Does Baby Need That Test? the Most Common Medical Procedures, Revealed
Your pediatrician has probably already consulted you about a vaccine schedule for baby, but other than that, you might be unfamiliar with which tests and procedures your child will actually need. Should you consider a vision test for your toddler? What about circumcision for your newborn?
Doctor-finding resource Amino spent two years sourcing information from over 22 million US patients to determine the most common procedures among infants and toddlers, offering some perspective for parents. Circumcision, for example, isn’t as common as you might think — only 77 percent of baby boys are circumcised, making it the no. 5 most common procedure for boys under age 10. Ultimately, the Amino findings uncovered some great news: vaccinations are by far the most common procedures.
Here’s what going on, year by year.
0-12 months:
The pneumococcal vaccine is the most common procedure for both baby boys and baby girls. Also known as PCV13, it prevents streptococcus pneumoniae, an illness that can cause blood infections, ear infections, meningitis and pneumonia in children.
Other common procedures:
Rotavirus vaccine
DTaP vaccine
Polio vaccine
Hemophilus influenza B vaccine
Hepatitis B vaccine
1 year old:
The pneumococcal vaccine still ranks no. 1 among one-year-old babies.
Other common procedures:
Hemophilus influenza B vaccine
Hepatitis A vaccine
- MMR vacine
- Chicken pox vaccine
2 years old:
The Hepatitis A vaccine is the leading procedure for toddlers, protecting children from the disease, which causes liver inflammation. This is especially important since young children may not have symptoms, causing the disease to go unrecognized until their caregiver becomes ill.
Other common procedures:
Developmental screening
DTaP vaccine
Hemophilus influence B vaccine
Chest x-ray
3 years old:
While the most common procedure for 3-year-old girls is the flu vaccine, that actually ranks no. 2 among boys. Three-year-old boys, on the other hand, are more likely to undergo developmental screenings, likely because parents are worried their boys are behind.
Other common procedures:
Chest x-ray
Hepatitis A vaccine
Visual function screeing
Hearing test
