Questions to Ask a Pediatrician at the 2 Week Visit
These are newborn questions to ask the pediatrician at the two week visit, and most of them work just as well at the first newborn visit a few days after birth. The 58 questions follow the order of the appointment: weight and the exam, feeding, diapers and skin, sleep and crying, when to call and how to keep the baby safe, then the parents themselves and the next visit. No appointment has room for all of them. Skip the ones written for a situation that is not yours, such as formula, a circumcision or an early birth, and put a mark beside the ten you most want answered.
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The questions
Each question, and why to ask it
Weight and exam
Is my baby back to birth weight, and how does the gain look from the hospital discharge weight?
Why ask it
Regaining birth weight is one of the main things the two week visit checks, and at a first newborn visit a few days after birth the same question becomes how much has been lost. Either way, ask which figure the clinician is comparing against: the birth weight, the discharge weight or the lowest one on record.
Does my baby still look yellow to you, and does the bilirubin level need checking again?
Why ask it
Say whether the yellow has spread or faded since you left the hospital, and bring the last bilirubin reading if one was taken. Many parents find the color easier to judge in daylight by a window, so report what you have seen at home as well as what shows under the office lights. What you want back is a plain yes or no on a blood test today, and what would change that answer next week.
How does the cord area look, and when should it be fully healed?
Why ask it
By two weeks many cords have come away, and at an earlier visit the stump is still drying. In both cases the clinician is looking at the skin around the base more than at the stump, so find out what redness, smell or discharge would be worth a call.
Did the newborn screening results come back, and is anything being repeated?
Why ask it
The heel prick blood test taken in the first days goes to a lab, and what it covers differs by state and country. Results often reach the pediatric office and not the parents, so hearing nothing does not always mean someone has looked. If a repeat sample is needed, find out who takes it and by when.
Did my baby pass the hearing screen, and if not, who books the retest?
Why ask it
The hearing check is usually done before discharge, and a result of 'refer' in one ear is easy to lose track of in the first tired week. Bring the slip you were given. For a baby born at home or sent home early, the office can say where the screen is done locally.
Where do length and head size fall on the growth chart, and does a percentile mean anything yet?
Why ask it
One set of measurements at two weeks says less than the curve will over the coming months, and a wriggling newborn is hard to measure to the centimeter. A low or high percentile is something to have explained, not something to set against a cousin's baby. If the doctor wants any number taken again before the next routine visit, get the date.
What did you hear and feel when you checked the heart, the hips and the belly?
Why ask it
A newborn exam is quick and mostly silent. A running commentary turns it into something you can remember, and if a word like murmur or click comes up, have it written down along with who looks at it next.
Are the soft spot and the shape of the head what you would expect after the birth?
Why ask it
Molding, a swelling from a long labor, or marks from a vacuum or forceps delivery can still show in the first weeks. Say how the birth went, since the doctor in the room may not have the delivery notes. Each of these settles on its own rough timetable, and the doctor can tell you which one applies to what you are pointing at.
One eye is sticky or watery. Is that something to treat, or to wipe and watch?
Why ask it
Mention the day it started and whether the white of the eye looks red, because those two details steer the answer. If the advice is to clean it, have the doctor demonstrate with the cotton or cloth they would use.
Is the circumcision healing as it should, and how long do we keep putting ointment on it?
Why ask it
Only for families who chose one. Describe the color and any swelling you see at diaper changes, and find out what the site should look like a week from now. If the hospital gave you two different instructions, repeat both and ask which one this office goes by.
My baby was born early, small or after a complicated delivery. Does that change what you check today?
Why ask it
Leave this out for a full-term baby with an uneventful birth. Otherwise bring the discharge summary: blood sugar checks, time in special care, antibiotics or a jaundice light are all things this doctor may not have on file yet. The answer to listen for is whether an extra weigh-in, blood test or referral follows from any of it.
Feeding
How often and how long should feeds be at this age, and does our day sound about right?
Why ask it
Describe the real pattern first: how many feeds in a day, how long each one takes, and whether the baby ends the feed or you do. A count like that gives the clinician more to work with than the word fine, and it lets them set your day against the number on the scale.
Do I still need to wake my baby to feed, and if so, until when?
