[Search for users] [Overall Top Noters] [List of all Conferences] [Download this site]

Conference moira::parenting

Title:Parenting
Notice:Previous PARENTING version at MOIRA::PARENTING_V3
Moderator:GEMEVN::FAIMANY
Created:Thu Apr 09 1992
Last Modified:Fri Jun 06 1997
Last Successful Update:Fri Jun 06 1997
Number of topics:1292
Total number of notes:34837

1135.0. "5 year old hates drs visits" by SEND::OBERTI () Tue Apr 30 1996 16:32

    
    
    I have a 5 year old that hates to go to the doctors/dentists. He
    refuses to cooperate. The past month he has been to the drs for 2 ear
    checks and a 5 year old check up. He makes the visit a very fustrating
    experience for everyone. He covers his ears so that it ends up that he
    gets held down on the table so the doctor can check them. At his 5 year
    old checkup they couldn't even get him to step on the scale until his
    younger brother did it. He obviously has a lot of anxiety about this.
    
    We have tried explaining the visit before he goes, bribes and just
    plain talking to him. Nothing seems to work.
    
    I am concerned about this as he has a dentist appointment coming up and
    his teeth need to be checked.
    
    Has anyone else encountered this problem and found something that
    worked?
    
    Thanks in advance.
T.RTitleUserPersonal
Name
DateLines
1135.1could someone else bring him?FOUNDR::PLOURDEJulie PlourdeTue Apr 30 1996 16:5725
    Well, my son is only 3, but I was having problems with him pulling a
    fit at the doctors office.  He, like yours, would not even get on the
    scale and acted like they were torturing him when they tried to check
    his ears or measure his length.
    
    I finally decided that it was my husband's turn to make doctor visits
    with him.  He does fine for everyone else.  Actually, he had a
    3 yr well-check this morning.  My mother-in-law took him and he was
    great.  Didn't even cry for the shot (just told his Nana quietly, "she
    hurt me"...didn't even say "ouch").
    
    I don't know if you've ever tried letting someone else take him, but it
    sure has worked for me.  I did have to bring him recently for an ear
    infection and he was OK with me... so maybe it was just a phase.
    
    Maybe don't give him so much warning... and sometimes bribery can work
    against you.  He may be thinking, hmmmm - if they have to give me
    things to get me to go, maybe it's worse than I think -- or something
    to that effect.
    
    Hopefully he'll get past this.  I know how frustrating and embarrassing
    (at least that is how I felt) it can be.
    
    julie
    
1135.2MKOTS3::MACFAWNMy mother warned me about you...Wed May 01 1996 10:456
    I have the exact opposite problem.  My 5 year old LOVES the doctor. 
    She loves it so much that she makes up problems so that she gets to go. 
    I finally figured out that it was the stickers she gets after the
    appointment that she loves.
    
    
1135.3OOYES::WEIERPatty, DTN 381-0877Wed May 01 1996 12:176
    I had the same problem with Jason, but when he was younger.  We
    actually ended up with a physicians assistant for about 1 1/2 years,
    because it was the *ONLY* person that Jason would let near him.  Try
    another Dr. .... worked for us.
    
    -Patty
1135.4ODIXIE::LOWERWed May 08 1996 05:1929
    My son, Patrick, just had his 5-year check up as well.  We left the
    office still needing half of what we went for.  His doctor is a fine man,
    very friendly.  Outside the office, Patrick speaks very favorably of
    "his" doctor.  In the waiting room he is a gem, quietly playing with
    the broken toys and sharing them with the other children. 
    
    But once we got in the exam room, he shut down completely.
    
    The nurse talked him into getting his height and weight measured, but
    it took some doing.  For the doctor, we had to hold him down just to
    get his ears examined.  He began crying, kicking, screaming and
    pitching one of the biggest public fits of his life.  I was shocked,
    embarrassed and very annoyed.  The doctor was none-too-happy, either.
    
    After talking to Patrick about the episode (over a period of about two
    weeks) I finally got to the root of his problem.  Shots.  It seems that
    the bigger kids at his day-care facility got wind that Patrick (and
    others in the K-4 class) would be going to get their K-5 physicals in
    the next couple of weeks and they started teasing them pretty heavily.
    Most of the teasing was about getting shots.  Patrick has now developed
    a very deep fear of shots and he thinks that if the doctor finds
    anything wrong with him, he'll just have to get more and bigger shots.
    
    His way of dealing with it is to not let the doctor look.  If he
    doesn't look, he can't find anything wrong and, therefore, no shots.
    
    We haven't solved his problem yet, but we're on the way.
    
    Rick