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The Jewish Home | MAY 26, 2022
Parenting Pearls
Well Visits by Sara rayvych, MSed
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OctOber 29, 2015 | the Jewish Home
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t’s that time of year again when parents make sure their children’s well visits are up-to-date and ready to submit to their camp of choice. Medical forms, along with the standard array of permission slips, are part of the pre-camp experience for parents. People often act surprised when they hear my children routinely go for their well visits. It seems many people associate well visits as something you do just to keep your child in school. Their assumption is that if my kids aren’t in school then they obviously must not go to the doctor. I won’t go in depth into the frustrating myths that exist about homeschooled children – the assumptions that homeschooled kids aren’t vaccinated, don’t take antibiotics, and never receive medical care. Each family – whether private, public, or home educating – tries to make the best healthcare decisions for their family. But with these common misconceptions, you can understand why many people are shocked my kids visit their pediatricians (and dentists) routinely. While many of the ideas shared in this column are topics you might see elsewhere, I try to focus on what you might not see covered somewhere else. I could spend my time writing about how important it is to monitor your child’s weight, check their blood pressure, and see how
much they’ve grown. As important as these and many similar discussions are, I will leave that to another author. Today, I’d like to focus on a lesser thought aspect of well visits.
Don’t Miss a Thing Let’s start with the more obvious benefits. Most parents know their child very well. Despite this knowledge, there is always a chance something can be missed. There are many things that are not generally visible or easy for a layman to recognize. For example, my toddler had his well visit, and the doctor’s staff used some fancy technology to check his vision. I tried to be polite and not laugh knowing they had little chance of getting such a little kid to look into the device long enough to get any real measurements. Unsurprisingly, they didn’t get a good reading. I wasn’t laughing when the doctor pulled me aside and said that despite the poor testing conditions, their little gizmo had picked up a potential vision problem. Upon her recommendations, we soon visited a pediatric ophthalmologist. As I left the ophthalmologist’s office, I called her to thank my pediatrician for catching what ended up being a serious vision discrepancy. Just like I couldn’t have known he had a vision issue (there were no other
symptoms), there are a myriad of other problems that parents don’t have the tools or technology to pick up on. All those annoying screenings that are done can have a purpose. As an example, a friend shared with me how her child’s pediatrician picked up on a slight discrepancy in her daughter’s numbers that indicated the beginning stages of an eating issue. Baruch Hashem, they were able to immediately address her daughter’s disordered eating at an early phase rather than waiting till the problem had progressed. It can sometimes be tough to know whether what your child is experiencing is something that will pass or requires an intervention. Your child’s well visit can also be both the opportunity and the wakeup call that something needs to be looked into further. The well visit is a chance to monitor not only your child’s physical health but also their mental health, which is no less important. Especially during times of increased stress, you’ll want their health care provider on board and monitoring your child. Questionnaires and screenings will include a mental health portion. It can make a tremendous difference in the health of a child if potential problems, especially emotional ones, are caught early on. In some cases, a child may open up to a physician rather than a parent about
issues they’re experiencing. Many parents find it helpful to come with a prepared list of questions or issues to discuss. Having it written down in advance helps prevent the inevitable forgetfulness that occurs during appointments.
Getting to Know Each Other Well visits are a time for your child to get to know their physician and become comfortable with him/her. This is the main opportunity for your child to meet this individual when they’re not sick, hurt, or feeling gross. Their doctor, similarly, gets the chance to become familiar with your child and their personality, especially when they’re feeling more like themself. A child benefits from being comfortable speaking with their personal physician. A scared, untrusting child won’t as accurately convey their true feelings and level of pain as a child that communicates well with their doctor. Additionally, when the family physician understands their patient’s usual temperament, the doctor is better able to catch nuanced changes when they occur. A few years ago, my son was hospitalized, and his usual pediatrician was on vacation when the emergency occurred. My usually inquisitive and talkative child was in such pain that he remained quiet
