Finding a Pediatrician

SarahFoley725

For those of you due at the end of Jan/beginning of Feb it's time to start thinking about finding a pediatrician! FTM's if you have any questions ask them here! S+TMs share all your words of wisdom. 

SarahFoley725

Most pediatric offices will set up a consultation with a doctor beforehand so you can meet them and ask them some questions. You should be thinking about what's important to you regarding your child's health.

Do you plan to vaccinate? If so do they have a required timeline? Do they see patients who don't vaccinate? etc. 

Another good question is about antibiotics. Lots of doctors will write off an RX and send you along when you may not really need one. 

You may want to ask if your doctor has rights at the hospital you're delivering (if that's your plan). Ours was able to come check out DD shortly after she was born and she was discharged by another doctor in the same office. It was really nice! 

If youre in any local mom groups it's an awesome place to ask for recommendations. A lot of times you'll find out more about how work in appointments and stuff like that go from other parents!

ahoneycutt12

I read a lot of online reviews which helped, but I also had a short list as I wanted something close to home and somewhere who had weekend hours and a good after hours support in place (I seriously love the after hours line and they have helped me keep my sanity over the past 2+ years since having my DD).  I saw a few different doctors at the practice in the early stages when you go in every few weeks and I quickly found a favorite who is unfortunately leaving (this is her last month) so I have to pick a new one UGH!  Just make sure that you find someone that has your goals and everything in mind... ours was very supportive through everything and I can't tell you how many doctors are still out there that make moms second guess every decision they make when having someone to actually talk to about your child's development and feeling that support is so crucial to new moms.  There is one old nurse that I talked to on the phone when my daughter was 10 months after she bit my nipple breastfeeding and she was like well I guess it's time to stop breastfeeding..... umm no lol maybe you shouldn't talk to breastfeeding moms if that is your advise lol.

SunflowerMama428

STM advice:

I tried going with female doctors because I was breastfeeding and wanted support. The female doctors in the office were jerks and the best breastfeeding advice I got was from my son’s male pediatrician. His wife breastfed and he was very involved in her journey and was so supportive. He also offered no shame when things were hard and tried to find solutions and best options for my son. I think just keep an open mind because I would have never guessed our pedi was everything I wanted in a doctor. 

Also it’s not as important to have the pedi picked from the beginning. Pick a practice that accepts the choices you want regarding vaccines or what not and do some rotations with appointments and get a feel for a few doctors and find one that fits with your family. Trust me finding a pedi that just “fits” is a life savor. 

rainafire77

Thankfully I found one in our physicians group for DD who needed her sports physical. Scheduled an hour long appointment for us and didn't even balk about removing a plantars wart when that wasn't in the original appointment notes. Our old pediatrician only booked 15 minute appointments and if you had a question or issue that was outside of the scope of your appointment, you had to reschedule. DD really liked her and all we have to do is tell the hospital she's our pediatrician and they'll call her up to the hospital. 

ETA: Our pediatrician specifically said she specializes in infants and adolescents which is perfect for us!

GoogleMD

I am part of several local moms FB groups and got reccomendations from them. I really love our pedi she was super helpful and knowledgeable about BF, and patient, she answered patiently all 500x my 2 y.onasked “why” or “what’s that” during his last check up

jenniferjoy37

FTM here, and I’m procrastinating like heck on this one... I’m unsure if I should find a family doctor that can do it all and have DH and I go there too, or find a pediatric doc first for our LO and then find another doc for us. We just moved up to the area and I can’t keep driving 45 mins to see my regular doctor. What are your thoughts ladies? 

lucylou214

jenniferjoy37 said:

FTM here, and I’m procrastinating like heck on this one... I’m unsure if I should find a family doctor that can do it all and have DH and I go there too, or find a pediatric doc first for our LO and then find another doc for us. We just moved up to the area and I can’t keep driving 45 mins to see my regular doctor. What are your thoughts ladies? 

This describes my current situation re: finding a pedi to a T.  We live 50 mins from the hospital / the office where I'm getting OB care.  They have a great peds dept, but it's just so far, which I imagine could be not a good time with a sick LO.  DH and I see a primary care provider here in town.  They will do peds, but certainly don't specialize.  I am considering option C to see if I can find a specific pedi closer than 50 mins, but we don't know lots of people here, and so we don't have lots of recommendation options.  Therefore, I am also procrastinating, and need to get this done. 

babymakes9

I am probably the odd ball in this group,  but i have never researched a pediatrician or a dr.

Where we live now we have limited options and i have found out of the 2 networks,  i am lucky if there is a Dr.  In each facility,  many of them only have nurse practitioners or physicians assistants.  I take everyone to the choice that had a dr. In house.  I have found over the years (due to older kids getting concussions in school) that only an actual dr. Can sign off on some things.

I could drive an hour and choose from a ton of different practices,  while they may not be a big deal for annual exams,  however that really is not practical with frequent baby checks,  injuries,  emergency appointments,  and sick visits.

