Well-child visits are the regular checkups that let us watch your child grow, catch concerns early, and give you unhurried time to ask questions. They run from the first days after birth all the way through age 21.
Birth through the teen years is a period of fast growth and constant change, and it is the best window to address anything that could affect your child’s long-term health and development. These visits are not only about what is wrong — most of their value is in what they prevent and what they catch before symptoms ever show up.
The American Academy of Pediatrics considers an ongoing relationship between a family and their pediatrician one of the core requirements of good pediatric care. That relationship is what makes the hard conversations easier when they come. Seeing us only when your child is sick does not build it, and it does not keep development on track.
What happens during a visit
- Height, weight, and other measurements recorded and plotted, with body mass index assessed to identify and prevent obesity early
- A complete head-to-toe physical examination
- An evaluation of growth and development
- Developmental screening, where appropriate for your child’s age
- Age-appropriate screening tests, including hearing, vision, and hemoglobin
- Age-appropriate immunizations, and a review of where your child stands on the schedule
- A conversation about safety, nutrition, fitness, behavior, school, friendships, and day-to-day family life
- Attention and learning concerns, if you have them
- Whatever is going around right now that could affect your child
- Time for your questions
The visit schedule, by age and stage
Visits are frequent in the first two years, when growth is fastest and the most milestones are in play, then settle into a yearly rhythm.
Babies — birth to 12 months
- Newborn visit, generally two days after you leave the hospital
- 2 months
- 4 months
- 6 months
- 9 months
- 12 months
Toddlers — 15 months to 3 years
- 15 months
- 18 months
- 2 years
- 2½ years (30 months)
A note on the 30-month visit: some insurance carriers do not cover it. Check with your specific plan before you schedule, and call our billing team if you are unsure — we would rather sort it out in advance than surprise you afterward.
Children and teens — 3 to 21 years
- Once a year, every year, from age 3 through 21
Annual visits are also when school, camp, and sports forms get handled, so scheduling before the late-summer rush saves everyone a headache.
Resources for your child’s age
Each stage comes with its own questions. We keep age-specific guidance on development, safety, nutrition, sleep, and relationships for every checkup from one month through eighteen and over, along with the CDC’s vaccine information statements and current immunization schedule.
Ask us for the handout that matches your child’s next visit, or find them collected in our parent resources.
Ready to schedule?
Call Woburn at (781) 933-6236 or North Andover at (978) 557-5712, or book online through MyChart. If your child is due and you are not sure which visit comes next, our front desk can look it up while you are on the phone.