Keeping Kids Healthy: Your Guide to the Well Child Check

The Well Child Check is how you can keep your child healthy and safe. It’s a regular appointment that combines examination, testing, screening, and immunizations. By keeping up on your Well Child Checks, you and your provider can keep track of how your child’s physical, emotional, and social development.

Let’s take a look at the immunizations, screenings, and tests you can expect at each visit, at every age:

Dental Visits

You can schedule a dental appointment at OCH, too! Remember to schedule a cleaning when your child has their first tooth.

Behavioral Health

If needed, our providers may recommend a same-day visit with one of our behavioral health specialists while you’re at the clinic.

MyChart

MyChart gives you access to visit details, prescription refills, and so much more. When your child turns 12, you will need to complete an additional form to retain access. Check out our myChart page for everything you need to know.

Our Providers Hear These Often From Parents & Guardians:

• What is a Well Child Check?

  Each visit includes a complete physical exam. At this exam, the healthcare provider will check the child's growth and development in order to find or prevent problems. The provider will record your child's height, weight, and other important information. Hearing, vision, and other screening tests will be part of some visits.

• Why are Well Child Checks Important?

  Even if your child is healthy, well-child visits are a good time to focus on your child's wellness. Talking about ways to improve care and prevent problems helps keep your child healthy. A well-child visit is an opportunity to ensure your child is protected from infectious diseases by reviewing and updating his or her immunizations. Well-child visits are also a time to make sure they're growing and developing normally.

• Why should my child get an HPV Immunization?

  Children (girls and boys) are offered and encouraged to receive the HPV vaccine because it can prevent them from getting cervical cancer from a high-risk strain of the virus if exposed. The vaccine is most effective if it is given to girls/women before they’re exposed to the virus (through sexual contact), it is also recommended for boys/men as a means to possibly decrease the risk of transmission of the virus. The most common age to vaccinate is 11-12 however, we can vaccinate as young as 9 years old.

• Why should my child get a COVID immunization?

  COVID-19 vaccination is an important tool to help protect everyone 6 months and older from COVID-19 and its complications. Getting children and teens vaccinated against COVID-19 can help keep them from getting really sick if they do get COVID-19.

• How much should my child be sleeping?

  All kids are different. As parents/guardians, we can help them be successful in their sleep habits by maintaining a healthy nighttime routine, being active during the day, and making sleep a priority. Some guidelines that may be helpful are Infants 4 – 12 months need 12 – 16 hours of sleep, toddlers 1 – 2 years need 11 – 14 hours, preschoolers 3 – 5 years need 10 – 13 hours, 6 – 12-year old’s need 9 – 12 hours, and 13 – 18-year old’s need 8 – 10 hours (all including any daytime naps).

• How do I get my child to eat enough fruits and vegetables?

  It’s all about offering it to them! If you know they are partial to some fruits/veggies offer those – while still offering new foods occasionally. Children change as they grow, and their taste and curiosity will also continue to develop, as a parent/guardian we can foster healthy eating habits by having it available, modeling the behavior, and being supportive. Some ways to get in fruits and vegetables are through smoothies, mixing it into something they already like for example pureed spinach in pancakes, and making it fun by involving them in the cooking process.

• What if I’m concerned about my child’s mental health and behavior?

  I am glad you are asking about this today, there are many resources that we can connect you and your child with. It would also be a good idea to bring this up with your child’s doctor as mental health is a big component of our overall physical health. We do have behavioral health counselors available in the clinic, if you are interested in meeting someone from their team, we can make that happen today while you are here – or get you/your child scheduled at a future date.

• Is my child’s development and growth appropriate for his/her age?

  Especially during the infant months, it can be easy to become fixated on the percentiles for your child’s height and weight. Whether your child is in the 25th percentile or the 90th, both can be considered normal. The more important factor is the rate of growth and development.

Chickenpox

Vaccine: Varicella vaccine protects against chickenpox.

