Pediatric Offices in Northampton, Amherst,
and South Deerfield, MA since 1978
NAP is a thriving, family-centered practice providing excellent, accessible healthcare to children and young adults. We value every family that walks through our doors, and want to help you make the best possible decisions when it comes to the health of your child.
Our pediatric clinic uses the most advanced technology to diagnose a range of illness that our pediatric patients commonly face, we use state-of-the-art treatment methods to give your children the highest quality of care. Our pediatricians have had the privilege of providing excellent care to patients in Northampton, Amherst, South Deerfield, MA and several more surrounding cities.
Nestled in the heart of Hampshire County, our board-certified pediatricians and nurse practitioners are dedicated to providing comprehensive care to both you and your child and ensuring that you both feel comfortable during every appointment. In addition to sick and well-child visits, we also offer lactation counseling, medication rechecks, and behavioral health services. To schedule an appointment at one of our pediatric offices, contact us at (413) 584-8700.
New Medical Consent Form
To help families plan ahead for travel, vacations, or when a child will be attending an appointment with another trusted adult, Northampton Area Pediatrics, LLP now offers a Medical Consent Authorization / Limited Power of Attorney form on our website.
This form allows a parent or legal guardian to authorize another adult to bring a child to appointments and consent to certain medical care when the parent is unavailable.
If your child may be seen with a grandparent, relative, babysitter, or other caregiver, we encourage you to complete this form in advance.
The form is available for download on our website. Please contact our office if you have any questions.
Symptom Checker-NEW
Is your child sick and you need some guidance on what next steps to take? The American Academy of Pediatrics has a symptom checker at their HealthyChildren.org website which can help guide you in some basic steps to take when your child is sick. Click on the part of the body that is affected, or look at the alphabetical list to find the information you need.
Visit the site here: https://www.healthychildren.org/english/tips-tools/symptom-checker/Pages/default.aspx
If you still have questions, you can still call our triage nurse team anytime to get guidance. Our MyChart portal is available to send in questions about non-urgent issues, and you can still schedule in-person urgent care visits via MyChart.
Check out our Poke Plans for patients experiencing Needle Phobia
https://www.napeds.com/for-parents/comfort-program
New Patients
As of November 2022, Northampton Area Pediatrics has temporarily paused accepting new patients outside of newborns. We need to take this time to ensure we are giving our current patients the care they need.
Requesting Forms at NAP
Due to the volume of forms we receive, we have a policy that the form needs to be completed to the best of your ability with the child’s name, demographic information, and other pertinent information before being given to our office. We require a 10 day timeframe to complete these forms and get them back to you. Please plan ahead as we cannot guarantee that any urgent form requests will be able to be accommodated.
What’s New at NAP
Substance Use Prevention
Hello NAP Families,
As we near the season of summer vacation and end of school celebrations, we thought it would be a good moment to talk about supporting the young people in your life around celebrating safely and potentially navigating substances.
To start, parents and caregivers are the biggest influence in a teen’s life. We know it doesn’t always seem like it, but what you say and do influences your child’s decision-making. Talking openly with your kids is an important way to be sure that they know what you think, and why.
How can you start that conversation? Here are 10 tips to help:
It’s never too early to start talking. Begin talking with your child in an honest and open way about ways to keep themselves healthy when they are in elementary and early middle school. Kids often start asking questions early. Try to find age-appropriate ways to address their questions and keep lines of communication open. Here is a helpful guide: Prevention Tips for Every Age.
Not one and done – you’ve just begun! Don’t worry, you don’t have to get everything across in one talk. It works best when you have many short talks, which can occur naturally over time, ages and stages. Choose informal times to talk. It’s not a meeting; it’s a conversation. You might want to think ahead about what your expectations and family rules are, so you know what you want to convey when the time comes.
Don’t just talk. Listen. This is a great chance to hear what your kids think and answer any questions they may have. Bring your curiosity to the conversation.
