THE FOUR YEAR VISIT
The Four Year Visit
At this visit, we will:
- Take your child’s height and weight.
- Perform hearing and vision tests
- Take blood pressure
- Administer the Quadracel (combination of DTaP and Polio) and MMRV vaccines.
GUIDANCE
Age four is all about being a social butterfly. You will see that your little one will seek out other kids to play, and tell family, friends, and sometimes complete strangers their entire life story (with some fantastical embellishments to boot). The more opportunities your child has to play with other children, visit parks, museums, libraries and farmer’s markets, the more they will understand how to behave in different social environments. For instance, it’s okay to try a piece of fruit at the farmer’s market, but at the zoo those snacks probably belong to those confused giraffes, wondering why this miniature human is eating their dinner. Four-year-olds also seek structure to their learning. So, reading everyday, even at set times, it is important to get them ready for school. And remember, reading is no longer a passive activity. Ask questions and let your child help tell the story! You may also want to consider preschool, Head Start, or other community learning programs at this time.
Development: At this age, most, if not all of your child’s speech is understandable to people they meet. This means they can have lots of fun with family and friends playing simple board and card games.
Your four-year-old may even be able to dress themselves, though fashion sense is something learned over a lifetime. They can brush their own teeth with a pea sized dollop of toothpaste, and they know what to do or ask for if they are hungry, tired, cold, warm…etc.
Emotional Intelligence: At this age you may see that your little tot can get emotional at times. Due to a four-year-old’s rapidly increasing desire to be self-sufficient, they can get frustrated if they don’t quite know how to express their feelings in words. This is the time to start talking about emotions such as happy, sad, upset, angry and whatever feeling your child may be experiencing. The greater their emotional vocabulary, the less likely they will be to act out when they are upset. Your four-year-old will also start to understand the feelings of others based on social cues. So, it’s important to model respectful behavior and teach them to apologize if they take a toy that isn’t theirs, or bump into their best friend during a game of tag. And if your child takes the initiative to express their feelings without throwing a tantrum, let them know they did a great job!
Safety: With your tot’s increasingly outgoing nature there are some safety concerns, most importantly in regards to strangers. Talk with them about strangers and what to do if they are approached by one.
