Children Getting a Checkup Togther?

I take all my kids together and we go in together too. But my kids are young.

Tomorrow we all go for the dentist. I let the kids wait in the waiting room alone while I get my teeth done. It's right there, I can hear and see them, and the receptionist is a doll. It's easier for me and for me to just see us all at once.

I have with my kids. No big deal. It costs the same as different appointments, but I only go in once. I have two boys, so I guess I did it until they were teens? I can't remember.

Always scheduled them together!

You can have them together as long as you & they are comfortable.

We do that but one waits in the waiting room while the other gets checked out, then we switch. It helps me focus on questions and they get their privacy.

Yes back to back appointments are common.
I'm not sure why you wouldn't want to leave either a nine or ten year old alone in a doctor's waiting room, which is full of other mothers and children after all, not creepy weirdos. Unless they are very immature or disabled or special needs or something they should know how to sit and read a book or Highlights magazine for twenty minutes.

I never had this issue come up because I have 1 child, a daughter age 20.

I believe what you mention is a good idea for small children but in no way would I force my son or daughter to be in the room when the other was having an exam at the ages your children are at this time.

I assume you want your children to have a relationship with the Dr. Well, I can tell you that a 10 yr old girl approaching puberty will not be open with the Dr, ask or answer questions. Same for the 9 yr old boy.

Each child is old enough to know what goes on at a check up and deserves respect and privacy so they can answer and ask important with the Dr.

They are old enough to sit in a waiting area but if you are so against that, at least have them wait outside the room. Please give them privacy and respect that, especially at these ages.

I stopped going into the room with my daughter years ago. She is old enough to speak with the Dr. in private and ask anything she wants. If the Dr. needs to see me, then when the visit is over, we all sit together and discuss anything to be discussed.

Your children are growing up and they need to develop their own relationship with their Dr. privately and respectfully.

I know that the doctor's office offered the back to back appointments but did they explicitly OK having two opposite-sex kids present in the exam rooms during each others' exams?

Please call back and ask that specifically because the practice might not permit it, or might say that they don't forbid it but they would discourage it.

At ages 9 and 10, they should be getting brief genital exams as part of their checkups, and your daughter should get a spinal check for scoliosis that usually means she will be shirtless. At their ages, they themselves will balk at the idea of this happening in front of a sibling.

If the practice says OK to back to back appointments, it's very likely that this office is used to having a child in the waiting room alone, or sends child 2 back for eye charts and weight check etc. with a nurse while child 1 is inside the exam room with the parent.

Please check out Diane B's great reply below, regarding logistics that get both kids seen but don't involve both kids in the room simultaneously.

I always did back to back appointments (one time for 6 kids at once!). A busy couple of hours for me, but totally worth not having to go back 6 times. Often I had several kids in the room with me at the same time, different gender, same gender - didn't matter. If someone had to take their clothes off for something, I took the rest of the kids into the hallway if privacy was necessary while that part of the check up was happening. I still schedule the kids appointments together when possible and my 4 kids at home are 18, 17, 15 and 14 - the 18 and 17 yr old can obviously wait in the lobby, but my younger two are special needs and cannot be left alone for a second unsupervised.

However, to each his own :) Good luck!

i always scheduled my kids' checkups to back up to each other like this. i took the baby or toddler in with me, but when they got to be 6 or 7 i was fine with them playing or reading in the waiting room without me.
khairete
S.

The reason that their well childs visits were not together is, probably, that their birthdays are not close together....and we tend to have the checkups close to their birthdays.

As they get older...it really doesn't matter that much. When we moved to another state, we were a little behind and I just lumped them all together for their visits. I have 4 children, and I bring them all together. They usually give us two rooms...and take the older ones to a room so they can have the checkup without their siblings and without me. Yes, they get to an age where they don't want mom or dad in there for the exams. And its good, maybe they would tell the dr something that they wouldn't share with me. The Dr of course tells me everything is OK or if there are any issues.

I will say, that with 4 at a time (we do dentists this way too), it is NOT always easier. Yes, less trips, less time...but it is a wild time :)

They would not make one of your children wait in the waiting room....and just bring a book or ipad or something to keep the other one occupied and eyes off during the visit. Or maybe they can have their own rooms. At that age, they would be safe to be in an exam room by themselves for a while.

We always made our appts like that. Unless private are being checked they could be in the room together. If it's something a little more personal the extra kids could wait outside the door.

I've always scheduled back to back appointments when able, for my own convenience. I do it for dental cleanings and eye exams too.

When the boys were little I'd bring them both into the exam room, but now they wait and take turns. Won't be long now before they won't want me in the exam room with them either.

