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How To Comfort Your Child As You Wait To Be Seen At An Urgent Care Center

10 November 2017 by Ross Martin

Urgent care centers are blessings for parents who find their children needing medical attention at the last minute or overnight, but that doesn't make the experience any better for the children. Be it a fever or another issue, that child may be in pain and scared. Keeping the child comforted while you wait to see the doctor is essential because extra stress will only add to the problems.

Favorite Toys and Books

Like any trip, packing your child's favorite toys and books can help keep him or her occupied during the wait. Don't ignore the fact that your child may be uncomfortable; acknowledge it and then suggest reading or playing as a way to help make the pain or other issue run away. This is not the time to let your child play alone, by the way, while you play on your phone or talk to someone else; stay engaged with your child and try to keep his or her attention on the toy or book.

Discuss What's Happening

It's always good to talk to your child about what might happen at a doctor's appointment. In this case, you can also try talking about the pain or other condition and see if you can help your child turn the pain into a not-so-big issue. Of course, if your kid is screaming in pain, that might be a little difficult. But if your child is scared or just uncomfortable, you can discuss what the child thinks might happen, what he or she would tell the pain if it were a person, and what he or she would do once the pain goes away.

Fully Acknowledge Pain and Its Disappearance

Don't deny your child's pain or tell him or her to stop crying (this is a particular issue for parents in the medical field who regularly see worse problems; there's a tendency to assume the child is overreacting when in fact that child is really scared). Tell him or her that you know it feels bad now, but after you see the doctor, it's going to feel better. Let the child know that he or she is already healing, too.

Urgent care waits are typically short compared to the emergency room. In some cases you won't have to wait very long at all; other times, a more serious case may need attention first, and you'll have to wait it out. It's times like these when your child can start to feel like the pain or other problem just won't leave, so have patience if the child seems to get more scared. It's part of being a parent, and with the help of the urgent care doctors and nurses, everything will be fine very soon. Contact a center, Emergency Care Dynamics, for more help.

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