Nine Month Well Visit: What to Expect
Congratulations! Your baby is now a nine months old! She is already changing from a baby to a young child. She is talking to you (in her own language), standing, feeding herself, and exploring her world.
Well-child visits are an essential part of keeping your baby healthy and safe. Here is what to expect today.
What to expect today
- We will ask about what you are feeding your baby, and be sure he is getting the proper nutrition at this age.
- We will examine your baby’s growth, making sure she is growing at a normal rate for her age. This is a very important part of making sure children are healthy and are getting the proper nutrition. Your child’s growth has now slowed down from what it was when she was a few months old.
- We will check on how he is sleeping because this is important for her health (and for the whole family!).
- We will ask what kind of things he is doing now to be sure her brain, nerves and muscles are developing properly.
- We will do a full physical exam, looking at every part of your baby’s body. Please let the doctor know if you have any particular questions or concerns.
Vaccines given today
- We typically give the third dose of hepatitis B vaccine at this visit, but it can be given anytime from 6-18 months old, depending on the child’s schedule.
- The flu vaccine is recommended for all children, especially ages 6 to 59 months old, because there is a much higher rate of severe illness and complications from flu at this age. Two doses are needed if your child has not had two doses of the flu vaccine before. The vaccine is usually given between October and April each year.
Development
Your child should be doing the following things now; if not, please let us know:
- playing socially, interacting with you.
- transferring objects from hand to hand.
- sitting well without assistance.
Developmental Screening
We will do a formal developmental evaluation of your child today. Although we check your child’s development at every visit, there are certain ages where we do a more thorough evaluation. This will consist of a questionnaire you will fill out and we will evaluate and score. If your child has any signs of delays in development, we will ask further questions and may refer your child for further evaluation if necessary.
Information you will receive today
- Caring for your 9 month old
- Vaccine Information Sheets on any vaccines given.
- Developmental screening results.