September 24, 2026

Welcome to another edition of Growing Together with Pediatric Partners!

This month, we're sharing stories and resources focused on caring for ourselves, our families, and our community. From our team's Year of Balance to practical guidance about head bumps, seasonal illnesses, and choosing the right type of medical visit, there's something here for every family.

We're also kicking off a new series about healthy eating, sharing important updates about measles and respiratory viruses in our area, and helping you prepare for seasonal vaccines.

Here’s what’s inside:

• How we're supporting a Year of Balance for our employees
• See how our staff builds teamwork over lunch
• We're starting a 4-part series on healthy eating. See Part 1 here.
• Measles in the area: what you need to know
• Acute flaccid myelitis: a rare summer risk 
• Another follow up to a survey question: what should you do when your child gets a goose egg or huge bump on the head?
• Should you schedule a visit, walk in to our "urgent care" or go to the ER? Let us help you decide what's best for the situation.
• An update about our flu vaccine clinics, COVID vaccines, and RSV immunizations
• Learn to support learning and behavioral challenges at ADHDKC Events - all are free and open to the public and no diagnosis is required, just an interest to learn. Dr. Stuppy leads the group for middle and high schoolers and is co-host on their podcast. She loves to welcome new and familiar faces.

This newsletter is for you, so I’d love to know what you want to see next. If there’s a topic you’ve been wondering about, or something you’d like explained more clearly, let me know. Your suggestions guide future editions and keep me inspired when I’m staring at a blank page. Use the button to let us know what you want to read about in future editions of this blog.

Sick season is here! Do you know which type of visit your child needs?

One of the questions we hear a lot this time of year is: “Does my child need to be seen—and if so, what kind of appointment should I schedule?”

Not every concern needs the same type of visit. Choosing the right visit helps us make sure your child gets the right amount of time with the right provider.

SICK VISITS = sudden problems that need attention now

Our portal can be used to schedule many sick visits and we have walk in clinics 6 days a week. Both scheduled sick visist and walk in visists are appropriate for things such as:
• Fever
• Ear pain
• Sore throat
• Vomiting or diarrhea
• Coughing or wheezing
• Minor cuts or injuries
• Possible concussion
• Other sudden illnesses or minor injuries

WELL VISITS = routine preventive care = schedule in advance

Annual well visits are for checking in on your child's overall health and development, including:
• Physical and developmental milestones
• School, sports and activity needs
• Nutrition, sleep and lifestyle
• Immunizations
• Growth and puberty
• Preventive health and safety

If problems are identified at these visits, we may ask that you follow up at another time so we can discuss the concerns in more detail. Many times families will hold off on coming in with concerns and plan on talking about it during the routine preventive care visit, but this does not allow time to discuss concerns. If your child or teen is having problems, schedule a visit with their usual physician or nurse practitioner so we have time to discuss those concerns rather than trying to squeeze them into the well visit's agenda. We cannot address everything sufficiently when we try to cover too much in one visit.

Well visits can be scheduled through the portal or by calling, but we recommend scheduling as you leave each well visit to avoid forgetting to schedule. Even if it needs to be moved due to a schedule change, the appointment itself serves as a reminder that it needs to be done. If you missed our scheduling tips to avoid family chaos with conflicts in our last blog, visit it here.

CHRONIC CONDITIONS & MENTAL/BEHAVIORAL HEALTH = schedule with our staff

Concerns such as ADHD, anxiety, sleep problems, headaches, asthma, chronic abdominal pain, and other ongoing conditions deserve dedicated time. These visits often take longer than a typical sick visit.

Please call and talk with our staff to schedule these appointments rather than using a sick-visit appointment online. Our team can make sure your child is scheduled with the appropriate provider and that enough time is reserved to address the concern well.

SPORTS PHYSICALS = usually done with the annual well visit, but timing might be off

If your child's annual well visit is already completed but falls outside the timeframe required by the school for a sports physical, we can schedule a separate sports physical. These are cash-pay visits because insurance generally does not cover a separate sports physical.

A better long-term strategy is to plan ahead with your annual well visits. As kids get older, consider gradually shifting their yearly visit later in the year so that, by middle school, the visit falls:

• After February 1 in Missouri
• After April 1 in Kansas
  …and before the fall sports season begins.

