What’s a Well-Child Exam?

Like you, your child needs to see their primary care provider for a routine check of general health and well-being. However, because childhood is a period of rapid development and growth, these exams may be more frequent — especially during those first few years — and have a different focus.

At Pompeo C Chavez, MD, in Bastrop, Texas, we are a family medicine practice that focuses on preventive health, helping our families make lifestyle choices that protect their health.  

With our concierge care services, we provide comprehensive well-child exams from birth to age 21. In addition to monitoring your child’s growth and development, we also focus on their overall health and well-being. 

So, what’s a well-child exam? Here, we want to share with you what you and your child can expect when you come in for this wellness visit.

About well-child exams

Children go through many changes over a very short period of time as they grow. The purpose of the well-child exam is to monitor these changes and make sure your child is growing and developing as expected. 

The well-child exam helps us establish baselines so we can evaluate your child’s progress at crucial stages of growth. This ensures your child stays healthy and continues growing at their pace. 

During the early developmental years — 9 months to 30 months — we also check to see if your child is meeting their expected developmental milestones. As your child grows they develop new, more complex skills. 

We use developmental milestones to make sure your child is gaining new skills as expected. How your child plays, learns, speaks, moves, and behaves provides important clues about their development. 

We also discuss your child’s general health and well-being, providing recommendations to prevent, protect, or improve your child’s current and future health.

Getting ready for the exam

Children don’t come with instruction manuals, that’s why we have well-child exams. You can rely on us to provide the answers you need.  

Before your appointment, we recommend making a list of all your questions and concerns. Common questions for your well-child exam might relate to:

• Sleep 
• Diet
• Health concerns
• What to expect as they grow
• Safety issues
• Screen time

We take a team approach to your child’s health and well-being. You know your child better than us, and your questions, concerns, and observations are a valuable part of the well-child exam.

What to expect

When it comes to your child and their well-child exam, we make sure we have plenty of time to really get to know your child. We want them to feel comfortable and relaxed when they come in to see us. 

Patient-provider relationships are important to us, no matter the age. Building strong, trusting, long-term relationships ultimately leads to better health. 

The details of your child’s exam depends on their age and health needs. However, we conduct a general physical exam that includes:

• Measuring height, weight, and head circumference
• Assessing body mass index (BMI)
• Listening to heart and lungs
• Checking blood pressure
• Testing hearing and vision
• Examining ears, eyes, tongue, teeth, feet, and hands
• Evaluating general appearance
• Testing reflexes
• Checking internal organs by feel 
• Collecting blood and urine, if needed

We also review your child’s immunization record and provide vaccinations as recommended by the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. 

In addition to developmental monitoring, we also screen for common neurodevelopmental disorders during a well-child exam, including attention-deficit/hyperactivity disorder (ADHD) and autism spectrum disorder (ASD).

A well-child exam is all about monitoring your child’s growth, development, health, and well-being. Schedule your child’s well-child exam by calling our office or booking an appointment online today.