What will my doctor be like? Will it hurt? Where’s my mom/dad? These may be some of the questions children get anxious about before visiting a new health care provider. When adults like you help children plan for medical visits, everyone can view routine checkups as fun and important ways to keep ourselves healthy!

Use feeling words. While infants and toddlers may not recognize a shift in health care teams, they will take cues from you. Toddlers may feel and express emotions intensely. Name these behaviors to stress the importance of emotions and how to gain control of them. “Are you feeling frustrated because this new office doesn’t have the same toys in the waiting room?” Talking out feelings and taking big belly breathes with your children can show them you value how they feel and want to make them comfortable!

Celebrate similarities. As they age, children are preoccupied with things and spaces they can control and recognize. Focus on the similarities of new and old spaces, instead of the differences. “This new office has a nurse, too! And the stethoscope and scale remind me of how we used to listen to your heart and weigh you in our old office. I wonder how much bigger you’ve gotten!” Reminding toddlers of their past experiences in medical settings will provide the familiarity for them to feel comfortable in a new space.

Keep rituals and routines consistent. Children are most successful when they know what to expect. Ahead of your appointment, use stuffed animals to demonstrate how a doctor may check eyes and ears, listen to a heartbeat, or even press on the tummy. As children see the ways that health care providers work to keep them well, they will recognize the importance of regular checkups.

Empower children to become thoughtful patients. Medical teams are trained to welcome patients of all ages and developmental stages, and they can answer—in developmentally appropriate ways—the difficult questions your children may have. Involve four-year-olds in the doctor’s visit by encouraging them to help gather information for the doctor and ask questions during the visit. When the appointment is over, celebrate the role your children played by naming their bravery and resilience in getting through a new adventure. When we give children a role to play in a doctor’s visit, we help them recognize the role they play in their overall development.

No matter their age, children feel more comfortable with transitions when they know what to expect. As you prepare for a new adventure, get children involved so they can turn anxiety into excitement!

Guidance about resources in our new community can help us learn lessons and plan a move that is safe and quick!

Information about your new location will help connect you to medical support services with ease. When you are ready to depart, use Tricare and change your primary care enrollment. Provide your new address, or if you don’t have it, share the new area you will live in with Tricare—a zip code, the name of your new town, or even the county, will help Tricare to enroll you with a new primary care provider.

If you saw a pediatrician in your previous location, you may not need to see one in your new location. While each station is staffed differently, many military primary care doctors take care of pediatric populations, which means that your entire family may be able to see the same doctor.

Remember to plan for urgent care. Your family members are authorized to visit urgent care locations without charge or referral. Go to Tricare and enter your location to discover all authorized contracted urgent care providers. Family members who are Tricare-primed cannot get care outside of their own treatment facility without a referral—unless it is for urgent care or behavioral health.

For children with unique medical needs, look to case managers for support. They will contact the unit/location you are going to and begin coordinating the care each of your children need, including timed medicines and dosages. Your case managers will work with staff at your new location to order medication, share information, and schedule appointments.

The work of moving your family can be difficult, but you are not alone. By taking advantage of the resources available along the way, all members of your family can be treated for medical needs before and after a move!

Moves don’t happen overnight. When a family experiences a Permanent Change of Station (PCS), everyone must plan for the change. With a checklist, military families like yours can plan each part of a medical move, so that children can stay healthy before, during, and after they adjust to a new setting.

Before a move… 

• Connect with a PCM. Two to three months before your move, connect with your Primary Care Manager to discuss your children’s medical needs and to ensure you have a proper plan moving forward. This may also be an opportunity to discuss Family Member Travel Screening, a process used to ensure that families like yours have the medical services they need in new settings. It is also important to determine if medical providers in your new setting accept Tricare (https://www.tricare.mil/Plans/HealthPlans/Prime/PCM).  
• Request copies of medical records. (https://www.tricare.mil/Resources/MedicalRecords/RequestingRecords). This is your right as a parent. With up-to-date information about the medical histories of everyone in your family, you will help your new health care team support your family’s medical needs during this transition. 
• Network with military communities. Connect with other families online and in your new community to gather recommendations for health care providers. Social media platforms, blogs, and online reviews of local doctors and medical agencies can give you a sense of how professional, valued, and accessible a new team might be. 

