Why do they ask about STTN and vaxes?

[Honey693]

I don't get why everyone asks about these. DD's doctor asks about STTN at every visit (started at 9 months). DD had a speech eval today and they asked about STTN and vaxes. What do those have to do with her speech? I always lie b/c if I say no I know I'll get a lot of flak, but I don't think most people realise that they don't sttn. I'm perfectly happy with DD's sleep and the number of shots she has so I lie. Has anyone else run into this?

[Adallae]

Our family doctor has been asking about her sleep since her 2 month visit. Last time I gleefully told her she can go an occasional 4 hour stretch (it was a huge improvement), and she told me she should be sleeping the whole night without needing to eat. She then suggested I start doing some sleep training, and mentioned (although she didn't push too hard) CIO. That was at 6 months.

She doesn't give me grief about the vaxes, though.

I don't lie to her because I'm confident that what I'm doing is best for DD and us, and I couldn't give a hoot what she thinks in that regard. But I can be a very confrontational, argumentative person.

[VisionaryMom]

My guess if they're doing a speech eval is that they want to rule out possible problems. I wouldn't lie because they really cannot give you good medical advice based on false information.

[lach]

Because they want to make sure that the whole child is healthy.

The sleep thing is a fairly new push. Most American kids don't get as much sleep as they developmentally need, and a whole host of recent studies about the lifelong damage this can do is raising awareness in the medical community about the need to educate parents about their children's sleep. I imagine there will be a publicity campaign about it soon enough. I, for one, am in full and absolute agreement about the importance of this.

[Tjej]

At our last appointment the doctor talked about smoke detectors and preschool. I think they just try to do general parenting stuff at doctors appointments.

But sleep is important, and does affect health. So it does make sense they would ask about that.

Tjej

[4myfinn]

Our pedi never asks about sttn. He just confirms that I am still EBF on demand- which he strongly advocates. I think he probably assumes that DS is not STTN since he's only 4 mo. He does, however, push vaxes and gives me grief about catching up every time we're there. And we're only behind on a few- and not by much!

[bethanymama]

I think my son's ped usually asks "how many hours does he sleep at night" just to get an idea of how much sleep he's getting. So it doesn't really matter if your DD is waking to eat during the night, the right answer is just how many hours is she sleeping. I would normally answer something like "11 hours, waking twice for milk", but you could leave that part out without lying. The doc might say, "you might be able to get that down to one night waking if you feed at just 2 AM" but I would just say I didn't mind and I'd wait until he was ready to move that way. And that was the end of the discussion.

[betsyj]

Like the PP"s said sleep is important. Also, lack of sleep for the parents can lead to very short fuses for all involved so it can be a gentle way of testing how the family is doing over all.

My doctor asks me every time if I wear my seatbelt every day and every car trip.

[Honey693]

Originally Posted by bethanymama

I think my son's ped usually asks "how many hours does he sleep at night" just to get an idea of how much sleep he's getting.

See, I would be fine if ppl asked that. DD sleeps 10-12 hours at night and 2-3 more during the day. But I've only ever been asked about STTN which she techinically doesn't do and I bet more than half of adults don't do.

[JL83]

It's actually a marker of overall health. That's not to say that a kid who doesn't STTN isn't healthy, but it can indicate an issue.

My DD didn't STTN because she nursed every 2 hour until she was 2yo. When she was FTT at 12 months it was a big issue. She wasn't getting anywhere enough food and sleep. And it was a bad cycle. She was too sleepy to nurse at night, but too hungry to sleep.

I wouln't lie about it. I would tell them the truth and then tell them that things are working for you.

[funkymamajoy]

I get why they ask about vax. They are the ones who give them after all.

My pedi asks "how is he sleeping?" instead of "is he sttn?"

[Qestia]

Our ped asks about STTN too, at basically every visit, and every time I've answered "I'm not sure how many times she wakes, because she's right next to me and helps herself (nursing), but we both feel well-rested." That seems to satisfy my ped.

[Bellabaz]

They may also be asking it for your sake. Our ped in the US used to ask us how we were doing as well when dd1 was very little. Docs sometimes have to look out for things like parental burn out that could put the baby at risk. Or they may just want to know where your lo is developmentally or to see if recent changes has made a difference for him, etc.

I wouldn't lie. We only did 3 vaxes dor dd1 and those were delayed as well. But we were upfront withthe ped. We told him we understood it was his job to encourage us to stick to the schedule btu we woouldn't be so don't hound us about it. And it more or less worked out like that. Every once in awhile he would ask if our feeling on vaxes had changed and we would say know we are very comfortable with our decisions. And that was that.

[TiredX2]

Originally Posted by Crystal_R

I don't get why everyone asks about these. DD's doctor asks about STTN at every visit (started at 9 months). DD had a speech eval today and they asked about STTN and vaxes. What do those have to do with her speech? I always lie b/c if I say no I know I'll get a lot of flak, but I don't think most people realise that they don't sttn. I'm perfectly happy with DD's sleep and the number of shots she has so I lie. Has anyone else run into this?

I think a lot of what doctors ask is actually to make conversation as well as follow the development of the child. If they have a record of how the child has progressed over time, it becomes more obvious to them if there may be a problem (like if you said she was sttn at 2 months, 4 months, 6 months... and suddenly at 18 months she is not. it *might* be something to look into). That said, I have two major reactions:

1) I would not lie. If you feel the doctors do not respond in a respectful manner to the truth and your feelings about it, look for another doctor. They NEED the correct information, though. They could overlook actual medical problems (or diagnose the wrong ones) if you are misrepresenting her sleep or fax status.

2) DS has some speech issues and I was surprised the things they wanted to know and why. They were willing to explain why they asked many of the things. For example, I was shocked when they asked about DS' birth. But they explained that they think certain vocalSome issues may be associated with meconium aspiration or intubation at birth. Something that I wouldn't have really thougth of. Tonsil/adenoid/breathing issues can cause sleep issues and may also cause certain speech/vocalization issues. Snoring, sleep apnea may actually point them an entirely different way. DS has vocal tics but they asked a number of questions (and actually did a scope) to rule out polyps based on some issues. Your doctor might just be being nosy (lol) but there were two very different treatments for DS based on if there was a physical source of his speech issues or if they were personality/habit, kwim.