SPRINGDALE, Ark. — In less than a month, kids will head back to school and preparation goes beyond just buying school supplies. Doctors say there is no need for parents to worry going into the new school year.
Dr. Robert Williams, Chief Medical Officer at Arkansas Children’s Northwest, says right now the typical summer illnesses going around in children are coughs, colds and GI issues.
“We're also seeing a lot of orthopedic injuries and normal summer trauma, which is just showing the kids are out and active, and thankfully, most of them are doing pretty well,” said Dr. Williams.
While they see just occasional cases, Dr. Williams says chickenpox is always going around.
“Even with the vaccination we have, we have a few scattered cases. But nothing out of the ordinary. And thankfully, with the vaccine still going strong as it is, we have pretty good coverage in our community,” he said.
He says checking with your child’s doctor to make sure they are up-to-date on vaccinations before school starts is a good idea, and says COVID-19 and flu should be part of your child’s normal fall vaccines. As for kid's bedtimes, he suggests adjusting sooner rather than later.
“We usually recommend rolling it back a little bit every night. So it's less noticeable. If you are used to going to bed when it's dark, and you start putting your kids to bed when it's light outside. Most kids will revolt. So it's nice to roll it back slowly,” he said.
Mercy Regional Physician Executive for Primary Care, Dr. Lance Faddis, says with heat likely as school starts, parents and teachers need to be on the lookout for heat-related illnesses.
“Think about drinking water, think about taking breaks, you know, when necessary, but those are all important things. As we move back into the school year, kids become more active. I think, probably making sure that you have some supervised outdoor time, it's not a bad idea, either to make sure that you're used to that use of that ease back into it,” said Dr. Lance Faddis.
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