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teachingmyown
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In recent years, I have become very lax about check-ups, even for my babies. I am about to pick up the phone to schedule five physicals and am wondering if I really need to.  I think the main reason might be to check their vision. Other than that, there seems little reason to go. Most of the younger kids are behind, some way behind, on immunizations and I still am straddling the fence about that.
What do you all do about check-ups and why?
Thanks!
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Molly
wife to Court & mom to ds '91, dd '96, ds '97, dds '99, '01, '03, '06, and dss '07 and 01/20/11
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LisaD
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I am pretty behind on well-child checks, too. As for vision, in the ped's office they usually only check for distance. Both of my older kids are far-sighted and one has astigmatism--not caught in the doctor's office, so I had them checked by my optometrist.
I need to schedule two well-child appointments, at least, one for the child who eats ice all day long (literally), and one for the child who keeps telling me his heart hurts. Thanks for the reminder--I'm off to call for appts. right now!
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Lisbet
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We don't do them at all. I take the babies in to become an established patient at 2 weeks (per agreement w/the ped.) and then we visit if/when we need to. We don't vax, never have, so that's not an issue. For suspected vision issues, we see the optometrist. (2 wear glasses so far.) I have a few children that have not been to the ped since they were 2 weeks old! :)
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Lisa, wife to Tony,
Mama to:
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Sam, 9
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Mark, 5
Greta, 3
Cecilia born 10.29.10
Josephine born 6.11.12
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JodieLyn
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If you're not doing vaccinations I'm not real sure of the purpose.. and certainly I would think they were not necessary at the intervals they use to get the vaccines in.
But on the other hand it can be beneficial in some areas if your doctor is familiar with all your kids and sees them regularly (even if that's once a year). If you're somewhere hostile to homeschooling for instance and could be turned into CPS for no reason except that they're annoyed with you homeschooling or because you have a large family.
Also kids that are involved in sports often need to have a yearly exam that basically says they're healthy.
If you're not dealing with your schedule being dictated by their schedule I would find times where people are generally less apt to be sick so that you're not sitting in the waiting room with lots of coughing and sneezing going on around you. 
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5athome
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We keep a printed growth chart sheet for each child and log height/weight 1x or 2x a year. We don't do office visits unless something is wrong.
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Margaret
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LisaR
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we love our Christian, conservative, NFP friendly, homeschooling, and non-vaccinating friendly Family Practice Doc (he's a Ped's and Internal Medicine, so we all go to him)
honestly, I might schedule a well child for a few if it's been over a year since that particular child has been in to see him.
we really enjoy our Dr visits, he is 3 miles away,so it's super easy.
however, if I had a more mainstream Doc, I'd probably skip the Drs unless ill, Sports, or Scouts Camp physical...
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dh Tim '92
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Alcat
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I normally don't do the well baby checks, and the last 3 haven't been vaccinated... but I feel a need to keep up with them for this new little one. I want them to keep tabs on him. Another part is to have a relationship with the peds. I am going to get my un-vaxed kids vaccinated with a few vaccines (not the whole list just the ones I choose)
It is so weird to even have to consider this stuff
ps oh there isn't anything wrong with the baby- except a cold (pray for my little guy), I just want to keep it that way and I'm following my mama's intuition
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KC in TX
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We do well checks for our kids. My oldest has autism and needs check ups and referrals. My second daughter has a heart murmur and asthma so needs to be seen yearly. The other two are okay, but they have food allergies so we need to keep a relationship with the clinic. We do keep up to date on our immunizations.
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anitamarie
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That's funny. I just called to schedule 3 well visits today for my 3 that have birthdays in Jan, Feb and March. I have always taken my kids for annual well visits. It's not just about keeping up the vaccinations for me. I think it helps that my doctor knows my kids and vice versa when we go in for a sick visit. She knows them and their personalities and it gives her more information with which to work. I like to know they are growing and developing appropriately.
I feel that it has benefitted me to have an on-going relationship with our pediatrician. She knows me and my personality, parenting style, etc. and can use that information to my children's benefit in making health decisions. (i.e. she knows that I won't call her until/unless it's something serious, that I am not a big fan of antibiotic use, that I nurse my babies well past that 1st birthday.)