This may take several years of scheduling annual visits 13–14 months apart, so think ahead when scheduling well visits for fall and winter birthdays.

If your child needs a sports physical, please call us to schedule it so we can make sure the appointment is scheduled appropriately. If their annual well visit already falls within the school's required timeframe, sports forms can usually be completed at that visit.

Still not sure which visit your child needs? Just ask!

Our staff can help you figure out the best way to get the care your child needs. 

📱 Please Don't Miss Your Phreesia Check-In!

Before scheduled visits, you should receive a text message from Phreesia with a link to complete your check-in. This may include several questionnaires and health surveys that are important for your child's care.

Please complete the check-in before arriving at the office to not only save time in the waiting room but also so you have time to contemplate the answers about your child that you are unsure of. This is especially helpful for the developmental questions that help us assess your young child at well visits.

The Phreesia message also includes your child's appointment date, time, and office location, so please take a moment to review that information carefully. If you have a conflict, please let us know more than 24 hours in advance to avoid a no-show fee.

If you aren't receiving Phreesia messages, they may have been filtered as spam or the number may have been blocked on your phone.

If the Phreesia messages are marked as spam, try these steps or use the buttons below for more information on managing your messages:

🍎 iPhone

• Open the Messages app and check Filters → Spam. Apple says messages that are incorrectly identified as spam can be marked Not Spam and moved back to your regular messages.
• Check whether the Phreesia number has been blocked: Settings → Privacy & Security → Blocked Contacts. If you find the number there, remove it from the blocked list.
• If you previously reported Phreesia as spam, make sure future messages aren't being filtered.

🤖 Android / Google

• Open Google Messages.
• Tap your profile picture → Spam & blocked.
• If you see a Phreesia message there, select the conversation and tap Unblock. Google says this removes the spam report and returns the conversation to your regular messages.

Appointment reminders are a courtesy

Not receiving the text does not cancel or change your appointment.

Families are still responsible for knowing their appointment date, time, and location and for arriving on time with the pre-visit check in completed.

Healthy Eating Together: A 4-Part Family Wellness Blog Series

This 4-part blog series is designed for families with children of all ages, from babies and toddlers to teens and young adults. The goal is to encourage realistic, sustainable habits that support physical health, emotional well-being, and stronger family connection. The tone should be supportive, practical, and nonjudgmental while acknowledging the realities of busy family life.

Part 1: Healthy Eating Starts at Home: Building Better Habits Together

Healthy eating can sometimes feel like one more thing parents are expected to get “right.” There are endless opinions about what children should eat, how much they should eat, and which foods are healthiest. Add busy schedules, picky eaters, school lunches, sports, work, and different food preferences within the same family, and it is easy to feel overwhelmed.

The good news? Healthy eating does not have to be perfect to make a difference.

The habits we build around food as a family can help children grow, learn, sleep, play, and develop a healthy relationship with food. And those habits can continue to benefit them long after they leave home.

Healthy eating is about more than what is on the plate

Food provides the energy and nutrients children need for growth and development. A balanced diet supports the brain as children learn, helps maintain energy throughout the day, supports a healthy immune system, and provides the building blocks for strong bones, muscles, and organs.

Nutrition also plays a role in long-term health. The eating patterns children develop over time can influence their risk for conditions such as heart disease, type 2 diabetes, and obesity later in life.

But healthy eating isn't simply about nutrients. Food is also part of our social and emotional lives.

Meals can provide a predictable time to connect. Preparing food together can teach independence and confidence. Trying new foods can be an opportunity to explore. And sitting down together can create a space for conversation that might not happen anywhere else during a busy day.

That's why we want families to think about healthy eating as a pattern of habits—not a perfect diet.

There is no need for a “perfect” diet

One healthy meal doesn't make a child healthy, and one less-nutritious meal doesn't make a child unhealthy.

Think about what your family eats over days and weeks rather than focusing on individual foods or meals.

A birthday party with cake is part of childhood.

A drive-through dinner on a busy night is sometimes necessary.

A bowl of cereal for dinner is not a parenting failure.

What matters is the overall pattern.

