Naturally, children require more wellness visits when they’re younger since childhood is marked by a period of rapid changes and growth. Each wellness checkup entails a thorough physical examination performed by your pediatrician here at Southwest Children’s Clinic in West Jordan, UT.

During the exam, your West Jordan UT pediatrician assesses your child's development and growth to identify and/or prevent any issues. Vision, hearing, and other screening exams are part of these checkups.

What to Expect During a Child Wellness Checkup

Even for healthy children, wellness checkups are an excellent time to pay ample attention to their wellness. During these checkups, you can speak freely with your West Jordan Ut pediatrician about ways to prevent issues and improve care to keep your children healthy.

You can discuss things like your children’s sleep patterns, behavior, safety, eating habits, any illnesses, and what you can expect as your kids grow. Make sure to write down specific concerns and questions so that you won’t forget to bring them up during your discussion with your pediatrician. You’ll also discuss wellness topics including school, your children’s emotional health, and family relationships.

Your West Jordan UT pediatrician will likewise pay attention to your children’s development compared to standard developmental milestones. Your children’s head circumference, weight, and height are recorded for future comparisons. You’ll also learn about your child's BMI or body mass index curve, which is a crucial tool for preventing and identifying childhood obesity.

The Well-Child Checkup Schedule

Once your child is born, the succeeding visit will be about two to three days or a week after you’ve brought your baby home. Following this visit, the American Academy of Pediatrics recommends that wellness checkups occur:

• Every two to three months following birth until two years
• Every six months after age two
• Annually from age three until 21 years old

Your West Jordan UT pediatrician might have you skip or add extra visits depending on the health of your child. Take note though that you should consult with your pediatrician any time your child appears ill or presents concerning symptoms.

Also, you should consider visiting a pediatrician even before your child is born if:

• You have a high-risk pregnancy
• You’re a first-time parent
• You have any issues or questions about general child health problems, feeding, newborn care, and circumcision among others.

For More Details on Children Wellness Checkups, Reach Out to Us

Book a consultation with your pediatrician here at Southwest Children's Clinic in West Jordan, UT, by dialing (801) 563-1975.

If your child is planning on participating in a school-sponsored athletic activity next year, they'll need a current sports physical on file. You may wonder why, as your child is healthy and not likely to be injured. You may also be wondering how these examinations differ from a regular physical at Southwest Children's Clinic in West Jordan, UT. Here, we discuss the basic schedule of a sports physical and why they're so important.

What happens during a physical?

Your West Jordan pediatrician usually starts the appointment by reviewing your child's medical history, as well as any significant medical issues within your family that may indicate a pattern for chronic conditions. This process also includes going over any medications that your child takes regularly, both prescription and over-the-counter.

The physical examination itself involves documenting height and weight, blood pressure, pulse, and breathing. Your West Jordan pediatrician does this to make sure that your child's heart and lungs are operating properly and not displaying any abnormalities. Sports physicals also ensure that your child is an appropriate height and weight for their age group and that their reflexes, movement, and flexibility are suitable for the sport they're planning on playing. Any necessary vaccines or screenings will be discussed as well.

How does a physical help during a sports season?

Ultimately, a sports physical from your West Jordan pediatrician helps to maximize your child's experience as an athlete. These examinations pinpoint issues that may require some accommodations or treatment plans; examples include eating disorders, previous injuries, or obesity concerns. Although rare, a routine sports physical could also reveal life-threatening issues such as a heart condition. As kids grow rapidly, yearly physicals must be conducted in order to detect any changes.

Staying current with your child's pediatrician is much easier when you're visiting the office once a year for sports physicals. Contact Southwest Children's Clinic in West Jordan, UT, at (801) 563-1975 to make an appointment with one of our caring and skilled providers today!