Also, it gives the pediatrician a baseline for my kids when treating them, and if we need to be watching something. I once read an article by a Mom who skipped her child's well visit because they were busy moving, only to discover the next year that the child had developed a chronic condition that had been on-going for over a year, and so might have been caught sooner. Just some food for thought.
I do have to say I have been incredibly blessed with my pediatrician. She is consistently ranked as a top doctor in our area by other doctors, yet she is so down-to-earth, loves her patients, and knows that parents get to make the ultimate decision.
One more thing, most pediatricians don't request annual visits past the age of 5, they go to every other year after that.
Good luck. Sounds like you have really healthy kids.
Anita
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PDyer
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I take my kids in for annual physicals. My daughter has been hospitalized a few times in her short life (including three times in her fourth and fifth months of life). Those hospitalizations weren't the result of a chronic problem, but I still want to know I have a doctor I can call or that we will see should one of the kids ever be hospitalized again.
My son is in his second year at the local parish school. They require an annual sign off by the doctor, so that's that in his case.
Both kids see the same pediatrician. My husband and I see an internist (adult only practice).
My daughter is not fully vaccinated, but I think it's time to finish out the course of a couple of series of vaxes soon. I will not complete all of them at the same time, and the pediatrician knows that. She doesn't particularly like it, but she respects our decision. My son is fully vaxed, except for the new vaxes that have come out recently...hepatitis? pneumonia? I can't remember...
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monique
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I did well child visits with the first one or two but I after a while I decided there really wasn't anything they were doing that was that important. As I grew confident in my mothering I felt I knew my child best. For us it just seemed a waste of time. As far as vax, we used to get them but in WY you usually go to Public Health so it wasn't necessary to even see a doc. I have a huge problem with docs anyway so I'm sure that has factored into our decision not to do well child visits as well.
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Sarah M
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anitamarie wrote:
I have always taken my kids for annual well visits. It's not just about keeping up the vaccinations for me. I think it helps that my doctor knows my kids and vice versa when we go in for a sick visit. She knows them and their personalities and it gives her more information with which to work. I like to know they are growing and developing appropriately.
I feel that it has benefitted me to have an on-going relationship with our pediatrician. She knows me and my personality, parenting style, etc. and can use that information to my children's benefit in making health decisions. (i.e. she knows that I won't call her until/unless it's something serious, that I am not a big fan of antibiotic use, that I nurse my babies well past that 1st birthday.)
Also, it gives the pediatrician a baseline for my kids when treating them, and if we need to be watching something. |
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This is pretty much why we always schedule the well-child checks, too. Also, my kids almost always get complimented on their nice behavior and manners (ahem...unless they happen to be 3 years old at the time), and when the staff finds out that the kids are homeschooled, they are pleasantly surprised. I think it helps the "medical world" see that homeschooling families are caring and educated and nice-to-be-around families, instead of the "social misfits" that people think we are!
Of course, I only have 3 kids so far. So my job is *much* easier than yours at this point. 
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Lara Sauer
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Ditto Anitamarie and Sarah.
I have been going to the same practice for nearly 15 years. I think in that time I have missed a couple of well check-ups for the older kids, but for the most part it has been a yearly visit. I think my kids actually enjoy it as well.
I have made them known that all areas of se-ual develoment will be handled by the parents and they have always respected by requests in this manner.
I hate the ongoing frustrations that so many of us have with vaccinations...particularly when they seem to have a new vaccine every single time you walk in the door. However, I am glad that my children have never had to suffer diseases like polio, measles, mumps, rubella or whooping cough...with more people choosing not to vaccinate their children for whatever reason, the potential that we will revisit some of these illnesses is growing. Keeping my kids current on those vaccines is important to me, which is another reason that I have kept up with our yearly checkups.
It was also at one of these check-ups that my oldest son's scoliosis (mild at this point) was caught.
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Sarah
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I wouldn't go for a non emergency visit until early summer since the waiting room and exam rooms tend to be infected with more contagious stuff this time of year.
