In their earliest months and years, your child grows and develops an incredible array of new physical skills. Alongside the awe of watching your child develop, it’s important to keep track of the pace at which they’re growing.
At Valencia Pediatrics in Victorville, California, Rainilda Valencia, MD, Micaela Marin-Tucker, PA-C, and Megan Reynolds, C-PNP, make tracking your child’s physical growth easy by assessing and monitoring them at developmental screenings.
Learn what a developmental screening can tell you about your child’s physical growth.
Developmental screenings offer a specific and holistic look at your child’s early growth and development. At a developmental screening, our team assesses and identifies any concerns regarding your child’s physical growth, gross motor skills, language, and cognitive development.
For most children, our team recommends your child attend developmental screenings alongside well-child visits at the following times:
In addition, we perform developmental screenings at your child’s annual well-child visit through the age of five. If there are any concerns about your child’s development, our team might recommend they come in for additional developmental screenings.
One of the most important parts of a developmental screening is monitoring your child’s physical growth. At each developmental screening, our team looks to see how your child’s height, weight, physical strength, physical skills, and motor skills compare to other children of the same age.
At your child’s 9-month screening, our team assesses physical skills such as their ability to roll over, sit up independently, and identify and reach for objects. By 18 months, we check if your child is standing by themselves and starting to take their first steps, with or without grabbing onto objects.
At 24 months, our providers monitor to see if your child is able to run around, jump, throw a ball, and stand on their tiptoes. Once your child is 36 months old, we look to see if they can catch a ball and walk up and down steps.
By age 5, the final time we assess most children, we check to see if your child can do activities like hop on one foot, use scissors, and use the toilet independently.
For children displaying expected physical growth and motor skills for their age, we encourage you to continue observing their growth and scheduling their recommended developmental screenings. Our team is always available if questions arise about your child’s physical development.
When your child is off track with their motor skills or overall growth, it doesn’t always mean there’s a problem, but our team might recommend additional screenings or interventions to help them catch up. Developmental screenings make it easy for our team to ensure your child gets the earliest intervention possible to set them up for success.
By making sure your child receives comprehensive developmental screenings at the recommended intervals, you can have peace of mind or quickly find support for your child. Call 442-204-0019 today to schedule a developmental screening at Valencia Pediatrics.
