Appointment Apprehension
Prepare your child for a visit to the doctor, dentist, optometrist, or barber with these sensitive strategies.
By Tiffany Frasier and Amanda Wheat
| August
22
, 2007
Whether for checkups or sick calls, some kids never warm up to the idea of seeing the doctor, dentist, or any professional. To make these visits easier on everyone, try these tips.
Family Doctor or Pediatrician
Dentist or Dental Hygienist
Ophthalmologist or Optometrist
Barber or Hair Stylist
- Explain. Tell your child why he's visiting the doctor: to help solve (or prevent) a problem. Describe what might happen: taking his clothes off, being weighed, having the doctor listen to his heart, getting a shot.
- Demystify. If possible, take your child along to your own appointment or a sibling's, or read books about the experience. Try Felix Feels Better by Rosemary Wells, Clifford Goes to the Hospital by Norman Bridwell, or Who's Sick Today? by Lynne Cherry.
- Pretend. Give her a toy doctor kit and role-play a checkup. Incorporate all steps like calling to make an appointment, sitting in the waiting room, getting a height and weight check, looking in the ears and mouth with a flashlight, etc.
- Get acquainted. If you're going to a new doctor, try to make the first visit a wellness checkup. A sick visit is less likely to be a scary experience if the doctor is already familiar.
- Bring a buddy. If your child has a special blanket or toy, take that along. Encourage him to show it to the doctor. Many pediatricians will examine a doll first to make kids feel more comfortable.
- Tell the truth. Shots do hurt. Explain that they help prevent illness, and that they do hurt a little, but only for a minute.
- Speak up. If she's sick, let your child describe what's wrong and answer the doctor's questions. At a well check, she can show off new skills, like hopping on one foot or drawing a circle.
- Stifle your own anxieties. Adults who fear the dentist can often inadvertently introduce children to the same worries.
- Identify the source of fear. If your child is worried, find out why: Is she afraid that the visit will be painful? That the dentist won't be friendly? Is she just anxious about the unknown?
- Avoid detail. Answer questions matter-of-factly and briefly. Let the dentist herself provide more information during the appointment.
- Focus on necessity. Explain how vital dental health is — we need our teeth to chew, talk, and smile!
- Don't promise pain — or no pain. Cleanings or fillings can be uncomfortable, but some kids breeze through them, so don't spend a lot of time preparing her for pain in advance. There are lots of options for preventing or treating pain, which your dentist or hygienist can help with.
- Read a book. Stories about new experiences are always an excellent way to help kids prepare. Try The Berenstain Bears Visit the Dentist by Stan and Jan Berenstain, Vera Goes to the Dentist by Vera Rosenberry, or Just Going to the Dentist by Mercer Mayer.
Ophthalmologist or Optometrist
- Choose wisely. Check your insurance directory, yellow pages, or newspaper ads for family-friendly practices. Ask your pediatrician, friends, and neighbors for a referral. Visit their offices before you make an appointment: Are the doctor and staff members friendly? Is there a play zone in the waiting area? Do they carry a lot of children's eyeglass frames?
- Explain in advance. Tell your child about some of the tests, such as reading the eye chart, the eye doctor shining a light in his eyes to see inside, identifying shapes on color test cards, and trying different lenses to see which one improves vision the most.
- Remain calm. Your child takes cues from you, so if you overreact to fears or a troubling test result, you could make the situation worse.
- Make believe. Style your child's hair or a doll's and let her work on yours too. Give each other a (pretend!) trim. This imaginative play helps set up the expectations of what a haircut will be like.
- Talk about tricky concepts. Explains that haircuts don't hurt — this is hard for toddlers to understand, since they've been warned of the dangers of scissors time and again. Your child may also not understand that hair grows back; trims are not permanent.
- Visit in advance. Let your child check out the salon or barber shop before his scheduled trim.
- Plan a distraction. Give your child something to do during his haircut. Many children's barbers have books, toys, and videos. Read a story, watch a video, or let him hold their favorite toy or doll.
- Sympathize. Support your child and acknowledge her fear. Don't tell her that there's no reason to be scared. It may be the truth — but it's not her reality right now.
