Check-Ups Timeline

Visit our clinic for a free consultation with one of our wonderful doctors and get to know the doctor who will be taking care of your baby before they are even born! This is also a great opportunity for you to ask any questions that you may have about what the future holds for your child’s health.

At the Hospital; The Nursery will contact your doctor when your baby is born. Your doctor will come to see you and examine the baby in your room, answering any questions or concerns you may have. Our Clinic will reach out to you before leaving the hospital, scheduling future appointments for you and your baby’s check-ups.

Your first clinic appointment will usually be within a couple of days of taking your baby home from the hospital. An important follow-up exam will be done to measure early growth, discuss nutrition, and address your early concerns.

By 2 weeks your baby is typically past birth weight and feeding routines may be coming together. A second Newborn Screen blood test is usually done. The focus becomes your concerns and questions about healthy feeding, sleep patterns, and what you can expect in the coming weeks and months.

By a month of life, a clear pattern of your baby’s growth rate and early sleep behaviors is more clear. Babies have gained a pound and a half over birth weight by this point on average.

Your baby is smiling for real now! Playful cooing and a positive response to feeding and sleep routines is evident. Immunizations are typically resumed at 2 months. Discussions about feeding, growth rates, and newborn behavioral patterns such as stooling and sleep are common.

At 4 months your baby is happy, will giggle or laugh, and typically will happily be held by family and strangers alike. At 4 months we discuss the introduction of spoon-feeding, ongoing healthy sleep and other routines, and developmental expectations.

Your 6 month old baby is ready to advance their solid eating even to some soft solids and adapted table food with notable cautions. Meeting developmental milestones are addressed in detail as your infant is probably sitting, moving, and putting everything he can into his mouth!

As you advance feeding with adapted table food between 3-5 times a day by 9 months, there will be fewer specific exceptions to the food types you will give. You might notice your baby is afraid of strange faces or cries out when you leave the room. Your baby’s mobility may be complicating your life along with his teething and disrupted sleep.

It’s time for “full solids” adapted to your baby’s “mouth skills” and regular milk introduction as able. One year olds are pretty smart, noticing details and often clear on likes and dislikes. Usually mobile with developing jibberish or “word salad”, particular developmental milestones can be crucial at this age.

It is important to address any lingering developmental issues or concerns about food tolerances or mobility progression. Early words begin to take shape as varieties of preferences may reveal personality features of parents or siblings.

Often gender differences in advancing language may be evident and mobility may be silent and swift! Developmental milestones in gross motor and fine motor skills, and progressive language are central.

Language development is central this year. Picky eating may be the rule more than the exception as guessing this new toddler’s preferences becomes a gambling venture. This is the potty training year too! *Routines carefully cultivated to this point and into the future may really pay off.

Variety and “Normal Range” are key concepts at three. Language, sleep patterns, nutrition, and growth are central topics this year. Critical milestones in language and motor skills need to be observed by this age in healthy developing toddlers. Caution; you may hear words you have once said fall from their lips, repeatedly!

Your child is now preschool age, full of personality and an “I can do it myself!” attitude. Usually potty trained at this point, physical and cognitive development allow your child to cooperatively play (that’s pretty much “sharing”) and didactically learn (which is non-parent “teacher learning”).

Yearly: During these childhood years, Well Child Evaluations will center on school-related learning objectives, response to group structure and behaviors, and socialization with friends, piers, and teachers. Physical growth and development should be measured and monitored as should the complex interaction of the home and a now expanding school or public life. A balance between stability and adaptability will play a central role in a continuing healthy childhood development.

Yearly: The pre and early adolescent years are associated with accelerated growth physically, cognitively, and emotionally. During these Well Checks we discuss school and friends, social media and gaming, dating and sexuality, complete Participation Exam forms, and update and boost immunizations as needed. Your child may be asked about topics from American and World History to literature and science. Issues of personal safety from risks related to social media to the wearing of helmets and seat belts are emphasized. Depression Screening is part of these visits. These visits are among our most enjoyable, informative, and insightful. I think the patient and parent might get a little something out of them too.

Yearly: As adolescences begins to give way to adulthood, the future both looms and invites. Well Checks during these years cover similar subject matter as in earlier ages, but often with very different findings and perspectives. Participation Exam forms of all types are completed and immunizations updated. School and friends may, at times, appear to have more influence than the home during these years. Parenting adaptations and adjustments may often be discussed. Academic and behavioral concerns will be addressed.

Adult Visits; Pediatricians are certified to care for patients up to 21 years of age.

Dr O’Very is certified in both Internal Medicine (Adult Medicine) and Pediatrics and extends his available medical care indefinitely.