During a move… 

• Store medical information in a safe and accessible place. In the event of planned and unplanned changes, keeping valuables in spaces like safes, folders, file cabinets, and digital clouds ensures that they can be quickly accessed and moved. 
• Use the Tricare Nurse Advice Line. You can use the number 1-800 TRICARE (1-800-874-2273) to speak to a nurse who can provide medical guidance or connect you with a local hospital/emergency room. 
• Keep on hand any immediate medicine your children may need. Keeping a three-month supply of all medications your children take on a regular basis ensures they will not suffer a disruption in treatment while you establish relationships with your new medical team. 

After a move… 

• Set up an appointment with your new health care provider. Bring documentation and prescriptions so your new medical team (including pediatric and dental) is up-to-date on the needs and well-being of their newest clients. Use the online TRICARE resources to find local providers.
• Follow these steps during a move, and your family can plan for medical needs and wants every step of the way!

Note: TRICARE is the Department of Defense’s worldwide health care program for service members and their families. A family member’s key to TRICARE eligibility depends on enrollment in the Defense Enrollment Eligibility Reporting System (DEERS). The DEERS record will indicate the dates of eligibility. All uniformed service sponsors should ensure that their family status residential addresses are current in DEERS at all times.

Even when children have been to the dentist before, a new setting may sometimes trigger old feelings of nervousness. As you plan for a dentist visit after a PCS, encourage kids’ questions about the appointment, and be ready with friendly answers that will keep everyone calm. Here are some common children’s questions, and some helpful answers you can provide.

Why are we going to the dentist?  We do lots of things to stay healthy, like eating a rainbow of fruits and vegetables every day, drinking lots of water, and brushing our teeth. A dentist helps us by looking into our mouths twice a year and helping us clean our teeth and gums.

What happens at the dentist’s office? People go to the dentist for a lot of different reasons, but it’s always so the dentist can help to keep our gums and teeth healthy and clean. Patients in a dentist’s office may sit in a big chair, have their teeth counted, get pictures taken of their teeth (called X-rays), and even get their teeth tickled by a special kind of toothbrush with fluoride.

Does it hurt? Getting our teeth cleaned usually doesn’t hurt a bit. But there could be times during the visit when a dentist may need to apply a little extra care to our teeth and gums. This may be uncomfortable or hurt for a second, but we can ask the dentist about this at the beginning of the visit. We can take big belly breaths during the appointment if it gets tough.

What will the dentist wear or use? Many dentists may wear a white coat, a mask, and special eyeglasses as protection. They also have special teeth-cleaning tools that we can ask them about.

Will I be there by myself? I’ll be there to support you and make sure you’re comfortable and safe! 

How do I get ready? There are lots of things we can do to prepare for a visit to the dentist. On the day of the visit, you can wear something you like, so you are comfortable and happy. We can visit the dentist before the day of your appointment, so you can see what the place looks like, and meet some of the people who work there. At home, you can use stuffed animals to practice some of the things your dentist will do at the visit. Each day, we’ll continue to practice healthy habits, so the doctor can be proud of how we eat a rainbow of fruits and vegetables, drink water, and brush our teeth!

No matter where you live, your health care team plays an essential role in how your children play, learn, and grow! Consider these tips to help any visit go smoothly:

Prepare for the checkup. Preparing questions ahead of time about your children’s health is an ideal way to start a conversation with a new medical provider. Stay involved; write down your questions beforehand. You might ask about:

• Your children’s heights, weights, visions, movement, and overall health
• Developmental milestones
• Things you can do to help your children stay healthy
• When you should schedule the next visit

Prepare your children. Kids may be nervous about a doctor visit. Explain that doctors, nurses, and other medical staff keep us healthy and help us get better when we’re sick. Talk about what will happen during the appointment. You can say: “I will stay with you the whole time. The doctor will check different parts of your body to make sure you’re healthy and strong.” Before the visit, children may have fun pretending to be the doctor. They can listen to your heartbeat or look into your mouth while you say, “Ahhhhh!”

Maintain the well-child visit schedule. Young children will have a series of frequent and regularly-scheduled visits to a provider’s office. These appointments are opportunities to promote good health. They ensure that children are growing and developing normally and are receiving the proper immunizations to protect against preventable diseases. The visits lay the foundation of an enriching relationship between families and their health care providers.

Typically, young children are evaluated 2-3 days after they are born, at 2 weeks, and then 2, 4, 6, 9, 12, 15, and 18 months of age. Six to eight well-child visits before 18 months of age is a common goal. Children are then seen at 2 years of age and every year thereafter for annual well-child visits.