It doesn’t matter if a child appears to be in good health; Periodic appointments with the pediatrician are important as a measure of assessment, prevention, finding possible pathologies and carrying out diagnoses and treatments.
Colds, diarrhea, colic, respiratory and digestive problems, abdominal pain, fractures … There are many reasons why parents take their children to the emergency room or to pediatric consultations, including in connection with illnesses, illnesses, poisoning, strokes or injuries . reasons.
But do they have the same attitude when the child is healthy? Some fathers wait until their children feel uncomfortable or fall to see the doctor. And while it is not necessary to make appointments all the time, it is necessary to attend periodic check-ups to assess your health.
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It is the best alternative to ensure a healthy growth and development of the child, but also to find recommendations to prevent diseases, promote a lifestyle that promotes the well-being of children and ultimately discover pathologies and chronic conditions exhaustively to follow. diseases.
“Pediatric checkups are important because they help us prevent diseases in children by evaluating them and making an early approach to any change in their health,” emphasizes Sandra Pabón *, pediatrician at the Sanitas University Foundation.
While pediatric appointments are essential in all childhood or adolescent stages, they are more coercive in infants and during the early years of life when growth is constant and rapid changes in their development are manifest, which should be supervised by their pediatricians.
At each check-up, the specialist will give your child a complete physical exam. Up to about 6 months of life, it will assess aspects such as weight gain, height gain, psychomotor development, head circumference, vision, hearing, breastfeeding and introduction of supplemental nutrition, adherence to the vaccination schedule, and disease prevention and treatment, among others.
The American Academy of Pediatrics (AAP) recommends that the first visit to the pediatrician after birth be within 3 to 5 days, and later, if something extraordinary doesn’t happen, a month, after 2, 4, 6, 9 months and when the year is over.
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Later, according to the AAP, it is advisable to take him to appointments at 15 and 18 months, 2 and 2 and a half years; thereafter every year until his teens. Keep in mind that this schedule is not a straightjacket and that the regularity with which they are present depends on your little one’s health, their specific needs and the decisions of the treating physician.
Checks are helpful because they go beyond health status and monitoring related to your child’s growth and development, taking progress and setbacks into account. In addition, they will become spaces for socialization to learn at home and in the educational center about prevention, nutrition and safety guidelines.
It is also a great opportunity to build a direct and above all trusted relationship between the pediatrician, you and your child, working together for the optimal physical, mental and social well-being of your little one.
This confidence and clarity allows the pediatrician to know the personal and family history, which will facilitate a more accurate diagnosis after a careful examination. Dr. Pabón confirms that “pediatric monitoring evaluates growth, development and patterns of nutrition and sleep”.
In addition, it may include taking vital signs, auscultation, heart sounds, assessment of the different body systems, reflexes, formulation of laboratory tests, examinations and authorization of appointments with specialists in areas such as optometry, ophthalmology, ENT or dentistry, recommendations on, for example, physical activity and accident prevention.
Memory is insidious and so it is essential that you write down any questions and doubts before appointments, and without pain or fear, ask the pediatrician anything you want to know about your child’s health and general well-being. .
* www.sandrapabonpediatra.com.co