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Pediatrics

Building a Strong Foundation for Your Child

Iowa Specialty Hospital Pediatrics prioritizes your child's health and well-being through comprehensive and individualized care. As a leading pediatric clinic in Iowa, we are dedicated to providing top-notch healthcare services for children from infancy through young adulthood.

Our team of experienced pediatricians understands the importance of preventative healthcare in promoting a lifetime of wellness. From routine healthcare like pediatric check-ups to well-child visits, we focus on early detection and intervention to ensure your child's optimal health. We are a hospital in Iowa that believes in the power of individualized care, tailoring our services to meet the unique needs of each child.A pediatrician looks after a child at Iowa Specialty Hospital.

We Focus on Overall Health

At Iowa Specialty Hospital Pediatrics, we offer a range of services to support your child's development and overall health. Our expert pediatricians specialize in infant care, addressing the specific needs of newborns and ensuring a healthy start to life. We also provide comprehensive care for young adults, recognizing the importance of continuity in healthcare as children transition into adolescence and beyond.

As a trusted Iowa hospital, we prioritize the well-being of your family members by offering a variety of services, including family medicine, behavioral health, and developmental disorder assessments. Whether your child needs routine immunizations, minor procedures, or standard development assessments, our dedicated pediatric providers are here to guide you through every step of the healthcare journey.

Preventative Care Matters

In response to the evolving healthcare landscape, we also offer COVID vaccinations and emphasize the importance of required vaccinations to protect your child and the community. Our commitment to sick visits ensures that your child receives prompt and thorough care when they need it most.

At Iowa Specialty Hospital Pediatrics, we believe in fostering a supportive and nurturing environment for your child's growth and development. Our team conducts comprehensive developmental assessments to identify and address any potential concerns early on, promoting healthy childhood development. From infant care to teen care to young adult care, our providers look after your children throughout their young lives.

We’re Part of the Community

Our pediatric clinic is equipped to meet the diverse healthcare needs of your family. We invite you to schedule an appointment with our dedicated pediatricians and experience personalized and compassionate care at Iowa Specialty Hospital Pediatrics. Your child's health is our priority, and we look forward to being your trusted partners in their journey to a happy and healthy life.

Many pediatric services cross over into the area of family medicine.  You may visit our Family Medicine page for more information.
To find a location nearest to you, please visit our Locations & Hours page.

To find a provider, please visit our Pediatric Providers page.

Locations & Hours

Belmond Clinic

403 1st Street SE
Belmond, IA 50421

Location Details on Belmond Clinic

Hours

Monday: 8:00 am - 5:00 pm
Tuesday: 7:40 am - 5:00 pm
Wednesday & Thursday: 7:40 am - 7:00 pm
Friday: 7:40 am - 5:00 pm
Appointments Required

Garner Clinic

840 West US-18
Garner, IA 50438

Location Details on Garner Clinic

Hours

Monday: 8:00 am - 5:00 pm
Tuesday - Friday: 7:30 am - 5:00 pm
Appointments Required

Well-Child Visits

Well-Child Visits allow pediatricians to focus on age-appropriate development for a child’s overall health and wellbeing. Typically visits focus on developmental milestones, nutrition, safety, your child, and your family’s emotional health for the benefit of the child.
 

Benefits of Well-Child Visits:

Prevention
•    Get required immunizations
•    Ask question about development, nutrition, and safety both in and out of the home 

Tracking Growth and Development 
•    Review child’s growth since his or her last visit
•    Discuss your child's development such as milestones, social behaviors, and learning 

Discuss Concerns 
•    Make a list of topics you want to talk about with your child's pediatrician. 
•    Share your concerns with your child’s pediatrician at the start of their visit. 

Team Approach 
•    Regular visits create strong, trustworthy relationships among pediatrician, parents, and child. 
•    A team approach helps develop the best physical, mental, and social health of a child. 
 

To find a provider, please visit our Pediatric Providers page.

Motor Skills and Coordination Milestones

All children develop at different rates.  However, certain milestones involving how they play, learn, speak, behave, and move, help to determine if they are on track in their development.  

