Posts for tag: Pediatrician
Why do you need to visit your pediatrician once a year even though your child seems healthy and happy? One benefit is making sure your child stays up to date on vaccines, but that isn’t the sole purpose of well-child visits. There are a few reasons the doctors at Pediatric Associates of Wellesley encourage all parents to visit a pediatrician in Medfield and Weston, MA, annually.
Growth and Development Checkups
Starting from birth, your pediatrician will measure your child’s growth, including weight and length or height. They will discuss developmental milestones to ensure your child is growing healthfully. All children are unique, but there are early signs of developmental problems that your pediatrician can detect even if you aren’t seeing obvious signs at home.
You may also have questions and concerns about your child’s growth and development. Wellness visits are the perfect time to get answers from an expert. Those answers are tailored to your child’s unique medical history.
Addressing Health Concerns and Potential Risks
Your pediatrician in Medfield and Weston, MA, will get to know your child with every passing year. They may pick up on potential health risks earlier because they have watched your child’s growth over time. If there’s a change in behavior or a new health development, your pediatrician will address it right away.
Early diagnosis is critical to treating small problems before they become big health risks. Pediatricians use input from parents as well as physical examinations to identify the need for further testing or treatment.
If your child has a diagnosed medical condition, wellness visits are even more important. You may need to see your pediatrician more than once a year to ensure your child receives proper care as they grow.
Teaching Self-Care, Health, and Wellness
One often-overlooked importance of well-child visits is the message that they send your child. Kids learn from an early age that their health is important. They get accustomed to discussing how they feel with a medical provider they trust.
When these visits are matched with a healthy focus on health and wellness at home, children are likely to continue caring for their bodies into adulthood. That may lower their risk for disease and illness throughout their lifetime. It’s one of the simplest ways to give your child a healthy start.
Is it time to schedule your child’s next visit with a pediatrician in Medfield and Weston, MA? The doctors at Pediatric Associates of Wellesley are excited to see how your little one is growing and are ready to address your questions and concerns. Call (781) 736-0040 to reach our Weston office or (508) 359-9200 to reach our Medfield office.
An important component of newborn care is scheduling regular well-visits with your baby’s pediatrician. Well-visits allow the doctor to closely monitor your little one’s growth and development to ensure everything is on track. In Midfield and Weston, MA, newborn care is available at Pediatric Associates of Wellesley. Our experienced and caring pediatric staff can help your child enjoy better health throughout childhood.
Well Visits for Newborns
Well-visits are checkups with your child’s pediatrician in which several aspects of health and wellness are examined. Well-visits include documentation of height and weight measurements, physical exams, hearing and vision screenings, behavioral assessments, monitoring developmental milestones, and vaccination.
Babies grow and develop quickly during the first few months so your newborn will have several well-visits with one of the skilled pediatricians at our office during this time. Your newborn’s first visit with a pediatrician will take place at the hospital within 24 hours of birth. A pediatric doctor will continue to examine your baby daily until released from the hospital.
Within a few days of discharging from the hospital, you will need to bring your little one into our pediatric office in either Midfield or Weston, MA, for newborn care. The next appointment is usually scheduled for two weeks later at about three weeks of age. Your little one’s next appointment will be at two months of age, then every two to three months until your baby reaches 18 months. The interval between well-visits is extended around this time so your little one won’t need to come in as often.
Newborn Vaccinations
An important aspect of well-visits is vaccination. Vaccinations protect your little one from the threat of many serious illnesses and diseases by helping your child build immunity to them. The vaccination and immunization schedule developed by the Centers for Disease Control (CDC) and recommended by the American Academy of Pediatrics (AAP) begins at birth. Your newborn might receive the first dose of certain vaccines at the hospital Remaining doses and other vaccinations will be administered at our pediatric office according to the immunization schedule.
Well-visits are an essential component of newborn care. Our caring pediatric staff will monitor your child’s growth and development and help your little one enjoy better health. For newborn care in Weston, MA, schedule a well-visit with one of our pediatricians by calling Pediatric Associates of Wellesley at (781) 736-0040. Appointments are also available at our Midfield office location by calling (508) 359-9200.

You might brush off the early signs of whooping cough because they look an awful lot like the common cold. Older children and teens may develop congestion, mild fever, cough, or runny nose; however, within the first 1-2 weeks you will notice that the cough gets worse. In fact, your child may develop severe and sudden coughing fits.
Children and newborns are more likely to display severe symptoms. They may not have a whoop in their cough, but they may vomit or show severe fatigue after coughing. While anyone can develop whooping cough, infants are at particular risk for serious and life-threatening complications so it’s important to have your family vaccinated.
While newborns are too young to be vaccinated against whooping cough, you should make sure that the rest of your family is fully vaccinated. The DTaP vaccine will protect against whooping cough and will be administered at 2, 4, and 6 months old, again at 15 to 18 months, and again at 6 years for a total of five doses.
If you suspect that your child might have whooping cough, you must call your pediatrician right away. Children under 18 months old may require hospitalization so doctors can continuously monitor them, as children are more likely to stop breathing with whooping cough. Of course, coming in during the early stages of the infection is important as antibiotics are more effective at the very start of the illness.
- Resting as much as possible
- Staying hydrated
- Sticking to smaller meals to safeguard against cough-induced vomiting
- Making sure your family is up to date on their vaccinations

This is a normal habit in newborns that typically goes away around 6-7 months; however, this seemingly innocuous habit may actually be a cause for concern if thumb sucking continues beyond 2-4 years, where it can alter the shape of the face or cause teeth to stick out.
Many children desire a pacifier between feedings, but this should not be a replacement for feedings. It’s important to recognize when your child is sucking because they are hungry and whether they merely want to self-soothe. If your child still has an urge to suck and they don’t need to nurse, then a pacifier is a safe way to soothe and ease your child’s needs (if they want it).
- Do not tease or punish your child for using a pacifier, but instead praise them when they do not use it. Provide them with rewards when they go without it.
- Some children use pacifiers out of boredom, so give your child something to do to distract them such as playing with a game or toy (to keep their hands busy).
- If incentives and rewards aren’t enough and your child is still using a pacifier, your pediatrician may recommend a “thumb guard” that can prevent your child from sucking their thumb. While you may feel in a rush to get rid of your child’s pacifier, it’s important to be patient. All children eventually stop this habit.

- Apply pressure to the cut for five minutes. If it’s still bleeding after five minutes, it probably needs stitches
- The cut is more than ½-inch deep or longer
- The cut is around their eye
- The cut is on their face or neck and is longer than ¼ inch
- The cut is gaping open
- There is an object sticking out of it, including debris or glass
- The cut is spurting blood
When should I call the pediatrician?
If in doubt about whether or not your child may need stitches, call your pediatrician. With the introduction of telehealth visits, many pediatricians can now look at images of the injury or wound through a simple online appointment and determine whether the child or teen needs to come in for stitches. While the warning signs above are telltale indicators that your child may need stitches, even if the cut doesn’t need stitches, you should still see the doctor if:
- The cut was made by a rusty or metal object
- There is redness, swelling, pus, or other signs of infection
- The child has been bitten by an animal
- The cut hasn’t healed within 10 days
- There is still severe pain after a few hours
If you still aren’t sure whether or not your child should get stitches, it doesn’t hurt to give your pediatrician a call. Let us know the symptoms your child is experiencing, and we can determine if their injury requires a closer look from our team. Call us today; we can deal with your child’s urgent medical matters.