Waiting at the Doctor’s Office

How do you help your kids wait patiently at the doctor’s office?

Our Mommy MD Guide’s reply: When my kids were toddlers and we had to wait anywhere, such as at the doctor’s office, we played Eye Spy. A few years later, I created Bee-Stractor cards. These are five cards on a ring with related counting and finding questions on the back. For example, the questions include: How many stars do you see? Can you find an astronaut? Which cow has a plunger on its head?

Bee-Stractors are a quick and handy way to distract bored kids, break a behavior spiral, or take someone’s mind off a painful procedure. They’re actually proven to decrease IV pain, so simply distracting from boredom is easy.  You can buy them at the store on buzzy4shots.com for 6.95.

—Amy Baxter, MD, a mom of 14- and 12-year-old sons and a 9-year-old daughter; the CEO of buzzy4shots.com; and the Director of Emergency Research, Scottish Rite, of the Children’s Healthcare of Atlanta