Pediatricians Visits And Your Baby's First Year
What can you expect from your baby's first year of well-visits? Perhaps you've interviewed pediatricians in your town—and finally chose one practice. Now that your due date is on the horizon, you want to learn more about pediatric appointments in the first 12 months. From the number of appointments your baby will need, to vaccines and other preventative services, take a look at what soon-to-be new parents need to know.
How Many Appointments Will Your Baby Need?
You visit the doctor annually for a check-up. But this type of once-a-year schedule won't work for a newborn. Your baby's rapid development/growth and the number of immunizations they'll need during the first year equal more appointments. According to the American Academy of Pediatrics (AAP), the current recommended well-visit schedule for infants includes appointments at three- to five-days old, one-month, two-months, four-months, six-months, nine-months, and one-year.
After the 12-month mark, your child will need a 12, 18, 24, and 30-month visit (according to the AAP). By age three, most children can follow an annual check-up schedule.
What Happens At Each Appointment?
Well-visits are preventative appointments that help the pediatrician to make sure your child is growing and developing as expected. The doctor, nurse, or other healthcare provider will weigh and measure your baby at each visit. They will use this measure to plot your baby's growth and can show you where your newborn falls on the growth curve or percentile chart.
Along with measurements, the doctor will perform a basic physical exam and may ask you questions about your baby's feeding, behavior, or (as your infant moves out of the newborn phase) their ability to communicate through looks, smiles, or facial gestures. The doctor will examine your baby's legs, arms, genitals, and abdomen. They will also check your infant's eyes, nose, mouth, throat, ears, and reflexes.
Your baby will also need the pneumococcal conjugate vaccine and immunizations for hepatitis B, rotavirus, diphtheria/tetanus/pertussis (DTaP), and polio during the first 12 months. The doctor will give these vaccines in a multiple-dose series. This means your child will need three or four doses given in intervals at different first-year well-visit appointments. At 12-months, your child will also need to start the MMR (mumps, measles, and rubella), varicella (chickenpox), and hepatitis A series.
What Should Parents Ask At Each Appointment?
There is no universal list of questions for new parents to ask. Before you go to each appointment, write down your top questions or take notes on your phone. This will help you to remember your priority concerns. These questions could include feeding, diapering, bath/hygiene product choices, development, growth, sleep, or anything else that you want a medical professional to explain.