Also if you commute for work, a ob near your work might be convenient,  but you need somewhere located near your home for baby unless you are planning on taking baby to work before/ after all appointments and on days when he is sick. 

When i used to live in a large metropolis,  i also didn't interviews Drs.  (This apparently want a thing we did 10+ years ago) the hospital. Would send someone on rounds,  and that's whom we used unless we already had a dr. For older children.  It really is not that big of a deal to switch Drs.  If you don't like the one you have And you won't really know if you like them until you've had a few appointments.

This is not something to stress over. 

SarahFoley725

Random after thought, when we met the first Pediatrician we really liked him but he was like 78 years old. I figured he'd probably be retiring soon so we looked for someone younger. The pedi/practice we settled on was brand new. Both doctors were fresh out of residency. I liked this because I know they'll be around for all of my kiddos and I also knew they'd have the most updated information. 

winnie1122

I did little research before picking the ped DS sees, I basically just picked the male ped in the practice attached to my OB office after checking that he didn’t have any terrible reviews online. I really had no idea how to pick one without meeting them in practice and I liked that he was close by and male so my son could stay with him into adolescence if he wanted and not feel like he had to switch at that point (I switched to a female ped when I was 12 because I was too self conscious to see a male doc anymore). Anyways, I didn’t like him after the first appointment, DH encouraged me to give him time to get to know us before making a judgment, and now a year later I still don’t like him and am definitely looking for a new one this time for both kids. It really can simply come down to personality and how comfortable you feel with the doc, not even that they are bad at their job. My pro and con list of current ped-
Pro: He was flexible with the vaccine schedule and not too judgmental when I had concerns about vaccines. DS has some allergies early on and got sick and I just was super worried about adding 5 vaccines in one appointment on top of all of that so he let me delay them until we had the other concerns under control. I know some peds will not be flexible or even take you as a patient if you are not 100% on board with every vaccine all the time right on time. So I appreciated that. Other pro, very accessible: he blocks out empty time every day for last minute sick kid appointments. Any time I’ve had to call to get DS seen outside of the regular well checks he’s been able to see us within a couple hours of me calling. 

Cons: He doesn’t communicate much. If I don’t have a specific question (and as a FTM I often didn’t know what to ask) he wouldn’t tell me anything or ask me anything, so I always walk away wondering if something was overlooked that I should have asked about or mentioned, if we were on the right track developmentally, etc. I assume no news is good news, but I would like to know things. He’s kind of condescending and acts very tolerant when I do have questions, and he was not at all supportive of my breastfeeding. When DS had allergies he wanted to switch to formula (which I tried and it went horribly, I ended up modifying my diet to continue breastfeeding which the ped was very skeptical I could do or would keep up with). Literally any time I asked about breastfeeding related issues he just said to switch to formula and made me feel ridiculous for wanting to make breastfeeding work. He always acts surprised when I tell him about any developmental milestones I’ve observed (when he ASKS mind you, I’m not trying to brag or exaggerate considering I don’t know if we’re ahead or behind or right on track) and then tries to prove me wrong by asking DS to do things on the spot. He’s a baby, dude, not a dog. 

All that to say, this time I am looking for a supportive and communicative ped who I feel comfortable asking ‘stupid’ questions to and who I feel confident in. Flexibility is important to me, and someone my kids will feel comfortable with as they get older and have more opinions about their docs. A lot of that really is noticeable right at the first appointment, so I say trust your gut and if you can switch, do. This time I have looked at lots of reviews, local mom group discussions, and will schedule a meet and greet if possible before taking the kids. I won’t hesitate to switch much earlier this time until I find someone. A good doc makes all the difference.

babybro218

The Peds office I'm hoping to use (which is actually IN my apartment building) is having an open house tonight for expecting parents,  so this is great timing!  Thanks for starting the thread @SarahFoley725!

jennifer_m21

I got a few recommendations from my OB, so we went with the one she recommended that was close to us, had convenient hours, and had a lactation consultant as part of their practice. We went to an Open House a few weeks ago, and we liked them!

I recommend going to any Open Houses to ask questions. 

chucksmom15

We have interviewed 2 peds and the problem is we like them both and can't decide.  They are in the same practice which agrees with all our must haves and the location is great.  I want to go with one because I know him and his wife personally (I went to college with his wife) but DH doesn't want to pick him based on that.  Am I crazy??  I know how they raise their 4 kids and I know we get along with him.  That's a valid tiebreaker right? The other doctor seems wonderful but we might hate her after one visit.

SarahFoley725

chucksmom15 said:

We have interviewed 2 peds and the problem is we like them both and can't decide.  They are in the same practice which agrees with all our must haves and the location is great.  I want to go with one because I know him and his wife personally (I went to college with his wife) but DH doesn't want to pick him based on that.  Am I crazy??  I know how they raise their 4 kids and I know we get along with him.  That's a valid tiebreaker right? The other doctor seems wonderful but we might hate her after one visit.