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Chari
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Lisbet wrote:
| I have a few children that have not been to the ped since they were 2 weeks old! :) |
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This made me laugh .......when Malachy broke his arm when he was 5yo......we found out he had never even been covered by our insurance! We had no idea......because we only go to the doctor if we need to......this was a "need to"
who knew???
We are like Lisa.......only, I do not even go in for the two week.
I am an RN and our doctor is my friend.......so, I have a special situation whereby I just call him when I need him. works for us.
btw..........my husband spent two months convincing the insurance that malachy really was our kid and that he really did exist......and that they messed up! He won them over!!! YES! for once!
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D. Marie
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I do not take my children in for annual check-ups just because I feel they are uneccessary. We are military, and so have a different doctor each time. The idea of forming a relationship with the doctor would not apply to us. I keep my own medical records for all the children, have books to help diagnose health complaints, and treat accordingly. If there is an issue that I think needs further help from a doctor, I have no problem taking my child in. Also, we do selective vaccinations so my babies are taken in, probably 4 times for a few vaccinations. Plus, none of my children are invovled in sports which I think would change how I do things.
Best of luck with making your decision!
Diane
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MaryM
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Diane K wrote:
| We are military, and so have a different doctor each time. The idea of forming a relationship with the doctor would not apply to us. |
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We're not military but the idea of forming a relationship doesn't really apply to us either as part of an HMO. There is often much turn-over in these specific clinics and even if you technically have a doctor that isn't necessarily who you see at any given appointment. We did well-baby and annual checkups for awhile with the older ones (then again when they have been required for sports) but in general we haven't. Early on I read Dr. Robert Mendelsohn's How to Have a Healthy Child in Spite of Your Doctor and Dr. Geroge Wootan's Take Charge of Your Child's Health(which I am excited to see is in print again - it was OOP for awhile). I warn that these books wouldn't be to everyone's liking and are considered pretty controversial by some, but it reinforced my thoughts/feelings in this regard and I found them helpful.
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Lisbet
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Chari, We made this agreement with our Ped after a middle of the night er visit for what we thought could be appendicitis (he was, um, actually *very* constipated...  ) and the ped didn't even know who he was! We switched peds after that and I just felt it good practice since then to bring them in to become 'established' patients around 2 weeks.
Mary, I love the books you mentioned, esp. Dr. Mendelsohns, it changed my view tremendosly.
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Lisa, wife to Tony,
Mama to:
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Abby, 15
Gabe, 13
Isaac, 11
Mary, 10
Sam, 9
Henry, 7
Molly, 6
Mark, 5
Greta, 3
Cecilia born 10.29.10
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vmalott
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JodieLyn wrote:
| Also kids that are involved in sports often need to have a yearly exam that basically says they're healthy. |
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You know, I've had kids involved in sports for over 7 years, and the one time one had to have a physical was before he went to a baseball tournament in Cooperstown, NY. It was required by the state board of health, since the week-long tournament is run as a camp, where the teams stay in a barracks on site for the duration of the tournament. That was two years ago. We're going back again this summer, so he'll have to go back in for the doc to sign off that he's healthy.
For all other teams--and they run the gamut from rec to elite/select/travel teams--we've only had to sign a medical release, which has contact info for doctors and dentists, etc., but nothing that requires a physical or a doctor's signature. Kind of surprised me the first time.
I'm like several others...don't really go in unless there's a need. I keep tabs on the kids myself, regarding weight, and general complaints. Doc seems to tolerate it, since there are plenty of folks in our area who have similar views on the well-child visits.
Valerie
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Barbara C.
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I do regular well-check visits. I did stretch them out a little with the latest baby. I kept having scheduling issues with the doctor's office so instead of visits at 2 and 4 months we had one at 3 months. It also saved us a little money because our insurance has a $500 cap on well-check visits and vaccinations combined.
We don't keep a scale in our house and won't. I enjoy going to record how much they have grown. And I must admit that I like showing them off and to have a socially valid reason to gush about the greatness of my kids. Even though homeschooling is pretty easy-going around here, I like having established records of wellness in case DCF ever did have questions.
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4Real Forums : Mothering and Family Life
Topic: Well child checks?
