Puddle Dock Pediatrics is a welcoming, innovative, and patient-centered pediatric practice located in Portsmouth, NH.
Alyssa Reyes Smith, MD, FAAP, IBCLC
Walter Hoerman, MD, FAAP
Flu shots are here!
Your child may receive their flu shot at any upcoming appointment in our office. Additionally, you may book a weekday immunization visit OR a Saturday flu clinic slot (September 26th) via your patient portal. Parent flu shots will also be offered this season and are arriving soon!
Learn About Becoming a New Patient
Puddle Dock Pediatrics strives to provide the highest quality, evidence-based medical care for infants, children and teens in a warm and caring environment! We are currently welcoming all newborns, with a waitlist for families looking to transfer from another practice.
Partnerships Built on Trust
Choosing a pediatrician for your child is an important decision! We value effective communication and strive to establish long term relationships built on mutual respect and trust.
We Accept Most Insurance
In order to be as accessible as possible to the families in our community, we take most insurances, including Medicaid.
Get the Right Dose
Be confident that you are treating your child’s pain or fever with the correct dose of medication. We can guide you on how much to give, based on your child’s weight.
Resources You Can Trust
We are pleased to offer you a library of expert advice from the American Academy of Pediatrics. Browse this collection of over 800 handouts by topic or symptom.
News & Social Media
Book a meet-and-greet on First Fridays!
July 15, 2026
Puddle Dock Pediatrics is now offering FIRST FRIDAYS: join other prospective patient families at 4:15pm on the first Friday afternoon each month to tour our office and have a Q&A session with our physicians! Reach out to us at 603-457-7040 via phone call or text to reserve your spot today.
Flu shots are here!
September 9, 2025
Appointments are available on weekdays, with additional late afternoon appointments on select Tuesdays, and a weekend clinic on Saturday 9/27. Call or message us to secure your child’s slot.
Please note that we are awaiting state guidance on how to deliver COVID vaccines to children this respiratory season. Updates will be shared here as soon as we know more. Thank you for your patience.
What’s going around? The flu.
That’s it. That’s the post.
…
…
…
Just kidding.
But really, our in-house Flu A positivity rate soared to 50% in the last week (see below)! Most kids who test positive for flu are presenting with high fevers (>102F) for multiple days in a row, plus some respiratory and/or GI symptoms like cough, congestion, nausea/vomiting, and diarrhea.
Tamiflu, a prescription antiviral medication that stops viral replication, is an option for those who test positive and best if taken early in the course of illness. A flu shot is the most effective way to PREVENT infection and reduce hospitalization and other complications like pneumonia.
THIS WEEK’S IN-HOUSE TESTING:
- 6 Flu A/B tests (molecular/PCR), 3 were positive for flu A (50% positivity rate)
- 4 COVID tests (molecular/PCR), all were negative (0% positivity rate)
- 2 RSV PCR’s, all were negative (0% positivity rate)
- 5 Strep tests, all were negative (0% positivity rate)
It’s not too late to get vaccinated for the Thanksgiving holiday! We have COVID shots for patients AND flu shots for caregivers back in stock 💪🏽 Call/message our offices to book, or book online via the portal!
Wintertime can feel like one never-ending cold in babies and toddlers especially - it is normal for them to have 6 to 12 illnesses per year (especially if they are in daycare or around older siblings) in the first few years as they build up their immune system. Most of these infection are viral, meaning antibiotics won’t help and we can offer supportive treatment only for the symptoms. Whether the cough is “wet” or “dry”, or what color the boogers are (clear vs. yellow/green) does NOT tell you whether the infection is bacterial or viral!
(Caption continued in comments)
Happy Halloween from your friendly Puddle Dock monsters!🚪🌸 #monstersinc #halloween2026
BOO! 👻 Did you know? Tick season isn’t over (it never really is in New Hampshire…)
We have gotten lots of calls and messages about tick bites this week. Don’t be fooled by the cooler temperatures! During cold weather, ticks enter a dormant (“resting”) state. They are not actively seeking hosts, but they are still alive. Once temperatures climb back into the mid-30s to 40 degrees Fahrenheit, ticks can become active (“questing”) again. It has to be far colder (4 to 5 degrees Fahrenheit) for far longer (eight hours or more) for ticks to *start to* die. Our current daytime temperatures mean that you should assume ticks are active every day and therefore still be checking children at night, every night, for attached ticks.
If you find an ATTACHED deer tick, and it looks engorged and/or you think it could have been attached to your child for 36 hours or more, give us a call to determine whether your child qualifies for a one-time dose of antibiotic to prevent Lyme disease. Note that testing the tick is NOT part of the algorithm when deciding whether to treat.
For more information, check out https://tickfreenh.org/. Have a tick-free Halloween! 🎃
Happy Medical Assistants’ Week to Sam and Chloe! 🫶🏽 Truly the best!!