While motor skills and coordination milestones happen throughout early childhood, the first year of a child’s life can seem to be when the most development takes place in a shortPicture of a baby laying on their stomach smiling amount of time.  Some examples throughout a baby’s first 12 months include:

  • Smiling at people
  • Turning head toward sounds
  • Recognizing people 
  • Babbling
  • Developing different cries to indicate hunger, pain, or being tired
  • Responding to their own name
  • Bringing things to their mouth
  • Rolling over 
  • Sitting without support
  • Crawling
  • Playing peek-a-boo
  • Picking things up with thumb and fingers
  • Pulling self into a standing position
  • Walking 


These are just a few examples of motor skills and coordination milestones to watch for and review with your child’s pediatrician.  If at any point you have concerns about your child’s development, you should schedule an appointment with your child’s physician to discuss them. 

For a list of milestones to watch for in your child, click here to be directed to the CDC guidelines. 

Cognitive and Social Development

Cognitive and social development occurs from infancy through teen years.  They are key milestones to determine a child’s mental and emotional growth and well-being.  Your child’s pediatrician will review his or her progress in these areas as part of the normal well-child visits.  If you have concerns about your child’s development in any area, schedule an appointment to discuss them with your physician. 
 

Cognitive Development 

Cognitive development focuses on a child’s growth in terms of thought processes including remembering, problem solving, and decision making.  Among the areas of cognitive development are information processing, intelligence, reasoning, language development, and memory.

Some cognitive development examples during the first 12 months include:

  • One month – Watches person when spoken to.
  • Two months – Smiles at familiar persons.  Begins following person with their eyes.Baby boy, sitting up and smiling while playing with toys
  • Four months – Shows interest in a bottle, familiar toy, or new surroundings.
  • Five months – Smiles at his or her own image in a mirror.  Looks for fallen objects.
  • Six months – May imitate sticking out tongue.  Laughs at peekaboo game.  May act shy around strangers.
  • Seven months – Responds to own name.  Tries to establish contact by coughing or other noise.
  • Eight months – Reaches for toys out of reach.  Responds to “no”.
  • Nine months – Shows likes and dislikes. Shows excitement and interest in foods or toys that are well-liked.
  • Ten months – Starts to understand some words.  Waves bye-bye.  Holds out arm or leg for dressing.
  • Eleven months – Repeats performances that are laughed at by someone else.  Likes repetitive play.  Shows interest in books.
  • Twelve months – May understand some “where is…?” questions.  May kiss on request. 

Cognitive development and motor development may be closely linked.  Often when cognitive disorders are present, motor skills are affected also.  Again, it’s important for your child to have routine well-child visits with their pediatrician to monitor his or her growth in this area. 
 

Social Development

Social development involves a child learning to express their feelings and emotions, as well as learning to understand other people’s feelings.  While it was originally believed that emotions are learned through human interaction only, newer research shows that some emotions are naturally occurring and instinctual from birth.  Overall the environmental experiences during growth and development are important influences in a child’s emotional and social development.

Babies can feel interest, distress, and disgust and happiness from birth.  These can be communicated through facial expressions and body posture.  Infants begin to show “social smiles” around 2 or 3 months of age, and begin to laugh and distinguish other’s emotional expressions around 4 months.  In addition, between ages 2 and 6 months, infants express anger, surprise, sadness, and fear.  Between 5 and 6 months, stranger anxiety may be exhibited.  Around 8 to 10 months, infants may develop powerful attachment to primary caregivers.  Around 9 months, a baby may show displeasure or sadness, and they will also begin to show their temperaments or individual personality styles.  From 9 to 10 months, babies express a wide variety of emotions and can go from happiness to sadness or frustration within seconds.  Regulating of their emotions begins around 11 months of age.  Around 12 months, they start to exhibit a bit of jealousy, and they become aware of other individuals’ emotions, especially distress. 

While the above only covers the first year of life, emotional development continues throughout a child’s toddler, adolescent, and teen years.  These milestones or concerns are important to discuss with your child’s pediatrician during well-child visits.
 

To find a provider, please visit our Pediatric Providers page. 

Vaccination Schedules

The following links provide vaccination schedules as recommended by the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention.  Please note these are just recommendations and your provider may advise your differently based on the specific health needs of your child.

(0-6 years) https://www.cdc.gov/vaccines/schedules/easy-to-read/child-easyread.html

(7-18 years) https://www.cdc.gov/vaccines/schedules/easy-to-read/adolescent-easyread.html

 

To find a provider, please visit our Pediatric Providers page.

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