To keep your child healthy and happy this involves making sure that they eat the right foods, exercise regularly and get quality sleep. Of course, visiting your pediatrician for routine checkups and care is also necessary for maintaining optimal health in your child or teen. Along with making sure that your little one is reaching those developmental milestones, our pediatricians can also protect your child from a variety of serious and potentially life threatening illnesses through regular immunizations.

What do immunizations do?

Immunizations or vaccines are used to boost the body’s natural defenses to help it properly fight infection. In order to do this, a vaccine needs to contain either a dead or weakened form of the infection. This is just enough to trigger the immune system to start producing the necessary antibodies to fight the infection without actually causing an infection. Even once the body fights off these germs it will still maintain these defenses to prevent being infected in the future.

Your child won’t build up an immediate immunity once they’ve been vaccinated. It can take up to three weeks for the body to build a complete immune response to the specific germs. Therefore, during this time it is possible that your child could still become infected with any of the viruses for which they haven’t fully been vaccinated. Each vaccine is different and your pediatrician can discuss with you the expected length of time that a vaccine will take to fully work.

Why are immunizations important?

Immunizations are one of the most effective preventive tools we have for protecting children and teens from potentially dangerous or fatal infections and diseases. Since many of these conditions can also cause serious complications including hospitalizations, getting your child vaccinated can prevent the need for extensive and expensive medical treatments.

Certain people, especially those with weakened immune systems, may not be able to get certain vaccinations. This means that they are particularly susceptible to infection. By getting more and more children vaccinated we can also protect other members of our community who can’t be vaccinated so they don’t deal with life-threatening illnesses, themselves.

We know that parents usually have a lot of questions when it comes to getting their child vaccinated and during your child’s next visit we would be happy to discuss these options with you. The CDC also has a handy immunization schedule that every family should follow to make sure that their child is getting the proper immunizations at the right time so they are always fully protected from certain illnesses and diseases.

If you have questions about the immunizations your child is supposed to be getting or if you need to schedule their next checkup call your pediatrician today.

Immunizations can help your child from becoming seriously ill if he or she is exposed to infectious diseases. That's why your pediatricians here at Southwest Children's Clinic in West Jordan, UT, offer various vaccines at their office—read on to learn more.

How immunizations protect your child

Immunizations introduce a killed or weakened form of germs into your son or daughter's body. The shots won't make your children ill, but they will prevent them from becoming sick if they're ever exposed to the germs. Immunizations prompt your child's body to produce antibodies, proteins that recognize and kill invading germs.

Vaccine safety has become a common topic of conversation during the past several years, as some parents worried that immunizations could do more harm than good. Unfortunately, failing to vaccinate children caused outbreaks of measles and whooping cough throughout the country. Some children who became sick developed serious or life-threatening complications. In the past, these diseases had been nearly eliminated in the U.S., thanks to widespread immunizations.

Immunizations may cause mild side effects, such as low fever or irritability, but they can't cause your child to become sick with a particular disease. Vaccines also don't cause autism, according to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention.

How immunizations protect the community

Babies and toddlers gradually receive all of their recommended immunizations over a course of several years. Until they do, they may not be completely protected. Immunizing the entire community ensures that young children or children who can't receive vaccines are never exposed to the germs that could make them very sick.

Immunizations your child may receive

Your child's pediatrician in West Jordan can help you safeguard your child's health by offering numerous immunizations. Vaccines protect your children from:

• Tetanus
• Polio
• Diphtheria
• Rotavirus
• Whooping Cough
• Hepatitis A and B
• Measles
• Mumps
• German Measles
• Haemophilus Influenzae Type B
• Chickenpox
• Pneumonia
• Blood Infections
• Meningitis
• Seasonal Influenza
• Human Papillomavirus

Your child's pediatrician will discuss the recommended vaccine schedule for your child during his or her checkups.

Immunizations reduce your child's risk of contracting a variety of diseases. Call the pediatrician here at Southwest Children's Clinic in West Jordan, UT, at (801) 563-1975 to schedule an appointment.