Instead of labeling foods as “good” or “bad,” try talking about foods in terms of what they provide. Some foods give us protein to build and repair our bodies. Others provide fiber, vitamins, minerals, or energy. Some foods are simply foods we enjoy.

All foods don't have to serve the same purpose to have a place in a healthy life.

This approach can also help children develop a healthier relationship with food and their bodies as they grow.

Start with the basics

You don't have to completely change your family's diet overnight. Small, consistent changes can add up.

When possible, build meals around a combination of:

• Fruits and vegetables for vitamins, minerals, fiber, and a variety of nutrients
• Protein such as eggs, beans, lentils, fish, poultry, meat, tofu, yogurt, or cheese
• Whole grains and other sources of carbohydrates for energy and fiber
• Healthy fats from foods such as avocado, nuts and nut butters, seeds, olive oil, and fish
• Water as the primary drink

You don't have to accomplish all of this at every meal. Think about balance over the course of the day.

And remember: frozen, canned, and pre-cut foods count!

Frozen vegetables can be just as nutritious as fresh ones. Canned beans and fruit can make meal preparation easier. Pre-washed salad greens and baby carrots may cost a little more but can be worthwhile if they make it more likely that your family will actually eat them.

Healthy eating has to fit into your actual life.

Healthy eating looks different at different ages

What a healthy eating pattern looks like changes as children grow.

Babies and toddlers

Early childhood is a time of exploration. Babies and toddlers are learning what food tastes, smells, and feels like.

Offer a variety of nutritious foods and give children repeated opportunities to try them. Don't be discouraged if a toddler rejects a food today that they happily ate last week—or refuses something they've never tried before.

It can take many exposures before a child accepts a new food.

Whenever developmentally appropriate, allowing children to participate in feeding themselves also helps them learn about hunger and fullness.

And remember that young children have small stomachs. Their appetites can vary considerably from one meal to the next.

School-aged children

As children become more independent, involve them in the process.

Let them:

• Choose between two healthy options
• Help make a grocery list
• Wash fruits and vegetables
• Stir ingredients
• Pack part of their lunch
• Help choose a family meal
• Grow herbs or vegetables

These small responsibilities teach children that food doesn't magically appear on the table—and help them develop skills they will eventually need to feed themselves.

Teens

Teenagers need increasing independence, but they still benefit from having nutritious foods readily available at home.

Rather than trying to control every food choice, help teens learn how to make choices for themselves.

Talk about how food affects energy, concentration, sports performance, sleep, and overall health rather than making conversations primarily about weight.

Keep easy options available for busy teenagers: fruit, yogurt, cheese, nuts or nut butter, whole-grain foods, leftovers, eggs, vegetables, and other foods that require little preparation.

Teaching a teen how to make a quick balanced meal may be more valuable than telling them what they should eat.

Your child is watching you

One of the most powerful ways to teach healthy eating is to model it.

Children notice what adults eat, how we talk about food, and how we respond to our own bodies.

If children regularly hear adults say things like “I can't eat that,” “I was bad today,” or “I need to lose weight,” they can begin to associate food with guilt and body image.

Instead, let children see you enjoying a variety of foods. Eat fruits and vegetables. Drink water. Try new foods. Enjoy dessert sometimes. Stop eating when you're satisfied.

You don't have to lecture children about healthy eating when they can learn so much simply by watching you.

Make healthy choices the easy choices

We all tend to eat what is convenient—especially when we're hungry and tired.

Try making nutritious choices easier to reach:

• Keep fruit where children can see it.
• Have easy-to-grab vegetables available.
• Keep nutritious snacks in backpacks and cars when appropriate.
• Prepare extra food at dinner for tomorrow's lunch.
• Keep water bottles accessible.
• Have a few reliable “emergency meals” for nights when everything goes wrong.

This isn't about banning less-nutritious foods. It's about making nutritious foods easy to choose.

Don't forget the family part of family eating

Healthy eating isn't just about nutrition.

How we eat matters, too.

When families can share meals—even if it isn't every night—they have an opportunity to slow down, talk, listen, and connect. Children learn social skills and mealtime routines. Parents get a glimpse into what's happening in their child's world.

And that matters for children of every age.

For a toddler, it might be practicing using a spoon.

For an elementary school child, it might be telling you about something funny that happened at school.

