What Does My Child Need Before School Starts?

The shift from sum­mer to school always seems to hap­pen overnight. One week your kids are sleep­ing in and rac­ing through the sprin­kler, and the next there’s a sup­ply list on the fridge, a back­pack buried some­where in the clos­et, and a form that needs a doc­tor’s signature.

It’s a lot to jug­gle. And in the mid­dle of the shop­ping and the sched­ul­ing, your child’s health is easy to push to the bot­tom of the list.

Here’s why that’s worth rethink­ing: some of the most impor­tant back-to-school to-dos actu­al­ly take time. Appoint­ment slots fill up fast in late sum­mer. A few things, like clear­ing up acne or set­ting up an asth­ma plan, only work if you start them weeks ahead. So the ear­li­er you map it out, the calmer the whole sea­son feels.

Ready to check the big one off your list? If your child needs a school or sports phys­i­cal this year, late sum­mer books up quick­ly. Sched­ule a school or sports phys­i­cal with a Duly pedi­a­tri­cian today.

At a Glance

• Start with a phys­i­cal. It’s the foun­da­tion for every­thing else, and cer­tain grades and sports require one. Book it ear­ly before con­ve­nient appoint­ments disappear.
• Have an aller­gy or asth­ma plan ready before the first bell, not after the first reaction.
• An eye exam checks more than vision. How well the eyes work togeth­er affects read­ing and focus.
• Skin rou­tines take about a month to work, so don’t wait until the night before pic­ture day.
• Reset the sleep sched­ule a cou­ple of weeks ear­ly instead of all at once.
• Light­en the back­pack. A too-heavy bag can lead to real neck and back pain.
• Watch for stress. New rou­tines can show up as stom­achaches, mood swings, or pulling away from friends.

Start with a phys­i­cal exam

Think of the year­ly phys­i­cal as the anchor of your back-to-school list. Every­thing else tends to fall into place around it.

Dur­ing the vis­it, your pedi­a­tri­cian checks in on your child’s over­all health: how they’re grow­ing, how they’re eat­ing and sleep­ing, how active they are, and where they stand on rec­om­mend­ed vac­cines. This kind of appoint­ment is called a pre­ven­tive, or well, vis­it, and it’s built around the big-pic­ture view of your child’s health rather than any one problem.

That dis­tinc­tion mat­ters for a prac­ti­cal rea­son. If you want to dig into a spe­cif­ic con­cern, like a lin­ger­ing symp­tom, a pos­si­ble new diag­no­sis, or adjust­ing treat­ment for a con­di­tion your child already has, that’s usu­al­ly han­dled as a sep­a­rate prob­lem vis­it, which may be billed on its own. None of that means you should sit on a wor­ry. The sim­plest approach is to men­tion any spe­cif­ic con­cerns when you sched­ule, so the appoint­ment is set up the right way and you know what to expect. If you’re not sure which kind of vis­it your child needs, Duly’s care team can walk you through it, and this overview of pre­ven­tive vis­its ver­sus prob­lem vis­its breaks down the difference.

If your child plays a sport, they may also need an annu­al sports phys­i­cal. This is a sep­a­rate, focused exam that makes sure they’re healthy enough for the extra phys­i­cal demands of prac­tices and games.

Not sure whether this is your child’s year? In Illi­nois, kids need a school phys­i­cal if they’re head­ing into preschool, kinder­garten, sixth grade, or ninth grade, or switch­ing to a new school dis­trict. Sports Phys­i­cals are required year­ly for all ath­letes par­tic­i­pat­ing in school-spon­sored ath­let­ic programs.

Don’t wait for the August rush. Book­ing your child’s school or sports phys­i­cal ear­ly means you get the time slot that works for your fam­i­ly and any need­ed forms in plen­ty of time.

Book a school phys­i­cal today

Have an aller­gy or asth­ma plan ready

If your child has aller­gies or asth­ma, the start of a new year is the right time to revis­it the plan. Kids grow, and a med­ica­tion dose that fit last fall may not fit now. Meet­ing with an aller­gist once a year keeps the plan cur­rent and makes sure the right emer­gency med­ica­tions are on hand.

That plan is more than paper­work. It spells out what your child’s spe­cif­ic trig­gers are and exact­ly what to do, includ­ing which emer­gency med­ica­tions to use, if a reac­tion or asth­ma attack hap­pens at school.

Aller­gist Amee Maj­mundar, MD, encour­ages par­ents to talk it through with both their child and their child’s teach­ers, so every­one knows the plan before they need it. That con­ver­sa­tion is also a good chance to cov­er the small habits that low­er risk day to day, like fre­quent hand­wash­ing and not shar­ing snacks.

