• Skip to main content
  • Skip to primary sidebar
  • Skip to footer
  • (727) 787-6335
Children’s Medical Center
  • Patient Portal
  • Make a Payment
  • Patient Portal
  • Home
  • About Us
    • COVID-19 Info
    • Careers
  • Meet Our Physicians
    • Khan Adnan, MD
    • Alfred Alvarez, MD
    • Christine Armstrong, MD
    • Beatriz Arvelo-Sankey, MD
    • Antigone Athanasatos, DO
    • Janet Black, MD
    • Taylor Alberdi Bradley, MD
    • Lara Cavanaugh, MD
    • Lisa Cronin, MD
    • Sonia Farooqi, MD
    • Hafsa Mohiuddin, DO
    • Natasha Hughes, MD
    • Jay Klein, MD
    • Rory Mills, MD
    • Paul Mitchell, MD
    • Efstratios Pantages, MD
    • Dolores Razman, MD
    • Duane Rommel, MD
    • Jennifer Sawka, MD
    • Charlene Weber, MD
    • Ellyn Theophilopoulos, MD
    • LeighAnn Riemer, DO
  • Services & Specialties
    • Expecting Parents/Prenatal Visits
    • Newborns
    • Lactation Services
    • Early Childhood Care
    • School Age
    • Adolescent Care
    • Vaccines & Immunizations
    • Sick Visits/Urgent Care
    • Telemedicine
    • Nutrition
    • Behavioral & Development
    • Mental Health
  • Resources
    • Patient Portal
    • Patient Forms
    • Classes & Events
    • Helpful Links & Info
    • Insurances Accepted
  • Blog
  • Contact & Locations
    • Palm Harbor
    • Westchase
    • Trinity
    • Lutz

A Newborn’s First Physical Exam: What to Expect

November 5, 2021

Doctor examining a newborn

Whether you are in the home stretch of your pregnancy or have just given birth, you most probably agree that nothing is more exhilarating than anticipating your baby’s “firsts”: their first cry, first smile, first coo, among many others. However, there’s one other “first” that you need to anticipate, and this is highly essential for ensuring your baby has the healthiest start to life—their first physical exam.

Usually recommended within three to five days after birth, your newborn’s first physical exam is the time when your pediatrician will start monitoring your baby’s growth and development. Your baby’s first wellness visit is also an opportunity for your pediatrician to check for signs of potentially serious problems, so these can be addressed right away. Additionally, it is a great way for you to establish a relationship with your pediatrician, whom you will be working with in the next 18 years.

Here’s some information to give you a basic idea of what to expect at your newborn’s first physical exam.

Your Baby’s Measurements and Head-to-Toe Physical Assessment

There are several routine steps your pediatrician and their staff will take during your appointment that you will eventually get familiar with as you bring your baby in for future well-visits.

Your doctor’s staff will likely start with taking your baby’s temperature as well as the height, weight, and head circumference measurements and plot them on a growth chart to create your newborn’s growth curve.

Your doctor will then do a comprehensive assessment. Outlined below are some specific areas your pediatrician will examine:

  • Head- Your pediatrician will palpate your baby’s soft spots (fontanelle) to check if they are sunken or bulging. This helps your pediatrician ascertain that your baby is properly hydrated (a sunken fontanelle indicates dehydration) and assess the pressure inside your baby’s brain.
  • Eyes – to test your baby’s vision and examine their eyes to find potential signs that they need greater attention (e.g., drooping eyelid, inflammation, etc.)
  • Ears- to check for signs of fluid buildup or infection and observe how your baby responds to sounds.
  • Mouth- to examine for any abnormalities, such as tongue-tie (a congenital condition in which the tongue is attached too tightly to the floor of the mouth) and cleft palate, both of which can be corrected eventually with surgery.
  • Spine – to check your newborn for signs of spine problems, such as meningitis (potentially deadly infection affecting the fluid and the membranes surrounding the brain and spinal cord) and spina bifida (a birth defect in which the spine and spinal cord don’t develop properly).
  • Hands and feet- to assess your baby’s reflexes and screen for neurological problems.
  • Hips- to check for dislocation
  • Genitalia- If your baby is a boy, his testicles will be assessed to make sure they have descended properly into the scrotal sac. The penis will also be checked for any abnormalities. If your baby is a girl, her vagina, clitoris, and labia will be checked for signs of infection, lumps, or tenderness.

Immunization

Your pediatrician will administer the hepatitis B shot if your newborn did not receive it before you left the hospital.

Your pediatrician will also inform you about your baby’s vaccination schedule. This is a plan that they follow to ensure your child receives the correct vaccines at a specific age and gets fully protected from diseases that commonly affect certain pediatric age groups.

Discussing Your Child’s Care with Your Pediatrician

Your newborn’s first wellness visit is also a good opportunity for you to ask questions, seek expert advice, and consequently gather as much important information as possible to help you properly care for your baby.

