Insurance for a 1 Year Old?

I definitely put them on mine. You never know when something will happen and you'll need it. What if he knocks a tooth out in February or you discover in April that he's having trouble seeing? I would add him now if you can.

No, just wait until he's older UNLESS there is some stipulation that you need to do it now or never.....

I added my oldest right after his 2nd birthday and he went to his first pediatric dentist visit at 2.5 yrs, and they did do film and a cleaning. His pediatrician recommended at 2 to have him seen.

I then had my 2nd added right after his 1st birthday, he had really high pitted teeth and molars and there was some piece of food I just could not get out, no matter how much I brushed. He was seen at 18 mths to make sure it wasn't a cavity. He also had to be on iron supplements that caused staining no matter how much I brushed. I wanted it cleaned professionally as well. he didn't and still has not had film done, but has had two cleanings and he just turned 2 in Sept. This is a pediatric dentist place tho and they are really quick and good when working with the kids.

If you have no dental problems in your family (we do) I'd say you can wait until closer to 2-3yrs. For me I wanted them to start earlier just so they weren't fearful and I could get their bites checked out (both had severe underbites, one corrected on its own, my youngest hasn't yet )

Our dentist didn't feel the need to see our kids until they were closer to 3. I think our dental insurance does have an age in which it will begin coverage. You could check with your dentist and see when he/she recommends seeing your child.

I took our son to the eye doctor for the first time last summer, because the state of Illinois requires an eye exam before beginning kindergarten (who knew?). The doctor said he has astigmatisms and recommends he come back next summer. Good to know.

I would check with your ped about the vision, just in case. He/she might like to take a look just to make sure there isn't anything of concern. If he/she sees anything at all that might require an eye doctor to look at, this would be a good time to know.

I added both of my kids when they were born. We were only allowed to add within 30 days of birth or had to wait til open enrollment. I would go ahead and add him to both your Dental and VSP plans during next enrollment so that he is covered for 2013.

Most ped. dentist like to see them for the first time between 2 - 3 y. The eye screenings you can get away with til then because the pediatrician usually does the first few.

If you have to pay extra for them, then I would skip it for now. Unless you see any concerns with your baby's vision, they don't start testing that until I think they are 3 and as far as teeth, I've had my son in the dentist office at 3, but she wouldn't clean him until he was 4.

For myself, I pay individual or family for all my insurance coverages - so my son is added to my dental, but since my husband doesn't need vision coverage - i didn't add my son to it since his vision seems to be fine.

A few thoughts.

1) Find an infant SEE doctor and get your child evaluated. It's not only FREE but it can help diagnose conditions the pediatrician may miss.

http://www.infantsee.org/ - my optometrist friend recommended it and it was fantastic for DD. Frankly the "what picture do you see?" routine that the pediatrician's office put DD through was a joke. I'm actually looking into whether or not we can go to the pediatric optometrist again now that she's 3. Poor eyesight runs in our family and I want her to get a real exam. There is a HUGE difference in the nurse at the pediatrician's office and a real optometrist. The optometrist has the tools and skills to get a much better idea of your kid's eyesight.

2) Add the baby. Most insurance just tacks on extra family members and you may find you need the coverage before the next time it rolls around. Accidents happen, people get infections (friend got an infection in his eye from a trip to the lake), etc. I would have full coverage on the kid.

3) Even though many dentists don't see kids til 3, that doesn't mean you might not need it. My DD has poor enamel and saw the pediatric dentist for the first time when she was 10 mo. old. Also, many pediatric dentists recommend that a child with teeth (somewhere around a year old) see the dentist just to be sure everything's going fine, to get used to the idea, etc. I have not regretted seeing a dentist for DD and was glad that when what I thought was a chip was something else, I had DD covered. Friend of ours has a DD a little younger than ours and her DD also needed to see a pediatric dentist before she was 3.

Double check all the prices and coverage, but I consider our insurance on DD to have been well worth it when she was little.

Our dental company covers children under 2 at no cost. My kids didn't go until they were 4 or so. I should have gotten them there sooner-they had a ton of cavities but ever since then-they have been good.

I wouldn't cover them until it's proven it's a needed expense.

We don't carry dental or vision. He has his own medical - it was way cheaper than adding him to an individual plan or changing to a family plan. Check what your health plan covers - most cover oral or ocular trauma or other truly 'medical' eye and mouth issues. The rest of it is pretty inexpensive (or non-existent) for the first few years. I don't carry vision for myself - I self pay.

Ours if you add them to the medical you have added them to the dental and vision. When it used to be separate it wasn't that expensive. When you think about what may drive you to take a small child to either it may be worth the expense.

My kids got their first eye exam when they were ten and only because they showed signs of not being able to see the broad side of a barn. Dentist was two.

I didn't carry vision until she was 4.

I did carry dental, because my mom is a dental hygienist and I was worried if she fell and bashed her mouth. Some of that would be covered under medical, but if she did damage to the frenem (the piece that holds the lip to the gum above your front tooth) that is a 'dental' responsibility.

But - dental insurance was reasonable at the places where I worked at that time.

Right now - dental is $50/mo. NO WAY would I cover my infant. I'd wait until she was 3 or 4 and I started taking her.

No. First dental checkup is usually complimentary. We added our oldest on dental around 2 because they needed to do x-rays. Otherwise the dental visit was only like $50 without insurance. We'll probably do the same with our second. Haven't put either one on our vision because we have no reason to think either one needs it.

If you have to pay extra for it, then skip it for a couple of years IMO.

We have a 12 month old and vision is included with our medical. As for dental, we are able to enroll him at any time up until his fourth birthday, so we have not done it yet. It is recommended that you take your child to the dentist around 1 year of age, but if you call around you will most likely find a pediatric dentist that does complimentary first visits for young children. That is what we ended up doing. Or another option is to take your child to your own dentist and ask if he will look at him when you have a visit for yourself (which might be free of charge). We will be adding our son to our dental insurance before his next appointment.

My insurance has the separate dental and vision options as well. My son is three and I just added him to dental and vision this open enrollment (for 2012 coverage). I had two choices for dental and up until this enrollment I was on the most expensive option because my husband was having orthodontic work done. I swtched to the "basic plan" for next year that covers the routine cleanings etc and added our son. I ran the numbers last year this time and figured I would pay more in dental insurance premiums with him on my policy than I would pay directly to the dentist for his checkup / cleaning. I did not take my son to the dentist until this year...right before turning 3. I personally would not bother with adding a 9 month old to vision/dental for this year.

For me, I would enroll the baby on your insurance during the September, 2013 period unless your pediatrician identifies an early dental or eye condition. We started our children going to the dentist at 3 yrs. old for check ups and vision tests were a little later (early school years) when it was noticed during an annual check up at the pediatrician that their vision wasn't 20/20. We then went to an actual eye dr.