Making well-child visits part of an annual routine

The beginning of a new school year is a great time for parents and caregivers to ensure they are also supporting the physical, mental and social well-being of the children in their care. This includes scheduling regular wellness visits for children to help ensure they are staying on track with regular screenings and tests that best support your child's health now and into the future. These checkups also help track your child's development so you can understand how to help them as they grow. 

This is important for a variety of reasons. Children grow and develop quickly – regular well-child visits should begin at birth and continue through adolescence and the transition to adulthood to help track and ensure healthy development. While rates of well-child visits have increased overall in recent years, underserved populations often lag behind in getting needed care.¹

Being prepared for what to expect at the well child visit will help you get the most out of this important check-in. There are different screening tests mapping to stages in development that will be conducted at different ages so being prepared with observations and questions will help guide the conversation with your doctor.

Your baby should go to at least eight well-child visits before they are 15 months old. Knowing what is involved and how to prepare may help create a more comfortable appointment.

During these visits, the doctor will check on your child’s:

• Overall growth and development
• Hearing
• Vision
• Screening labs such as blood work for anemia
• Exposure to lead
• Immunizations

Measuring height and weight helps ensure children are on track with their overall growth, development and milestones. You may also get information about age-appropriate anticipatory guidance such as: sleeping, home safety, school readiness and what to expect as your child grows. It’s a good opportunity to ask any questions about any issues you may be seeing in your child’s physical or mental health. 

There will be several immunizations your child may need at these visits, which are crucial for their overall health.²

As a child gets older, there will often be less visits required, perhaps once a year, and your doctor will advise when your next visit is appropriate. While these same elements of the exam and physical will continue  other components will be added, things like oral health screenings and social, emotional and language assessments.

Although in general fewer immunizations will most likely be needed as your children age, there are still some important recommended annual vaccines, and multi-series vaccinations like HPV, flu and COVID-19.

Vaccinations are designed to protect from and reduce the effect of illnesses like the flu. Making sure the whole family is protected with up-to-date immunizations creates a circle of protection around vulnerable newborns developing babies and others at risk.

If you want more information and resources on children’s wellness and development, visit uhc.com/childrenswellness. You can view and download the information on well-child visits and vaccinations.

Lastly, uhc.com has other resources, including everypregnancy.com for maternal care and links to resources supporting other health-related areas.