U7 Examination: What is it and what can my child expect?
Your child has now outgrown babyhood. Around the second birthday it is time for the U7. Find out here about the process and the main points of the seventh preventive medical check-up.
In the so-called “two-year check-up”, your child is between 21 and 24 months old. It ‘s been a while since the U6 , so the U7 examination may be a little longer so that all the important examinations can be carried out in peace. 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 U7 examination?
A thorough check-up of physical and mental development is carried out at the U7. This time, the pediatrician pays particular attention to the child’s progress in language development and social behavior. In addition, standard examinations are carried out, which you already know from the other appointments. Even if your child is not that far along in some respects, you don’t have to worry. The “specifications” about what your child can do at a certain point in time are only guidelines.
Comprehensive check-up during the U7 examination
- Height and weight: Your child will be measured and weighed.
- Breathing: The doctor checks whether your child is breathing regularly and listens to the lungs for abnormalities.
- Heart and circulatory system: The small heart should beat about 70-120 times per minute. Checks are also made for abnormal heart murmurs.
- Skin: With the U7, the doctor carefully examines the condition and color of the skin and checks whether there are any pigment disorders or inflammatory skin changes.
- (Genital) organs: The doctor feels the spleen and liver on the abdomen and also examines the genitals.
- Skeletal, muscular and nervous systems: The head circumference is measured. The large fontanelle should have closed by now, but in some cases it may take several months.
Proper dental care is also becoming more and more important, because in order to protect children’s teeth from caries and periodontal disease, it is important to pay attention to nutrition and cleaning techniques from an early age. In addition, vaccinations that were missed at the U6 can be made up for without any problems.
social behavior
In order to find out whether your child is developing according to its age, your doctor will ask the U7 about its behavior in everyday life. It’s not just about sleeping and eating habits, it’s also interesting, for example, how your child plays. Typical is the imitation of “adult” actions, such as driving a car or caring for children (dolls).
language development
In order to determine the status of language development, the pediatrician at U7 will ask you about your progress. On the other hand, ask your child simple questions to see whether they can already answer and react. As a rule, the little ones at this age can speak at least ten words and already understand around 250 terms. Many build so-called “two-word sentences”, such as “dad car” to make themselves understood.
Check of the gross and fine motor skills in the U7 examination
The easiest way for the pediatrician to determine how far the gross and fine motor skills have developed is through play. With the U7, he pays attention to how your child walks, whether it can bend down and stand up safely and whether it already takes a few steps backwards.
Playful activities such as stacking blocks or filling marbles in a container show how well the fine motor skills are developed. It is already relatively easy to determine whether your child is right-handed or left-handed.
It is not possible to say exactly how the ratio of right-handers and left-handers is distributed in society, since there are many “retrained left-handers” among older generations. The “correction” from the left to the right hand was a normal part of child and school education for many years and is now classified as problematic by numerous experts. Among other things, poor concentration, learning difficulties and speech delays are mentioned as possible consequences of forced re-education.
If your child is left-handed, you can provide suitable objects for everyday use at an early stage, such as left-handed scissors.
You should attend the U7 at the earliest when your child is 20 months old and at the latest by the time it is 27 months old. Otherwise, you will be billed as a so-called iGel service (individual health service).
Since the break between U7 and U8 (which only takes place shortly before the age of four) is relatively long, all health insurance companies have also reimbursed the U7a interim examination since 2008 . You come to this appointment when your child is about three years old.