So your little one is due in a couple of weeks and you still don’t have a pediatrician. Our pediatricians here at Pediatric North Care in Kansas City, MO, advise, that the most ideal time to start your search for a pediatrician is during the last couple of weeks prior to your expected due date. Additionally, families that change insurance or relocate should likewise find a pediatrician before their children fall ill or require a checkup.

We understand, however, that selecting a pediatrician could be a difficult task. So here are some practical tips to help you out on your search.

Check The Credentials of The Pediatrician

Ask your family and friends for referrals first. If that doesn’t work, ask your primary care physician or ob-gyn for recommendations. You should likewise check the credentials of the pediatricians you have in mind, which can usually be found on their website or displayed in the office wall.

Meet With Pediatricians Face-to-Face

To check how well you get along with your potential pediatrician in Kansas City, you need to meet with them personally. Make sure to prepare a list of questions you’d like answered before your appointment. It’s likewise a great idea to ask if your baby would see the same pediatrician for sick and well-child visits, how many pediatricians work in the practice, and how long appointments usually take, among others.

Evaluate Your Feelings About Your Potential Pediatrician

The parent-pediatrician relationship is immensely crucial. Aside from having great credentials, your pediatrician should also be agreeable to you. Think about this, what good would a great track record be if you don’t feel that you can really talk to your pediatrician without feeling judged or rushed about private issues? Remember, you will have to feel comfortable discussing all sorts of things with your pediatrician, from vaccines to various ailments, bedwetting, thumb sucking, and your child’s general behavior.

Don’t Hesitate to Call Us

Dial (816) 587-3200 to schedule an appointment with one of the pediatricians here at Pediatric North Care in Kansas City, MO.

Everyone is born with two tonsils. These are lymph nodes located right in the back of the throat. They help out the immune system by housing important white blood cells. Even so, the tonsils themselves can become infected, which is known as tonsillitis. The tonsils swell up, causing pain and discomfort. Children between the ages of five and eleven experience it the most. You need to bring your child in to see a pediatrician right away. Tonsillitis is commonly caused by streptococcus pyogenes also known as strep throat. 

• Sore throat
• Noticeably bigger tonsils
• Fever
• Pain or problems with swallowing
• Yellow or white patches coating the throat and tonsils
• Swollen lymph nodes in the neck
• Foul breath
• Stiff neck
• Headaches
• A scratchy or rough voice
• Stomach pain

Find out why you shouldn’t delay getting your child the appropriate vaccines.

Once your baby is born, they will begin to receive a series of immunizations. These immunizations are ones that our Kansas City, MO, pediatricians will continue to administer to your child throughout their early childhood. These vaccines bolster your child’s immune system and protect them from serious and possibly life-threatening diseases.

Here’s why you should keep up with your child’s immunization schedule so they don’t fall behind:

It Protects Your Child from Disease

Vaccines safeguard your child from developing potentially dangerous diseases. Babies, in particular, are at risk for developing more serious complications due to certain communicable diseases. By staying up to date on your child’s vaccines, you can prevent these complications and help keep them healthy.

It Protects Others

Children who aren’t following the proper immunization schedules aren’t just at risk for getting sick; they also put others at risk, too. Newborns, as well as children and adults with compromised immune systems (e.g. those undergoing chemotherapy), are more at risk for developing serious complications related to these diseases. By vaccinating your child, you protect your little one, as well as your family and the community.

Try these Helpful Vaccine Tracker Apps!

While the CDC’s immunization schedule is handy, it’s easy to lose that piece of paper; however, there are different apps that you can download that can help you keep track of the vaccines your child has received (and still needs to get).

This will be particularly helpful if you’ve recently switched pediatricians here in Kansas City, MO. Now, you can keep track of your child’s immunization history and show us at their next visit. Helpful vaccine tracker apps include,

“Vaccines on the Go” by the Children’s Hospital of Philadelphia

Child Health Tracker by the American Academy of Pediatrics

CDC Vaccine Schedule App

Shots Immunizations App by the Society of Teachers of Family Medicine
 

If it’s time for your child’s next round of vaccines, then schedule an appointment with the pediatricians here at Pediatric Care North in Kansas City, MO. Call us at (816) 587-3200.

To keep your child healthy and happy this involves making sure that they eat the right foods, exercise regularly and get quality sleep. Of course, visiting your pediatrician for routine checkups and care is also necessary for maintaining optimal health in your child or teen. Along with making sure that your little one is reaching those developmental milestones, our pediatricians can also protect your child from a variety of serious and potentially life threatening illnesses through regular immunizations.

What do immunizations do?

Immunizations or vaccines are used to boost the body’s natural defenses to help it properly fight infection. In order to do this, a vaccine needs to contain either a dead or weakened form of the infection. This is just enough to trigger the immune system to start producing the necessary antibodies to fight the infection without actually causing an infection. Even once the body fights off these germs it will still maintain these defenses to prevent being infected in the future.

Your child won’t build up an immediate immunity once they’ve been vaccinated. It can take up to three weeks for the body to build a complete immune response to the specific germs. Therefore, during this time it is possible that your child could still become infected with any of the viruses for which they haven’t fully been vaccinated. Each vaccine is different and your pediatrician can discuss with you the expected length of time that a vaccine will take to fully work.

Why are immunizations important?

Immunizations are one of the most effective preventive tools we have for protecting children and teens from potentially dangerous or fatal infections and diseases. Since many of these conditions can also cause serious complications including hospitalizations, getting your child vaccinated can prevent the need for extensive and expensive medical treatments.

Certain people, especially those with weakened immune systems, may not be able to get certain vaccinations. This means that they are particularly susceptible to infection. By getting more and more children vaccinated we can also protect other members of our community who can’t be vaccinated so they don’t deal with life-threatening illnesses, themselves.

We know that parents usually have a lot of questions when it comes to getting their child vaccinated and during your child’s next visit we would be happy to discuss these options with you. The CDC also has a handy immunization schedule that every family should follow to make sure that their child is getting the proper immunizations at the right time so they are always fully protected from certain illnesses and diseases.

If you have questions about the immunizations your child is supposed to be getting or if you need to schedule their next checkup call your pediatrician today.