Why ask it
The instruction to wake for feeds is usually tied to weight gain, so the answer often changes at this very visit. Expect a condition and not a date, and check whether it covers nights as well as days. If you are told to keep waking, get the longest gap the office is comfortable with in hours.
I am breastfeeding and cannot see how much goes in. How do I know it is enough?
Why ask it
There are no ounce markings on a breast, which is why this worry runs highest in the first two weeks. Have the doctor name the signs they trust, usually today's weight, the diaper count and how the baby behaves after a feed, and say which of them would make them want a weigh-in before the next visit.
Latching hurts, or my nipples are cracked. Can someone here watch a feed?
Why ask it
Pain that lasts through a feed is worth reporting even when the weight is fine. Some offices have a lactation consultant on staff and others refer out, and how that is paid for depends on your insurer or health system. If the baby is hungry, feed in the room: seeing it is quicker than describing it.
Could a tongue tie be behind the feeding trouble, and who would assess it?
Why ask it
Parents hear the term from relatives and feeding groups long before anyone has looked in the baby's mouth. Have the doctor look today and say what they see, and whether they would treat it, watch it or send you on. Clinicians differ a good deal on this one, so it is fair to hear how this office decides.
How much formula should my baby take at each bottle, and how do I know when to offer more?
Why ask it
Give the number of bottles in a day and how much is left in each. The reply should rest on today's weight and not on the table printed on the tin. Also worth hearing is what a baby who has had enough looks like, so the bottle does not have to be emptied every time.
How should we make up and store bottles: which water, and how long can one sit out?
Why ask it
Rules for water, sterilizing and how long a prepared bottle keeps differ by country and by whether the feed is powder, ready-made or expressed milk. Say which you use and whether your water comes from the mains or a well. If what you hear differs from the tin or from the hospital's leaflet, have the doctor say which one to follow.
We are giving both breast and bottle. Is that working, and what would you adjust?
Why ask it
Say how the top-ups started, because a plan made in the hospital for a sleepy or jaundiced baby often has an end point nobody mentioned. With the weight in front of them, the doctor can tell you whether to keep going, taper or stop. Parents who are pumping can ask how often is enough to protect supply.
My baby wants to feed every hour in the evening. Is that cluster feeding or a sign of not getting enough?
Why ask it
Bunched-up evening feeds worry a lot of new parents, and relatives tend to read them as hunger. Lay out what the rest of the day looks like and let the doctor judge it against the scale. A clear answer includes what would look different if the milk really were short.
Does my baby need vitamin D or any other supplement, and does that depend on breast or formula feeding?
Why ask it
Whether drops are advised depends on how the baby is fed and on the country you live in, and it is a routine item that is easy to leave the visit without. Get the product, the dose and the age it runs to written down. A nurse can usually show you how to give a drop to a mouth this small.
My baby spits up after feeds. Is the amount and pattern something you would want to look at?
Why ask it
Spit-up is so common that the useful part of the answer is where the line sits: how forceful, what color, how soon after a feed, and whether the weight is affected. Milk on a shirt tends to look like more than it is, so bring the cloth or a photo if the amount is hard to put into words.
What helps with hiccups, gas and a baby who is hard to burp?
Why ask it
None of the three usually means anything is wrong, but they take up a surprising share of the night. A burping hold is easier to copy once you have watched it done on your own baby. Drops and gripe water are sold for this in every pharmacy, so ask by name whether this office wants a newborn to have them.
Diapers and skin
How many wet and dirty diapers should I be seeing in a day right now?
Why ask it
Diapers are the one measure you can count at home between weigh-ins, and the expected number shifts over the first weeks and with how the baby is fed. Write down the figure this office gives for a baby of this age, and the figure low enough to ring about the same day.
Can I show you a photo of the stools? Is that color and texture normal for the way we are feeding?
Why ask it
Color and texture vary widely in the first weeks and shift again when the feeding changes, which is why a picture on your phone beats a description. While the photo is on the screen, have the doctor name the colors they would always want reported.
My baby grunts, strains and goes red before a dirty diaper. Is that constipation?
Why ask it
Describe what finally comes out, since doctors usually judge by texture more than by effort. Have them say what they would count as constipation in the first month, and what you should never give or do at home to move things along.
