3 years checkup
The 3-year checkup: what to expect and what to ask
Three is where a few quiet things start being measured properly for the first time.
It is also the age where a sudden stutter or a new fear of the dark tends to arrive, and both alarm parents more than they warrant.
What this visit usually covers
- Blood pressure, which joins the routine from three onward — a baseline rather than a suspicion.
- A vision test if she can manage the chart; otherwise it is repeated next year.
- Growth, physical exam and any catch-up immunisations.
- Speech intelligibility, behaviour, sleep and toileting.
Worth asking
Take this in with you. The appointment moves faster than you expect, and the specific question gets a specific answer.
- Could a stranger understand her? That is the useful measure at three, not whether you can.
- She has started stuttering — is this the ordinary kind, and when would it warrant an assessment?
- Night dryness has not arrived. Is that a concern yet? Usually not, and it is worth hearing why.
- Bring the specific worry rather than the general one. "He has maybe fifty words and doesn't combine them" gives a pediatrician somewhere to start.
Where this comes from
Schedules vary by practice and by country, and yours may cover more or less than this. It is a companion for the appointment, not a substitute for it — the person in the room can see your child, and this page can't.