DD has her 18 month check up today. Ever since her 12 month check up and visits in between for colds and such she screams the whole time. From the minute we walk into the exam room she is extra clingy and throws an absolute fit for anything; getting undressed, weighing her, ear temperature.. even when the doctor is just checking her bones, joints, eyes etc...
It's a big deal and everyone hears her screaming and crying at the top of her lungs. Last time I went in a nurse practicioner told me, "You NEED to get that under control now" in a very rude tone. I know its normal for this fear because i've read about it online but i'm just unsure of what to do this time. She gets so bad that I have to worry about holding her down and just gettting out of there asap that I forget any questions I had. And she doesn't get shots in the room and nothing painful has ever happened in the exam room.

What do I do?

By My2cuties on Tuesday, November 23, 2004 - 09:55 am:

My neighbor had this problem and our children go to the same pediatrician, but my kids LOVE their doctor. He suggested that she buy a play doctor kit and play with him at home, it sounds like a good idea to me, maybe that will help you out. Good luck, it is never fun to have your children afraid of something. Hope all goes well.

BTW, never listen to those nurses *most* of them are rude anyway (after being at the same doctor for 3 years now they are finally starting to come around to us), if you like the doctor that is all that matters. ;)

By Kate on Tuesday, November 23, 2004 - 10:21 am:

Write your questions down (type them if possible) and simply hand the list over to your doctor when he comes in and then turn your attention to your daughter. Your doctor is used to this and will manage to still talk to you and answer your questions. Just concentrate on your daughter and try and be soothing to her as you remove her clothes and hold her as much as possible and when not possible, stay in her line of vision and keep your hands somewhere on her body and keep saying 'Mommy is right here, everything is okay, Mommy's right here....' Forget the nurses. I've never found a nice peds nurse either, unfortunately. Don't let what THEY think bother you one little bit.

By Conni on Tuesday, November 23, 2004 - 10:23 am:

I am pleased to say that we have never had a rude nurse at my doctors office. We have only had 2 nurses in 13 yrs of going to the same doctor and both of them have been wonderful. If the nurse is being rude you really should mention it to your doctor! We had one rude nurse when I was in labor with my 1st baby at the hospital and I told every nurse and doctor that came in the room exactly how she had behaved. I wont go into detail, but it was bad! Thats the only rude nurse I have ever encountered in my life, so I guess we have been very blessed with good ones.

As for your dd being afraid -- is it possible for your dh to go with you and help?

All you can do is reassure her that she is ok, you are right there, etc... Make the weight check quick (even if she is crying-- dont waste time consoling her repeatedly before setting her on the scales-- just get her on there, let the nurse get the reading and get her back in your arms quickly. It is not fun to be naked in a cold doctors office, Blake didnt like it either (and i dont like it either). But we always tried to do things quickly, before he even realized it he would be dressed again and on our way home!

I dont play into my kids when they are crying and we need to get something done for them. I just reassure them they will be fine, get it over with quickly and I dont make a big deal afterwards. (like when we get shots-- as soon as they are done, I start talking about something else fairly quickly so we dont dwell on the shot).

Hope this helps some. Of course I could be way off base in my advice here. LOL! I probably sound like a mean Mom...

By Fionadeassis on Tuesday, November 23, 2004 - 10:47 am:

I always take Eliah to the doctors when I go...that way he sees me going and not being afraid......

also, he always gets a little toy or treat after....

fiona

By Rayanne on Tuesday, November 23, 2004 - 11:05 am:

What about bringing her favorite stuffed animal and have the doctor do a ceckup on that and then you can say, "See? Everything is ok with ___, now lets see you."

I've never had a rude nurse at Rylee's doctor's office either.

By Dawnk777 on Tuesday, November 23, 2004 - 11:58 am:

I'm not rude to my patients! I would never say what that nurse said though, in the first place. I had a little guy freaking out one time just because I was in the exam room and his mom was the patient, so I didn't have to anything to him! LOL!

By Tink on Tuesday, November 23, 2004 - 12:09 pm:

I agree with typing up a list of questions and getting a play doctor's kit. Kaitlyn is getting to an age where she will enjoy pretending with it. It won't help for today's visit but she can practice on her animals and babies and you can show her what the Dr. will be doing to her over and over. My youngest really didn't like the Dr (even though she never got shots) and this is what really helped her. To this day, she doesn't like it whenever we expose her to something new with no warning.

