# What is standard at well child check-ups/physicals?



## camillabien (Jun 8, 2015)

A reply to another post of mine made me start to think about this, and I realized I've never really heard anyone talk about this, so I don't know what the norm is: When you take your children to the pediatrician for their yearly visits, how much do they need to undress, and is a genital exam given?

For all three of my sons, they start the exam fully clothed and our pediatrician checks their eyes/ears/noses. Then she'l ask them to take off their shirt so she can check their chest/back. Then she asks them to take off their pants so she can check his legs/knees/reflexes. Then she pulls down his underwear, briefly feels each testicle, lightly retracts their foreskin (enough so that it retracts as far as it can comfortably go, but not be forced), and pulls their underwear back up. 

For my younger daughter (and I assume my older, but she goes in alone), she has to take off her shirt and pants before the doctor comes in and she puts on a gown. There is no breast or genital check for her. Before they got their periods though, their exams were done the same way as my sons are (undress as they go with no gown) but instead of having their underwear pulled down, the doctor just pulled out the front of the waistband to check for hair growth.

Is that the normal procedure or does your pediatrician do something different? I don't know if this has any effect on what is done, but our pediatrician is a woman in her early-mid 30's.


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## blessedwithboys (Dec 8, 2004)

Your ped needs to stop messing with foreskins!


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## camillabien (Jun 8, 2015)

blessedwithboys said:


> Your ped needs to stop messing with foreskins!


Why? She doesn't include the foreskin check until the 1st grade check-up, and my two youngest sons could both already retract completely by that point. For my 7yr old DS and 9yr old DS she pulls the foreskin back all the way to look for signs of poor hygiene (which boys really do need to be checked for after they retract naturally) and for my 12yr old DS (who has not retracted yet), she just gives it an extremely gentle tug to see if it's started to retract on it's own yet.


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## zebra15 (Oct 2, 2009)

I stopped taking DS to the ped around age 10 and went to a family practice. We dont do 'well child' check ups....


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## moominmamma (Jul 5, 2003)

Well the standard here is we don't do well-child visits past age 2-3. There are public health nurse visits through schools that look after things like developmental readiness for kindergarten, dental, vision, vaccinations and hearing checks from age 4+. No general physical exams, no doctor's appointments unless there is some cause for concern that is reason for a parent to bring a child in.

Miranda


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## profe (Aug 19, 2015)

A foreskin should not be retracted by anyone other than the owner until it has been fully retractable on its own. And at that point, other than a medical problem specific to the region, there is no need to retract a healthy foreskin. Retracting it before it is ready can cause problems. Other than checking testicles, I can't think of a routine reason she should be looking at their genitals. Maybe it's just me, but the thought of her retracting a 12 year old's foreskin throws all kinds of flags for me.


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## Linda on the move (Jun 15, 2005)

My kids had occasional physicals for things like school or camp. They were done fully clothed. The doctor listened to their heart and lungs, checked reflexes, screened hearing and vision, and asked a view questions.


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## camillabien (Jun 8, 2015)

profe said:


> Other than checking testicles, I can't think of a routine reason she should be looking at their genitals.


Tanner stage


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