Well Child Exams & Immunizations

What are the benefits of well-child exams?

Well-child exams are the appointments where your pediatrician gathers important information concerning your child’s health and development. This includes entering vital signs and developmental data into your child’s medical record.

That process creates a valuable resource to turn to if concerns arise about developmental delays. Your child’s medical record will show changes over time and help identify when an issue began to develop.

That can be critical for a child who is suspected of having ADHD, but actually isn’t getting enough sleep at night to function well at school or develop healthy social bonds. 

The medical record can show that there have been no significant health or developmental issues at play, which prompts your pediatrician to look elsewhere for answers.

Are vaccinations safe?

Not only are vaccinations safe, they are an essential training ground to help your child develop full immunity. Vaccines introduce a weakened or dead strain of an antigen into your child’s system.

Their immune response kicks in to address the foreign invader, creating antibodies to fight off infection. Even after the perceived danger has passed, those antibodies remain in place, ready to spring into action if your child ever encounters that same antigen.

This immune response will happen on its own, even without vaccination. The problem is that some infections are so strong that they can overwhelm a child before their immune system has time to launch a counterattack.

Vaccinations care also the reason Americans don’t have to worry about widespread outbreaks of infectious disease. That said, if a significant portion of the population chooses to forego immunization, that protection will disappear.

What if my child is afraid of going to the pediatrician?

Some kids have a fear of going to see the doctor. That can be due to a previous negative experience, hearing others speak in a negative way about doctor visits, or it can simply be an irrational fear.

A great way to relieve anxiety about visiting the pediatrician is to bring your child along to your next annual exam. Explain what to expect and be sure to speak about the visit in positive terms. 

When your child sees there’s nothing to be concerned about, they could change their opinion about their own health visits.

Schedule an appointment for your child today using the easy online booking feature or by calling the office.