Preparing to see the pediatrician

Do any of you remember your mother washing you, or having you wash your bottom area prior to any doctor visits as a child?

I took night baths before bed, so a freshening up the next day was a certain giveaway that my penis was possibly going to be examined, and that my bottom was sure to be visited by a rectal thermometer.

I remember being handed a warm washcloth and being instructed to “make sure to pull the skin back and wash that area really good, _ _ _ _ .” And if course fresh tighty whities were a must!

Unless I was actively ill, I wasn’t told ahead of time about any future doctor visits, I think due to the anxiety it caused me. It didn’t take too many times of this cleaning ritual for me to figure it out anyway, but at least I didn’t have all night for my extremely shy self to worry about my impending bottomless doom.

Do any of you recall any pre-doctor appointment rituals?

Surely when young it was a bath the night before but I didn't make the connection between bathing and the eventual exam. I usually learned the morning of an exam as I got older to I think minimize protesting or the opportunity to get out of one. I never got out of one! The anxiety was usually the same. Nervous stomach and blushing when told to undress for the doctor by the nurse or while a parent was present.

I did!!! It was horrible because I knew what that meant!! Getting naked and nurse putting a thermometer in ur butt….then shots!! Oh boy !

Oh yeah the bath the day before. Just before the visit mum would escort me to the bathroom to have me brush my teeth. I never got it why mum thought this was necessary. While I was cleaning my teeth mum took the thermometer and the nivea creme out of the bath counter. Every time it took me by surprise as it was so completely useless. There was a very high chance to get my temp checked at the doctors anyway. Well my mum wasn‘t the most rational person. So there was no chance of getting out of this.

When my brother and I had checkups together from when I was 11 to 16 my mom had a ritual that involved us having to shower and brush our teeth before the exam. There was always a new fresh from the package pair briefs that we were supposed to wear for the exam. I have to admit I felt pretty good being so clean before we had to undress. However one year when I was 15 and my brother was 7 we went to a new doctor who had us strip naked for the exam. In the car on the way how my mother said ‘I guess you did not need clean undies’

@Dagmar I guess it was something that the pediatrics were expecting? My mum also took my temperature every time when we had an appointment. After all these years I still remember vividly these awkward feelings seeing my mum with the thermometer, knowing what was going to happen despite the fact of me being completely healthy.

I always hated to have my temperature taken but these occasions were even worse as it felt useless and unnecessary.

I remember mom washing me and my sister at the same time. Then when we were old enough we would take a bath together, no mom. Mom would yell it's time to get out. This was about an hour before our appointment. Then we would hang around in our room with just our panties on until it was time to get dressed and head to the doctor. Mom would brush our hair etc. Our clothes would already be on our beds. Once we could do all that on our own mom would just say,"girls get ready for your appointment."

@Liane Must be a german thing. My mother also took my temperature before an appointment at the pediatrician. Never figured out why.

Yes, I’d be given a bath and scrubbed down top and bottom. I’d be dressed in a pretty dress and fresh panties. Both of which would be lying on the chair later as I’d be squirming naked on the table.

@Mini_Jenni

@Liane Must be a german thing. My mother also took my temperature before an appointment at the pediatrician. Never figured out why.

😁 you might be right with that guess. My mother also did it before each and every appointment. I never found out why. As far as I remember nobody ever cared about the result at the pediatrician. So it was completely useless. At more than one occasion my mother excused herself for being late at the doctors office. I remember thinking “if you would not have taken my temperature we would have been on time”

Yes, I was woken up real early, put in the bath and washed by my mother, I was old enough to bathe myself, as I got older, thats was a red flag, dreaded visit to the doctor was in coming I hated it. only part I like was I got to wear nice clothes which would be coming off very soon at the docotor office.

I still remember vividly these awkward feelings seeing my mum with the thermometer, knowing what was going to happen despite the fact of me being completely healthy.

@Liane awkward is the perfect term for it. I remember like it were yesterday her entering the room, holding the thermometer in her hand and telling me: “let's go. We have an appointment at Dr. Walter. We need to take your temperature”. I always started feeling sick immediatly as I blushed heavily. Getting my temp taken while being healthy was a really big embarrassment.

I still remember vividly these awkward feelings seeing my mum with the thermometer, knowing what was going to happen despite the fact of me being completely healthy.

@Liane it sounds like she took you by surprise despite you knowing what to expect when going to the pediatrician. Why that?

@Dagmar My mum was quiet chaotic and so was her time management. She never told me when we were having an appointment at the pediatric, dentist, hairdresser, …. where ever. I normally get to know these things 10-15 Minutes before we had to leave. So, yes it almost always was an unpleasant surprise.

@Liane Was the temperature checked again at the pediatrician?

@Pecan_nutjob. The only occasion that I got my temperature taken at the pediatrician was when I was having an appendicitis. I also can‘t remember any time anyone would ask about the measurement done at home. Nobody ever cared.

@Liane Right. To your mother's credit, it has happened that if I took a sick kid to the doc, the doc would ask if temperature had been taken. But this would never happen for just a check-up.

Mom never took my temp before going to the pediatrician, unless I was sick then she took it to see if I had a fever. At the pediatrician sick or well his nurse always took my rectal temp.

Although I was always anxious when I knew I was going to the pediatrician for a check-up, no specific preparation was required. I was always told to bathe beforehand, but for no specific reason. Once there, I was quiet and well-behaved. Then, once the vitals were required, I was undressed and instructed to hop on the exam table and lay on my tummy for my temperature.

My mom never took my temp before see the pediatrician. she did tell to make sure I was wearing clean underwear.

Showering in the morning was normal, so there was no additional showering before visiting the doc. But what did happen was that my parents took my temperature in the morning and sometimes again before visiting the pediatrician to report about my vitals (but my temperaturewasmeasuredagainby the nurse, sometimesa secondtimeby the doc). I realised that I will face the pediatrician at that day when my temp was taken, I had a fever but received no support.

My mom didn’t say much except that had to shower before going to the doctors office for my annual exam. Once I realized that these exams were as intimate as they were, I was quite scrupulous about washing my private parts very well. And also before play exams of course!

As a child, until the age of 13, they didn’t tell me at all which doctor they would take me to. More often it was a pediatric surgeon or pediatrician. Sometimes, before the visit, I was given previously prescribed enemas. At the same time, I knew for sure that there would be undressing. In other cases, always under the shower and in clean panties. Until the age of 10-11, when visiting a pediatrician, if there was no cold, then it was always necessary to undress to underpants.

I remember taking time to pick out which underwear I would wear to the doctor- a ritual I still do to this day. I would sometimes even try a few on in front of a bathroom mirror to help me pick as I knew I would end up stripping to just my briefs for the exam.

@GraceT What did the intimate part consist in?

I remember my mom giving me and my brother baths together right before doctor appointments. It’s strange how I still remember how I thought it was weird to be getting a bath during the day since we always got baths at night. I also remember that right after the bath my mom would have us pee into plastic bottles to bring with us for urine samples. As I got older I remember always using the bathroom at the doctor’s office right before exams. Knowing that my temperature was going to be taken rectally I’d wet some toilet paper and clean up my butt to prevent further embarrassment. Of course my mom never knew about that but I’m sure she would have approved.