“New teach­ers, new friends and new adven­tures are what back-to-school sea­son is all about. With a lit­tle aller­gy plan­ning and team­work, kids with food aller­gies can focus on learn­ing, grow­ing, and mak­ing memories.”

Dr. Amee Maj­mundar, Orland Park Allergist

One easy thing to check off now: look at the expi­ra­tion dates on epi­neph­rine auto-injec­tors (the emer­gency shots used dur­ing a severe aller­gic reac­tion) and albuterol inhalers before you send them in with your child.

An eye exam checks more than vision

Eye exams aren’t only about whether your child can read the board. A dilat­ed eye exam, where drops widen the pupils so the provider can see inside the eye, tells you about the health of the eyes and how well they team up together.

Here’s why that mat­ters. A child can have 20/20 vision and still strug­gle if their eyes don’t work togeth­er smooth­ly. That mis­match can cause dou­ble vision, eye strain, and headaches, and it can make close-up tasks like read­ing, writ­ing, and com­pre­hen­sion hard­er than they should be. None of that is obvi­ous from the out­side, which is part of why these exams are so useful.

For kids with­out known eye or vision con­cerns, Duly optometrists sug­gest an exam at least every two years to catch any changes. Kids who already wear glass­es or con­tacts should be seen every year.

Reset the sleep sched­ule, gradually

Sleep does a lot of qui­et work for kids, from mood and focus to how their bod­ies fight off the colds that make the rounds every fall. The Amer­i­can Acad­e­my of Sleep Med­i­cine, with the Amer­i­can Acad­e­my of Pedi­atrics (AAP) behind it, rec­om­mends that school-age kids get 9 to 12 hours a night, while teens need a bit less, around 8 to 10.

The trick is eas­ing into it rather than flip­ping a switch the night before school starts. About two weeks ahead, start nudg­ing bed­time and wake-up time a lit­tle ear­li­er every few days until you land on the school-year sched­ule. Duly pedi­a­tri­cians also sug­gest pow­er­ing down screens an hour before bed, which helps the brain wind down for a more rest­ful night.

Clear up skin con­cerns before the first day

Acne has a way of land­ing right when a teen feels most on dis­play. Head­ing back to a build­ing full of class­mates can make break­outs feel like a much big­ger deal, and that self-con­scious­ness is real.

The good news is that a sim­ple rou­tine, start­ed ear­ly, makes a dif­fer­ence. Der­ma­tol­o­gist Ash­ley Fen­er­an, DO, rec­om­mends wash­ing the face twice a day, morn­ing and night, with a gen­tle cleanser, skip­ping rough or scrub­by prod­ucts, and apply­ing sun­screen every day, since too much sun can actu­al­ly trig­ger flare-ups. 

“I rec­om­mend keep­ing skin­care rou­tines sim­ple, espe­cial­ly for chil­dren and teens. In the morn­ing, wash your face, apply a mois­tur­iz­er, then fin­ish with a broad-spec­trum sun­screen. At night, use a gen­tle cleanser to remove the day’s dirt and oil, fol­lowed by a mois­tur­iz­er. If your teen is head­ing to sports prac­tice or oth­er activ­i­ties after school, keep make­up remover wipes or face pads with sal­i­cylic acid in their back­pack or gym bag. They’re an easy way to remove sweat, make­up and buildup when they can’t wash their face right away, which can help pre­vent clogged pores and breakouts.”

Dr. Ash­ley Fen­er­an, Elmhurst Dermatologist

Over-the-counter options can help too, includ­ing oil-free or non-come­do­genic mois­tur­iz­ers (mean­ing they’re for­mu­lat­ed not to clog pores) and prod­ucts with sal­i­cylic acid or ben­zoyl peroxide.

There’s one catch, and it’s the rea­son tim­ing mat­ters: acne prod­ucts usu­al­ly take about a month to show results. Start­ing a rou­tine a few weeks before the first day gives it time to work. For stub­born acne that over-the-counter prod­ucts can’t budge, a der­ma­tol­o­gist can talk through oth­er options, like pre­scrip­tion topicals.

Some health to-dos can’t be rushed. Skin rou­tines, aller­gy plans, and appoint­ment avail­abil­i­ty all reward start­ing ear­ly. Book your child’s back-to-school vis­it now.

Light­en the back­pack load

An over­stuffed back­pack isn’t just annoy­ing to car­ry. It can throw off pos­ture and lead to gen­uine back and neck pain. Phys­i­cal ther­a­pist assis­tant, Michelle Wisen, PTA, shares a few ways to keep that from happening.

