Visiting the doctor or dentist: Surgery hours

Visiting the doctor and dentist is something that every child has to do. Many will take this in their stride, but children, like adults, can sometimes become fearful and anxious about these visits. This fear can emanate from past bad experience, from a general fear of 'the unknown' or from fears transmitted by others. If a parent is terrified of the dentist, or is worried about the child, the child will often pick up on this and become afraid.

Good preparation, positive experiences and confident and supportive adults can help to prevent and overcome these fears.The preparation need not just precede a specific visit but can be incorporated into everyday activities.

PREPARATION

Nursery staff can help by providing suitable toys and encouraging role play. Situations can be acted out with soft toys or dolls. For example, 'Teddy is feeling poorly today - what shall we do? What if Teddy still feels poorly? Do you think he might need to go to the doctor?' Observing the child's dramatisation of Teddy's trip to the doctor may give the child an opportunity to express any fears about what will happen. This gives nursery staff a chance to dispel any unfounded fears and to offer reassurance indirectly - that is, to Teddy.

Toys such as a doctor's case with stethoscope will give the child the chance to play the role of the doctor. 'Becoming' what is feared in role play can help to lessen or alleviate children's fears. Encouraging such role play and providing resources for it will enable the child to cope more easily when the need arises for a visit to the doctor or dentist.

Books can also be a valuable resource. Most libraries have a section that contains books for adults to use with children to help them cope with particular situations. This section, which is often near to the children's section, will usually include picture books that deal with visiting the doctor and dentist. Again, these can be used at any time as well as preceding a particular visit.

If a child has a tendency to anxiety, re-visiting these books from time to time can help build familiarity with situations, so that a real visit feels like less of a trauma. Making books with children is another option. These can be very simple, with each page showing what is likely to happen, step by step, starting with the car or bus journey, and what might be seen on the way. Talking to children is also very important. The child may have questions and these should be answered, if possible, in a way that will not frighten the child but is not dishonest either.

All this preparation will help children know what to expect and they will be far less likely to be worried. If early experiences with the doctor and dentist are positive, then the child will cope more readily with future visits and treatment as they grow older.