Pediatrics: Getting the Most from Your Pediatrician Visits

By Michele Blandino

Going to the pediatrician with a newborn (or a child of any age) can be quite an experience. First, there’s the ritual weighing and measuring. Babies typically are weighed on a tabletop scale while older kids step on a traditional scale. The pediatrician (or nurse) will fire off all sorts of statistics – length, weight, head circumference, percentiles.

As the examination progresses, your pediatrician will probably ask a number of questions in order to assess your child’s development. Meanwhile, if the patient is a baby, chances are, he or she is crying – either from the annoyance of being poked and prodded or from one of the many immunizations he will receive during the first few months.

And, these are the “well child” visits! Taking a sick child to the doctor is a whole different matter.

With all this commotion, how are you supposed to listen to, much less remember, everything the pediatrician has to say? Chances are, you will have plenty of questions of your own – well visits are usually a time to ask the doctor about a particular concern you might have or to obtain advice regarding a specific aspect of your child’s development. Yet it’s not uncommon for parents to leave these appointments without having the opportunity to ask these questions.

Here are a few tips to help make your visits to the doctor easier and more informative:

• Write down your questions before leaving for the appointment. Some people find it helpful to keep a small notebook handy so they can jot down questions as they think of them. Having a list to refer to will help you make sure you cover everything you need to.
• Some offices will give you a sheet of paper containing the vital statistics. If your office doesn’t, ask the nurse of doctor to write them down for you.
• If your child is scheduled to have an immunization, be sure to request that it be given at the very end of the appointment. This will minimize the amount of time you will need to spend trying to focus on your conversation with the doctor while trying to comfort a crying child.
• If possible, leave older siblings at home or with a friend. Again, this will help minimize the number of distractions leaving you better able to absorb the information.
• If you can’t write down specific instructions because you are tending to a fussy child, do not hesitate to ask the doctor to do it for you. The office may even have pre-printed instructions they can give you for later reference.

Your doctor may recommend some routine testing – blood tests and urinalysis are the most common. These tests are simply screenings and are used to rule out the likelihood of a myriad of diseases and conditions. While they certainly are not pleasant experiences, you should consider having them done as directed so that in the event there is a problem, you can start treatment as quickly as possible.