Taking Baby/toddler to a Mammogram?

I wouldn't. It's not like stepping in a photo booth for a strip of pics! She can't be in the room with you, and it takes a while for them to position you properly.

The place you are having the mammogram at is who you will have to ask, but I wouldn't.

I wouldn't expose my child to anymore radiation than necessary, even if the tech says it is okay.

Nope. It's an xray so there's no way she can be in the room with you. Mammograms take some time because they have to mark skin moles and get everything positioned correctly. I'd say to have someone watch your daughter at home where she'll be more comfortable.

Why can't you get a baby sitter when you go to the doc?

This is why Mother's Day Out works.

Mom's can make their doc appointments and other appointments on the days their kiddo would be playing with friends and have a couple of hours to themselves.

No, they will not allow the child in the room with you.

Try to get a sitter, ask someone to go with to sit with the child while you re in the room or in the very least call them and explain.

That happened to me once. They were very understanding. One of the assistants sat with my daughter while I had the procedure done. I was very appreciative.

No, not safe. I would leave baby at home and get a sitter.

Nope. I'm guessing the facility would say no kids. The facility I go to won't let anyone who isn't a patient back into the waiting area. Not even husbands or personal care assistants. Not only because the child could be exposed to radiation, but also if your child starts crying or screaming you won't be in a position to pick her up. And although it might not be a scary or stressful situation for you, it could be for other women that are there. Hearing a crying baby in the next room could be adding stress to them or distracting them from really hearing what the technician or doctor is saying to them. My last mammo I was there so they could check out a suspicious spot that had shown up on a previous mammo. The woman next to me in the waiting area was waiting to see if she would be fighting breast cancer for a 2nd time. Another young woman was there to have a lump looked at. Not everyone is there for a routine mammo. I was pretty stressed out. A crying baby probably would have set me over the edge and normally crying babies don't bother me. Changing rooms are about the size of a small bathroom stall and not big enough for a stroller. Neither are the procedure rooms. Although the procedure doesn't take long, the wait in the waiting room can be. My last visit I was in the waiting room for almost 45 minutes (half dressed). That can be a long time to keep a baby/toddler entertained and happy. There won't be nurses to help out with your child either.

There is no room for a stroller behind the radiation shield that protects the mammography technician from the X-rays, and it's unrealistic to expect this professional to maneuver with a child. You will need at least 2 views of each breast, which means the technician is coming back and forth 4 times. Stepping over a stroller, trying to get the child completely protected from radiation?? That's not her job. What if the child is fussy and you are trying to hold absolutely still, holding your breath, while compressed in the mammography machine? And you can't leave the child outside the room, unsupervised. No facility is going to permit that.

You get a sitter, or you take someone with you to sit with her. It's nice that you expose your child to a variety of situations (so many mothers keep their babies at home for fear of germs or strangers!) but she needs to be apart from you too! In fact, she's not a baby - she's a toddler. She can be apart from you for hours at a time with a trusted caretaker. And it's probably time to keep her out of doctor's appointments - she's going to see and hear things she shouldn't or that she can't understand, and if she talks, cries or is fussy, it's really wrong to give the doctor (and you) distractions during this important and expensive visit.

If you can't find a sitter, see if you can find a friend to go with you and watch the baby in the waiting room. They would not let you have a baby in the screening room. The technician has to go behind a leaded wall to take the pictures.

They will have you go into a dressing room, take off your top and bra. You are not to have any deodorant on. They supply little wipes to clean off you underarms. You will have a gown or paper top that opens in the front.

You will walk into to xray room and stand in front of a machine, and the technician will place your breast (one at a time) on a little shelf with a clear plastic thing on top and then your breast will be mashed as flat as they can get it between the shelf and the plastic. you will have a place to hold onto for your arms and you won't be able to move for the time the breast is compressed. The xray will be shot, then she will reposition your breast for each picture, mashing it between the shelf and the plastic.
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Yes it is very uncomfortable, but the whole thing probably won't take more than 10 minutes. Sometimes they will provide a soft sponge like pad to help protect your breast from the harshness of the shelf, but where I go, they charge extra, but I think worth it. Though I have insurance, I think last year it cost me $45 for the procedure to have the pad. No doubt, that would be variable dependent upon facility, insurance, etc.

get a sitter. mammograms sometimes take a while. they are stressful. they involve radiation. so she couldn't be in the room during that and no the nurse won't be able to watch her. in addition to that sometimes after waiting to actually get in to the room to do the mammo they say ok take a seat while we get it read. then they say we need to have you come in and let us do this section again for a better view etc. and sometimes that happens a couple times. so you can actually be there for an hour to 2 hours or more. also sometimes others in that waiting room are going thru some pretty drastic stuff. the usual mood in the room is stress.

I have mammograms frequently and, NO, I would never take a 2o month old there. I would never take my 7, 9, or 10 yr old either. You will have to leave your child outside the doors for a decent amount of time.

the mammogram involves radiation. and you being completely immobile. do yourself, your child and your medical professionals a favor and start getting a babysitter for your child when you go to doctor appointments.
khairete
S.

There's a time and place for everything. Taking your child to a hospital appointment is not one of them. No matter how much "practicality" you like about not having to inconvenience this is one of them.

Like others have said if the appointment is for the child that's one thing; taking a child to an appointment is another. Many places will cancel your appointment if you have a child in tow and no one to watch.

I as a patient would not want to hear or have a toddler in the area. As quiet as it might be, there is always that time when it won't and it will disturb everyone around. There are many reasons why women are at the doctors and hospital and their mindsets may be at a critical emotional point and hearing the child could set them off. Do you want to be responsible for the outcome of any unnecessary rage?

Get babysitter for medical appointments and take the time to be by yourself. Too many mommas feel they have to be "joined at the hip" when they have a child. It is a good lesson on how to cope without mom for a few hours. Consider this the beginning of "me time". If you don't take it you don't get it.

the other S.

I amended my response after reading the others.

They won't allow her in the room due to the radiation. I, however, have never experienced mammograms to be long or stressful. You sometimes wait a while to get in, but then it takes like 5-10 minutes to do the procedure. Not a big deal in my book. Just creepy to see your boob squished to a pancake and kind of uncomfortable for a few seconds.

No. You need to get a sitter or take a friend with you.

At 20 months, you need to be able separate from your child at times. This is a good age for her to be in MDO program (even a daycare part time) so she can interact with other children her age and develop socially.

She needs to be with other children just like you need a break from her. A MDO or daycare will give you the time you need to take for yourself, go to Dr. appts, have lunch with a friend and allow growth for both you and your daughter.

Nope I would get a sitter. Your child can't be with you in the room because of the radiation. The facility will not be equipped to take care of your child while you are getting your exam.

You need to be focused on what your doctor is saying, not trying to entertain a kiddo.

The rules at every hospital I have been at are no children allowed back for any imagining unless they are the patient. They don't want the kids exposed to unnecessary radiation.