By Kittycat_26 on Tuesday, November 23, 2004 - 12:12 pm:

I think the comments about rude peds nurses is way out of line.

1. My mom is a peds nurse and would rather be run over than be rude to someone. I've seen her in action.

2. I work with peds nurses who are kinder than anyone I know with our patients.

3. My peds nurse is my best source of info. outside of the doctor.

Stereotypes are not kind.

By Boxzgrl on Tuesday, November 23, 2004 - 12:54 pm:

Well were back and it didn't go as bad as I thought it would. She's big enough to use the regular scale and there were happy faces on it so she was looking at the happy faces and didnt even know she was getting weighed. (Shes 27 pounds and 33 inches, btw). I had the same Dr. as last time. The first time I wasn't extremely pleased with her because she wasn't very thorough and a bit rushed. But this time she took her time and went over everything. Her weight jumped from the 50 percentile to the 70 percentile so i'm happy about that. And as always her height is in the 90 percentile. She was a bit unsure of what the Dr. was doing so the Dr. let me hold her on my lap while she examined her. She was a bit scared but better than laying on the cold bed in there. The NP was nice this time, a different one of course.

Oh and Amanda, I didn't mean to offend anyone by talking about the rude NP. I live on base and get services done through the naval hospital and as everyone knows, the military isn't the greatest when it comes to healthcare. I've met some nice NP, this particular hospital is just know for having very rude NP's, and they sure live up to their reputation.

By Children03 on Tuesday, November 23, 2004 - 01:08 pm:

I'm glad to hear that everything went well for both of you

By Cat on Tuesday, November 23, 2004 - 01:11 pm:

Glad it went well! I totally understand how sometimes military health care people can be a pain. We've dealt with some doozeys! There are also some great ones out there. We had a fabulous ped when we lived in Panama and another one in Maryland. Takes all kinds, I guess.

By My2cuties on Tuesday, November 23, 2004 - 02:32 pm:

didn't mean to offend anyone either, just stating my experiences with them. different places are different ways.

Melissa, glad to hear everything went good, she is getting big!

By Kittycat_26 on Tuesday, November 23, 2004 - 03:01 pm:

I am glad that things went well, Melissa.

With Timmy, I've found the same as it seems that you have, if I hold him it goes better. There have been a few times where he has fallen asleep.

Be warned, which no one warned me, some peds (I'm not sure about all) like to do an iron level at the 2-year old appt. It means needles and lab work. That was the hardest part for us. The docs appt went great. The lab stunk.

By Kate on Tuesday, November 23, 2004 - 03:15 pm:

I don't think anyone was stereotyping peds nurses. I think various people, myself included, were stating THEIR experiences with peds nurses. I, personally, have NOT met a nice peds nurse! That's simply fact. I wish your mom would come to our practice so we could have a nice one!

By Tunnia on Tuesday, November 23, 2004 - 03:36 pm:

I'm glad that the dr visit went more smoothly than you anticipated!

By Theresa_Momma on Wednesday, November 24, 2004 - 01:51 am:

I agree with Kate. I don't think that anyone was stereotyping nurses at all. I am sure no one meant any offense!! I also do not have a nice peds nurse. She is always rude and at Jeremiah's four month my doc. actually said he was sorry for the way that we were treated. I am not going into it but I was appauled(sp)!

Melissa I am glad that everything went well to- day. I hate going to ped. Jeremiah has been getting his shots though so it is awful!

By Kittycat_26 on Wednesday, November 24, 2004 - 08:03 am:

Sorry! Everyone is entitled to their opinion including me. The internet is full of interpretation. I interpreted it as stereotyping and stand behind that.

By Imamommyx4 on Thursday, November 25, 2004 - 12:27 am:

There are great nurses, there are good nurses, and there are nurses who wished they'd gone into another profession. And it's the same way in all professions and occupations. And if someone had a bad experience with a member of any profession, it does NOT mean every one of that profession is the same.

But that's not what this was all about. I'm glad things went better for you than you expected, It seems like whenever I worry about something the most, it usually never meets my worry expectations.
I was trying to think what happened with dd. She used to give me fits at the doctor's office, but now loves the doctor. She gets very frustrated when she has to wait. She just wants to go see her (the dr). But it was around that age when she started getting better. I don't remember what caused the change. It may have been the day the dr diagnosed her asthma and stood there helping me hold her (and not hold her down,just hold her and help) to give her the breathing treatment and she fell asleep because she relaxed being able to breathe.