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April 2019 Moms
s_montgomery
member
Choosing a Pediatrician
s_montgomery
member
How did you choose your pediatrician?
Have you interviewed pediatricians?
What are some questions to ask a pediatrician before making a final decision that are not often asked or thought of?
What concerns or problems have you had with previous pediatricians? What did you wish you knew to ask before making a final decision?
What tips can you give first time moms when choosing a pediatrician?
Is it important to you that you and your pediatrician have the same views on cosleeping, bedsharing, vaccinations, and other topics not every parent agrees with?
*Any additional comments*
Have you interviewed pediatricians?
What are some questions to ask a pediatrician before making a final decision that are not often asked or thought of?
What concerns or problems have you had with previous pediatricians? What did you wish you knew to ask before making a final decision?
What tips can you give first time moms when choosing a pediatrician?
Is it important to you that you and your pediatrician have the same views on cosleeping, bedsharing, vaccinations, and other topics not every parent agrees with?
*Any additional comments*
Re: Choosing a Pediatrician
What concerns or problems have you had with previous pediatricians? What did you wish you knew to ask before making a final decision? If you can, ask around to other families in the area, they will give you the best honest answer and help you find an office. I really liked the pediatricians at our first office but they NEVER kept to appointment times - I sometimes waited 1-2 hours! The office staff and nurses are just as important as the doctor. I didn't like the office staff at the place we went first, I just don't think it was run well and they weren't very friendly or helpful. I felt like an inconvenience. Once I tried to get an appointment because my daughter had a fever, the person who answered the phone tried to get me not to come in because my daughter "only had a fever" turns out she had a double ear infection and strep throat at 14 months. We immediately found another practice after that and we really like our current practice.
What tips can you give first time moms when choosing a pediatrician? Try to find a place that allows after hours phone calls and weekend appointments. Ask around to neighbors, friends, coworkers to get real experiences.
I think when choosing a doctor, it’s more of a gut feeling than anything.
I still interviewed them them when I was pregnant to make sure we were on the same page with everything and that they had rights at the hospital we preferred. I was honestly surprised how many pediatricians were lax about vaccines but ours is hardcore about if you are medically able they will only take patients who are on their vaccine schedule. I didn’t want to be stuck in a waiting room with my infant and other sick kids who I had no idea if they could potentially not be vaccinated and contagious.
I also liked that they are only a 10 minute drive from home and they have another office nearby our in-laws who watch DD every once in awhile.
Other things i enjoy about them is that it’s a husband and wife practice so if DS is uncomfortable with a female dr then her husband is there as well.
They also have online appointments for things like non serious rashes or follow ups.
Make sure they are on on the same page as you when picking a pediatrician. If you are planning on breastfeeding find one that is supportive and won’t throw formula in your face for a small problem. You would want one who recommends a lactation consultant instead of immediately going to formula. If cosleeping is in your plans, ask them their thoughts on that. What’s their vaccine schedule? What hospitals do they have rights at? Are they nearby? If they aren’t available, on vacation, sick, etc. ask to meet with the Drs. that would be filling in for them. Also make sure you like the reception staff and nurses. You deal more with the nurses especially for vaccinations. All the nurses at the office have a warm touch with DD and are understanding when she has a full blown fucking meltdown when seeing a needle.
step 2: ask local parents for experiences with those options (i’m lucky that I knew a bunch even though I’d only lived in the area for a year when I was pregnant with DD, but I’ve seen plenty of these questions on Facebook community forums)
step 3: interview (at least) your favorite
If you want to do an alternative vaccination schedule (Note: I do NOT recommend that), you def want to clear that during an interview. If you have some pre-existing condition (preemie, genetic disease, heart condition, etc), discuss that too and coordination with specialists. Generally discuss office payments, nurse triage, availability during off-hours, rotation of docs, lactation specialists (look for IBCLC, and if not, ask for a description of what the credential encompasses), and emergency/urgent care situations.
Red flags include offices that don’t want to take the time to give you an interview, offices that don’t seem up to date on research (eg “breastfeeding isn’t beneficial past a year” is flat-out wrong), and offices where the non-dr staff rubs you wrong.
Is it important to you that you and your pediatrician have the same views on cosleeping, bedsharing, vaccinations, and other topics not every parent agrees with?
Be the responsible one and know what the Academy of Pediatrics recommends - it is bad practice to actively recommend that parents ignore those recommendations. Therefore, my ped is not thrilled about bedsharing (AAP discourages), but I’m willing to listen to her talk about how hard it will be for DD to transition/put herself to sleep at an older age so long as she doesn’t refer me to child protective services. (For what it’s worth, DD flopped around a bit and fell asleep tonight after we put her in bed with the lights off...no nursing or anything.)
my ped prefers we not have a secomdary ped/use urgent care if not absolutely necessary because of the difficulty in maintaining the electronic record. I’d rather just call the triage nurse and let them document the concern and offer to help/send us to elsewhere.
