Follow-up Visits | Baby Brain

Please click on the appropriate age for your child to see what happens at the next follow-up visit:

3 months

1 year

2.5 years

4 years

8 years

3-month visit

Neurological exam

Optional brain MRI

Duration: 3 hours

Neurological examination

This is usually performed by a child neurologist (a doctor with special expertise in disorders of the brain and nerves that affect children) and takes about 15 minutes. The doctor will assess how alert your baby is and how he/she responds to his/her surroundings, to faces and voices, and to light and sound. She will assess how much control your baby has over his/her body movements and whether this is the same on both sides of the body. She will check the muscle power and reflexes in your baby’s arms and legs. She will also shine a special light into your baby’s eyes to see the back of the eye (retina).

Optional MRI scan

This scan will help us to evaluate how the brain has responded to any injury that might have occurred. Weeks before the 3-month follow-up MRI scan, you will be sent a CD recording of the sounds and rythm of the MR scanner that can be played during regular activities with your baby, so she/he can get used to the MRI sounds, which will help him/her fall asleep at the time of the actual MR scan. If you consent to it, your baby may be given intravenous sedation to make certain that he/she does not move his/her head during the scanning. The medications used are standard drugs given to infants for such procedures and doses used will be the minimum necessary and within safe ranges. To minimize any risks during the scanning, your baby will be monitored for heart rate, blood pressure and blood oxygen during the scanning procedure, and will be accompanied by trained physician and nursing staff at all times. If you do not consent to sedation and the baby can't lie still or wakes up during the MRI, he/she will be taken out of the scanner and the MRI procedure might not be completed, thus no results will be reported to you.

1-year visit

Developmental assessment

Neurological exam

Duration: 2 hours

Developmental assessment

This is performed at the 1 year and 2.5 year visits by a licensed psychologist. Your child will be given a series of toys to play with. We try to use a quiet room with the minimum of distractions for your child, and for the same reason we prefer only one parent to be present. Children, like most of us, tend to be best able to concentrate and be most cooperative in the morning, so that is the time we try to see children whenever possible. It also helps if we can find a time when your child is neither tired nor hungry. Please feel free to give your child food and drink before the exam and take him/her to the bathroom so he/she can focus on the exam with no distraction. The assessment takes about 50 minutes for 1 year olds.

Neurological examination

This is usually performed by a child neurologist (a doctor with special expertise in disorders of the brain and nerves that affect children) and takes about 20 minutes. The doctor will assess how alert your baby is and how he/she responds to his/her surroundings, to faces and voices, and to light and sound. She will assess how much control your baby has over his/her body movements and whether this is the same on both sides of the body. She will check the muscle power and reflexes in your baby's arms and legs. She will also shine a special light into your baby's eyes to see the back of the eye (retina).

As your child gets older and develops more skills, she will assess how well your child can walk and run, throw and catch a ball, balance, and use his/her hands. Speaking and remembering can also be assessed.

2.5-year visit

Developmental assessment

Questionnaire (for parents)

Neurological exam

Duration: 2 hours

Developmental assessment

This is performed at the 1 year and 2.5 year visits by a licensed psychologist. Your child will be given a series of toys to play with. We try to use a quiet room with the minimum of distractions for your child, and for the same reason we prefer only one parent to be present. Children, like most of us, tend to be best able to concentrate and be most cooperative in the morning, so we try to see children then whenever possible. It also helps if we can find a time when your child is neither tired nor hungry. Please feel free to give your child food and drink before the exam and take him/her to the bathroom so he/she can focus on the exam with no distraction. The assessment takes about 60-90 minutes for 2.5 year olds. The assessment takes about 90 minutes.

Questionnaire

We would like you to fill out a questionnaire that asks questions about your age, type of housing your family lives in, type of work you do, type of childcare/preschool your child is attending, etc. Another questionnaire will ask about the usual behavior of your child at home.

