Pediatric Wellness Visits: Schedule, Cost, and Care

March 9

Pediatric Wellness Visits: Schedule, Cost, and Care

Well-Child Check Schedule for Infants, Kids, and Teens

Pediatric care is an essential tool for raising healthy children. When parents partner with pediatric providers to keep their kids on the well-child visit schedule, they can make informed decisions to promote growth and development.

What Is a Well-Child Visit?

A well-child visit is a regularly scheduled appointment to check up on your child’s health, growth, and development. Unlike a sick visit, when your child needs to be seen to diagnose an illness, well-child visits are focused on preventative care.

Well-child visits are typically scheduled every few months for infants, every six months for toddlers, and then once a year starting around preschool age children all the way through the teen years. During these check-ups, your child’s pediatric care provider will chart their growth, administer vaccinations, answer your questions, and discuss overall health. If you have concerns about your child’s growth and development, the well-child visit is your time to ask. If your child’s care provider sees anything concerning about your child’s growth and development, they will recommend the next steps for testing or treatment.

As your child gets older, your pediatrician will want to talk about different topics relevant to their current age. By keeping up with the pediatric visit schedule, you and your child’s healthcare providers will be able to reference a complete medical history. This makes communication and decision-making much easier for everyone.

Why Well-Child Visits Matter for Your Child’s Health

The well-child check schedule is for all kids, not just those who have existing health conditions. Although many people believe that seeking healthcare is only for treating illness or injuries, the truth is that healthcare is for healthy children, too. Pediatric care providers are trained to deliver preventative care as well as sick care and urgent care, so they like to see patients even when they aren’t sick.

By taking your child to regular pediatric well visits, you will enjoy the following benefits:

Your child will have a complete medical history on file that shows growth and development milestones and provides a baseline for future diagnostics.
You will get to know your pediatric care providers, and they will get to know you and your child. This builds strong, trusting relationships for consistent delivery of care.
Keep track of your child’s hearing and vision wellness, potentially catching the need for glasses or hearing aids before these issues cause problems at school.
Schools, daycares, and sports organizations require current health records for enrollment.
Your child will stay up to date on all vaccinations and immunizations, which protect them from preventable diseases.
If there are any signs that your child has a health condition or developmental delays, it is more likely to be detected early and addressed.

The goal of the pediatric visit schedule is to meet regularly with healthy children and parents to maintain good health throughout their childhood and well into their adult years.

Well-Child Visit Schedule by Age

Children need different styles of healthcare at different ages. The well-child visit schedule is designed to care for patients at their specific age and development level. Babies need several well-checks throughout their first year because they are growing and changing so quickly. As children get a little older, spaced-out visits are more appropriate for preventative care and keeping an eye on milestones.

The following schedules are recommended for children from birth until they reach adulthood.

Infant Well-Child Visit Schedule (Birth to 12 Months)

Infants grow and change very fast from birth until their first birthday. Pediatric providers typically like to see infants right away as newborns, then at one, two, four, six, nine, and twelve months.

During these visits, your child’s pediatric team will do a lot of weight and height monitoring. They will also talk to you about your baby’s feeding, sleeping, and diaper schedules. While there are a lot of visits during your infant’s first year, they are a great opportunity for tired parents to find support, guidance, and reassurance from their child’s pediatric providers.

Toddler & Preschool Well-Child Visit Schedule (1-4 years)

During the toddler years, visits will spread out to twice a year, and eventually to once a year. The only exception is that if there are any growth or development concerns, your child’s healthcare provider may request additional well-checks to keep an eye on their milestones.

Toddler and preschool well-child checks include preventative care with vaccinations, and they are also highly focused on skills development. Children rapidly develop language, social, and motor skills during these early years. Routine well checks will detect speech, processing, and development delays for early intervention.

Parents appreciate the chance to speak with knowledgeable healthcare providers about potty training, nutrition, sleep, and behavior best practices during these visits. They rely on their child’s pediatric team to offer helpful resources and guidance on these topics.

School-Age Well-Child Visit Schedule (5-10 Years)

Once children begin school, annual well-child visits are essential for continued preventative care and growth monitoring. The addition of a school environment allows parents and the pediatric team to learn much more about a child’s overall health.

With school-aged children, it is more common to identify vision and hearing loss, as well as learning delays and cognitive concerns. Pediatric providers use the well-child visit schedule to ask about fine motor skill development, social skills, attention span, and learning progress.

Parents will often consult with their child’s pediatric team to determine school readiness. Kids with late spring and summer birthdays may benefit from waiting a year to enroll in kindergarten.

Adolescent & Teen Well-Child Visit Schedule (11-18 Years)

Keeping up with well-child visits through the adolescent and teen years is still very important. During visits in these years, your pediatric team will continue with new immunizations and boosters for up-to-date preventative care. These check-ups are also helpful for talking about mental health, nutrition, and physical wellness. Once puberty begins, teenagers have different health needs, and they can learn more about maintaining a good sleeping, eating, and physical activity schedule with their pediatric team.

While parents can receive much-needed support in guiding their children through adolescence, well-child checks in the teen years also offer time for the kids themselves to have private conversations with their healthcare provider. They may have questions that they are more comfortable asking a medical professional in a confidential setting.

What Happens During a Pediatric Well-Child Visit

Pediatric well-child visits have some aspects that almost never change. From the very first newborn appointment all the way through age 18, your child will have their height and weight checked in the pediatric office. Other parts of the visit depend on your child’s age, specific health concerns, and health history:

Development and milestone tracking
Language, gross motor, and fine motor skill updates
Behavioral and mental health screenings
Vision and hearing checks
Immunizations per the American Academy of Pediatrics (AAP) schedule.