“Kids’ back­packs should stay light and be worn with both straps snug against the back. When loads get too heavy or are car­ried improp­er­ly, the body com­pen­sates with poor pos­ture and strain, increas­ing the risk of back and shoul­der pain. Smart pack­ing and prop­er fit go a long way in keep­ing kids com­fort­able and injury-free”

Michelle Wisen, PTA, Tin­ley Park Phys­i­cal Therapy

• Check the fit. Kids should always wear both straps, nev­er just one, to keep the weight bal­anced. Look for padded, adjustable straps, and aim for a bag that sits from shoul­der height to about two inch­es below the waistline.
• Check the weight. The Amer­i­can Phys­i­cal Ther­a­py Asso­ci­a­tion (APTA), the nation­al orga­ni­za­tion for phys­i­cal ther­a­pists, rec­om­mends keep­ing a loaded back­pack under 10 to 15 per­cent of your child’s body weight. A quick test: lift the bag your­self, and if it feels heavy, pull out any­thing that does­n’t need to make the trip.
• Pack it smart. Put the heav­i­est items at the bot­tom of the bag, and use mul­ti­ple com­part­ments to spread the weight even­ly instead of let­ting it all pull from one spot.

Keep an eye on stress

New schools, new teach­ers, and new rou­tines can stir up nerves, even when your child is gen­uine­ly excit­ed. Those nerves don’t always look like wor­ry, though. Some­times they show up in the stomach.

Gas­troen­terol­o­gist Navdeep Chehl, MD, points out that any­thing out­side a child’s nor­mal rou­tine can lead to an upset stom­ach, thanks to the con­stant back-and-forth between the nerves in the gut and the brain, often called the gut-brain con­nec­tion. Along­side stom­achaches, it’s worth watch­ing for shifts in mood or behav­ior, like more fre­quent tantrums or pulling away from friends.

A few sim­ple things can soft­en the tran­si­tion. Duly Pedi­a­tri­cian Maria Ona­gan, MD, sug­gests set­ting up play­dates with class­mates over the sum­mer, so a famil­iar face or two makes the first day feel less daunt­ing and a lot more fun. She also rec­om­mends keep­ing kids mov­ing, since reg­u­lar activ­i­ty and a bal­anced diet are some of the best stress reliev­ers around.

“Sum­mer is the per­fect time for kids and fam­i­lies to stay active, whether that’s learn­ing a new sport, swim­ming, bik­ing, explor­ing local trails or sim­ply spend­ing more time play­ing out­side with friends. Pair­ing those activ­i­ties with healthy habits like eat­ing plen­ty of fresh fruits, stay­ing hydrat­ed and get­ting enough sleep helps sup­port both phys­i­cal and men­tal well-being. Reg­u­lar phys­i­cal activ­i­ty does­n’t just strength­en the body. It also helps reduce feel­ings of stress and anx­i­ety by releas­ing chem­i­cals in the brain that boost mood and cre­ate an over­all sense of well­ness. Togeth­er, move­ment, good nutri­tion and qual­i­ty sleep help kids head into the new school year feel­ing healthy, con­fi­dent and ready to learn.”

Dr. Maria Ona­gan, Joli­et Pediatrician

If some­thing feels off and isn’t set­tling as the weeks go on, your pedi­a­tri­cian is a good per­son to talk to. Some­times a quick con­ver­sa­tion is all it takes to tell the dif­fer­ence between first-week jit­ters and some­thing that needs a clos­er look.

A calmer start begins now

You don’t have to tack­le all of this in one week­end. But a lit­tle plan­ning ahead, whether that’s book­ing a phys­i­cal, refresh­ing an aller­gy plan, or shift­ing bed­time by 15 min­utes, adds up to a smoother first day for your whole family.

The sin­gle best place to start is the one thing that books up fastest: your child’s physical.

Beat the back-to-school scram­ble. Sched­ule your child’s school or sports phys­i­cal with a Duly pedi­a­tri­cian today and check the most impor­tant box off your list early.

Back-to-School Health FAQ

Answers from Duly pedi­a­tri­cians and spe­cial­ists on exams, vac­cines, sleep, skin, and more.

When should I sched­ule my child’s back-to-school physical?

The soon­er, the bet­ter. We rec­om­mend sched­ul­ing in late spring or ear­ly sum­mer, before sum­mer sched­ules fill up and appoint­ment avail­abil­i­ty gets tight. Get­ting ahead of it means less stress for you, and plen­ty of time to take care of any required paper­work before the first day of school.

What grades require a school phys­i­cal in Illinois?