I'm fine with one being alone in the waiting room. They just read or watch tv. I worry more about what bug they might pick up rather than the other people waiting.

My two younger kids (9 & 11) have always had their appts together. Weird that yours hasn't done this all along. Anyway...you're probably nearing the end of when it's OK for your son to be in the room the whole time. His sister deserves some privacy and he should step out of the room (even just to the other side of a closed door) so that the doctor can discuss puberty with her. My youngers are both boys so it's no big deal but in another year or two the older one will need his own time with the doctor and his younger brother (and I) will step out of the room.

We go to a Family Practice Doc and I always schedule my hubby, and two sons back to back to back. Being that you have a boy and a girl separate time for the exam and doctor to talk with the child will be needed soon. If you don't want your other child in the waiting room alone just ask that they step out of the exam room and either sit in a chair nearby if there is one, or sit on the floor and wait.

On the flip side. As your daughter gets older a separate visit with just Mom taking daughter might be a good idea because time alone in the car would be a good time for your daughter to ask the questions that are going to come up.

M

We sometimes had all the kids in - they just booked a big time slot off. If anyone needs something more personal done, we just go the nurse's room down the hall or out to the waiting room.

I find it saves a lot of time. I would do it until the kids were bothered by it or request to have them done alone. But we still schedule together whenever possible.

They all have dentist appointments tomorrow back to back. I prefer just to get it all done in one go. They can amuse themselves with books or bring my ipad. Plus then we usually make a morning of it - go out for treat or something later.

Well, it seems like common sense to me. I have O. child so it's not an issue. A good friend with 3 routinely schedules doctor and dental visits back to back, when it applies (check ups, not sick visits, etc.).
That said, I would have O. child wait in the waiting room during the others apointment.

my pedis office offers this every time they both need an appt sick or not. they see the same dr and dr sees one then the other and sends us on our way. i love it.
there are 4 drs in the office and all 4 so this, both my kids have been seen by one of the other drs at the same time for similar illnesses. makes my life easier for sure. and they have offered it every time since i had dd back in 2012

I've always done back to back appointments. We have our girls' checkups scheduled for July. One is at 9, the other is at 9:30. Last month I took them to the dentist and they both had a 2:30 appointment. So they went back to different rooms and were done at the same time. It was wonderful.

My girls are 8 and 5. Right now they are comfortable being together for appointments. When either one of them becomes uncomfortable then we'll do separate appointments. Otherwise, I'll probably separate them at 10-12.

For your kids, since they are different genders and your oldest is 10, I would keep them out of each other's rooms.

We always did it that way, as long as they appointments were routine and fell into the same general time frame. The problem, for some offices, and why some may not want to schedule that way is b/c if you cancel (for whatever reason), it isn't just one cancellation...it's TWO slots on their appointment calendar.

The first time I asked to be scheduled that way, they agreed, but with the *warning* that if we needed to cancel last minute, we'd be charged for BOTH, (as it should be). Typically, they didn't charge for one if you couldn't help cancelling though, so this was a big deal. One slot they can usually fill, or someone comes in without an appointment for something urgent... but two slots?

We have ALWAYS scheduled dental appointments this way. Although, now that the kids are older, they schedule them simultaneously. They have their cleanings done in rooms next to each other and I just go back for the last 5 minutes and track with the dentist as he checks over each one at the end. :)

I always scheduled my kids doctor's appointments together if they're sick or well.
( girls: almost 8, and 9) (boys: almost 6 and 22 months).

most times they check their ears, throat, nose etc and maybe drawn blood if needed. They never had to take their clothes off or whatever so they don't see anything personal anyway. My almost 8 year old daughter and almost 6 year old son will be going to a well check up next month together since their birthdays are 9 days apart. Now maybe in a few years. Most time when one's getting checked the other looking at books or magazine.

I schedule my kids together also. They are 10 and 8. It's so much easier that way

We always do our kids' checkups together. When the doc gets to the "sensitive" portion of the exam/questions, one of the kids and I will just step outside. As my boys are 12 and 14, there are some parts of the visit that should be private, and that is fine.

If they are going to do a physical then no. If they're doing shots....maybe no. I'd say do them on different days so the kids have that privacy. If they were younger then yes but at this age the doc is going to want to check their development and ask personal questions.

My older kids always had their checkups back to back until they were 8, then the office put a limit of 2 family members per day so they did not take the whole day for the doc. Anyway, the doc would do the normal checkups with everyone in the room. When it came time for 5-10 minutes of privacy, we just waited right outside.

we do this for our two girls (3 yrs apart) all the time, they both come into the room, they do one then the other

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we do this for our two girls (3 yrs apart) all the time, they both come into the room, they do one then the other