4 Year Old Well Check up - What to Expect?

Just a quick note-My son had his vision checked my our family doc, and they found no problems. IMO, they are not thorough enough, obviously-they are not eye Drs. He kept complaining of headaches, so I set him up with my eye doc...turns out he did need glasses. So if you're concerned about your child's vision, take her to an eye doc. As far as what to expect, the 4 year check up is just a general well-child check. She'll probably get shots, although I know the range for the vaccines is 4-6 yrs. It's basically up to you when she receives them, if at all.

Just call your Ped and ask.

Typically, for 4 years old well-check, there is the #2 MMR, #4 IPV and PPD vaccinations given.

And yes, they do a hearing and vision test.
That is what our Ped's do.
Maybe a urine test too.

My daughter just had hers in March. She got 3 shots, but I don't know what exactly they were.

They also checked her eyes. Had her stand in the hall & look at a special eye chart with shapes & symbols that they can recognize at that age. Nurse said it's always fun to hear what kids call the different things! haha

And they checked her hearing. They put headphones on her and had her point to which ear she heard the sound from. I think she was a little confused with the instructions at first, but she did fine.

I think we tried to get a urine sample, but she wouldn't 'go' in the cup, so we didn't worry about it. Maybe next time. (She's been pretty healthy - no dr visits for illness since before her 3 yr checkup)

They do get quite a few shots, but they consider those the Kinder shots now. So they won't have to get anymore aside from a flu shot until they 11.
They do check eyes and ears....and try to get a urine sample. Other than that its like any other well check.

Our son's 4th birthday is tomorrow, and I just scheduled his appointment. The person on the other end was administrative, but she also mentioned 2 vaccines.

I tried looking-up the 4 year Well Child visit on the website for the American Academy of Pediatrics (aap.org), but most of the information is password protected for member physicians.

Here's what I can find, though:
http://pediatrics.aappublications.org/cgi/data/121/1/219/...

Here's what's on their parenting website, HealthyChildren.org:
http://www.healthychildren.org/English/family-life/health...

I'd probably also recommend giving them a call and seeing if they can describe what they're going to be assessing vs. other appointments in previous stages.

I agree with the other posters for what you can expect. I just wanted to add one more thing. Although the doctor (or nurse) will perform a basic eye exam, that in no way should replace an actual appointment with an eye doctor. Just like the doctor looking in your child's mouth and at their teeth should in no way replace a visit to the dentist :) If you have vision concerns, consider making an appointment with a local eye doctor.

Good luck!

At our 4 year old check up they checked hearing and health. She did get a few shots and they drew blood too. I take her to an actual eye doc for eye tests, I believe that specialists in an area are better than just a family doc. We use a Pediatric Dentist for all the kids dental care, they are specialist in baby teeth and children's teeth, an ORL doc for sinus, throat or other upper resp. stuff, and then use the Pediatrician for anything else. You can call the doc's office and ask specifically what they'll be doing.

make sure and ask for a CBC and a cholesterol test, too. Might as well have it all done at once. MY daughter's appointment last year (4 yr.) was not exactly the highlight of her year... shots and finger pokes :( However, I told her that after the appointment we would go to the cupcake store and pick out 2 cupcakes for her to have for being so brave and grown up at her appointment. It actually worked. Instead of dwelling on the impending doom of the shots/finger pokes... she was focused on what 2 cupcakes she was going to get. I also requested that all of the shots/finger pokes happened at the beginning of the appointment... so that "we" didn't have to dwell on them the enitre appointment. This really worked out well. By the time our Ped came in to do the exam, she was all cupcakes... no more tears.