Welcome back to New Day, Northwest.
You know, sending our kids back
to school is more than just
new clothes and packed lunches.
Each age group has health priorities
that we need to think about.
And here to help us is Doctor Elizabeth Mead,
medical director of education outreach and
quality Pediatrics at Providence, Swedish.
It is so nice to talk to you,
my friend, to see you.
This is exciting stuff because there's a
lot that goes into going back to school.
It's fun, but it's also nerve
wracking and parents have a lot on
their mind to go through right now.
So let's talk about the different.
Age groups and the different
priorities starting with kindergarten.
Sure, so I think we classically think
about kind of back to school shots,
right for kindergarteners.
And so there there's lots of things
that they need boosters for,
so things like measles and mumps,
and rubella and whooping cough
and all these things that we want
our kids to be protected against.
So for that age group,
I think it is that kind of classic.
Back to school shots,
but there are other groups of kids
as well that we have to think
about with vaccines that sometimes
I think parents forget about.
OK, I might be that parent because
I was just thinking other day.
I'm like kids 9 like what do we need?
They check in, what about four
to six year olds for vaccines,
for vaccine, just in general?
Just in general, yeah. So
I think, you know, we talked a little bit
about the vaccines for back to school,
but these are kids who are often
going to school for the first time.
And certainly this year in person,
school looks a lot different than it
has and you know, pre, pre pandemic.
So I think for parents of that age,
it's really important to think about
familiarizing your child with the school
before you go as much as possible.
So that could look like practicing the
drive or the walk or the bus route,
you know, however your child is
going to get to school playing on the
playground if they're allowed to do that.
Yeah, time and then thinking about
are there any other kids or families
you know who go to that school who
could give a little bit of insight
or talk to your child about what
it's gonna be like so they feel like
they have a buddy there?
That's a really, really,
really great idea.
OK, before we move on to preteens,
I just have to ask this myself.
So like at 9 years old are
there any shots like that?
Again, probably not.
10:50 is typically the next group.
OK, although COVID and flu are
something we think about for every
every year. Absolutely OK.
Now let's move on to preteen.
So do we need to be
thinking about so that kind of tend
to 11 age groups so often those are
kids who are starting to think about.
Middle school are going into middle school.
There are some boosters that
those kids need as well.
So these are things like a meningitis
vaccine and HPV vaccine and then
typically a tetanus booster also.
And then this is the age where I think
it's really important to start talking with
kids about things they might hear about,
learn about at school that they
potentially haven't been exposed to before.
You know, our kids always know
more than we think they do.
So I think starting those
conversations even earlier is great.
But definitely,
if you haven't had the kind of sex,
drugs and rock'n'roll conversation by now,
this is a great age to
think about starting that.
And Doctor Meade has always
been the one to say.
You want them to hear it
from you for sure first,
not from there from where,
and I think if you can kind of
nip that in the bud and just make
sure that you can have open,
honest conversations about it that
are respectful and fact based. That's
super important, so key alright,
the kids have faced.
You mentioned the pandemic,
a lot of disruption in their lives,
a lot of anxiety. What have you
heard from families and kids?
I mean I know first hand.
I think both of us do, you know,
having kids at home and this time
has been incredibly challenging.
I think continuing to work this time
has been incredibly challenging
and there are lots of parents.
You have left the workforce or who
are staying at home with their kids
and that could be really hard too.
So I think it's just been
really difficult for everyone.
You know, we often think in that
young age group like, well,
those kids actually don't know any different.
So maybe it's a little bit easier on them.
But I think we have to recognize too.
Their worlds are really small and they
have been for the past couple years.
And so when we think about
development for those children,
you know,
getting them back into activities
in school with other kids their own
age and older kids and younger kids
and kind of all the things they can
learn from each other is great and
really important and doing everything.
We can to keep our kids in person in
school this year is going to be huge.
Fingers crossed, fingers crossed.
I have a couple of friends who
are sending their kids off to
kindergarten for the first time,
giving advice maybe for
those parents. It's hard.
I mean, first of all,
it's very exciting, right?
I think it's a really
complicated mix of emotions.
So it's excitement, it's hope,
it's fear, it's anxiety.
It's just a lot of uncertainty
about what that could look like.
I mean, we have a,
I have a stepson who's going into
third grade and we've never 2nd grade,
excuse me.
And we've never been into his
school because parents haven't
been allowed in there, so.
I think there's this whole other
layer with COVID of like not
knowing the environment in which
your child is going to be cared
for and kind of learning right?
Yeah,
so talking to teachers talking to school,
finding out as much as you can,
asking the questions that you want to ask,
but also just giving ourselves
some grace to recognize this is
going to be complicated and it's
OK to not feel a certain way
about your child going to school.
I OK, I love that giving that grace,
especially because you know we talked
about this earlier on the show.
A friend of ours, I'm one of our
producers or daughters going into
middle school for the first time,
and there's got to be a lot of anxiety.
About all these new things,
any thoughts on how to handle anxiety?
Sure. I mean, I think this is
true for kids of all ages, right?
We are seeing anxiety really skyrocket
and all the different age groups
and I think especially for children
who are going to a new school.
So switching to middle school
or switching to high school or
even kids going to college are
having a lot of issues with this.
So I think, you know,
it's really important to recognize
a lot of this is very normal and
adjustment periods are very normal.
And so having those open conversations
with your children really at that age.
Talk about middle school and kind of beyond.
Yeah, they can talk about a lot
more than we think they can,
so they really can have nuanced
conversations about their emotions.
And I think sharing with your
kids your feelings as well,
like I'm kind of nervous about this too.
You know,
let's talk about what we're nervous about,
how we can make that better,
and how we're going to talk to
each other if we feel like it's
getting a little bit hard to handle.
So just recognizing that anxiety
is very normal with transitions,
there may be kind of an adjustment period,
but if you feel like your child's anxiety
is bigger than you think it ought to be.
If that adjustment period
is not really evening.
Out, it's not kind of settling out
in the way that you think it might,
yeah,
or it's really affecting their everyday life.
Absolutely talk to their primary care.
OK, talk to the primary care for sure,
and I think earlier than later just
so we can ensure that we're really
doing a deep dive to see if there's
anything that should be taken care of
really quickly before we go.
Do you have these conversations in
front of the child? Or separately?
I think both, so I think it
depends on the situation.
I think you know definitely being open
with our kids about medical and mental
health stuff is really important,
so I think telling your child, hey,
I want to talk to the doctor about this.
How do you feel about that?
Getting some permission from them because
it's them that you're talking about, right?
But also know that you can always
have a conversation with your
child's doctor on the side.
If you're very concerned if you're nervous.
Oh my gosh, thank you so much. As always.
I could talk to you all day about this.
The whole show is Doctor Elizabeth Meade.
Thank you so much for you.
Alright, so for more advice
for back to school anxieties,
check out the blog on our website
on your on the website on your
screen right there blog.swedish.org.
And if you've been putting
off care or need to follow up,
be sure to reach out to
Swedish primary care today.
All right.
Coming up next,
you may have seen the news
about delays in construction of
several light rail projects in the
Puget Sound area, but up next,
we're taking a more nuanced look.
That's what's going on with
these projects and stay with us.
This portion of New Day Northwest
is sponsored by Providence, Swedish.