Frequently Asked Questions

CALL US! You can always reach a human being. The staff can answer many common questions, and if it’s more complex, they can get back to you with answer from the doctor or make an appointment if the answer requires more conversation. Emails to our office are not efficient, this will take longer.

After hours, there is a doctor on call if you have an urgent concern. These calls are considered a brief appointment, but can save you a trip to urgent care or the ER. Call us first if it is not a true emergency.

CALL US! Call the office first, and page the doctor on call to discuss the concern. Many problems can be managed over the phone and prevent an unnecessary trip to the urgent care or ER.

If you call after hours, there will always be a doctor on call. Just leave a message and we will call you back.

If there is truly an emergent issue, severe breathing problems, loss of consciousness, severe unrelenting pain, a minor injury, a severe allergic reaction, etc. call 911 or go to the closest emergency room.

Most medication refills are not urgent. Please call during regular hours and we can promptly help you.

If your child has an urgent medical problem that requires medication, you can page the doctor on call. However if your child has a significant illness, they may need to see a doctor in person at an urgent care or the ER to assess what medications are appropriate.

No, these medications given BEFORE vaccines can prevent an adequate immune response and possibly make the vaccines less effective. Of course, if your child is fussy from pain at the injection site or has a fever later in the day or next day after vaccines, you can give acetaminophen. For children 6 months and above, Ibuprofen is ok to use.

These medications are dosed based on WEIGHT. Please follow the table.

In General, fever is your friend. It helps fight infections and is not harmful. High fevers of 104-105 can cause headaches, body aches, eye pain, vomiting, rapid heart rate, and rapid breathing. we recommend getting the fever down with Acetaminophen or Ibuprofen so that your child is more comfortable and more likely to drink fluids or eat a little food.

If a fever is 106 degrees or higher, it would be good to be seen by a doctor sooner to check for a more serious infection. If our office is open, call for a same day appointment. If we are closed, go to Urgent care or the ER.

Unfortunately, no. We order vaccines several months in advance and need to make sure we always have enough in stock for all of our patients, the kids. We are sorry for the inconvenience. Most vaccines parents can easily get from your local pharmacy close to home.

It’s good to be sure your children are up to date on the regular childhood and teenage vaccines. Some vaccines we don’t carry in our office for infections in other countries. Please got to the CDC.gov,  enter where you are traveling to and they will have what vaccines and other precautions should be taken listed.

We don’t recommend a particular brand. Most formula is the same: even the generic is the same as the most popular name brands. We typically don’t recommend buying formula from foreign countries, since these are not regulated in the U.S. and may not be safe. We definitely don’t recommend any homemade formulas or recipes found on the internet. This is very dangerous since it can lead to serious malnutrition and deficiencies for growing infants, as well as a higher chance of contamination.

If your child has a special digestion problems or other concerns talk to us about recommended formulas or dietary changes.

At your child’s physical the doctor will monitor growth and development, and discuss nutrition and sleep, and perform a full exam. Screening for developmental delays, depression, and anemia might be done. Often, conditions such as growth delay, scoliosis, weight changes, vision problems, hypertension, and hernias can be detected at the yearly physicals.

First, take a deep breath and remember this is a virus and like other viruses, most kids have mild illness and will be better in about 1 week. If possible, the person with COVID-19 should be isolated (their own room and bathroom) and always wear masks when using a shared space with the family. Isolate for at least 5 days, as this is the most contagious time.

Ideally use a rapid home Covid test on day 6 of illness to see if still contagious. Stay in isolation until a rapid antigen covid test is negative. For most people, this is on day 10.

For everyone else in the home with exposure to the sick person, do a covid test only if you start to have any symptoms of illness; Headache, sore throat, or fatigue may be the first signs. Rapid antigen tests may show false negatives in the first days of illness. It would be wise to wear a mask in any indoor spaces in case you don’t realize you have Covid already. If anyone develops symptoms – stay home, assume you also have Covid, and start isolation is possible as stated above.