The U4 examination of your child – that is done
Your baby is between three and four months old and meanwhile many handles and processes are firmly anchored in your everyday life. The U4 is coming up, where the pediatrician will check the current developmental status of your child. Find out here what awaits you at the U4.
A few weeks have passed since the U3 and your child is now between three and four months old. It’s time again to visit the pediatrician and check the progress made so far on the U4 examination. Do not forget to take the yellow preventive booklet with you, in which all the results of the examination are entered.
What is examined during the U4 examination?
In the U4, the motor and neurological development of the child in particular is observed again. If you have not already done so, a hearing test, the OAE measurement, should definitely be carried out now. The first vaccination is usually carried out at the U4 . Vaccination is not compulsory in Germany, so it is your decision whether and when you have your child vaccinated.
In addition, other measurements and tests are carried out, which you already know from the other preventive medical check-ups:
- Height and weight: Your baby will also be measured and weighed with the U4.
- Breathing: The doctor will check if your baby is breathing regularly. The breathing rate of healthy infants is about 30 times per minute.
- Heart and circulatory system: Heart sounds and heart rate are measured.
- Abdomen and genitals: The U4 scans the abdomen and genitals again to check whether your baby’s digestion is working properly.
- Head and Fontanelles: The head circumference is measured and the distances between the fontanelles are checked.
mobility and responsiveness
In playful contact, the doctor checks whether the U4’s brain is developing according to age. Does your child show interest in the world around you? Does it react to voices, noises and movements? Can it communicate itself through different tones and babbles?
Flexibility and body tension are also tested. Ideally, your child can already hold their head up by themselves when they are pulled up on both arms. The child’s bent posture is no longer so pronounced and the fists are already slightly open.
Hearing test (OAE measurement) at the U4 examination
If you haven’t already done so with the U2 or U3, you should remind the doctor about the OAE measurement now at the latest. The doctor can determine whether there is a connection between your baby’s outer ear and inner ear. In this way, it can be diagnosed at an early stage whether your child may be suffering from hearing loss. The hearing test is completely painless for the baby. The doctor places a soft eartip in his ear, which is connected to the testing device. Then he observes how your child reacts to certain sounds at a certain volume.
You should notice the U4 at the earliest from the second month and at the latest when your baby is four and a half months old . You will otherwise be billed as a so-called iGel service (individual health service).
If you have decided to do this, the first vaccination will be carried out at the U4. As a rule, a sixfold vaccine is injected to protect against polio (infantile paralysis), HIB, hepatitis B, tetanus, diphtheria and whooping cough. The next check-up, the U5 , is only in a few months.