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Checkups at 5 Years

What Can Your Child Do at Five?

  • She can learn her address and phone number.
  • He skips and walks on his tiptoes.
  • She can broad jump.
  • He identifies coins.
  • She can tell her age and count on her fingers.
  • He can define simple words.
  • She understands that games have rules.
  • He dresses without help.
  • She can draw a fairly complicated person. She can copy a triangle or square.
  • He engages in make-believe.

What Can Your Child Eat?

  • She should have a balanced diet.
  • He should not snack frequently other than with fruits or vegetables.
  • Avoid adding extra salt in her diet. Increase her intake of fiber by giving her cereals, whole-grain breads, fruits, and vegetables.
  • Make sure he brushes his teeth at least once a day.
  • She should not have red meat and eggs daily.
  • Your eating habits are usually copied by your children. Try to make mealtime a pleasant time which includes conversation with your children.
  • He may be a picky eater. Offer him a balanced meal, but do not force him to eat. Do not let him dictate what is served. If he does not eat the wholesome meal you serve, then he should remain hungry for at least two hours before you give him a snack of fruit.
  • A multivitamin once a day may be a good idea if she is a picky eater.
  • If your home does not have fluoride in the water, a fluoride vitamin will be prescribed for him.

Immunizations

  • The following immunizations are needed in the fourth or fifth year:
  • Polio- a viral infection that causes paralysis.
  • DTP- a combined vaccine of diphtheria, tetanus, and pertussis.
  • MMR- a combined vaccine of measles, mumps, and rubella.
  • Your child will need no more immunizations for 5-6 years.

Tests to Be Done

Your child may have an analysis of the urine for the next checkup. This checks for kidney disease, diabetes, and bladder infections. Silent kidney infections in young girls can lead to kidney damage over time.

Your child needs a lead test if:

  1. He lives or regularly visits a house built before 1960, an old house with peeling or chipping paint, a home with lead plumbing, a home on a major highway, or one near a lead-producing or battery recycling plant.
  2. You have given her any home remedies that contain lead.
  3. Any of his friends or brothers or sisters have had lead poisoning or he eats paint chips or dirt.
  4. She is around an adult who works with lead in construction, welding, pottery, bullets, fishing weights, a firing range, stained glass, refinishing furniture, or car repair.

A tuberculin (TB) skin test may be needed if your child has been exposed to someone with TB, a chronic cough, IV drug use, HIV disease (AIDS), recent prison time, time in a developing country, or if required by school or insurance.

A hematocrit may need to be done to make sure that your child is not anemic.

Accident Prevention

  • He should not ride his bicycle in the street without an adult present and should always wear a safety helmet.
  • Teach her to look for cars both ways at the curb or driveway before stepping forward.
  • Furniture with sharp edges should be padded or taken out of his play areas.
  • She should not swim without adults around even in a wading pool.
  • It is unsafe for him to ride in the back of a pickup truck at any age.
  • By the time she is 40 pounds, she can wear a regular safety belt with a booster seat in the back seat. Airbags in the front seat make it unsafe for her to sit there.
  • Teach her to avoid strange animals.
  • Keep power tools, electrical equipment, matches, guns, sharp tools, and poisons away from him.
  • Storage batteries for toys and games can cause terrible problems if she swallows one.
  • He should be constantly watched while on the playground to avoid injuries.
  • Do not leave her alone with plastic bags or balloons.
  • Protect him from common household poisons such as liquor, mothballs, furniture polish, drain cleaners, weed killers, insect and rat poisons, kerosene, bleach, cosmetics, and dishwasher detergents.
  • Iron vitamins are a very common cause of death by poisoning in children.
  • Remember that 25% of childhood poisonings occur at the grandparent's house.
  • The number for Poison Control is 1-800-POISON 1 (1-800- 764-7661). Have Ipecac in the home but do not give it to your child without talking to your doctor or Poison Control.

Emotional and Social Development

  • She should be completely toilet trained during the day except for occasional accidents. She may still wet the bed at night for several years. This is more common in males who are deep sleepers.
  • He should start to do some chores such as cleaning the table after meals and keeping his room clean. A weekly allowance will help teach him to use money wisely.
  • Each parent should have time alone with her. This shows her that she is important to both of you. Encourage her to talk about her day.
  • Be quick to praise him and slow to anger.
  • She will enjoy exploratory walks and trips, marbles, cards, and board games.
  • Allow him to make choices whenever possible (red or yellow shirt, jelly or butter on her toast). This helps build his self-confidence by showing him that you trust his judgment.
  • Spend time each day reading to her.
  • Extensive television and video games limit family interaction and discourage his creativity.
  • Give reprimands to her privately so as not to embarrass her in front of her friends.
  • Provide appropriate and clearly stated limits along with the consequences for him of broken rules.
  • Do not threaten her with punishment for which you are not willing to follow through.
  • You cannot show too much affection toward him at this age.
  • Never joke about hurting or abandoning her. She may take your words quite seriously.
  • He should have a regular bedtime with a short bedtime ritual.
  • It is normal for her to have a favorite security object such as a blanket or stuffed animal.

Moral Development of Your Child

  • Your child will learn more from your example than from what you tell him. If you model smoking and frequent drinking, he will likely do these when he is older. If you model divorce or sexual activity with many partners, he will likely repeat this in adulthood. If you eat too much, swear often, and are self-centered, your child will likely be just like you 15 years from now.
  • You should limit her exposure to undesirable influences such as the undisciplined child next door, television, movies, and some printed material. All of these affect the way she thinks and the values she develops. Let her be a child for as long as possible.
  • Television and movies are special problems because children watch so much, adult activities such as sex and violence can be "understood" to a degree by young children, the impressive technology appears "truthful" and they appear more exciting than ordinary life, giving him a skewed view of reality.
  • Set limits on the amount and type of programs she watches and teach her what is morally good and bad about what she sees.
  • Irresponsible sex is shown on TV as glamorous and without risks. About 80-90% of the sex shown on TV is premarital, extramarital, or violent, and most of the marital sex is depicted as unenjoyable. Unintended pregnancy, disease, or divorce are rarely mentioned. Most parents disagree with this type of irresponsible sex, yet seem unaware that their child is influenced by what he sees.
  • Violence as shown in movies and television is usually self-serving or vengeful. If parents do not want their child to think of violence as acceptable behavior when angry or selfish, they need to limit her exposure to that philosophy.
  • It is philosophically difficult to maintain firm moral standards without some form of religious instruction. Traditional Christianity and Judaism places value on the individual, the healthy family, and compassion toward others. The media and most other world views emphasize selfishness, irresponsible lives, and hunger for possessions. This is one of the main reasons so many children, teenagers, and young adults are confused and in trouble.
  • We strongly encourage you to provide your child with religious instruction. Otherwise his values will be shaped by others' morals with whom you may not agree. One of the greatest gifts you can give your child is to join a traditional Christian church or Jewish synagogue that has a good "children's program.
  • Moral instruction begins at a young age. Waiting to begin until he is a teenager is too late.

 

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The information contained within this website is no substitution for timely medical care.

Feel free to copy the information on this web site and give to friends and family. Contact Dr. Glenn Wood at Carousel Pediatrics (512) 744-6000
We are located at 7112 Ed Bluestein Blvd., #100 - Austin, TX 78723

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