visits create strong, trustworthy relationships among pediatrician, parent and child. The AAP recommends well-child visits as a way for pediatricians and parents to serve the needs of children. This team approach helps develop optimal physical, mental and social health of a child.
If your child is due for an annual exam or another type of visit, contact us today at one of our eight locations to schedule an appointment.
Non-Vaccinator
The pediatricians at VIP Children’s Clinics have recently reviewed our approach to vaccinations in our practice. As medical professionals, we feel very strongly that vaccinating children on schedule with currently available vaccines is absolutely the right thing to do for all children and young adults. Unfortunately, in the past several years we have watched as there has been a steady increase in the number of parents choosing not to vaccinate, to follow their own schedule, and/or delay vaccination. At the same time, we have seen pockets of increased vaccine-preventable diseases in the United States. Click here to download our practice wide Vaccination-Policy.
Other
Looking for more information about a specific child or adolescent health issue that does not appear above? Try the American Academy of Pediatrics page at www.aap.org, a resource for parents that addresses over 900 pediatric issues.
Resources By Age
If you’re expecting or new to parenthood, the What to Expect series, is useful for expecting parents and those with newborns. Also for newborns, we recommend visiting the AAP Parenting Center for up to date information regarding your newborn’s health, safety and growth.
For adolescents, we recommend visiting this website with your teenager for help on teenage issues.
Your community pediatricians in Gallatin, Hendersonville, Lafayette, Pleasant View, Portland, Springfield, Station Camp, and White House.