Disease spread by: Air, direct contact

Disease symptoms: Rash, tiredness, headache, fever

Disease complications: Infected blisters, bleeding disorders, encephalitis (brain swelling), pneumonia (infection in the lungs), death

Diphtheria

Vaccine: DTaP vaccine protects against diphtheria.

Disease spread by: Air, direct contact

Disease symptoms: Sore throat, mild fever, weakness, swollen glands in the neck

Disease complications: Swelling of the heart muscle, heart failure, coma, paralysis, death

Hib

Vaccine: Hib vaccine protects against Haemophilus influenzae type b.

Disease spread by: Air, direct contact

Disease symptoms: May be no symptoms unless bacteria enter the blood

Disease complications: Meningitis (infection of the covering around the brain and spinal cord), intellectual disability, epiglottitis (life-threatening infection that can block the windpipe and lead to serious breathing problems), pneumonia (infection in the lungs), death

Hepatitis A

Vaccine: HepA vaccine protects against hepatitis A.

Disease spread by: Direct contact, contaminated food, or water

Disease symptoms: May be no symptoms, fever, stomach pain, loss of appetite, fatigue, vomiting, jaundice (yellowing of skin and eyes), dark urine

Disease complications: Liver failure, arthralgia (joint pain), kidney, pancreatic, and blood disorders, death

Hepatitis B

Vaccine: HepB vaccine protects against hepatitis B.

Disease spread by: Contact with blood or body fluids

Disease symptoms: May be no symptoms, fever, headache, weakness, vomiting, jaundice (yellowing of skin and eyes), joint pain

Disease complications: Chronic liver infection, liver failure, liver cancer, death

Influenza (Flu)

Vaccine: Flu vaccine protects against influenza.

Disease spread by: Air, direct contact

Disease symptoms: Fever, muscle pain, sore throat, cough, extreme fatigue

Disease complications: Pneumonia (infection in the lungs), bronchitis, sinus infections, ear infections, death

Measles

Vaccine: MMR vaccine protects against measles.

Disease spread by: Air, direct contact

Disease symptoms: Rash, fever, cough, runny nose, pink eye

Disease complications: Encephalitis (brain swelling), pneumonia (infection in the lungs), death

Mumps

Vaccine: MMR vaccine protects against mumps.

Disease spread by: Air, direct contact

Disease symptoms: Swollen salivary glands (under the jaw), fever, headache, tiredness, muscle pain

Disease complications: Meningitis (infection of the covering around the brain and spinal cord), encephalitis (brain swelling), inflammation of testicles or ovaries, deafness, death

Pertussis

Vaccine: DTaP vaccine protects against pertussis (whooping cough).

Disease spread by: Air, direct contact

Disease symptoms: Severe cough, runny nose, apnea (a pause in breathing in infants)

Disease complications: Pneumonia (infection in the lungs), death

Polio

Vaccine: IPV vaccine protects against polio.

Disease spread by: Air, direct contact, through the mouth

Disease symptoms: May be no symptoms, sore throat, fever, nausea, headache

Disease complications: Paralysis, death

Pneumococcal

Vaccine: PCV13 vaccine protects against pneumococcus.

Disease spread by: Air, direct contact

Disease symptoms: May be no symptoms, pneumonia (infection in the lungs)

Disease complications: Bacteremia (blood infection), meningitis (infection of the covering around the brain and spinal cord), death

Rotavirus

Vaccine: RV vaccine protects against rotavirus.

Disease spread: Through the mouth

Disease symptoms: Diarrhea, fever, vomiting

Disease complications: Severe diarrhea, dehydration, death

Rubella

Vaccine: MMR vaccine protects against rubella.

Disease spread by: Air, direct contact

Disease symptoms: Sometimes rash, fever, swollen lymph nodes

Disease complications: Very serious in pregnant women—can lead to miscarriage, stillbirth, premature delivery, birth defects

Tetanus

Vaccine: DTaP vaccine protects against tetanus.

Disease spread by: Exposure through cuts in the skin

Disease symptoms: Stiffness in neck and abdominal muscles, difficulty swallowing, muscle spasms, fever

Disease complications: Broken bones, breathing difficulty, death