Well-baby doctor visits

All those checkups let the doctor get to know your baby

Susan Spicer,

Originally published in Today's Parent September 2011

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One week, two weeks. One month, two, four, six, nine, 12 months. You’ll see the doctor a lot during the first year of your baby’s life. Beginning at two months, well-baby visits usually coincide with scheduled immunizations. But there are other important reasons for these regular check-ins.

“The first two years of life are key in terms of development,” says Montreal paediatrician and Canadian Paediatric Society spokesman Denis Leduc. “If there are delays in achieving certain developmental milestones or if parents have any concerns about their child’s progress, these can be addressed quickly if we’re seeing the baby regularly.” Here’s what your doctor is looking for at all those visits:

Is the baby feeding well?

“We want to know about input and output,” says Leduc. “We want to know about feeding patterns for both breast- and bottle-fed infants. For breastfed babies, this involves the frequency and duration of feedings. For bottle-fed babies, we have guidelines for amounts and frequency of feedings according to age.” Leduc adds: “If a mom is experiencing any difficulties with breastfeeding, the earlier the doctor can refer her for breastfeeding support, the better.”

Is the baby growing well?

Your doctor will plot your baby’s weight, height and head circumference on a chart to track her rate of growth. Most babies will stay on a consistent curve, gaining weight and length at a steady rate. A deviation — growing more quickly or slowly — may indicate a problem. If, for instance, a baby’s rate of growth significantly slows, the doctor will be concerned that she isn’t getting enough calories or that she may not be absorbing enough nutrients.

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