What to Expect at a Well Child Visit.

We have a waiting room for both well and sick kids, so be sure to check the signs on the doors! Try to arrive a few minutes early for your appointment, so that we can make sure your child’s chart information is up-to-date. At the window you can make insurance changes, and also pay your co-payment at that time. On occasion you will have other information forms to fill out also, especially with the new HIPAA rules.

You will be called back as soon as possible. We do our best to minimize your wait, but understand that when it involves kids, the unexpected often occurs! However, we do encourage our medical assistants NOT to call patients back if the wait in the exam room is going to be too long … because of HIPAA rules, exam room doors have to be closed, and those rooms get small when you have young children to occupy!

Once you are called back, a medical assistant will obtain your child’s vital signs, ask some necessary questions, and, when warranted, take blood and/or urine for screening purposes. Also vision and hearing may be tested. You may want to prepare your child for this ahead of time!

A handout will be given at well check-ups starting at 2 weeks and ending at 2 years of age, with information about feeding, sleeping, safety and other issues. These can be reviewed here, or at the time of your visit. You also will receive information sheets about any vaccines given at that visit.

Once the doctor has arrived, it helps if you have a list of questions prepared beforehand. It is easy to get distracted by your child, especially if she or he is upset, tired, or even just talkative!

At all well check-ups, the doctor will address your child’s physical, mental, and psychological development. If you have any concerns, please bring them to our attention. It is always better to ask a question and be reassured than to worry!

If immunizations are due, they will be given at the end of the visit. To help ease the pain of this part of the check-up, we have a toybox to visit, (with our rule of picking one toy for each “poke”!), along with the usual suckers, stickers, and tootsie rolls available for your child up at the check in desk.

Also, Ela-Max is sold over the counter now and can be placed at the shot sites at the beginning of the visit if you will let the medical assistants know that you have it with you. This way, by the time we are ready to give the immunizations, the sites will be numbed, thereby lessening any associated pain!