Pediatric Services
Nurture Pediatrics provides a wide variety of pediatric services to families across Smyrna & Nolensville, TN. From newborn care to sick care, immunizations, and more, our experienced pediatricians and staff are dedicated to meeting the needs of patients from birth to age 21.
Comprehensive Services
We offer a full range of pediatric services, including:
- Pediatric and adolescent care
- Well child examinations
- Sick care
- School/sports physicals
- Behavior/developmental conditions (i.e. ADD, ADHD)
- Minor procedures
- Minor injuries
- Immunizations
- Acute and chronic illness care
- Pediatric and adolescent care
- Well child examinations
- Sick care
- School/sports physicals
- Behavior/developmental conditions (i.e. ADD, ADHD)
- Minor procedures
- Minor injuries
- Immunizations
- Acute and chronic illness care
Newborn Care
When you arrive home with your newborn, there are generally a million questions. We hope this information will provide you with answers.
General
- Fever in an infant is 100.4 degrees rectally. If your infant (3 months or less) has a fever, call us immediately: 615-223-5565 or 615-776-8703
- Everyone should wash their hands before they hold your newborn. No one who is sick should be around the infant.
- Infants should be in a rear-facing car seat in the back seat of the car.
- Hot water temperature in the house should be set to 120 degrees or less to avoid scalding your baby during a bath.
- Infants should be placed on their backs to sleep on a firm mattress. No heavy blankets or stuffed animals should be in the crib.
- Infants should sleep by themselves. Co-bedding has been shown to significantly increase the risk of suffocation and is never recommended.
- Water is not recommended. Formula or breastfeeding is all your baby needs.
Breastfeeding
- Nurse frequently in the first few days, about 8-12 times per day. The more you nurse, the sooner your milk will come in.
- Begin by nursing about 5-10 minutes on each breast, working your way up to 15 minutes on each breast. Alternate feedings depending on which side your baby nursed the last time.
- Never breastfeed more than 40 minutes total.
- If you will be going back to work soon, start a bottle of pumped breast milk or formula once a day starting by 1 month of age.
- New babies should be stooling at least 1 time a day.
- New babies should be wetting diapers once for every day old, up to 6-8 times a day.
- If your baby goes longer than 8 hours without wetting, please contact your pediatrician.
Bottle Feeding
- Sterilization is unnecessary if you use a dishwasher or hand wash separately in hot soapy water and let air-dry.
- Let your baby determine his or her own schedule. To start, this is usually 1 to 2 ounces every 2-3 hours.
- Never prop a bottle.
- Burp midway through a feeding and when finished. Do not try to burp longer than a minute or two each time.
- Never microwave a bottle.
- Do not change your baby’s formula without calling your pediatrician.
- If water is used to make formula, use filtered water. Water may be used right out of the tap, unless you have well water. If you have well water, it must be boiled first, and then cooled before using.
Breast Milk Storage
- Hand pumps take practice. They are useful for occasional pumping.
Rented pumps are wonderful for working mothers. The electric pumps work best for daily use and are fast and simple to use. - Breast milk storage times:
-Countertop room temperature: 6-8 hours
-Insulated cooler: 24 hours
-Refrigerator: 7 days
-Freezer compartment refrigerator: 2 weeks
-Freezer compartment of refrigerator/freezer combo with separate doors: 3-6 months
-Stand Alone Freezer: 6-12 months - Thaw breast milk in a bowl of warm water. Do not microwave.
Circumcision Care
- Gently rinse the penis with warm water.
- Apply petroleum jelly directly to the penis or to a gauze pad and place over the penis at each diaper change. Continue for one week after circumcision.
- As circumcision starts to heal, a yellow scab will form. This is normal.
Bathing Your Infant
- Newborns do not get very dirty, and there is no natural body odor. Simply wiping the areas with a warm washcloth once a day is all that is necessary.
- A tub bath may be started after the cord comes off at about 2 weeks. However, don’t expect your baby to enjoy the bath until 6-8 weeks of age.
- Do not use soap all over your baby every day to help prevent dry skin.
Fever and Pain Reliever Dosing Chart
Parents, please refer to this chart for Tylenol and Motrin dosing information.
Medical Ear Piercing
Medical ear piercing services are now available to both Nurture Pediatric patients and to the general community. We use Blomdahl earrings.
Should I pierce my ears?
Ear piercing is a cosmetic procedure that most people choose based on personal or cultural preferences.
How old do I need to be?
Patients need to be at least 2 weeks past their first set of immunizations at 2 months old.
Why medical ear piercing?
Nurture Pediatrics wants to provide a safe, hygienic, and professional alternative to tattoo parlors and mall stores. We offer non-contact piercing and use only medical grade earrings that do not contain nickel to reduce the risk of nickel allergy. We also have the ability to provide numbing cream to reduce the pain of the procedure. Numbing cream can be safely used after 3 months with careful placement on the earlobe, avoiding the ear canal.
How much does it cost?
Prices start at $75 (for a single ear) and go up from there. Our prices include the earring, the piercing procedure, after care swabs, and after care instructions. There is an additional $25 charge if you desire the local topical anesthesia.
Can I bring my own earrings?
No. Medical ear piercing is based on using medical grade sterile earrings that will not cause nickel allergy, so we will only use our medically sterile earrings.
Will you pierce cartilage?
As pediatricians, we do not recommend cartilage piercings due to the significant risk posed by cartilage infection should it occur. Therefore, we will not pierce cartilage.
How long before I remove my new earrings?
New earrings should be worn for 6 weeks to allow for the new tunnel to heal. No twisting! This prolongs healing time and can lead to infection.
What if my ear becomes infected?
Without knowing exactly what is going on, it is difficult to give correct instructions, but in general – if the infection is in the soft part of the ear (earlobe), with the earring in place, apply a warm compress for about 3 minutes, 4 times a day to increase blood flow to the area. Clean with an antiseptic solution and apply a topical antibiotic cream, such as neosporin. If no improvement in 24 hours – seek medical attention. Other symptoms that need urgent medical attention are fever, redness spreading from the piercing, and a very swollen ear.
Symptom Check
Is your child sick? Click on symptoms below to learn more information.
Interested in our telemedicine services? Contact us to learn more!

Smyrna Office
810 Medical Park
Smyrna, TN 37167
Phone: 615-223-5565
Fax: 615-223-5509
Smyrna Hours
Monday - Friday:
7:00 AM - 4:45 PM
Saturday:
8:00 AM - 11:30 AM
Sunday: Closed
Nolensville Office
7211 Haley Industrial Dr., Ste 100
Nolensville, TN 37135
Phone: 615-776-8703
Fax: 615-776-8709
Nolensville Hours
Monday - Friday: 7:00 AM - 4:45 PM
Office start and end times may vary depending on provider availability
Providers are on call after office hours