There is a red rash in the diaper area. Which cream do you suggest, and when is it more than a rash?
Why ask it
Open the diaper so it can be seen, even if it looks better today than yesterday, and name the wipes and cream you have been using. The part to take home is the sign that it needs a prescription: a look, a spread, or a number of days without improvement.
Is the peeling skin, the spots on the face or this blotchy rash anything to treat?
Why ask it
Newborn skin does a lot in the first weeks, and most of it has a name the doctor can give you on sight. Point to each thing separately. Lotions, oils and laundry products belong in this question too, because the urge to put something on it is strong.
Can you look at this birthmark and tell me whether it will fade, grow or need watching?
Why ask it
Marks that were faint at birth can become more obvious over the first weeks, so one you noticed yesterday is fair to raise. A photo taken today, with a coin beside it for scale, gives you something to compare against later. If the doctor wants to follow it, note which visit they plan to look again at.
When can we give a full bath, and how often does a newborn need one?
Why ask it
Many offices tie the first tub bath to the cord coming away, and to healing if there was a circumcision, so the answer may be a condition and not a date. Water temperature, soap and what to do about a flaky scalp can all be covered in the same breath.
How should we trim the nails and clean the nose, ears and eyes?
Why ask it
These are small jobs that cause real hesitation at home. Every office has its preferred way to clear a stuffy nose and a short list of what should never go into an ear or a nostril. Scratches on the face are a good prompt to bring up nails specifically.
Sleep and crying
My baby sleeps through feeds and is hard to wake. How sleepy is too sleepy?
Why ask it
A newborn who sleeps a great deal and a newborn who cannot be roused are different things, and the doctor can describe the difference best with your baby on the table. Tell them what you do to wake the baby and how long it takes to work. The part to write down is what would make this a call the same day.
Where and how should my baby be sleeping, and is swaddling alright?
Why ask it
Advice on the sleep surface, position, room sharing and swaddling has changed over the years, so what a grandparent describes may not match what this office says now. Describe the bed you are really using, including any pillow, wedge or nest someone gave you. If swaddling is fine for now, get the sign that it is time to stop.
How should we dress the baby for sleep, and how do I tell if they are too hot or too cold?
Why ask it
Grandparents tend to add a blanket and parents tend to take one off, and both are guessing. Say how warm the room gets at night and what the baby wears to bed. A practical reply names a number of layers for your house and where on the body to feel, and it settles the argument about hats indoors.
My baby only settles when held or lying on one of us. What do we do at three in the morning?
Why ask it
Tell it as it really happens, including the night someone dozed off on the sofa with the baby. A doctor who hears that version can help with a workable plan: shifts, where the bassinet stands, what to do when you feel yourself nodding off. The polished version gets you a leaflet.
Day and night seem to be the wrong way round. Is there anything worth doing about it yet?
Why ask it
A newborn who sleeps all afternoon and is wide awake at midnight comes up at this visit all the time. Expect modest suggestions about light, noise and how the daytime feeds are handled, and a rough idea of when the pattern tends to turn.
Is it alright for my baby to nap in the car seat, the swing or the carrier?
Why ask it
Each of the three gets a different answer in most offices, and a car seat in a moving car is not treated the same as one carried into the house. Say which you really use and for how long. If you came with a sling or carrier, have the doctor look at how your baby sits in it.
How much tummy time should a baby this young get, and how do we start?
Why ask it
Awake time on the front usually comes up alongside the advice on sleep position, and offices differ on when to begin: some say the first days, others wait for the cord to heal. Have it shown on the exam table or on your chest. A minute that goes well will tell you more about what your baby tolerates than a long session that ends in tears.
How much crying is expected at this age, and when does it usually peak?
Why ask it
Hearing that fussiness often builds over the coming weeks before it eases makes a hard evening easier to read. Report when the crying happens and what stops it. Then get the description of a cry the doctor would want a call about: its sound, its length, or what comes with it.
Is it fine to offer a pacifier now, or would you wait?
Why ask it
Advice differs between offices, especially while breastfeeding is still getting established, so the useful reply comes with a reason. If one is already in use, say so plainly. Nobody at the office is keeping score, and the doctor needs the real picture to advise on feeds.
What should I do when nothing stops the crying and I feel myself losing patience?
