Prenatal Consultations
Prenatal visits allow our team to establish a supportive and trusting relationship with the parent, gather basic information from expectant parents, offer information and advice regarding the infant, and may identify psychosocial risks early and high-risk conditions that may require special care. Our objectives for prenatal consultations are to provide a foundation to build a positive family-pediatric professional partnership and to access any family history and family function that may affect your newborn.
Newborn Care
It is recommended that your newborn have an exam within 3 to 5 days of birth. Our goal is to provide expectations for the first few months with your baby and complete a physical exam. This often includes measurements and observing vision, hearing, and reflexes. We will also most likely ask how you’re doing and how your baby is adjusting to life at home like eating and sleeping habits. We love answering any questions you may have at this visit and are happy to provide detailed instructions to keep you and your baby safe and happy.
Pediatric Care from Birth Until Age 21
Our team at Rainbow Pediatrics believes that having your child on a well-child schedule through young adulthood is important for long-term health. American Academy of Pediatrics developed a set of comprehensive health guidelines that outlines a schedule of screenings and assessments recommended at each well-child visit from infancy to adolescence that we highly recommend to our patients' families. You can view the full recommended pediatric schedule here: Recommendations for Preventive Pediatric Health Care—Periodicity Schedule
ADHD & Behavioral Management
Our team can help diagnose and treat ADHD, or attention deficit hyperactivity disorder, and other behavioral needs you and your child are facing. Children and adolescents with ADHD should be treated the same as any other individual with special healthcare needs. We follow the American Academy of Pediatrics guidelines for treatment. To learn more about what steps should be taken to treat ADHD, visit CDC ADHD Treatment Recommendations
Respiratory & Asthma Management
50 to 80 percent of children with asthma develop symptoms before the age of five. It’s important to diagnose any respiratory problems as early as possible to find the most effective treatment for your child. Our team is here to create a plan that works, whether its quick-relief medications for exercise induced asthma or long-term control medications to maintain and improve pulmonary function.
Immunizations
We offer the recommended vaccines for children 18 and under based on the CDC standards. These include, but are not limited to:
- Hepatitis A & B
- Rotavirus
- Diphtheria
- Tetanus
- Acellular pertussis
- Influenza vaccines
- Measles
- Mumps
- Rubella
You can see the full recommended immunization schedule here: CDC Immunization Schedules
Wart Removal
The goal of removing a wart is to destroy it, stimulate an immune response to fight the virus, or both. Warts are commonly treated at home but if you’re finding it difficult to remove a bothersome wart, our team can treat it multiple ways like using prescription-strength wart medications with salicylic acid, cryotherapy (or freezing), and other minor treatments depending on the preference of parent and child.
Complete Allergy Diagnosis, Testing & Management
It is very common for infants and children to experience symptoms that raise suspicions of an allergic condition. Allergy testing can help identify whether the symptom of concern is because of an allergy (for example, is that runny nose the result of an upper respiratory infection or an allergy?) and what the specific allergen might be. Our team uses multiple ways to test using skin tests, blood tests and elimination diet tests. By identifying the child's specific allergy(s), we are able to create a long-term management plan that works for your child.
School & Health Physicals
Physical exams are focused on evaluating and enhancing wellness by applying them to your child's general preventative care. Health physicals are a good way to check for possible diseases, update immunizations, and identity concerns that could develop in the future. Yearly physicals are recommended and sometimes required by schools, especially for new students, to help identify physical factors that may affect the child's learning. This can include vision, hearing, and behavioral development.
Strep Tests
Strep throat is a mild infection, but it can be very painful and produce rapidly. Symptoms can include a sore throat, pain when swallowing, fever, red and swollen tonsils sometimes with white patches and streaks of pus, tiny red spots and swollen lymph nodes. Strep tests are relatively simple as strep throat is often easy to diagnose. It's important to have strep throat treated immediately in children and teens to avoid rheumatic fever.
Laceration Care & Sutures
A laceration is a tear, cut, or opening in the skin. For cuts or tears that require more than a bandaid (i.e. continuous, heavy bleeding and immense pain) call our team to determine whether stitches are necessary. You should always call a doctor if the lacerations involve any of the following:
- Heavy bleeding that hasn’t stopped after 5 to 10 minutes
- Deep or longer than .5 inch
- Located close to the eye
- Large cuts on face
- Caused by a dirty or rusty object
- Embedded with debris like dirt or glass
- Caused by an animal or human bite
- Excessive pain
- Showing signs of infection like increased redness, swelling or drainage
- Associated with numbness or weakness for a limb. This could mean there is nerve damage.
Sexual Health & Concerns
Primary care pediatricians are an important source of health care for adolescents. Pediatrics can play a significant role in addressing sexual and reproductive health needs during adolescence and young adulthood. Addressing sexual health at a young age can help establish healthy habits into adulthood and address concerns related to sexual function or fertility.
Chronic Cough
A cough is considered chronic if it lasts four or more weeks in children. Chronic coughs should be taken seriously as they can lead to sleep exhaustion, vomiting, lightheadedness and, in extreme cases, rib fractures. The most common causes for chronic cough in children are postnasal drip, asthma and acid reflux. Once the underlying problem is treated, chronic cough typically goes away. If your child has a cough that lingers for a couple weeks, especially if it’s disrupting sleep, school or brings up blood, call our team to schedule an appointment.
Weight Concerns
Children grow at different rates, so it can be difficult to gage whether your child is overweight or underweight. It is important to identify if a child is getting the right amount of nutrients throughout the stages of growing up. Obesity in children can cause serious health problems to occur like diabetes, heart disease and asthma. If a child is underweight, it can cause stunted growth, decreased immune function and developmental delays. Tips for helping your child maintain a healthy weight are:
- Establishing healthy eating habits early- fruits, vegetables, lean meats and limit sugar
- Limit calorie-rich temptations
- Stay active
- Reduce TV time
- Ensure adequate sleep
Feeding Concerns
Pediatric feeding disorders (sometimes termed as avoidant food intake disorders) are when a child avoids eating or limits what or how much they will eat. This can lead to excessive weight loss, nutrition deficiency, and problems functioning in day to day life. Feeding concerns (or food disorders) can be caused by many factors like negative childhood experience(s), pain or discomfort from eating, ADHD, anxiety, autism, and other external or mental factors. If you notice that your child is displaying signs of a feeding problem, it's important to address it as soon as possible to avoid dangerous long-term habits.
Pediatric Urgent Care
We offer pediatric urgent care for cases that need to be treated the same day or as soon as possible. Reasons for pediatric urgent care rather than an emergency room visit can include the following:
- Common cold
- Strep throat
- Respiratory infections
- Minor lacerations
- Sprained ankles or wrists
You should call 911 immediately or visit the nearest emergency room if your child has a life-threatening emergency or is in critical condition.