Illi­nois requires a school phys­i­cal when your child enters preschool, kinder­garten, 6^th grade, or 9^th grade, and when­ev­er they trans­fer to a new school district.

Do stu­dent ath­letes need a sep­a­rate sports physical?

Good news if your child already has a school phys­i­cal sched­uled — a sports phys­i­cal can be cov­ered in the same appoint­ment. Just let us know when you book that your child par­tic­i­pates in a school-spon­sored sport, so we can make sure every­thing is addressed and all required forms are com­plet­ed before the sea­son starts.

What is the dif­fer­ence between a well vis­it and a prob­lem visit?

A well vis­it is your child’s rou­tine check­up, where we talk through growth, nutri­tion, sleep, activ­i­ty lev­els, and any upcom­ing vac­cines. A prob­lem vis­it is when some­thing spe­cif­ic has come up that needs atten­tion. These are billed sep­a­rate­ly, so if you have con­cerns beyond the rou­tine check­up, just let us know when you sched­ule so we can make sure the vis­it is set up the right way.

How do I pre­pare my child’s aller­gy or asth­ma plan for school?

An annu­al vis­it with an aller­gist before school starts is the best place to begin. Your child’s action plan should clear­ly doc­u­ment their trig­gers and give school staff step-by-step instruc­tions, includ­ing which emer­gency med­ica­tions to use. Before the school year begins, check the expi­ra­tion dates on any epi­neph­rine auto-injec­tors or albuterol inhalers, and walk through the plan with both your child and their teachers.

Does my child need an eye exam before school?

Yes, even if your child seems to see just fine. A dilat­ed eye exam goes beyond check­ing sharp­ness. It also looks at how well both eyes are work­ing togeth­er. When that coor­di­na­tion is off, chil­dren can expe­ri­ence headaches, eye strain, and dif­fi­cul­ty read­ing with­out any obvi­ous out­ward signs. Chil­dren with­out known con­cerns should be seen at least every two years; those who already wear glass­es or con­tacts should be seen annually.

How ear­ly should I start an acne rou­tine before school pictures?

Give your­self at least four to six weeks. Most treat­ments, includ­ing over-the-counter options with sal­i­cylic acid or ben­zoyl per­ox­ide, take about a month to show vis­i­ble results. A sim­ple dai­ly rou­tine goes a long way: wash twice a day with a gen­tle cleanser and apply sun­screen every morn­ing, since sun expo­sure can make break­outs worse. If over-the-counter prod­ucts aren’t doing the job, a Duly der­ma­tol­o­gist can talk through pre­scrip­tion options with you.

How do I reset my child’s sleep sched­ule for school?

Start about two weeks before school begins. Rather than mak­ing an abrupt change the night before, shift bed­time and wake-up time by 15 to 20 min­utes every few days until your child is on the school-year sched­ule. The Amer­i­can Acad­e­my of Pedi­atrics rec­om­mends 9 to 12 hours of sleep per night for school-age chil­dren and 8 to 10 hours for teens. Turn­ing off screens at least an hour before bed also makes it eas­i­er for the brain to wind down.

How heavy should my child’s back­pack be?

A loaded back­pack should weigh no more than 10 to 15 per­cent of your child’s body weight. Always use both shoul­der straps, since sin­gle-strap car­ry­ing puts uneven stress on the back and neck. Look for padded, adjustable straps and a bag that sits between shoul­der height and two inch­es below the waist­line. Pack the heav­i­est items at the bot­tom and spread the load across mul­ti­ple com­part­ments when you can.

What are signs that back-to-school stress is affect­ing my child?

Anx­i­ety about school does­n’t always show up as wor­ry. Stom­achaches, headaches, mood changes, increased tantrums, or pulling away from friends are all com­mon signs. These phys­i­cal symp­toms reflect a real con­nec­tion between emo­tion­al stress and the diges­tive sys­tem. If they per­sist beyond the first few weeks of school, a con­ver­sa­tion with your child’s pedi­a­tri­cian is a good next step to fig­ure out whether addi­tion­al sup­port would help.

How can I help my child feel less anx­ious about start­ing a new school year?

Get­ting some social con­nec­tions in place before school starts can make a real dif­fer­ence. Arrang­ing a play­date or two with class­mates means your child already has a famil­iar face on day one. Keep­ing up reg­u­lar phys­i­cal activ­i­ty and a bal­anced diet are also effec­tive ways to help kids man­age stress. And grad­u­al­ly shift­ing sleep sched­ules and dai­ly rou­tines two weeks ahead of time makes the tran­si­tion feel a lot less abrupt for everyone.