Why ask it
Pediatric offices hear this constantly, and it is a good one to raise with your partner in the room. A workable answer is a few steps short enough to remember when exhausted: a safe place to lay the baby, a set number of minutes in another room, a name to ring. Pass it on to grandparents and anyone else who will be alone with the baby.
Calls and safety
At this age, what temperature counts as a fever, and what do you want me to do about it?
Why ask it
Offices treat a fever in the first weeks very differently from one in an older baby, so get the exact number and the exact instruction, including whether anything should be given before you call. The way a temperature is taken changes the reading, so name the thermometer you own and have them say where to use it.
Which symptoms mean call the office, and which mean go straight to an emergency department?
Why ask it
Two separate lists work better than one. Written on paper or typed into your phone, they take away the hardest part of a decision at two in the morning, which is working out whether it can wait for daylight.
How do I reach someone after hours or at the weekend?
Why ask it
Practices differ on whether the night number reaches a nurse line, an on-call doctor or a message service. Get a rough idea of how long a call back takes, and what the office wants you to do if nobody has rung in that time.
My baby's breathing sounds irregular and noisy sometimes. How do I tell what is normal?
Why ask it
A video taken at home with the baby's chest uncovered shows the doctor more than an imitation of the sound will. Pauses, snorts and fast patches are what parents usually describe, and the reply should sort them into what is expected and what is a reason to call: the rate, the effort, the color, or a pause of a given length.
Is there any medicine or remedy I should not give a newborn without calling you first?
Why ask it
Relatives will offer fever drops, herbal teas, teething gels and remedies from their own childhoods. A flat list of what this office does not want a baby this young to have saves an argument later. Put plain water on the same list and see what the doctor says.
How careful should we be about visitors and taking the baby out in these first weeks?
Why ask it
Offices differ in how cautious they are, and the answer shifts with the season and with what is going round locally. Get something concrete to pass on to guests: washed hands, staying away with a cold, or whatever this doctor would pin to the front door. Crowded indoor places and travel fit under the same question if you have a trip coming up.
Which vaccines are due next, and on what schedule?
Why ask it
What is given at birth and what comes at the following visits is set by each country's schedule, so let the office map the calendar for your baby. Check that any dose given in the hospital made it into this office's record. Doubts about timing or spacing are better raised now, with weeks in hand, than on the day the first shots are due.
Is my baby eligible for RSV protection or anything else that depends on the season?
Why ask it
What is offered to newborns outside the routine schedule depends on the country, the month and sometimes on a vaccine given during pregnancy. Bring the pregnancy vaccination record if there is one. If the answer is no for now, find out when to raise it again and who covers the cost.
Which vaccines should parents, grandparents and other carers be up to date on?
Why ask it
Whooping cough and flu are the two usually named, but let the doctor give this office's list. Relatives tend to take the request better when it comes from the pediatrician, so see whether there is a handout to forward. Where adults can get them, and at whose cost, varies locally.
How do we check that the car seat is fitted and that my baby is strapped in properly?
Why ask it
The pediatrician may not inspect seats, but the office usually knows who does locally, whether that is a fire station, a hospital program or a trained fitter. Bring up slumping, strap height and bulky clothing if any of them made you unsure on the drive over.
Parents and next visit
I have not felt like myself since the birth. Is this the place to say so, and who can help?
Why ask it
Some pediatric offices give the parent who gave birth a short mood questionnaire at newborn visits and others never mention it, so do not wait to be asked. Tearfulness, dread, anger or feeling nothing at all are worth naming as they are. A partner can put the same question, and may not be asked it by anyone else.
Something about my own recovery is worrying me. Who should I ring about it, and how soon?
Why ask it
The pediatrician is the baby's doctor, yet in these weeks they may be the only clinician who sees you. Bleeding, a painful incision, a fever, sore breasts or a headache that will not go are all worth saying out loud here. How care after birth is organized depends on the country and the insurer, so the aim is a name and a number before you leave.
Is the medicine I am taking alright while I am breastfeeding?
Why ask it
Bring the name and the dose, including painkillers from the hospital, anything for mood or sleep, and herbal products sold for milk supply. Pediatricians and pharmacists have references for exactly this, so nobody has to guess. If the reply cannot be given on the spot, find out who will ring you with it, and check with the prescriber before changing anything yourself.