For a teenager, it might be the one time of day they actually put their phone down long enough to talk.

The meal doesn't have to be elaborate. The connection is the important part.

We'll talk more about the benefits of family meals—and why making time to eat together can have lasting effects on both physical and mental health—in Part 3 of this series.

Small changes are still changes

If your family's eating habits aren't where you'd like them to be, don't try to fix everything at once.

Pick one small change.

Maybe it's adding fruit to breakfast.

Maybe it's replacing one sugary drink with water each day.

Maybe it's keeping healthier snacks available.

Maybe it's having one family meal together each week.

Once that becomes routine, build on it.

Healthy eating isn't a short-term challenge or a test your family can pass or fail. It is a collection of habits that develops over a lifetime.

And the goal isn't to raise children who eat perfectly.

The goal is to help children grow into adults who understand how to nourish themselves, enjoy food without guilt, recognize what their bodies need, and have the skills to make healthy choices most of the time.



That's a pretty healthy foundation.

Don't miss our next blog for Part 2 in the series, “Healthy” Isn’t Always Healthy — Understanding Hidden Sugars and Smarter Choices.

Since the last blog, our survey only had one submission:

Bumps and bruises. Toddlers fall often, how to know if a head bump needs seen by doctor or time to heal. 

This is a great question because it's such a common concern. The pictures below were taken about 3 hours from one another. You can see in the first that there's a huge bump that lifts the hair at the hair line and even distorts the eyebrow. It is impressive, but 3 hours later after a bit of ice and TLC, the bump itself is gone and there only remains an abrasion and bruising.

Toddlers fall. A lot. Learning to walk, run, and climb means tumbles are part of everyday life, and most of those falls end with a good cry, a quick cuddle, and a small bump that fades on its own.

Older kids also take risks, such as riding their bike without a helmet and climbing trees, so they also get many bumps and bruises.

Risky play can be healthy, especially if proper safety measures are used. But with risk comes injury sometimes. The hard part for parents is knowing the difference between a normal "goose egg" and a bump that needs a doctor's eyes. Here is a practical guide.

Most head bumps are minor

The good news first: the vast majority of everyday falls in toddlers cause only bruising to the scalp, not injury to the brain. A raised, firm swelling (sometimes called a "goose egg") is simply blood and fluid collecting under the skin, and it can look alarming while being completely harmless. These usually shrink over hours to days and may change color like any bruise.

What you can safely do at home

For a child who bumped their head but is alert, acting like themselves, and consoles normally after crying:

• Apply a cold pack (wrapped in a cloth) for 10–20 minutes to reduce swelling.
• Offer comfort and let them rest quietly if they want to, but they do not need to be kept awake.
• Watch them closely over the next 24 hours, including checking on them periodically while they sleep.
• Give acetaminophen for pain if needed and appropriate for their age.

Most children with a minor head injury recover fully, though a few may have symptoms such as fussiness or clinginess that can take up to a couple of weeks (occasionally longer) to fully settle.

Call our office to see if it is appropriate to be treated in our clinic or an emergency room if your child has a head injury with:

• Vomiting (especially more than once, or vomiting that starts hours later)
• A large, boggy swelling on the head, particularly on the side or back of the head
• Any brief loss of consciousness ("passing out"), even for a few seconds
• Not acting normally: unusually drowsy, hard to wake, very irritable, or "just not themselves"
• A severe or worsening headache in a child old enough to tell you
• The fall was from a significant height (roughly higher than 3 feet) or a high-impact mechanism
• Age less than 2 years. Children under 2 years old deserve a lower threshold for being checked, because injuries can be harder to detect at this age.

Call 911 or go to the emergency room now if you see:

• A seizure (shaking, stiffening, or staring spell)
• Repeated vomiting or vomiting that will not stop
• Difficulty waking the child, extreme sleepiness, or loss of consciousness
• Clear or bloody fluid draining from the nose or ears
• Bruising around both eyes or behind the ears
• Weakness, trouble walking, slurred speech, unequal pupils, or vision changes
• A deep cut, a dent in the skull, or bleeding that won't stop

A word on imaging

Parents often ask whether their child needs a CT scan for concussion diagnosis and are surprised to hear a CT is not used at all to diagnose a concussion. They are used to identify bleeding in the brain, brain swelling, and skull fractures. Because there are risks involved with CT scans, including radiation effects on a developing brain, healthcare practitioners use validated checklists to decide if imaging is needed or not. Most children with head injuries do not need a scan, but the risk of the scan vs the benefits given the situation are assessed on an individual basis.

