To leave my 5 year old in a doctors waiting room?

i would have thought this was perfect for a telephone appointment.

I agree headphones and phone are tge easiest solution. Otherwise it depends on the child ime - my eldest at 5 would have sat in the corner with a book and literally not moved if told to stay there and wait for me.

I'm not sure what the problem is with little one going in as I have mental health problems and often have to take our twins 3 and 4 with me. It's not a hidden thing in our family, they happyily play or sit while I chat to gp

My GP has a chaperone that can sit with dc if the appointment is not appropriate.

People are being unkind and harsh. I think asking is the right thing to do, and if not, headphones or childcare. If it isn’t school hours and there is a preteen on your street it could be an easy job for them to sit in a waiting room for 15min.

FWIW my doctors do this for people sometimes

I'm sorry you are struggling. I think the headphones are a great idea, or does she have any little friends who she might be able to have a playdate with? I know I'd do that for a friend and so would most people.

Call the surgery and explain this. The receptionists or a nurse should be able to keep an eye on her for you so you can speak to the doctor. I hope you are supported.

Ask reception to pass a message on first or slip Gp a note. If they’re a good Gp they’ll find a way to talk discreetly when she’s in the room.

I was a GP receptionist. If you’d asked me to keep an eye on your child during your appointment I would have. We had several patients do this and was happy to help. The ones that bothered me were the parents who didn’t ask when they arrived and just left their child without saying anything.

Please don't ask the receptionist to look after her. We're busy booking people in, booking referrals, ordering prescriptions, phoning people up with results, basically any number of things that precludes us from looking after a small child. Also she can't come into the office for us to watch her, there is rather a lot of medical equipment and electrical appliances about, not to mention confidential information.
Use headphones for her.

Call beforehand and either ask for a phone appt or if there receptionists would loon after her.

This reminds me of when one-of my DC had an 'interview' for admission to a school and the lovely office staff offered to look after my youngest (who was asleep anyway).

That’s awful. Don’t be too hard on yourself about this. This is on others. They’re probably (hopefully) not even really aware that they’re doing this. They might just think “I don’t know why she gave me her number our children and not really friends” and ignoring it. Having said that the school gates can be very cliquey. People tend to stick to familiar and it’s not necessarily because of racism just maybe lack of understanding, stereotyping, etc. If you’re at the school gates, is there any people by themselves, can you stand next to them or say hi? Do this a few times, and more conversation develops? It’s incredibly hard to do though!! But better than approaching a big group. Are there any outside clubs for your children? Swimming lessons? Football teams? Dance classes? Activities at the local library? Hopefully there are some general outside school activities that you can get to know other parents at. You say the mums avoid you and your children. Do your children have friends? I suggest talking to the teachers if your children are feeling excluded and lonely. They can encourage friendships among the children. They might then hopefully lead to play dates and more integration. I’m really sorry you feel like this and are being excluded. I hope you manage to make some friends. It’s worthwhile trying the Peanut app too. Good luck

It won't be long until she is back at school, why not make an appointment for then?

I have to go to the doctor in a couple of weeks

Why are you going to see the doctor when you are back at school if it's not possible for you to take time off from work??

Op call the doctors and see if someone from the admin team can sit with her whilst you are in the appointment? I had to have a smear and no option but to take my baby as I have no support network and they had one of of the admin staff come and hold her so nurse and I could go ahead with the appointment, also I explained the issue a while before booking and they offered this, definitely worth asking. Hope you are ok xx

Headphones and iPad should do it. Pop her on the bed or on a chair near you in the doctors office.

Can you pop some headphones on her and let her watch something on your phone? She could be in with you and the GP and not hear a word.

I would do this for anyone in a heartbeat - just drop her off on the way and pick her up on the way back. Bring ice lollies or a cake or something. It wouldn’t be for that long and I would hate to think of someone struggling when there’s a simple solution.

That’s negligence everywhere, no matter what your dentist thinks.

I would ask another teacher friend or a parent of your child’s friend if they’d look after her for an hour. I bet if they’re not busy, they’d be very happy to help. Most people would. Just message “Can I ask a favour and can you look after DD for an hour? I’m really stuck for childcare and have a GP appointment and I cannot take her. I can return the favour.” Might need to ask 2-3 people though as it’s a busy time for people.

If no luck, some GP surgeries might be ok with it as people have said, so why not phone in advance and ask? At best they say that’s fine. At worst, they say no and you need to do something different. If they’re say no then might need to say “Well she might have to come into the appointment with me then” they may say that’s not appropriate.

Or change to a phone appointment as others have said. Far easier to sort out distractions at home.

Ideally you don’t want her in the GP with you. It’s not just the words but the emotions that you don’t want her to see. Those might not be heard or seen with headphones and a tablet, but you never know. She could pick up a lot even with headphones and a tablet. You don’t want to worry and upset her.

Appointments are difficult to get hold of at the best of times, so hopefully you can make this appointment and not have to make it in school time which makes it more awkward for your work too. Good luck.

If you have teacher friends I would ask them first they might be busy but if you explain you have dr appointment and won’t be long I’m sure one would help you. The earphones might work but what if she gets bored or nosy it is critical you see the dr without interruption ask a friend first.

So why are you quoting me?

Do you not have a friend? Id absolutely watch my friends child for a Drs appt

What?? It’s a Doctor’s surgery - not a pub.
Of course she wouldn’t be reported.