Neurological examination

This is usually performed by a child neurologist (a doctor with special expertise in disorders of the brain and nerves that affect children) and takes about 25 minutes. The doctor will assess how alert your child is and how he/she responds to his/her surroundings, to faces and voices, and to light and sound. She will assess how much control your child has over his/her body movements and whether this is the same on both sides of the body. She will check the muscle power and reflexes in your child's arms and legs. She will also shine a special light into your child's eyes to see the back of the eye (retina). She will assess how well your child can walk and run, throw and catch a ball, balance, and use his/her hands. Speaking and remembering can also be assessed.

4-year visit

Cognitive testing (IQ test)

Questionnaires (for parents)

Neurological exam

Duration: 2 hours

Cognitive testing

The cognitive testing is performed at the 4-year and 8-year visit by a developmental psychologist. Your child will play with toys and answer questions. Children usually stay with the psychologist on their own (if they are happy to leave their parent in the waiting room) to minimize distraction. If your child insists on having a relative in the room, of course, one adult can stay in the back of the room. We try to schedule the test according to your child's schedule, mostly in the morning hours. Please feel free to give your child food and drink before the exam and take him/her to the bathroom so he/she can focus on the exam with no distraction. The assessment takes about 90 minutes.

Questionnaire

While your child is playing with the psychologist, we would like you to fill out a questionnaire that asks questions about your age, type of housing your family lives in, type of work you do, type of childcare/preschool your child is attending, etc. Another questionnaire will ask about the usual behavior of your child at home.

Neurological examination

This is usually performed by a child neurologist (a doctor with special expertise in disorders of the brain and nerves that affect children) and takes about 20 minutes. The doctor will assess how alert your child is and how he/she responds to his/her surroundings, to faces and voices, and to light and sound. She will assess how much control your child has over his/her body movements and whether this is the same on both sides of the body. She will check the muscle power and reflexes in your child's arms and legs. She will also shine a special light into your child's eyes to see the back of the eye (retina). She will assess how well your child can walk and run, throw and catch a ball, balance, and use his/her hands. Speaking and remembering can also be assessed.

8-year visit

Educational testing/IQ test

Questionnaire (for parents)

Neurological exam

Duration: 2 hours

Cognitive testing

The cognitive testing is performed at the 4-year and 8-year visit by a developmental psychologist. Your child will play with toys and answer questions. Children usually stay with the psychologist on their own (if they are happy to leave their parent in the waiting room) to minimize distraction. If your child insists on having a relative in the room, of course, one adult can stay in the back of the room. We try to schedule the test according to your child's school schedule. Please feel free to give your child food and drink before the exam and take him/her to the bathroom so he/she can focus on the exam with no distraction. The assessment takes about 90 minutes.

Questionnaire

Neurological examination

This is usually performed by a child neurologist (a doctor with special expertise in disorders of the brain and nerves that affect children) and takes about 20 minutes. The doctor will assess how alert your child is and how he/she responds to his/her surroundings, to faces and voices, and to light and sound. She will assess how much control your child has over his/her body movements and whether this is the same on both sides of the body. She will check the muscle power and reflexes in your child's arms and legs. She will also shine a special light into your child's eyes to see the back of the eye (retina). She will assess how well your child can walk and run, throw and catch a ball, balance, and use his/her hands. Speaking and remembering can also be assessed.

ABC Movement Examination

This exam is administered by a physical therapist to evaluate a growing child's motor skills. These includes hand-eye coordination, balance reactions, fine motor skills, ball handling skills and overall gross motor skills such as running, jumping and hopping. Each child will be evaluated in the appropriate age group and scores are based upon how each child does in comparison to other age matched children. The results and scores are then interpreted by a physical therapist taking the whole child into consideration, for example, a child who is not exposed to ball activities may not score high with this section and does not imply coordination deficits. Other factors such as behavioral issues or lack of understanding are also taken into consideration when looking at the final scores. Most exams are completed in approximately 30 to 45 mins.