If they're in the same practice I don't think it really matters much. We see our pedi for all regular check ups but if we've had a sick visit we've seen the other doctor too! It's possible you'd receive care from both. If you don't want to choose you could always just ask the office to assign you to one of them!

chucksmom15

That's what I keep telling DH @SarahFoley725.  I think he's afraid we're going to hurt her feelings if we pick the male doctor.  He keeps saying we shouldn't have interviewed 2 people in the same practice.  I told him they have interviews with people all the time that don't pick them.  I doubt she will care at all.

Chawk17

jenniferjoy37 said:

FTM here, and I’m procrastinating like heck on this one... I’m unsure if I should find a family doctor that can do it all and have DH and I go there too, or find a pediatric doc first for our LO and then find another doc for us. We just moved up to the area and I can’t keep driving 45 mins to see my regular doctor. What are your thoughts ladies? 

Same dilemma. DH and I never get sick ( my mom was/is a family practitioner so she was mine....but then my family moved to Texas and left me..so now  I have no dr. Deciding on pedi or family. 

amb929

@jennifer_m21   My OB is an hour and a half away from where we live so we didn't have the option of asking her for recommendations because whoever she would have referred us to would have been very far away but that is awesome that your OB was able to recommend someone you feel comfortable with! This relates to what would  be my first piece of advice...make sure you're pediatrician is no more than 15 minutes from your house. Even driving 10 minutes with a very sick child really really sucks. 

@babybro218  I've never heard of Pediatrician's office doing an open house! That's amazing and probably very helpful for making a final decision. 

With my first son, I researched the credentials of several area pediatricians and practices. I read reviews of ALL of their practicing doctors and then... because I have very bad anxiety concerning medical things...I looked to see if any of the practices I was considering were ever involved in a valid malpractice lawsuit. 

**TW**

I did this last thing because my father passed away in the Emergency Room of the hospital I delivered DS at...it was due to an egregious medical error on the part of his Primary Care Physician. He had pneumonia which is an extremely treatable condition but he died because his PCP didn't treat the pneumonia and by the time he reached the ER several days later, he was in organ failure. I am a wicked superstitious Italian so believing in juju and all... I feel like my son and my dad are somehow 'connected' and I wanted to make sure my son, whose due date was my father's birthday, would never be treated by his PCP the way my father was. 

**END TW**

After formulating my list, I called around to the practices that took our insurance and were well rated. Two of them weren't accepting new patients. The third was. We were not able to interview any of their doctors, it was against their policy BUT we were able to go in and take a 'tour' of the pediatrician's office after hours...where we met all of the doctors in the practice. The one we ended up going with has been an absolute godsend and wonderful for the past 2.5 years. Things I love about this practice: They have holiday and weekend hours to see sick children, their on-call service guarantees a Pediatrician will call you back within 45 mins...even if it's 3am...they call you back pretty immediately. All of the practicing doctors are competent and work well with kids. They spend the time to actually answer your questions and ask if you have any before heading out the door etc. All the things you want in a pediatrician. I couldn't be happier with our choice. Right now, they aren't accepting any new patients EXCEPT for siblings so I feel very fortune that DS 2 will be in good hands as well. 

A tip for anyone else who is delivering their child an hour away and in a different state... they have a hospital pediatrician for those people whose pediatrician's are close by...before your child sees an on-call pediatrician, make sure that person is IN NETWORK for your health insurance provider. We were charged 350 dollars for an out of network pediatrician and we have a very common health insurance provider to the New England area. There was literally NO reason DS 1 couldn't have been looked at by another pediatrician in network. 

Good luck to all the FTMs finding a quality health provider! 

soulcupcake

I've never really interviewed a ped. I used a group of peds at the hospital I delivered at with dd1. They were fine and attentive with it came to her GERD issues. They were Navy doctors. The same with dd2. Ds2 saw a few different civilian peds in the beginning due to tongue tie issues and not all of the peds had experience with posterior tongue tie. I eventually found a good ped my LC and midwife recommended. My dd3 just sees the same ped as my older kids. 

Distance was definitely a factor when I chose peds with my younger two. Within a 10-15 minute drive. I've generally lived in large and metro cities so access to peds close by hasn't been a problem. If I were I a FTM and planning to breastfeed, a ped that is supportive and encouraging of breastfeeding and breastfeeding to term or beyond would be very important. It's still important with future kids, but it can play a huge role in breastfeeding success when it's a first and it's all so new. 

Megzb510

I chose a practice based off a trusted coworkers recommendation on how they handle vaccines. I like the office a lot. They have a way to separate well babies from sick kids. (You go in another door and swoop straight into an exam room and avoid the waiting room) which will be a relief knowing I’m not sitting next to a sick kid in the waiting room when bringing my baby in for well baby visits. They visited DS in the hospital a couple times and updated me on his growth and audio test results (DS failed the first couple times and passed in a last minute test right before we were discharged).  I like all the drs and the office staff. The main guy is a little too jokey for my taste sometimes but he is amazing with my son. It’s not super close to us but they are associated with the hospital I’m delivering with. They are about 20-25 minutes away which isn’t too bad. The closest dr we could probably get would still be a 15 minute drive.  They also did call back promptly when we called later at night with croup.