Your pediatric doctor assesses an incredible amount of information about your child on every visit. Doctors follow a schedule of recommended health checkups to monitor the development of your child from the womb. You are not likely to even recognize that your doctor is checking things such as your child’s head circumference and comparing a length to weight analysis to track proper growth and development.
Screenings for things such as autism begin at 18 months. It’s important to ensure your children’s health early in life, so here are four checkups every child should get.
Vaccinations
Though this topic is controversial with some parents, the evidence is that vaccinations do more to save lives than all of the rest of the medications combined. The best defense against deadly diseases is to not acquire them in the first place. However, if you’re unsure of whether your child should get vaccinated or not, you should read up on the effects and risks beforehand.
Childhood diseases can debilitate or kill. Pertussis, also known as whooping cough, kills about 300,000 children worldwide each year. Your child can be protected with a vaccine. Measles, mumps and chicken pox can cause hearing loss. Vaccines are available to protect against all of them.
Hearing Exam
Some problems that appear to be developmental issues can be attributed to hearing problems. Young children who have never experienced excellent hearing do not realize they have a deficit. Even if they can tell you with language, how can a child know they are not hearing well if they never did hear well? A consultation with a local audiologist can help detect subtle hearing concerns early and guide parents toward the most suitable testing options for their child’s needs. With professional evaluation and access to modern diagnostic care, families can better understand their child’s hearing health and take timely steps to support proper development.
Hearing tests range from conventional tones generated through headphones to the Auditory Brainstem Response test that measures the brain’s response to sounds. Your doctor can recommend the appropriate hearing exam for your child.
Vision Test
Like hearing problems, vision deficits can appear as a developmental disorder. A comprehensive visual examination for your child can catch any problems early. Amblyopia is commonly referred to as lazy eye. This condition is not correctable by glasses. However, catching it early is crucial since it involves how the brain perceives images from the lazy eye.
Teenagers and adults can be helped, but early diagnosis of this visual problem offers the best chance for better sight. Also, the need for glasses is not uncommon. A standard exam at All About Eyes or a similar provider typically includes an intraocular pressure measurement to test for glaucoma. Standard visual screenings are recommended for children starting at three years of age if they are cooperative. Otherwise, the recommended age is four or five years old.
Heart Exam
The first heart exam starts with a doctor listening to your child’s heart while in the womb. Your baby should be checked for critical congenital heart disease (CCHD) after birth. The assessments check for structural or electrical problems with the heart. Newborns can appear to have a fully functional heart and manifest symptoms of CCHD within a few hours or days.
Pulse oximetry testing is used to help diagnose the condition. This test should be performed on your newborn in the hospital before you take your baby home. It is a painless test, and you likely have had it done at every doctor’s visit. It is just the small electronic device that slips over your finger. The pulse ox device measures pulse and oxygen saturation in seconds.
There are numerous health examinations your child needs to have performed as development progresses. It is critical to stick to the recommended schedules for testing and vaccinations. Access to medical care for children is helped by government programs such as the Children’s Health Insurance Program (CHIP), so no child need go without important health checkups.
