Melomed, Gatesville in Cape Town
The first routine weight check will take place 1 week after you and your baby are discharged from the hospital. Thereafter, growth and development assessments take place at 6 weeks, 5 months, 9 months (optional), 12 months, 18months and yearly thereafter. During a general health check, Dr Khan will do a comprehensive assessment of your baby, evaluate their growth and development, and focus on parental education.
To ensure that your child is growing adequately, the child's parameters are plotted on growth charts according to growth standards for their particular age. By tracking and monitoring these parameters, Dr Khan can detect growth problems early. This allows parents to address the issue as soon as possible to allow for the best outcome for the child.
A common concern in infancy is poor weight gain and failure to thrive. For this reason, problems regarding sleep patterns, feeding issues, bowel movements, and skin problems are addressed at every visit. Subsequently, Dr Khan will offer the best advice with evidence-based medicine in mind.
Aside from growth, development milestones are assessed during these visits. It is important to ensure that a child achieves certain milestones (motor, sensory, vision, hearing, language) within a specific timeframe. Early detection of problems with early intervention allows for the best possible outcome.
During each of these well-baby follow-up consultations, Dr Khan also focuses on other related issues, including diet, sleep, behaviour, habits, environmental factors and immunisation advice.