If you are a parent who’s constantly stressing over the well-being of their child, don’t let it get to you. It simply means that you are an extraordinary parent.
Wanting the best for your child is a basic instinct and one that should never be ignored. Investigations, research, opinions, and mainstream recommendations, all suggest one thing.
Besides accidents, neonatal ailments are often to blame for the soaring child mortality rates these days. Preventing your child from falling into the statistics will not only help ensure the safety of your child but it will go a long way in protecting the survival of your coming generations as well.
What Are Well-Child Check-Ups
By any means, your child’s health should be monitored right from the word go. From the moment a woman realizes that she has conceived, to the time that the child is old enough to go hunting, several checks should occasionally be done to see whether or not the cute little thing is in good health.
Also called well-baby doctor appointments, this is precisely what is meant by well-child checkups in the clearest definition possible. They are actually quite similar to the preventative care appointments adults take. The only difference is that, here, the adult (parent) has to make the best decisions in the interests of their child’s or baby’s health and overall wellbeing.
A professional healthcare expert or obstetrician will usually provide a willing parent with wellness check-up dates for the newly born to tell for sure that the child’s health is in good order; physically, mentally, and developmentally.
The Key Components of Well-Child Check-Ups
Baby-well checks are usually a crucial part of postnatal care, which has long been considered a critical instrument in preventing postpartum and neonatal deaths. And by understanding the strong points of well-child check-ups, you might no longer need to have to take your child to the pediatrician’s desk only when they are critically ill.
The major components of well-child checkups include:
- Developmental check-ups
- Growth
- Screening
- Vaccination
- Constant monitoring
Well Child Check-Ups for Your Baby
Child-well checkups are routinely done in defined intervals from the moment the baby takes the first breath outside the mother’s womb. And as hinted earlier, your Ob/Gyn should provide you with a baby check-up schedule containing the precise dates of your appointments from after childbirth.
Most medical facilities will recommend baby wellness check appointments at various times after delivery, including:
- 2-5 days after birth
- When the infant is 1 month old
- 2 months after birth
- When the infant is 4 months old
- When the newborn reaches 6 months old
- After 9 months
- When the infant is at 1 year (transitioning into a toddler)
Seasonal Well-Child Checkups
Your child may need wellness checkups outside what the doctor recommended, such as when they develop a weird fever, catch a cold, or are crying uncontrollably. If you are on the fence contemplating the best time to go for well-child check-ups, you’re not alone.
Nonetheless, the simple truth is that there’s no such thing as the best time for a baby-well check. However, there’s no denying that each season has got its own tidings. Busy seasons like summer have often been associated with the spread of ailments, for instance, perhaps due to higher levels of contaminants in the air and on surfaces.
On the other hand, the chilly weather of winters can sometimes be unforgiving for a newborn. If your child has respiratory allergies, spring can also prompt more appointments with your pediatrician or Ob/Gyn than you previously planned for.
How Important Are Well-Child Check-Ups – Even If Your Child Seems Perfectly Healthy
Well-Child check-ups are designed to track a handful of your child’s development and in addition to this, address the key areas that might help to arrest a parent’s concerns. These are also norms that have been accepted for ages but are of more importance in this day and age.
And, needless to mention, some (potentially disabling, debilitating, or otherwise fatal) health issues may not present themselves through symptoms in the baby until months or years have passed, and only little can be done to address the situation.
Baby-well checks, therefore, pose as one of the best ways to identify a diverse range of health issues that can be permanently corrected, treated, and even cured if detected early enough and prompt medical intervention is put in place.
More Benefits
Other similarly incredible benefits associated with well-child checkups may include:
- Reduced health care costs
- Prevents your child from ailments
- Identifying stress-related diseases
- You’ll become more aware of your child’s health needs
- It may help prevent neonatal death
- These checks could help spot birth defects, anomalies, and injuries from medical negligence
As has been illustrated, you are never too late from taking your child to see the pediatrician. There are great rewards that come from it. This is not to mention the joy it will bring you for having successfully achieved the goal of bringing up a healthy child and seeing them transition into adulthood years down the line.