The bottom line

A crying toddler who quickly calms down, stays alert, and goes back to playing is almost always fine to watch at home. Persistent vomiting, abnormal drowsiness or behavior, loss of consciousness, a seizure, or any of the emergency signs above mean it is time to be seen.

When in doubt, reach out to us or call 911 if the injuries appear serious.

Seasonal Vaccines: What Families Need to Know

We have begun administering flu and COVID vaccines for the season, and RSV protection (Beyfortus) will be available for eligible infants starting October 1.

Patients who do not have insurance or have Medicaid will be using VFC supplied vaccines. These are separate from the vaccine supply we purchase for those with commercial insurance. The vaccines are of equal quality, the only difference is how we get the vaccine. Availability of the vaccine supplies will vary based on insurance due to this. We are not allowed to "share" vaccine between VFC and private stock. Your local health department or pharmacy are other locations to get vaccinated if we are out of stock and you want to get your child protected.

Flu Vaccines

We currently offer both:

• Injectable flu vaccine for children 6 months and older
• FluMist for children 2 years and older

Flu vaccines can be given during any regularly scheduled visit for eligible patients and their family members. If parents or siblings would like to receive a flu vaccine at the same appointment, please let our staff know at check‑in so we can prepare.

Delivery of flu vaccine has been limited, so we are not currently able to vaccinate parents or hold early flu vaccine clinics as expected. We expect more to come, but do not know delivery dates.

Flu vaccine clinic dates will be announced through Phreesia text messages, and all scheduling will occur through your child’s patient portal.

COVID Vaccines*

• Children under 12 years: COVID vaccines will be available at scheduled office visits for eligible patients.
• Patients 12 and older: We recommend this vaccine for any family that desires it, but vaccination will need to occur at a pharmacy or the health department, as demand in this age group has been very low in recent years and most families prefer those locations.

RSV Protection (Beyfortus)*

Beyfortus, a single‑dose monoclonal antibody that helps protect infants from serious RSV lung infections, will be offered to:

• Babies under 8 months of age, and
• High‑risk infants and toddlers, if they meet eligibility criteria.

*Insurance and Waivers

Because insurance coverage is not guaranteed for non‑required vaccines, we are again asking families who choose COVID or RSV protection to sign a waiver acknowledging responsibility for the cost if insurance does not cover it. This helps ensure we can continue offering these vaccines without significant financial loss.

This is not applicable to those who use VFC stock, since those vaccines are purchased through VFC and are fully covered.

Check Beyfortus coverage before you come in

You can check with your insurance company to see if they cover Beyfortus and what your out of pocket cost will be. You can ask about coverage for the codes that apply to your baby.

There are two codes associated with each vaccine because medical billing splits charges into two independent parts: the cost of the medicine itself (the product) and the administration (the medical expertise, labor, and specialized infrastructure required to safely deliver that medicine).

CPT Codes (the product)

• 90380: 0.5 mL dosage (for infants under 11 lbs)
• 90381: 1.0 mL dosage (for infants 11 lbs and over. High-risk second-season patients may require 2 mL)

Administration Codes (the professional service)

• 96380: Administration by intramuscular injection, with counseling by a physician or other qualified health care professional.
  

Coverage From Last Season

To help families understand typical coverage, here are details of how many vaccines we gave and what families were responsible to cover:

COVID Vaccines (220 given)

• 1 patient had to pay for the vaccine itself (a BCBS plan; most BCBS plans did cover it).
• 37 families paid all or part of the administration fee, usually $20–$30.

Beyfortus (209 given)

• 2 patients had to pay for the injection (both BCBS of KC; many other BCBS plans covered it fully).
• 207 injections were fully covered.
• 5 families paid all or part of the administration fee, ranging $5–$35.

We encourage you to ask your insurance company in advance if you are interested in one of these vaccines for your child but are concerned about coverage. We do not know details of any individual plan.