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How to tame a wild toddler at the doctor's office?

• My 18 mos old son is super high energy and into everything more than most kids his age it seems. Normally this isn't a big deal, but I really need some advice for the doctor's office. We have to go a LOT because he gets a new ear infection every 4 days that he's not on antibiotics. (We've tried the chiropractor and some other alternatives without success and now he's scheduled to get tubes in 2 weeks.) The problem is how very stressed out I get at the doctor's office. He thinks its great fun, but he is constantly trying to get away, open doors, and take off running down the halls. He even tries to trick me into moving away from the door so that he can make a break for it. If he's not doing that then he is trying to push every button or open every cabinet or drawer and pull out or throw on the floor every item he can get his hands on. I've tried taking toys and even snacks, but he's a complete wild man in this new environment or maybe I haven't found the right ones. He goes to daycare where he plays all day and at home he frequently will just run and run up and down the halls, yelling the whole time. I can deal with the high energy at home no problem because I can contain him and there is little he can get into to hurt himself, but I feel almost traumatized after every doctor's visit and its really hard to remember anything the doctor has said because my mind is constantly on what he is doing. Any advice would be much appreciated.

• Answer:

  Let him play a lot before the appointment. With any luck, he will be kind of tired when you get there. Meanwhile, bring a puppet and talk to him with the puppet in a funny voice. This often worked for my kids, and they would talk back to the puppet like it was real, lol. Also, when I traveled, I sometimes needed a harness and leash...don't judge, when you are in a crowd and you have a runner, it isn't a bad idea....