It helps to discuss the following things with your pediatrician:

  • Feeding– their recommended brand or type of formula, soothing strategies for colic, frequency of feeds, common breastfeeding problems, etc.
  • Bathing- how to keep your baby’s umbilical cord clean, how often to clean it, what to clean it with, which bath products are safe to use, etc.
  • Bowel movements and urination- the normal bowel frequency, consistency, amount, and color; and urine output
  • Sleeping- sleep positions, whether you need to wake your baby to feed them, the amount of sleep your baby has, etc.

Pediatric Physical Exam in Palm Harbor, Trinity, Westchase, and Lutz, FL

At Children’s Medical Center, our board-certified pediatricians are driven to provide high-quality, comprehensive health care in a compassionate and nurturing environment. As part of that commitment, we offer a vast range of pediatric healthcare services, including physical exams, circumcision, in-office lab tests, sick visits, and routine well-care visits, so you can have your child taken care of in one location.

To schedule an appointment with one of our pediatricians, call our office near you: Palm Harbor office- (727) 787-6335, Westchase office- (813) 891-6501, Trinity office- (727) 376-8404, or Lutz office- (813) 751-3131.

Filed Under: Pediatrician Tagged With: Best Pediatrician near me, Children’s Medical Center, pediatric physical exam, pediatric physical exam near me, pediatric physical exam Palm Harbor FL, pediatric physical exam Trinity FL, pediatrician Lutz FL, pediatrician near me, pediatrician Westchase FL

Primary Sidebar

November 2021
M T W T F S S
1234567
891011121314
15161718192021
22232425262728
2930  
« Oct   Dec »

Categories

  • ADD/ADHD
  • Annual Checkup
  • ASD
  • Autism
  • Baby Food
  • Baby Nutrition
  • Child Care
  • Child Development
  • Childhood Education
  • COVID-19
  • Flu
  • Fractures
  • General
  • Healthy Habits
  • Immunizations
  • Kids Nutrition
  • Lactation Services
  • Mental Health
  • Neonatal Physician
  • Pediatric Urgent Care
  • Pediatrician
  • Physical
  • Safety Tips
  • Summer Slide
  • Vaccinations
  • Youth Development

Tags

best pediatric care near me Best Pediatrician near me best pediatric office near me child care clinic near me Children’s Medical Center child treatment clinic near me Child’s Pediatrician COVID-19 testing for kids Lutz FL COVID-19 testing for kids near me COVID-19 testing for kids Westchase FL Developmental Pediatric Care in Lutz FL Developmental Pediatric Care in Palm Harbor FL Developmental Pediatric Care in Tampa FL Developmental Pediatric Care in Trinity FL Developmental Pediatric Care in Westchase FL Developmental Pediatric Care near me Lactation Center near me Lactation Center Palm Harbor FL lactation consultant lactation consultant near me lactation consultant Palm Harbor FL lactation consultant Trinity FL lactation consultant Westchase FL lactation services lactation services near me pediatric care near me pediatrician Lutz FL pediatrician near me pediatrician office pediatrician office Palm Harbor FL pediatrician Palm Harbor FL Pediatricians in Lutz FL Pediatricians in Palm Harbor FL Pediatricians in Trinity FL Pediatricians in Westchase FL pediatrician Trinity FL pediatrician Westchase FL pediatric office near me screen time treatment for children's developmental issues in Lutz FL treatment for children's developmental issues in Palm Harbor FL treatment for children's developmental issues near me vaccinations for babies near me vaccinations for children in Westchase FL vaccinations for children near me

Footer

PATIENT REVIEWS

As a result of the compassionate care we deliver, we often hear from our patients about how our doctors and staff have helped them. Here are some of our favorite reviews.

LEAVE A REVIEW
READ REVIEWS
We love this location! All staff members are friendly, caring, and very knowledgeable! We have see a few different Dr.'s at this location and were very pleased with all of them!

Brittany W.

Mother

PATIENT EDUCATION

Do you want to know more about the wide range of conditions we treat at Children’s Medical Center? Check out our exclusive A-Z patient education library!

Learn More

CHILDREN’S MEDICAL CENTER BLOG

Share the latest updates and information in the field of pediatrics, while keeping up on news about our practice with Children’s Medical Center’s extensive collection of blog articles.

Learn More
  • Home
  • About Us
  • Meet Our Physicians
  • Services & Specialties
  • Resources
  • Blog
  • Patient Education
  • Contact & Locations
  • Online Billpay
  • Patient Portal
  • Accessibility Statement
  • HIPAA Privacy Policy
  • Sitemap
Copyright © · Children’s Medical Center · All Rights Reserved
iHealthspot Medical Website Design and Medical Marketing by iHealthSpot.com

At Children’s Medical Center, some of our pediatric services and specialties include Routine well-care, Adolescent care, Newborn care, Early childhood care, School age care Adolescent care, Adolescent care, Vaccinations and immunizations, Sick visits/urgent care, Sports physicals, Telemedicine, Lactation Center, Registered Dietitian, ADHD/ADD management, Telemedicine, Nutrition, Behavioral & Development, and Mental Health.