Well Exams: Video
Parents sometimes ask us why new babies require so many well exams, and Dr. Kincaid is here to explain why well checks are vital to monitoring your child’s health and development.
Transcript:
Well Exams: Why are they important?
Dr. Kincaid: Congratulations on becoming a parent. One of the most exciting and challenging things about becoming a parent is that just about the time that you think you’ve got everything figured out, and you know what to expect, and you know what your role is as a parent, your child moves to the next developmental stage and all of the rules change.
One of the roles that I fulfill and all of my associates fulfill here at MD Pediatrics is to help you along that journey.
How often should my child be seen?
Dr. Kincaid: What we find is that the rules change even from the time that you’re in the hospital until you come in for your very first exam, which is just a couple of days after the baby is born. We’ll have you come in then, and then again a few days later or at a couple weeks of age, and then at 2 months, 4 months, 6 months, 9 months, 12 months, 15 months, 18 months, 2 years, and then every year after that. And those are just for well exams! You might say, “Well, why do I have to come in so often?” It’s because the baby is developing so quickly, and what we expect from the baby as well as what we want to do to help the baby promote their development along those stages really does change. So we want to help you along those stages really learn what’s going on with the baby and also help you.
When you come in what we’ll do is a complete physical exam, we will do some developmental screening, we’ll do some nutritional counseling, some education counseling, and as the child gets older we’ll do counseling with regard to school, we may do some school assessment, vision and hearing screening as it’s appropriate, and also parenting counseling.
Those visits do take a little longer, we do take a little extra time for them, but we think it’s really important. We want to really help you and your child be the best that you can be.
There are tons of books, tons of resources online, with regard to parenting counseling and developmental assessment that you can access. But sometimes it’s really hard to take that information and apply it to your specific child, your specific child’s strengths, and to where they are developmentally. So our job is to come along by your side, help you apply those resources and bring our expertise along with your specific knowledge of your child, and bring that to bear as a resource for you to promote your child’s health and your family’s wellness.
