Because bruising and bleeding are normal events of childhood, the pediatrician must be able to determine whether a child's symptoms are normal or perhaps indicative of a defective hemostasis. A thorough medical history and physical examination should enable the clinician to choose those patients warranting further evaluation. Rather than referral to a hematologist at that point in time, pediatricians should be quite capable of performing the initial laboratory evaluation and making the correct diagnosis in a majority of cases.