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Answers to your most common questions
Prenatal
Most area hospital nurseries are staffed by neonatologists, pediatricians who specialize in caring for newborns. Neonatologists exam your baby at least twice before leaving the hospital and will determine if you need additional care after leaving the hospital.
While our pediatricians won’t be seeing you in the hospital, please let us know any questions or concerns you have. We look forward to seeing you and your baby at the one-week well visit.
Typically, we want to see you when your baby is about 5 to 7 days old. Please call us anytime — we are happy to schedule an earlier appointment for any concerns, such as jaundice or breastfeeding issues.
Circumcision is a procedure that is centuries old. There are many religious and cultural aspects that factor into the decision. From a pediatrician's viewpoint, there is little medical necessity for the procedure, other than it can make it easier for a boy to clean himself.
Our best advice is to understand that if you want your son to be circumcised it's an easier procedure when he's a baby. It’s a more involved procedure when boys are older, requiring consultation with a urologist and general anesthesia.
In the Greater Cincinnati area, obstetricians do circumcisions in the hospital. We recommend you discuss the procedure, including the type of procedure and any pain or comfort measures, with your obstetrician.
Infant
Our practices are proud to be recognized for excellence for breastfeeding activities by the Internal Board of Lactation Consultant Examiners (IBLCE). Our nurse practitioner, Shari Kehres, is also a Certified Lactation Consultants through the IBLCE.
We have a prenatal breastfeeding class once a month, and you also can schedule an in-office individual lactation consultation after the baby is born.
We follow the American Academy of Pediatrics recommendation for well visits. Your pediatrician will see your child eight times in the first year — 1 week, 2 weeks, 1 month, 2 months, 4 months, 6 months, 9 months and 1 year.
We typically schedule appointments 3 months in advance, and we will work with you to find a convenient appointment in one of our three locations.
Every child is different, but call us at 513-336-6700 if you see these general warning signs:
- No urine in the first 24 hours at home
- No bowel movement in the first 48 hours
- A rectal temperature over 100.4° F (38° C) or less than 97.5° F (36.5° C)
- A rapid breathing rate over 60 per minute, or a blue coloring that does not go away (Newborns normally have irregular respirations, so you need to count for a full minute. There should be no pauses longer than about 5 seconds between breaths.)
- Retractions or pulling in of the ribs with respirations
- Wheezing, grunting or whistling sounds while breathing
- Odor, drainage or bleeding from the umbilical cord
- Yellow coloring of the eyes, chest or extremities
- Crying, irritability or twitching which does not improve with cuddling and comfort
- A sleepy baby who cannot be awakened enough to nurse or nipple
- Any signs of sickness (cough, diarrhea, pale color)
- The baby’s appetite or suck becomes poor or weak
Child
Generally, no. You may wish to consult with your practitioner if your child has a chronic medical condition such as asthma, or if you are traveling overseas to a country where sanitation is a problem. Certain immunizations may be indicated.
ADHD is a complex issue. We work with you, your child, your child’s teachers and the school psychologist to ensure a proper diagnosis. Then, we plan a path of success that we follow together.
After an ADHD diagnosis, we schedule ongoing visits every three to four months.
Adolescent
We are permitted to see children over the age of 16 who come by themselves. We must have written or phone consent from parent or guardian for immunizations until age 18. We do encourage parents to join their children for office visits so that there are no communication issues.
We see children until the age of 22.
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Questions About Our Practices
For newborns:
At the hospital, please list our practices and your doctor's name as the pediatrician. The hospital will then send your baby's discharge papers, and we'll create your baby's chart. Once your home, please call us at 513-336-6700 to schedule the one-week appointment.
For older children:
Call us at 513-336-6700 to schedule an appointment at one of our three offices.
Our practices have large offices, and we work hard to provide individual care and maintain consistency of care. If you are new to our practice with a newborn, you’ll have several visits within the first few weeks — you can make appointments with different providers to get to know them.
We don’t require families to choose a primary care provider, but we do encourage you to see the same pediatrician for checkups, when possible.
There is a pediatrician available at all times. Your after-hours call will frequently be triaged by a nurse who may be able to answer your questions and address your concerns. Please restrict after-hours call to those that are truly urgent.
When a child is ill, parents want an answer as soon as possible. We do our best to have appointments available every day for children with an illness. We have available appointments Monday through Saturday, including evening appointments Monday through Thursday. Sunday appointments are available for emergency visits.
If your child needs an annual physical exam, it’s best to call as soon as possible. Our practices have schedules 3 months in advance, and we’ll try to schedule you an appointment within a reasonable amount of time.
We specifically request that all patients be seen by appointment. Walks-ins are disruptive to our schedule and may result in a long wait or seeing a care provider with whom you or your child are not comfortable. We will do our best to accommodate all urgent requests for appointments.
We realize your time is just as important as ours. We try our best to see patients on schedule, but emergencies do occur.
If we notice a family is waiting longer than usual, one of the office managers will discuss other options with you — such as seeing another provider. We want you to always feel free to talk to our office staff if your wait time seems unreasonable.
Antibiotics are and have been an extremely effective weapon in treating bacterial infections. We prescribe them when necessary:
- Antibiotics are not prescribed for viral upper respiratory infections, such as colds and sniffles.
- We will not call in antibiotics over the phone.
- We want to see patients for an office visit before prescribing any antibiotic.
We believe in the value and efficacy of childhood and adolescent immunizations. Cincinnati Children’s strives to immunize your child according to the recommendations of the American Academy of Pediatrics and the CDC.
If you have any questions about immunizations, we encourage you to talk to us. We are a Vaccines for Children (VFC) provider which means that we offer immunizations to anyone under 19 years old who is covered by Medicaid insurance, or is uninsured, or American Indian/Alaskan native, or underinsured.
You may request a refill through MyChart or by contacting your pharmacy directly,
Controlled medications cannot be refilled by phone or fax. To refill your child's controlled medication, they must have an up-to-date well check. If they do, you can call our office at 513-336-6700 during normal business hours to request a refill. We will only complete refills during normal business hours.
We do not charge for any telephone calls, either during office hours or after-office hours.