We have an older child at home. How do we handle jealousy, germs and rough affection?
Why ask it
Give the sibling's age and whether they are in daycare or school, since both change the advice. Practical replies cover handwashing, kisses, and what to do when the older one has a cold. A job the big brother or sister can safely be given is a nice thing to bring home.
What is the best way to send you a question or a photo between visits?
Why ask it
Portal messages, a nurse line and a callback list all exist somewhere, and each office has a favorite. Find out how quickly a message is read and whether pictures can be attached. With that settled, a small worry no longer has to pass the test of deserving an appointment.
What should my baby be doing by the next visit, and what would you want to hear about sooner?
Why ask it
Looking at faces, startling at a noise and lifting the head for a moment are the kinds of things parents are told to expect, but let the doctor name their own short list. Then turn the question round: which absence, or which change, should not wait for the appointment.
When do you want to see us next, and do I need to keep logging every feed and diaper until then?
Why ask it
Many parents leave the hospital with a chart or an app and no word on when to stop filling it in. Once the weight is heading the right way the office may be happy for you to stop counting, or may want one thing tracked a while longer. Hear what is done at the next visit too, so shots or a weigh-in do not come as a surprise.
The two week appointment
Practical guidance for the conversation itself
Preparing for the visit
- 1Write your questions down in advance and rank them. Visits are short and newborn appointments are often interrupted by feeding or changing.
- 2Note the last day or two of feeds and diapers, roughly. Approximate times are more useful to a clinician than an impression of how it has been going.
- 3Take photographs of anything that comes and goes, such as a rash, the color of a stool, or unusual breathing. It is rarely present in the exam room.
- 4Bring the hospital discharge paperwork if you have it, including the discharge weight and any newborn screening results.
- 5Bring a list of anything the baby is being given, including vitamins and any medication.
- 6If you can, bring another adult. One person holds the baby, the other listens and writes.
If this is the first newborn visit
Expect a weight below the birth weight
In many places the first office visit falls within a few days of going home, when a baby commonly weighs less than at birth. The question for that day is how much less and what the office wants done about it, so the opening Weight and exam question still applies, pointed the other way. Find out whether a weight check is wanted before the two week visit.
Hand over the hospital's paperwork
A pediatrician who does not work at the hospital may have none of the delivery record yet. The discharge summary, the last bilirubin reading if one was taken, the hearing screen slip and the feeding plan you were sent home with answer half of what the doctor would otherwise have to ask you.
Start with feeding, diapers and color
At a few days old, the Feeding group and the Diapers and skin group carry most of the visit, along with the jaundice question. Sleep and crying, outings and the vaccine calendar can be held over to the two week visit if time runs short.
Bring the same list back at two weeks
Mark what was answered and what has changed since. Instructions given at a first visit, such as waking for feeds or topping up after them, are often meant to last only until the weight recovers, and the two week appointment is where they get revised.
Before you leave the room
Get the call thresholds in writing
Temperature, feeding, breathing, and any symptom specific to your baby. A number you can check at home is more use at night than a description of how worried you should be.
Confirm the after-hours route
The number to call, whether it is a nurse line or an on-call clinician, and which emergency department the practice would send you to. Save it in your phone before you leave the building.
Book the next appointment while you are there
Appointment slots for newborns can go fast, and the gap between visits is short at this stage. Ask what the practice would want you to do if the next available slot is later than they recommend.
Ask what to do with a question that is not urgent
Most practices have a portal message system, a nurse line, or a callback slot. Knowing which one to use avoids either an unnecessary visit or a question you never end up asking.
A few things worth knowing
- This visit is as much about how feeding and weight gain are going as about the exam itself, so describing the pattern in detail is not oversharing.
- Some offices ask about your own mood and sleep at this visit. Where they do, the form goes to every parent and is not a sign that you look as if you are struggling.
- If you were given advice in the hospital that differs from what you hear today, say so and ask which applies now. Instructions change quickly in the first weeks.
- If something you were worried about resolves before the appointment, mention it anyway.
- Ask for anything unfamiliar to be spelled out or written down. Terms said once in a busy room do not survive the drive home.