My Child Is Afraid of the Doctor: What Can I Do to Help?

In caring for your child, you rely on the assistance and support of many people. As the old saying goes, it takes a village to raise a healthy child. Your child’s pediatrician is a key part of their care team. Children need regular checkups with a trusted family medicine professional and may need pediatric care or treatment for injuries or illnesses.

The team at Health Solutions of Tinley Park, Rockford, and Flossmoor, Illinois, and Munster, Indiana, provide ongoing care to pediatric and adult patients. Our helpful family medicine doctors and child-friendly, convenient offices make going to the doctor easy.

Sometimes, though, getting your child to the doctor isn’t easy. Your child may tell you they’re afraid of going to the doctor or show signs of resistance rooted in fear. 

You don’t want to let your child skip doctor visits out of fearfulness, as anxiety around going to the doctor can linger into adulthood and become a source of health problems. And your child may need care sooner rather than later.

How can you help your child overcome fears of visiting the doctor? Here are some expert tips and tricks from our experienced pediatrics team.

Tip #1: Go to the doctor regularly

This might seem surprising, but a great way to soothe anxieties about doctor’s visits is to bring your child into Health Solutions regularly. Keeping a steady schedule of appointments with the same care team lets your child get used to the idea of regular medical care. When appointments are common, each individual appointment looms less large in your child’s mind.

Regular visits to the Health Solutions location nearest you also let your child bond with their pediatrician, forming a friendly relationship that can support your child for years to come. Our team keeps pediatric appointments cheerful and gentle, so your child doesn’t need to be scared of treatment.

Your child benefits from regular preventive care and checkups beyond just addressing and relieving anxieties about doctor’s appointments. At Health Solutions, your child receives on-schedule vaccinations, developmental monitoring, and even specialized support like allergy testing.

Tip #2: Model a positive attitude about doctor visits

Kids learn a lot from the adults around them. If your child is fearful or anxious about going to the doctor, make sure that your own concerns about appointments aren’t bleeding through. Presenting doctor’s visits as normal, safe, and positive makes a big difference for anxious kids.

It also makes a difference how you handle your own medical care as your child’s caregiver. If you put off going to the doctor or talk in your child’s hearing about how you’re dreading your next appointment, you normalize anxiety about routine medical care. 

When you present medical care as a good thing you do for yourself and doctors as compassionate helpers that it’s safe to trust, your child has less to fear. Talk to your child openly, calmly, and soothingly about doctor visits and medical care needs.

Tip #3: Create positive associations with doctor’s appointments

Positive associations and little rewards make unpleasant activities easier. By setting up and maintaining pleasant routines and rewards, you can help your child build up positive associations around medical appointments.

For example, you could play special, favorite music on your way to the office or regularly stop for a small treat your child likes on your way home. That way, a trip to the doctor isn’t just a chance to talk to your favorite pediatrician; it’s also a familiar, pleasant outing that your child can look forward to.

Talk to the team at Health Solutions about your child’s anxieties, and see if there’s anything we can do to help. From stickers to suckers, we understand how to use positive rewards to make medical visits less stressful and scary.

Schedule your child’s visit to Health Solutions online or over the phone today. We also offer same-day visits when needed.