As a the physicians for your child between birth and age 10 these are some of the things we recommend that you do for your child to help him or her stay healthy:

  • Your child should have wellness visits at 2 weeks, 1 month, 2, 4, 6, 9, 12, 15, 18 months and at 2 years then annually. If you are unable to make these visits please let us know so that we can adjust the immunization schedule. Some insurance may not pay for all of these visits. If yours does not and you are unable to get shots for your child please let us know.
  • Your child should get a weight at every wellness visit and a blood pressure at annually after age 3.
  • Your child should get informal hearing and vision testing at each wellness visit and a more formal test after age 3 or 4.
  • In Alabama before the age of 2 months your child should be tested for Sickle Cell Disease, PKU, hypothyroidism, and congenital adrenal hyperplasia. These are blood tests that are done by sticking your baby’s heel.
  • Your child should get immunizations on a regular schedule at the following ages.
    1 mo 2 mo 4 mo 6 mo 12-15 mo 4-6 Yrs
    These routinely include a DPT(diphtheria, tetanus, whooping cough), IPV (Inactive polio virus), HIB (one bacteria that causes spinal meningitis), Hepatitis B (a virus causing liver disease), MMR (measles, mumps, and german measles). We also offer a shot active against Chicken Pox after age 1 to anyone who requests it although it may require other shots in adulthood to keep from getting the disease. Your child should have all early immunizations done by age 2 years and should be completely immunized by age 5. If you have any questions about these shots please ask your nurse or doctor.

Some parents have questions about how to keep their children healthy. While we don’t have all of the answers we have found that many parents ask specifically about the following. Please use this list to refresh your memory about any questions that you might have:

  • Injury prevention
  • Car seats
  • Switching to lap belts
  • Bicycle helmets
  • Smoke detector
  • Hot water temperature
  • Diet
  • Physical activity
  • Smoking in the house
  • Dental health
  • Water safety
  • Storage of poisons
  • Ipecac and poison control #
  • Diet and exercise
  • Breast feeding
  • Depression