Have to Take Your Child to a Walk in Medical Clinic? Here Are 3 Ways to Make it Easier
If your child has an urgent medical need and you've got to get to the walk in medical clinic fast, it can be highly stressful for both of you. Fortunately, there are a few things that you can do to minimise this stress so that you can both manage it better. Here's what you need to do when your child is sick or injured and needs to get to the medical centre quickly.
1. Phrase it Properly
Children tend to react to situations based upon their parent's reactions—and this means that when you act panicked, they will too. Tell your child calmly and firmly that they're going to visit a doctor who will look after them and help them feel better. Make every attempt to frame the situation as a regular doctor visit—one that's not much different than the last time your child had their regular check-up. This allows your child to stay calm because they're going into a situation they're familiar with: a visit to a doctor. Whilst the actual setting might different, your child will still feel calmer knowing that they're seeing a doctor who will take care of them.
2. Choose Comfort Items
Before you leave home, gather a couple of items to help comfort your child. Even though your child may understand that they're visiting the doctor and feel just fine about that, they're still feeling poorly physically. Taking along a couple of comfort objects like a fuzzy blanket, a soft pillow, and a favourite stuffed toy can be a fantastic way to help your child feel as physically comfortable as possible given the circumstances. Knowing that your child is comfortable can help reduce your own anxiety, too.
3. Deploy the Distractions
Even if you usually have a ban on mobile phone or tablet devices for your child, this might be the perfect time to make an exception to the rule. If you can get your child's attention focused on a game, movie, or television show on screen, you'll both have considerably less stress during the drive to the walk in clinic. This can absorb your child's attention for the whole drive—and they might even be so interested in what's happening on screen that they forget to cry or complain.
Simply by phrasing the urgent visit the right way, choosing comfort items, and delivering distractions, you can make the medical centre visit as easy as possible. In short order, your child will be feeling better.