In addition to everything that will be recorded in your child’s medical history, well-child checks are also a great time for discussing general health. When parents or children have questions, the pediatric team is prepared to discuss them during these appointments.

How Long Does a Well-Child Visit Take?

The length of your well-child visit will vary a bit based on your child’s age and general health. Typically, appointments last 30 to 45 minutes. Families understandably have busy schedules and usually want to ensure that their well-child visit will go quickly. The best way to keep the check-up on track is to complete pre-visit forms ahead of time and arrive about 15 minutes early with the records or information that are needed for the appointment.

If your child is behind on their well visits, the check-up produces any health concerns, or you have extensive questions, the visit could take longer. If you requested any behavioral health or mental health screenings, those would also add some time to your appointment. For children who are in good health, keeping up with growth milestones and maintaining the pediatric well visit schedule, appointments can usually get wrapped up smoothly.

There are times when a follow-up appointment might be necessary to continue exploring health concerns or questions. Rather than extend the current appointment, your pediatric provider will recommend scheduling another visit at your convenience.

How Much Do Pediatric Well-Child Visits Cost?

Cost is one of the main reasons that parents avoid scheduling well-child visits. While pediatric healthcare providers understand this realistic concern, children greatly benefit from routine preventative care.

Fortunately, most health insurance policies cover well-child visits completely. That means there are no out-of-pocket costs to the parents for keeping up with the recommended pediatric visit schedule. This includes private health insurance plans, employer-sponsored insurance policies, government coverage such as Medicaid and CHIP, and Affordable Care Act marketplace plans. Providing access to pediatric healthcare is a national priority.

When a well-child visit is not covered under any type of insurance plan, health clinics such as LCH Community Health do everything possible to reduce any barriers to receiving care. Our sliding-scale fees and financial assistance are in place specifically for these circumstances. We do not turn away anyone due to their inability to pay for healthcare. Furthermore, our Certified Application Counselors are available to assist parents in obtaining health insurance for their families.

What Parents Should Bring to a Well-Child Visit

Parents who prepare for their child’s well visit are in the best position to keep the appointment running on time and to ensure that their child’s records remain up to date. For your child’s check-up, bring the following:

Immunization records if you are transferring to a new pediatric provider
Insurance card
List of medications
Questions or concerns
Required school forms or sports physical forms

If you receive a notification before the appointment to complete a screening, try to have that finished before your visit. If you cannot complete the screening at home, arrive early to do it in the pediatric office.

When to Schedule a Visit Outside the Regular Schedule

Sometimes, parents wish to visit the pediatric office sooner than their well-child visit would normally be scheduled. Many parents hesitate to call their child’s healthcare provider because it’s not a sick visit or urgent care need. They are not sure if it’s possible to come in earlier than expected.

While multiple well-child visits in a single year may not be fully covered by insurance, parents should always schedule an appointment if they feel their child needs to be seen for pediatric healthcare. As mentioned, LCH and other community health providers never want finances to get in the way of healthcare. Parents should always make an appointment if they feel there is a need. Some reasons for off-schedule well-child visits include:

Developmental or learning concerns
Behavioral, emotional, or mental health concerns
Concerns about weight, growth, nutrition, or physical fitness
School enrollment or sports registrations

Our pediatric providers in West Grove welcome the opportunity to meet with parents and their children to promote ongoing healthy growth and development.

Pediatric Care at LCH Community Health

LCH Pediatrics provides primary care, preventative care, and acute medical care for children in Southern Chester County. Our pediatric providers have a passion for supporting local families and partnering with parents to promote excellent childhood health.

Our convenient West Grove pediatrics office is in the Jenners Village Professional Building, which is also home to our dental office and PIA Center for Behavioral Health, as well as other LCH services. We provide integrated care, centered on serving families, so that parents and children in our community have access to health and wellness resources. This includes Telehealth and services in Spanish. With primary care offices also in our West Grove location, as well as all LCH locations, families can often conveniently schedule multiple appointments with various care providers.

Frequently Asked Questions About Well-Child Visits

What is a well-child visit?

A well-child visit is a routine appointment to monitor growth and development milestones, provide preventative care, and administer vaccinations. These visits are essential for promoting childhood health.

How often does my child need a well-child check?

The pediatric visit schedule for visit frequency varies by age. Infants are expected to have multiple well-child visits in the first year of life, followed by every six months for toddlers, and then annual well-child visits from preschool through the teen years.

Are well-child visits required for school?

The Pennsylvania Department of Health requires a physical examination form from a child’s healthcare provider for initial school enrollment, before sixth grade, and before eleventh grade.

Does insurance cover pediatric wellness visits?

Most insurance plans are required to cover pediatric wellness visits per the age-specific schedule without any out-of-pocket costs for parents. This includes private health insurance, employer-sponsored health insurance, marketplace plans, Medicaid, and CHIP.

Can I schedule a well-child visit if my child feels healthy?

Healthy children should absolutely attend well-child visits. Well-child visits help your pediatric care team establish your child’s medical history, track healthy growth and development, and address any concerns you or your child may have.

Schedule a Pediatric Well-Child Visit at LCH

If your child is behind on the well-child visit schedule, that is not a problem! Please contact LCH’s Pediatric office in West Grove to schedule an appointment. Our team looks forward to meeting with you and your child, helping you to get caught up on immunizations, and working with you to promote continued healthy growth and development. We are accepting new pediatric patients. We accept most private insurance, as well as Medicaid, Medicare, and CHIP. Financial assistance is also available.

March 9