Pediatricians And Their Questions
A few weeks ago I did a post on a pediatrician who allegedly turned away children because there were guns in the home. This was fascinating to me, because in the 4+ years that I have known my kids' pediatrician he has never once asked me if we own a firearm. He has, however, asked me several times if we have a swimming pool or if my children have access to a swimming pool.
Today was my daughter's 4-year check-up and my pediatrician once again asked the swimming pool question. Now I don't have a swimming pool, but my parents do. My pediatrician on hearing this instructed me to make sure my children received adequate swim instruction. In short they should be schooled until they were proficient swimmers. They must be taught all swim safety rules. This included floating and finding their way to the wall so they could crawl out. My daughter was also made to repeat after him that she would, "not go near or into a swimming pool without Mommy or Daddy."
I love my pediatrician. I don't find the swimming pool interrogation to be the least bit insulting. I appreciate his concern. Call me strange, but I like that he questions me and provides detailed parenting instruction.
Recently,however, I have been starting to wonder if my pediatrician's questions and advice are not regional. There are a lot of drowning deaths in my area and less firearm deaths. This might go a long way to explaining why my pediatrician fixates on pools. So that begs the question, what great pediatrician questions and subsequent advice am I missing by living where I do? I was hoping that some readers out there would be willing to share what their pediatrician obsesses about. You never know what advice you were told that just might come in handy to someone else.
Today was my daughter's 4-year check-up and my pediatrician once again asked the swimming pool question. Now I don't have a swimming pool, but my parents do. My pediatrician on hearing this instructed me to make sure my children received adequate swim instruction. In short they should be schooled until they were proficient swimmers. They must be taught all swim safety rules. This included floating and finding their way to the wall so they could crawl out. My daughter was also made to repeat after him that she would, "not go near or into a swimming pool without Mommy or Daddy."
I love my pediatrician. I don't find the swimming pool interrogation to be the least bit insulting. I appreciate his concern. Call me strange, but I like that he questions me and provides detailed parenting instruction.
Recently,however, I have been starting to wonder if my pediatrician's questions and advice are not regional. There are a lot of drowning deaths in my area and less firearm deaths. This might go a long way to explaining why my pediatrician fixates on pools. So that begs the question, what great pediatrician questions and subsequent advice am I missing by living where I do? I was hoping that some readers out there would be willing to share what their pediatrician obsesses about. You never know what advice you were told that just might come in handy to someone else.
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The American Academy of Pediatics chapter in California had quite a struggle in the state legislature a few years ago. The opposing lobbyists were not employed by alcohol or tobacco manufacturers, but by contractors. The AAP chapter was lobbying to require four-sided fencing around backyard pools, and the contractors were afraid it would cut into their pool construction.
As the Freakonomics authors have pointed out, having a pool at your house is much more likely to kill your kid than having a firearm at your house. So I'm glad your doctor asked....