Well-Child Visits

Keeping your children healthy starts with regular visits to make sure they’re meeting developmental milestones and growing as they should.

What are well-child visits?

Well-child visits include screenings, assessments and vaccinations from infancy through adolescence.

Developed by The American Academy of Pediatrics (AAP), the Bright Futures well-child exam schedule offers a set of comprehensive health guidelines known as the “periodicity schedule.”

Why are well-child visits important?

Well-child visits ensure that your child is meeting early childhood development milestones. These milestones are important, as they are the building blocks for future growth and continued learning.

Well-child visits are also an opportunity to ask any questions or share concerns you may have about your child’s physical, emotional or social health. 

Regular visits with your pediatric provider not only keep your child up-to-date on their vaccinations and exams, but also help to build mutual trust and understanding. Positive relationships with your child’s healthcare providers can create a foundation for their long term wellness.

What to expect at a well-child visit

At each well-child visit we will assess your child’s growth related to development milestones. Early childhood development milestones, for example, include:

  • Cognition: Thinking, reasoning, problem-solving, understanding
  • Motor coordination: Gross/fine motor skills, jumping, hopping, throwing/catching, drawing, stacking
  • Social interaction: Initiating peer contact, group play
  • Adaptive: Dressing, eating, washing

We will listen to any concerns or questions that you or your child might have. And we will make sure that your child is up-to-date on their vaccinations.

Referrals

Although our pediatric team addresses the full scope of problems that can affect kids, sometimes additional help is needed for diagnosing or treating more complex conditions. In this case, we can connect you to a pediatric subspecialist. Some pediatric subspecialty areas include:

  • Pediatric cardiology
  • Pediatric critical care medicine
  • Pediatric hematology-oncology
  • Pediatric infectious diseases
  • Pediatric nephrology
  • Pediatric pulmonology
  • Pediatric rheumatology

Visit and vaccination schedules

Well-child visit schedule

  • The first week visit (3 to 5 days old)
  • 2 weeks old
  • 2 months old
  • 4 months old
  • 6 months old
  • 9 months old
  • 12 months old
  • 15 months old
  • 18 months old
  • 2 years old (24 months)
  • 2 ½ years old (30 months)
  • Annually, from 3 – 21 years old

Vaccination schedules

CDC Immunization Schedules

Annual visits for teens and adolescents

Adolescence is a time of transition and change. During this time, you and your kids may have questions about physical and emotional changes, evolving relationships and expectations, school, sexuality, emotional and mental health, and more. We’re here to support you both.