The First Few Baby Appointments

To the point 

1. Planning ahead will help alleviate stress from yourself and the mother of your child. 

2. Research and create a list of pediatricians that align with your parenting goals 

3. Call provider and plan your visit well in advance of the expected due date 

4. Make sure your desired provider is taking new patients around expected time of birth 

5. Verify your choice provider takes your insurance 

6. Be prepared to setup the first office visit appointment with your pediatrician the day after your child is born and is expected to be released from the hospital 

7. First appointments assess babies' overall health and habits within the first week to make sure everything is going as it should 

Brief Rundown 

Once your new one enters the world, there will likely be a number of people who want to meet them. Your first week with the newborn can be very fast paced and often chaotic. Visit after visit, checkup after checkup. You may hardly find a moment for your new family to be alone. For me, the first 48 hours after our child was born was a blur. It was easy to forget things out of my immediate field of view. I was so excited to have my little one, tired from the constant checkups and visit, and laser focused on being a new dad. 

However, when the little one is born, and you finally get to take the little one home, that isn't the end of the medical visits for that week. The American Academy of Pediatrics recommends the baby's first newborn office visit with your pediatrician within the first 3-5 days post-birth. It is important that you make time to schedule this visit as it is essential in assessing your little one's health and needs. Additionally, it is a great opportunity for parents or legal guardians to ask any questions that they develop within the first week. 

Prior to birth, you should start looking for a pediatrician for your child. I recommend starting to look around 30-32 weeks into the pregnancy at the latest. Or, even as soon as you find out that you are pregnant or are planning to try for a child.  The first reason for starting your search early (and in my opinion the most important reason) is because you never know when the baby will arrive, or what their needs will be. In my opinion, it is best to prepare for this situation. That way you are not scrambling to find a doctor at the last minute. One less thing to worry about approaching birth can be a big relief.  

The second reason why I recommend searching for a pediatrician early on is that you may want time to choose one that you believe will best suit your little one's needs. I also recommend listing several that you would like your little one to see and ranking them. Give yourself time to research. Depending on where you live, some pediatricians may not be accepting new patients.  

Thirdly, you will want to make sure the pediatricians office takes whatever form of insurance or payment that you have available to you. 

Call the pediatricians office to see if they are accepting new patients and what their availability looks like circa the 40-week mark. Do not assume your choices will be available when your baby comes. Do not assume your choice provider can take your insurance or payment method. Make SURE they do. 

What to expect

When my first child was born, I was able to call my pediatricians office the next day and schedule the first visit with ease (this will not always be the case, just my experience). It was a huge relief for that process to be easy. Birth is beautiful, scary, exciting, and can be full of uncertainty. Preparing yourself well ahead of time can free you up mentally and physically for whatever needs may arise.  

At your very first visit, your pediatrician may cover health assessments such as checks for umbilical cord dryness/signs of infection/shape and size, parent/infant feeding practices, baseline for height and weight, reflexes, heart and lung health, and much more. Also, this might be the first time the provider asks you to fill out the optional parental mental health survey. You may be asked to fill one out every subsequent visit to your pediatrician. This is important and is not just for mothers. I will cover the topic of fathers' mental health in more detail in another article. But please consider taking the assessment if for nothing else than your own knowledge of where you are mentally and observing how your mental baseline shifts over time.  

Make sure you prepare some questions for your provider. This first week can be a steep learning curve for some of us (I know it was for me). I recommend writing down a list of questions that you have in an easily retrievable place such as your cell phone notes, or a notebook.  

A glimpse

There are several medical checkmarks that the pediatricians look for during each appointment. The list below provides insight into what the pediatricians may be looking for during the first appointment, as well as subsequent milestone appointments. This list is not all encompassing and may be missing details. However, the general points are as follows,  

1 Week Old (3-5 days old) - First Appointment is the newborn appointment. This establishes care for your child as a new patient, checks for umbilical cord, healthy eating schedule for the baby, baseline for height and weight, reflexes, heart and lung health, child safety, HiB Vaccine (if not done in hospital), and much more. First option parental mental health survey. 

2 Week - Your Pediatrician may or may not ask you to schedule this. Checks for Jaundice, weight, sleep, and parental adjustment 

1 Month - Growth, developmental milestones, reflexes, eating, sleeping habits, maybe vaccines 

2 Month - developmental and physical growth, vaccines (RV (Rotavirus), DTaP, HiB (Flu B) PCV, IPV (polio) 

4 Month - General physical health and development, mental health/milestones, vaccinations 

6 Month - General physical health and development, mental health/milestones, vaccinations 

9 Month -General physical health and development, mental health/milestones, outstanding vaccinations, possible autism screening, sleep/separation anxiety (this is when my baby started calling for us in the night) 

12 Month - General physical health and development, mental health/milestones 

Be prepared. Think ahead. It may save you from unnecessary stress. Allowing you to enjoy bringing your new child into the world. 

Resources 

1. Type into google “Find pediatrician near me” to get your search started 

2. Make your you location is set correctly for where you would like to find a pediatrician  

3. To see if a pediatrician is certified by the American Society of Pediatrics, see here 

Sources 

Newborn visit. Newborn Visit. (2022, June 9). https://www.aap.org/en/patient-care/newborn-and-infant-nutrition/newborn-and-infant-health-assessment-and-promotion/newborn-visit/?srsltid=AfmBOooI6c2sT3RBSKN5q3oMv4S-scXyHV1P8abTbb8_9IL7BSLtOkvl  

Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. (2025, May 29). Child and adolescent immunization schedule by age. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. https://www.cdc.gov/vaccines/hcp/imz-schedules/child-adolescent-age.html