Pediatrician

Emma61210

piggybacking off the daycare post, have any of you called/chosen a pediatrician yet? A friend of my flipped out when she found out I hadn't called the day I got a positive test! Haha! She said she didn't know, waited until she was 6 months pregnant and couldn't get in!! 

So, I called the recommended Dr and believe it or not, there's already a list going for January babies! So we are on it. I had NO IDEA!!! 

Vivi20

We'll be using the same pediatrician my dd 2.5 has. He's AMAZING and I only pray he won't retire any time soon. He's also hard to get in with, so I consider myself lucky that our family is already established with him.

ThePax89

What!!!!!!? When I was 38 weeks pregnant with my daughter, I still hadn't called any peds. 

LoveIsOwlYouNeed

So...you can always switch peds. I don't understand why people feel the need to pick one immediately after they POAS.  You have to pick one affiliated with your hospital to come check the  baby after the birth.  Then, just like any doctor, if you don't like them, switch. It's not like you're committed to that pediatrician FOREVER!

We had to switch pediatricians when we moved and like our current practice so will continue it for DS and the new one.

ThePax89

^cant tag you. 
Agreed! I switched pedis. Unless you have very specific requests (like not wanting to vaccinate, IMO, they are all similar) Plus, you don't really know what kind of parent you are until you are a parent, atleast I didn't. So it's hard to guage what type of dr aligns with your beliefs. 

Briala

I didn't pick until the 6-7 month mark and we had no problems

colleenkevin

My daughter's pediatrician had me come in when I was 8 months pregnant to meet with an NP.  Then I called after I delivered her and they scheduled her first appointment.  When we were in the hospital we had a staff pediatrician do her hospital checks and all went well.  I'm sure the topic of #2 will come up when I'm showing at a future well visit for my daughter!

katesmama0706

I actually didn't pick one out with DD until a few weeks before she was born but we couldn't get in to see him after she was born but my baby was jaundice so the hospital actually called the pediatrician's office and yelled at them until they gave us an appointment before I was discharged. Now that we're existing patients we should be okay to get in with him again. 

ajmcarroll

When my DD was born we didn't have a pediatrician picked out. Our hospital is part of a network of service providers, so I wasn't too worried.  At the hospital a pediatrician on call did the check ups and we really liked him. He was happened to take new patients.  My DD's 6 month check up is friday and I'll talk to him about having this baby be his patient as well.

I know some places do expectant parent visits and classes.  I highly recommend taking a class, there they may be able to point you in the right direction. 

acardona1010

We will use the same one our DD goes to hopefully.  Just after we started with her, their office stopped visiting the hospital I delivered at (and will deliver at again).  We'll have to use the hospitals pedi right after birth but we'll get in with our current pedi for the first appointment after leaving the hospital.

Josie3=5

We'll use the same one that my DD and DS go to because I LURV him. He's a single practitioner who gives out his cell phone so that you can call him in the middle of the night and talk to him directly if you're crazy worried. I've used that option sparingly but it's always given me SUCH peace of mind.

As for OP's 6 month wait, I haven't encountered that. What I have encountered is that some pediatricians only take newborns and then follow the kids through their development. But even in the crazy area that I live in, most people switch back and forth between pediatricians with no problems.

ceillyang

First time mom here so please be kind! I have a family doctor.... do I still need a pediatrician? My doctor is very experienced and has been with the hospital for 20 years and has been seeing my husband and I for 2 years. I chose him thinking I wouldn't need a pedis. Thoughts?

ceclarlinetlo

@ceillyang family doctors are trained to do pediatrics (and OB actually) but not all do pediatrics - so if you like him and he sees children I'd say go for it. You can always change your mind later.  

Josie3=5

ceillyang said:

First time mom here so please be kind! I have a family doctor.... do I still need a pediatrician? My doctor is very experienced and has been with the hospital for 20 years and has been seeing my husband and I for 2 years. I chose him thinking I wouldn't need a pedis. Thoughts?

I think it just depends on how versed your family doctor is in pediatrics. We just went through this question on a local mom board I'm on and the general feedback was to go with a pediatrician for the first 2-3years of baby's life, especially as there are a ton of developmental milestones that need to be checked along the way for proper development. My current pediatrician has us do CHADIS evaluations, regularly discusses where we should be in development and what are the next challenges on the horizon and is well-versed in proper drug use in infants. All that said, i don't see why a good family doctor with a lot of experience couldn't do the same thing, if they were interested in doing so. I'd just ask them how many infants and toddlers they see a year and interview them about their strategy regarding any potential issues that might crop up along the way - how would they deal with failure to gain weight, not meeting milestones, etc. See what their answers are and whether they satisfy you.

ceillyang

@ceclarlinetlo @Josie3=5 thanks! I'll reach out to my doctor and his staff to see if he does see newborns. Thanks for this topic forum!