Regular wellness checkups are essential for everyone. Routine visits with your primary care physician can increase the likelihood of early detection for a wide variety of ailments and illnesses. For children, these regular visits are even more critical. Your physician or pediatrician will perform annual screenings and assessments of your child’s mental, physical, and social skills to determine if they are on the right track through adulthood, known as a “periodicity schedule.” Your pediatrician or physician will walk you through the process and help you to understand how to foster a healthy environment for positive development.
We hear a lot about developmental milestones when discussing healthcare for children, but what are they? These milestones are important goals that children achieve through normal development, such as sitting up by themselves, talking, walking, and more. Your child should receive about fourteen checkups within the first five years to monitor their progress through these goals. Your pediatrician will also monitor height and weight changes, social behaviors, and more. If they seem to be behind other children or even way ahead, you shouldn’t worry! Each child is unique, and every family situation is different. Your pediatrician will be able to point out things to look for in the event of delayed development and what to do if you find yourself in that situation.
Vaccinations are a vital part of your child’s routine wellness checks. These tools have allowed us to build immunity to rare, potentially life-threatening diseases. Currently, there are sixteen vaccines on the schedule, some of which require multiple doses. Diseases like diphtheria, tetanus, human papilloma virus (HPV), even influenza can be prevented through vaccination. Your pediatrician will provide a schedule of immunizations, starting with the first round of Hepatitis B vaccine at birth to the meningitis vaccine at age 16-18. Talk with your doctor about getting on and sticking to the recommended immunization schedule to keep your child healthy.
At Rodger’s Family Pharmacy, we know that prevention is key to maintaining overall health and wellness. While we currently do not offer wellness checkups, we certainly suggest consulting with your pediatrician about your child’s health. Immunizations protect from disease, while regular wellness visits increase the likelihood for early detection of a wide variety of illnesses or developmental delays. For more information regarding wellness checkups and developmental milestones, visit www.cdc.gov/ncbddd/childdevelopment/. You may also consult your local pharmacist at Rodger’s Family Pharmacy at (601) 582-8351 for additional information.