A Pediatrician Sheds Light on The Importance of Regular Wellness Visits

Maintaining regular wellness visits for children is essential throughout a child’s development and into their young adult life. These regular wellness visits allow the child’s pediatrician to evaluate their physical, emotional, social well-being, as well as prevent any developing health problems or concerns. Pediatricians keep children on track for essential immunizations, developmental milestones, and mental well-being.

Dr. Kristen Lagor is a board-certified pediatrician dedicated to helping families optimize their children’s health and building personal relationships with each patient throughout their formative years to customize their treatment and needs.

We caught up with Dr. Lagor to find out more.

H&W: What should parents know about the benefits of regular pediatric visits?

Dr. Lagor: Well child visits are not just about immunizations and school paperwork. During the well child visit, we will also review the child’s growth chart and developmental milestones, screen for mental health concerns, and evaluate their overall health. Scheduling a physical at a health fair or walk in clinic is like looking at a single point in time, and may not identify health trends over time. A few examples of things which may be identified at a routine well visit include scoliosis, vision or hearing problems, mental health concerns, abnormal blood pressure, precocious puberty, obesity and poor growth to name a few. Regular visits allow us to identify problems early and employ teamwork and collaboration to create a plan for your child’s health.

H&W: Please share details about important milestones and child development

Dr. Lagor: Milestones. The first two years are critical to monitor development. As pediatricians, we are trained to identify normal and abnormal patterns in child development. We look at look at gross motor skills, fine motor skills, speech, hearing, vision, and social and emotional development. Are they walking on time? Are they talking on time? We see them frequently in the first two years to monitor this development: at birth, 1 month, 2 months, 4 months, 6 months, 9 months, 12 months, 15 months, 18 months, 2 years, 2.5 years. If problems are identified early during this period, kids can be referred for therapies and further evaluation so they may succeed when they enter school. After the first 2 years, kids are seen annually for routine well child visits.

H&W: Tell us about warning signs or indictors that children may be behind.

Dr. Lagor: “Warning signs” could be a number of things. If parents notice that their child is not reaching the same milestones as their classmates, their cousins, their play group buddies, they should not panic, but should discuss this with their pediatrician. Parents should listen to concerns of childcare workers, nannies, and teachers who are with their child all day and bring those to the pediatrician to discuss. There are also standardized developmental screens which we as pediatricians use called the Ages and Stages Questionnaires to help more objectively assess development.

H&W: Touch on mental health and how it affects children and signs to seek help.

Dr. Lagor: Mental health has been impacted negatively by the pandemic in kids. More kids than ever are showing signs of mental stress. Screening for mental health concerns is one of many important parts of routine well childcare. Some warning symptoms for parents to notice include: a drop in grades, a lack of interest in hobbies or being with friends, or a change in eating or sleeping habits,

H&W: It says in your bio, that each patient receives personalized care and that you pride yourself on delivering the best treatment possible…how do you do that if something just happened at work or at home?

Dr. Lagor: I guess that’s the ultimate challenge of medicine – to separate yourself from the last visit and treat the next patient like they are your only patient. Each patient deserves a clinician who will listen to them, evaluate their individual needs, and create a collaborative approach to their health care.

H&W: We looked at your reviews. I took a couple of words from each. This is what they mentioned:
• Good listener
• Amazing
• Phenomenal
• Flawless
• Caring and empathetic
• I drive an hour just for her
• Above and beyond
• You cannot compare her to anyone else

When you hear those unsolicited words, how does that make you feel?

Dr.Lagor: Gosh…it feels really good to hear those words. Our goal going into medicine was to become a champion for patients, a cheerleader in their overall health. I’m grateful and humbled that my patients and their families feel that I hear them and understand my dedication to their development on a personal level.

H&W: What else would you like our readers to know?

Dr. Lagor: Just the overall importance of keeping up with routine well visits, advocating for your child, and of partnering with your child’s pediatrician.

Kristen J. Lagor, MD
Dr. Kristen Lagor is a concerned and dedicated pediatrician serving the community of Tampa, Florida. Dr. Lagor earned her medical degree at the University of South Florida and completed her residency in pediatrics at the same university. Dr. Lagor is a part of BayCare Medical Group and is board certified by the American Board of Pediatrics. She’s trained to meet the unique needs of children through all of their developmental stages, focusing on preventive medicine. Dr. Lagor advocates long-tern health care plans and works with her patients to develop and maintain a wellness path. She gives each patient her focused attention, and prides herself on delivering the best treatment available. Dr. Lagor is devoted to ensuring the longevity of her patients’ health and developing long-lasting relationships with them.

BayCare Medical Group | KIDS

711 S. Dale Mabry Highway, Suite 201
Tampa, FL 33609

To schedule an appointment
please call, (813) 548-7860
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