How To Support Kids At The Doctor

Four evidence-based strategies to manage fear and pain.

Greetings, all! Welcome to Part Two of my two-part series on kids at the doctor. In last week’s essay I discussed why it’s so important for physicians to take kids’ pain seriously, and I shared some reasons why they still don’t. Today, I’m providing science-based strategies for parents who want to help kids overcome fear and manage pain during potentially painful procedures. I have compiled these with the help of Meghan McMurtry, a clinical child and adolescent psychologist who runs the Pediatric Pain, Health, and Communication Lab at the University of Guelph in Canada, and Krupa Playforth, a Virginia-based pediatrician.

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Why, again, does all this matter? As I explained last week:

We know, from published research, that most adults who are afraid of needles developed that fear because of painful experiences they had with needles as children — often, experiences that happened before the age of 5. We also know that some adults who avoid medical care do so because of needle fears. Put two and two together, and you can conclude that children’s bad experiences at the pediatrician’s office can shape their relationship with the medical system, and their overall health, for the rest of their lives.

Onto my four key strategies for helping make doctor’s visits and procedures — including vaccines, finger pricks and blood draws — easier for you and your kids.