5 Year Well-Child Visit

• Feeding: Continue to offer 3 meals and 1-2 nutritious snacks each day. Involve your child in meal planning and preparation. Take your 5 year old to the grocery store and teach him to make good food choices. Encourage his curiosity by introducing the food pyramid. It’s important to share mealtimes as a family. This is a great time to show interest in what your child did at pre-school or kindergarten and to encourage sharing experiences from all family members.
• Elimination: Most children are completely potty trained at this age though some continue to have nighttime wetting. Continue to reinforce the importance of good hand washing.
• Sleep: Establish the practice of preparing for the following day by laying out clothes, packing your child’s backpack, and asking your child about what he will be doing tomorrow in school. Read bedtime stories and use a night-light to comfort and help them feel safe. Encourage word recognition as you read.

Development:

• Motor Skills: At age 5 your child can dress himself. He can skip on alternate feet, hop well, catch a bounced ball and ride a bike with or without training wheels. He can draw a recognizable picture, form some letters spontaneously and colors neatly.
• Communication/Socialization: 5 year olds are very talkative. They have a vocabulary of approximately 2000 words and can repeat complex sentences. Your child will ask for the meaning of words and show intense curiosity about adult conversation. The last sounds to be mastered are t, v, l, th, z, zh, and j; these sounds are typically perfected between ages 6 and 7. Children this age usually play well with others and are able to take turns and conform to simple rules regarding behavior.

Safety: Children this age know what actions might be dangerous, but close observation at all times is essential to keep your child safe. There is increased experimentation with independence.

• Continue to use a car safety seat. If you have a passenger side airbag, your child needs to remain in the back seat until age 12 years. Booster seats are recommended until 9 years of age or 57” in height.
• Never leave your child alone in the car, tub, home or yard.
• Teach safety around animals.
• Any guns in the home should be locked up with ammunition kept separately.
• Keep matches, lighters and cigarettes in a high, latched cabinet. Never allow smoking in your home or car.
• Keep the poison control phone number by your phone (1-800-222-1222).
• Talk to your child about strangers and explain, “good touch vs. bad touch.”
• Make sure that your child knows her name, her parents’ names, home phone number including area code, and emergency number (911).
• Use life jackets and helmets. Be a good example for all children.
• Make certain that your child understands school bus and street crossing safety.

Parenting: Discipline with love by using firm, consistent rules. Use only nonviolent discipline. Most 5 year olds want to please their parents by doing what their parents say. Generously praise your child for good behavior. Limit TV watching to less than 2 hours per day of good quality children’s entertainment. Turn to your child and offer him your full attention when he talks to you or tells you a story.

Play: Reading remains one of the most important activities that you can share with your child. Children this age enjoy playing with their peers. They can play simple board games and do puzzles. They also enjoy art and craft activities as well as devising new games with new rules. Outdoor activities remain important, as do singing, dancing, and simple riddles. Puppets help encourage storytelling and imaginative play.

Next visit is at 6 years of age.