Every person gets one health story, and one private Family Stork email address every clinic already knows how to use.
A well-child visit (also called a wellness check, annual physical, or well-child exam) is the single most record-dense appointment your child has each year. The pediatrician is documenting growth, development, immunization status, and overall health — all in one visit. Here's what typically gets recorded:
Height, weight, BMI, and head circumference (for younger children). These are plotted on growth charts that track your child's percentile over time. A single measurement means little — the trend across visits is what matters. Without records from past visits, the new pediatrician sees a dot, not a curve. (Growth and milestone tracking →)
Well-child visits are when most scheduled vaccines are administered. The record should include the vaccine name, date, lot number, and administering provider. These records are required for school enrollment, daycare, camp, and travel. (Immunization records guide →)
Pediatricians screen for developmental milestones at specific well-child visits — typically at 9, 18, and 30 months using standardized tools. Vision and hearing screenings happen at later ages. These results document what your child could do at each stage and create a baseline if concerns arise later.
The document your pediatrician's office gives you (or posts to the portal) after the visit. It summarizes what was discussed, what was found, any referrals made, and next steps. This is the single most important document to keep — it's the complete record of what happened at that visit.
Almost every school and daycare in the country requires a recent physical exam and up-to-date immunization records for enrollment. The well-child visit is usually that physical. If you kept the after-visit summary and vaccine record, you have what the school needs. If you didn't, you're calling the pediatrician's office two weeks before school starts. (Daycare enrollment records →)
Your pediatrician sees your child once a year at the well-child visit. They're looking for patterns — growth trends, developmental trajectories, emerging concerns. But they can only see patterns if they have the data from previous visits. When records are scattered across portals or lost in email, the pattern disappears.
If the well-child visit reveals something that needs a closer look — a growth curve that's flattening, a hearing screen that's borderline, a developmental concern — the pediatrician refers you to a specialist. That specialist needs the well-child visit records to understand the context. Sending them the after-visit summary, growth data, and screening results saves time and avoids repeating tests. Consult your pediatrician about any concerns.
Families move. Insurance plans change. Pediatricians retire. When your child sees a new doctor for the first time, the doctor needs the whole picture — not just "we had a pediatrician before." Growth records, immunization history, developmental milestones, past concerns — all of it. (What a new doctor needs on day one →)
The American Academy of Pediatrics recommends well-child visits at specific intervals. Each one generates records worth keeping. Consult your pediatrician for the schedule appropriate for your child. Below is the typical cadence — your pediatrician's recommendations take priority:
That's roughly 30 well-child visits from birth to age 18. Each generates records. Over eighteen years, that's a lot of after-visit summaries to keep track of.
Family Stork was built to hold a child's complete health story — starting from their first checkup and growing with them through every well-child visit, every year.
When school needs the physical form, you have it. When the specialist needs the growth data, you have it. When you switch pediatricians, the new doctor gets the whole picture — not just the last visit.
Related: Child health records checklist · School health form requirements by state · Medical info for babysitters
Keep them forever — or at least until your child is an adult and can manage their own record. Growth data, immunization records, and developmental milestones from childhood become part of the adult medical history. Some of these records (especially immunization dates) are nearly impossible to reconstruct once lost.
Yes. Under federal law (HIPAA), you have the right to request your child's health records from any provider. Most offices have a records-release form. They must respond within 30 days. How to request medical records →
Request copies from your pediatrician's office — they keep records for years (the retention period varies by state, but it's typically at least 7 years after the last visit, and longer for minors). The sooner you request them, the better.
They overlap significantly. Many pediatricians combine the annual well-child visit with the sports physical form. The key difference is that some school sports programs require a specific form signed by the physician — ask the school what they need. The well-child visit record is usually sufficient or requires only an additional signature.
Give your child's pediatrician the private Family Stork address shown on the child's record. They send visit summaries; the timeline builds itself. No portal logins, no uploads, nothing for the clinic to learn.
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