choosing a pediatrician

danniv13

Just received a list of pediatricians in the denver and surrounding areas to choose from and .... though i have thought lots about this , I am still lost at how to choose the "one" .  daddy and I are not looking for just any old doctor , as I'm sure most new parents are also looking for the best for their little one !  Anyone within about 20 miles of brighton, co have any suggestions for a fabulous, open minded pediatrician?  We are not looking for someone who is not going to listen to us as new parents. we understand we've never done this before but there are some things in our lifestyles we feel very strongly about and would like to carry it over to our parenting style as well .  So - thanks ahead of time for your suggestions!!  

also - if anyone knows of holistic pediatricians in the area especially who are not out of pocket as well that would be greatly appreciated.  

I'll keep researching myself! 

thanks!

princessyetz

I have looked for a holistic ped. not out of pocket and have yet to find one.  I have resigned myself to having a western med. minded ped. and then using other practitioners should we need them (chiro., naturopath, etc.).  Look for a "younger" ped.  THe older ones tend to be set in their ways and very old school IME.  We started with one who was older and seemed very nurturing.  Boy were we wrong.  When the sh** hit the fan we had to fight her every step of the way b/c we had different ideas of what would work and honestly, the last thing you want as a 1st time mom is to have a ped. who stresses you out more than you already are and makes you cry b/c "you aren't doing it right."

Anyway, no suggestions in your area.  Our 1st ped. retired unexpectedly.  We waited to see if we clicked with her replacement.  We did not.  BUT we had a fantastic referral to another ped. who is a 30 minute drive for us.  Totally worth the drive!  She is younger, has tons of energy, LOVES her job, is a mom herself.  She is still of the western med. mindset but she also says out loud to us that we have to make the right decisions for our family.  If we cannot sleep at night b/c she pushed us into a decision, then that is not right for our family.  She still makes recommendations but is respectful when we say no or not right now.  She is not pushy.  IDK if that is what you are looking for but wanted to share our experience.  There is no such thing as a doc. who will agree with you on EVERYTHING.  So you get the next best thing which IMO is what we have - someone who agrees with you on some things and if you disagree then the doc respects you as *the parents* and respects you enough to not hound you or make you feel guilty.

Another experience - all peds. say they are supportive of breastfeeding.  In reality not all are as supportive as they could be.  At the first sign my DS was not gaining weight our old ped. told me to give up the BFing (DS was one week old!).  Not knowing any better I did give it up and it broke my heart.  If BFing is important to you find a ped. who either has an IBCLC on staff OR knows one or two personally by name.  Many rely on the hospital LCs but I delivered in Boulder and the hospital LCs there were horrible!!!!!!  And our ped at the time did not know a single one of them by name (even though she worked at the same hospital).  Our present ped. knows 2 by name and we have a game plan in place for BFing for next time

danniv13

thank you so much for your help! im hoping once i figure out what our insurance situation is for the  baby i can get to work on finding a ped. for her.   It feels like its going to be a tough long road , but im hoping that I can find someone who will at least be respectful of my decisions.  I luckily have midwives right now for all of my prenatal care, so the western medicine is there, but they are much more open to talking with me about where im coming from and giving me  the input but respecting alot of my decisions.  I will just have to wait until next week to find out! thanks again! 

princessyetz

What group of midwives are you working with?  Are they CNMs or home birth?  Actually, I just realized our ped. is just about 20 miles from Brighton.  She is in Louisville.  Dr. Karrin Mezarina at Cornerstone Pediatrics.  She might not be what you are looking for but since I already told you how much we adore her . . .

She does give me a reminder every time we see her about vaccines (we have chosen a delayed and modified schedule) but we kindly remind her what we have chosen and that is all we hear about it.  And she is totally open to talking about and reading over what I come across (if it is from a reputable source, of course).  And to be fair, she might not even be reminding us if we gave them something to put in DS's chart.  DH and I don't always see eye to eye on vaccines so we have been handling each one as they come until recently when we made a solid decision (DS is 15 months old).  So, I probably will give them something in writing next time we go to put in his chart so they don't forget and "remind" us about something they think we forgot about.

TunieBee