Reply to How to set expectations for doctor's visits

Forum Index » General Parenting Discussion

Reply to "How to set expectations for doctor's visits"

Subject:

Emoticons





More smilies

Text Color: Font: Close Marks

[quote=Anonymous][quote=Anonymous]First time mom so please be kind. DC is  5 and this is the first time experiencing difficulty at the doctor. DC up until now has sat in my lap and never an issue. Well today DC, hid behind the table before shots, screamed, whined answers and played around during the hearing screening. I did my best to empathize and redirect, but I was so embarrassed, and well angry, and felt like a terrible mom.

I know going to the doctor is stressful for kids, but I don't want my child to behave like a hooligan either. Suggestions please.[/quote]

I think explaining expectations ahead of time is probably the key.   But it's hard because they change so much from year to year that you don't necessarily know what behaviors you need to warn against!  My main thing when going for shots is to explain on the way that, yes it will hurt and you are allowed to cry, but you are not allowed to wail/scream.  The crying vs wailing distinction has usually (but not always) been helpful for my kids. Role playing a good visit may also be helpful.

Honestly, I wouldn't stress about it too much.  Next checkup is likely a year from now, right?  So alot will have changed.  And if you are taking him/her in to the doctor because of illness, you probably won't get hoolingan  behavior because they will feel too crummy to bother.  If there's any part of it that seems likely to be repeated in other situations in the meantime, maybe do some role playing to rehearse good manners, but by the time you go to the next check-up, this will probably be a non-issue.

My oldest went completely psycho at the dentist when he was 4.5;  it was like he was possessed, and I had no idea it was coming because he had been totally fine the year before.  I still have not forgiven that dentist for giving him a treat afterwards.  I talked to him very sternly on the way home about how inappropriate his behavior had been and we skipped the Starbucks visit we had planned for afterwards, so there were consequences, but all subsequent dentist visits have been totally fine and I doubt it had much to do with anything I did differently.   I think it was mainly that a year had passed.

[/quote]

Options

	Disable HTML in this message
	Disable BB Code in this message
	Disable smilies in this message

Review message

Search Recent Topics Hottest Topics