Well-child visit
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Anonymous
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At what age do you start taking them separately? My girls are 12 and 14. I have always taken them at the same time, but now I'm wondering if they should start going separately. They are both very modest - they won't even change clothes in front of each other.
Also, at what age do you stop going in the room with them? I still do this, but am wondering if it would be better for me to stay in the waiting room. |
Anonymous
| My kids are still little, but I'd think you would schedule separate back to back appointments and wait in the waiting room with the one not being examined or let one wait for the other while you are in the exam room talking with the doctor. |
Anonymous
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My daughters are 20, 11, and 8. My 8 and 11 yr old always get back to back appointments and they both stay in the room for the other one. But I told the 11 yr old if she wants her sister to leave she can tell her, or me, and I'll make the 8 yr old go wait in reception until it's her turn. They are not modest and still run through the house in nothing but panties after their showers, and also share a bedroom so change in front of each other.
When DD was 16 and had her first boyfriend when we were going to the dr I said to her "I'm happy to sit here and play on my phone if you want privacy," and she said "No, you can come," so I followed her in. When she went away to college I pointed out where the naearest Planned Parenthood was to her school, and explained how I pick doctors and what makes me leave one. She still asks me to go in with her. My son is 23. I think when he was around 14 or so I made him the same offer I made DD at 16. He asked if I could get him a guy doctor, so we did that. Then I'd step out "to go pay" at Ball Inspection Time. When he left for college, we talked about if he wanted to find a dr near there or come home for medical exams. He switched to a college dr halfway through college. |
Anonymous
| Back to back appointments and let them go alone. Just stay in the waiting room to talk to the doctor if need be. |
Anonymous
| At 12 and 14, I wouldn't have them stay in the room for each other's exam even if they don't explicitly say anything. They're not comfortable changing in front of each other -- yet I think most doctors do want kids changed into gowns. Even if they don't -- there is something uncomfortable about lying there and having your sibling in the room. What if the dr. wants to do a breast exam or look down below -- the kid being examined may say yes just to get it over with but be mortified that her sister may see something -- even if it's done in a way where nothing is seen. Not worth it. |
Anonymous
| Mine are 10 yr old DS, 8 yr old DD. At our last visit, the nurse took basics on each of them in the same room, but when the ped came in sent the kid he wasn't examining to the waiting room. I really appreciated this, as did they. |
Anonymous
| I always make back-to-back appointments for my kids (DD & DS). Until they were about 11 years old I would stay in the room for each appointment (with the other child in the waiting room). At their 12 year old appointment my pediatrician actually asks the parent to leave the room after the initial discussion about "medical issues". This allows her to talk to the kids separately (nurse is in the room). She believes this allows young teens the opportunity to speak with her about any issue they may be embarrassed to talk about in front of the parents. It works well. |
Anonymous
This is what I do. For the first about minute of each of their appointments, I catch the doctor up on what's going on and raise any concerns. Then if the doctor needs to talk to me afterwards, I go back in. The only other times I go in is if one of them needs a vaccination - they like me to be with them for shots. |
Anonymous
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I stop doing well child appointments since my kids were 7.
It's just a waste of time. |
Anonymous
Your 20 yo still sees a ped?
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Anonymous
Don't you get school forms filled out at the well visit? |
Anonymous
Did you skip their vaccines at 11/12 and 16? Skip checking to see that they are growing accordingly during puberty ? Skip checking that they can hear and see well? Skip checking their blood pressure? |
Anonymous
My sister is very likely only still alive today because of a well child appointment at age 14. It led to a very often lethal form of cancer being diagnosed at an earlier stage-- with a far higher survival rate -- than it would have been had she not seen a doctor until she was sympathetic. She looked (& felt) perfectly healthy but obviously wasn't. |
Anonymous
| Funny, I have three kids and I've never had back to back appointments because they have them around their birthdays, which are in different months! My younger two (6 and 9) could still be present at each other's appointments; my 12-year-old has hers when the others are in school. |
Anonymous
| 13 & 11 year old - starting 2 years ago they started having separate appointments. The way it works at our pediatrician is that once the child hits puberty (in our case menstruating) the parent goes in for the majority of the appointment and then the doctor asks you to wait in the waiting room so they can have one one with the patient. The pediatrician says to us both before I leave that anything said between child and doctor stays with doctor, unless the child reveals something that is dangerous or harmful. They want to make sure that as the kids mature, they know they can trust and confide in their doctor, without necessarily Mom and Dad finding out. |