Ditch the scare tactics. Fear-based messaging is ineffective for teens; that’s why programs like D.A.R.E. didn’t work. Teens want accurate, fact-based information. You can still tell your kids what the real risks are, but stick to educating them instead of trying to scare them.
Show you are a good source of information about substance use. You want your child to make informed decisions about alcohol and other drugs with reliable information. The landscape of substances has changed a great deal over time! Try to educate yourself in advance about what is out there today and to establish yourself as a trustworthy source of information, and be cautious about social media information. If you don’t know the answer, research it together. Learning together also helps them learn how to find reliable information.
Show you are paying attention. One of the key reasons teens choose not to use drugs is because they know their parents don’t approve of it. And in contrast, young people are more likely to use substances if they think no one will notice – or care. Ask about what they did when they were out with their friends, call ahead and make sure parents will be home during a gathering, and show that you care and are concerned for their health and well-being.
Build Skills. Having a plan to avoid substance use can lead to better choices. Role-play scenarios where your child might be offered substances and help them find ways to say “no” that feel authentic to them, whether it’s direct refusal, using humor, or making an excuse to leave. Here is a resource with some other suggestions. This can also include brainstorming activities and friends they could spend time with where substances are not present.
Provide a Safety Net. Make sure they know that safety is your priority. If they are ever in danger, they should know they can call you or another trusted adult. Make it clear that getting them home safely is more important than the circumstances that led to the call.
If you are having trouble having these conversations with your teen, consider finding another trusted, supportive adult in your child’s life who can help.
Confused about where to find the facts? There are information sheets you can download and links to more resources on the SPIFFY Coalition’s website: talklistenrepeat.org. Or you can reach out to the SPIFFY Coalition at: Spiffy@collaborative.org or your child’s provider. We would be happy to talk with you!
Take care and stay well,
Northampton Area Pediatrics
Demystifying Vaccine Schedules – why is the recommended schedule the way that it is?
Hello NAP Families,
In our office visits we frequently get questions from families about the vaccine schedule. You, yourself, may have wondered why vaccines are recommended at certain ages, whether it is safe to give multiple vaccines at once or to a young infant, and what the harm would be in spacing these out. These are excellent questions and there are equally excellent evidence-based answers to them all! We are excited to be able to offer a free webinar, run by national pediatric vaccine experts, on January 30th at 1pm that aims to provide all of this essential information. We strongly encourage anyone who has questions about vaccines to attend! Please see the link below for registration, as well as details about the webinar content at the end of this message.
Take care, and stay well!
Northampton Area Pediatrics
Webinar details:
Date & Time
Jan 30, 2026 01:00 PM in Eastern Time (US and Canada)
Description
Routine childhood immunizations are an important part of the path to lifelong health. Misinformation about vaccines has made it harder for families to know who or what to trust. Reliable, science-based guidance can help you make informed, confident choices for your kids. Join Dr. Jennifer Shu, Medical Editor of HealthyChildren.org, and Dr. Adam Ratner, pediatric in infectious diseases physician, for a practical conversation about vaccines. The session will cover: 1) Ideal timing for childhood immunizations 2) Why some immunizations are recommended at specific ages 3) What to expect after immunization
About Our Host Dr. Jennifer Shu is a practicing pediatrician, author, and mom who lives in Atlanta. She is Medical Editor of HealthyChildren.org, and co-author of Heading Home with Your Newborn and Food Fights. A frequent guest on national and local television, radio, and web-based programs, Dr. Shu served as the Living Well health expert for CNN.com, has contributed medical information to BabyCenter and WebMD, and serves on the Parents magazine advisory board.
About Our Guest Expert Dr. Ratner is a pediatric infectious diseases physician, researcher, and educator based in New York City. He is a member of the Committee on Infectious Diseases of the American Academy of Pediatrics and an Associate Editor of the AAP Red Book. He speaks widely in both academic settings and news outlets on topics relevant to vaccination and infections in childhood and is the author of the book Booster Shots: The Urgent Lessons of Measles and the Uncertain Future of Children’s Health.