If you have a family practice Phoenix doctor, chances are you’ve had to attend the doctor with your child on tow. Perhaps it was for a dual visit or maybe your child needed an annual check-up; no matter what the reason, taking a child to visit the doctor is no easy feat to accomplish. Whether they have a fear of strangers or just don’t’ want a shot from the man in the white coat, dragging your child to the doctor willingly is practically unheard of. Consider a few tips to make the process easier with your little one:
- Talk about it in advance: Have conversations about the appointment so that your child knows what to expect. Often, if kids know what’s to come, they are much less fearful of it. Allow your child to ask questions and try to answer them as honestly as possible, so as to arm your little one with enough information to make the family practice Phoenix doctor visit seem like a perfectly normally occurrence and not something unusual or scary.
- Allow your child to attend your appointment so they can see it’s not as scary as they think: Make sure it is a routine appointment and save screenings and other vaccinations you may need for a visit without your child in tow. Allow your child to see how you interact with the doctor and do everything he says while he checks you. Kids love to mimic and this is one area where you want your child to do both as you do and as you say.
- Buy your little one a book about visiting the doctor: Books are always great for explaining things in “kid language.” Buy an age-appropriate book about visiting your family practice Phoenix doctor and the importance of getting check-ups. Oftentimes, characters and stories that speak to kids in a language they understand can help them to be a little less fearful even more so than your conversations.
The more you can eradicate your child’s fear of visiting the family practice Phoenix doctor, the more successful the visits will be. Erase the fear of the doctor through education about what the appointments will entail and try to reduce the irrational fear associated with these visits. You might also solicit your family practice Phoenix doctor for ideas on making each visit less scary until your child is comfortably.