An important thing to me is how they felt about vaccines and I told them that I ask lots of questions. They were firm on vaccines on schedule and said they'll schedule me near the end of the day so I had plenty of time. I have been absolutely satisfied with me pedi.
Final plus, they have an immediate care in the same office for weekends or when my pedi is out.
My pedi doesn't do rounds at my hospital as the hostipta had it's own pedis (though all in the same health system so her records were all in the system). We had our first pedi visit a day after being discharged.
I definitely second the recommendation of asking moms/mom groups in your area. Little things you wouldn't think of, like time it takes to receive a call back or how quick the nurses are at shots, are important when you have a sick or scared little one.
Pros:
Close by
Same health care system as the big Children’s Hospital
5 peds in the practice so if yours is unavailable you can still be seen by another
Accepts our insurance
Provaccine and breastfeeding
After hours nurse line
No waiting in waiting room with a newborn (they immediately send you back so Baby isn’t exposed to germs)
95% if the time same day appointment
Cons
I love our pediatrician and the office. “Knock on wood” no issues yet
Our office services the hospital I deliver at and you see whichever doctor is on call that day. So you don’t necessarily see your primary but at least it’s one of the providers in the same office.
Side note: every time I see your screen name I read it in my head as Miracle, pronounced as Merdicle. Ha
Now having parented for 14 years, I will say it’s often when we are on vacation or at someone’s house when things go wrong and the care is really quite good at most places and then you check in with your regular pediatrician when home. We’ve broken bones when on vacation in California, had allergic reactions on vacation in Florida, and scratched corneas and had too many ear infections when visiting grandparents in New England. It’s always something, lol.
I would also ask their late or no show policy for appointments. While I understand the need for such policies, pediatric appointments are one area where flexibility is really valuable! I don't think I made a single appointment less than 10 minutes late. Going anywhere with a baby is incredibly difficult, especially in those early days when you have a bunch of check ups.
2. I didn’t end up interviewing. The questions were all basically answered by reviews or on their website.
3. Really my main concerns were that they support breastfeeding, were open to a modified vaccination schedule (though I ended up going with the traditional schedule), that their well and sick waiting rooms were somewhat separated, and that they had evening and weekend walk in appointments available.
Really they have never so much as frowned at me for mentioning bedsharing, and don’t seem too concerned about pushing much besides car seat safety. Which I appreciate. DD’s doc expressed concern about her lack of weight gain at the beginning but made sure to reassure me with facts and not fear.
They have a breastfeeding support group that met weekly and did weigh ins, which was key in my breastfeeding journey. The LC also helped me with things like knowing how to supplement with formula until she was doing better, but still keeping up my supply with pumping, etc.
But probably the best thing about the pediatrician is that he was diligent in inquiring about my own mental and physical health, because he saw me several times before even my OB did for the six week follow up. It was nice to have someone equally concerned about DD and I both.
It is my preference that the pediatrician only takes vaccinated patients but it's not a deal breaker. Because I believe in evidence based practices I'm not interested in a doctor that advocates for holistic remedies, I want to know that they will help with safe sleeping practices, fed is best, evidence Based nutrition recommendations, etc
My next interview is on Wednesday. Hopefully it goes better.
Have you interviewed pediatricians? No. I much prefer getting a recommendation from a trusted medical provider and then changing after the fact if there is an issue.
What are some questions to ask a pediatrician before making a final decision that are not often asked or thought of? I echo the people above who mentioned considering things like who will see your child when the doctor is not in (our practice always uses another doctor vs a nurse), and what after-hours care is like. Ours is great, but I definitely did NOT think about it beforehand, and it is a MUCH bigger part of our Dr. experience than some of the things I was concerned about beforehand, which mostly involved crazy contingencies.
What concerns or problems have you had with previous pediatricians? What did you wish you knew to ask before making a final decision? No regrets.
Is it important to you that you and your pediatrician have the same views on cosleeping, bedsharing, vaccinations, and other topics not every parent agrees with? I would say yes to anything that affects actual medical care because I would NOT be okay with having to argue with a doctor on top of having a sick kid. However, I am all about the APA, so this has not been an issue for us. Also, FWIW, my doctor has never asked about sleeping arrangements or commented on feeding arrangements.
Have you interviewed pediatricians? As noted, I did the first time around. I asked a lot of questions about things like their views co-sleeping, vaccination, exclusively breastfeeding, CIO, and other topics that I had strong feelings about. I also just generally wanted to get a sense of whether or not the pediatrician would take me seriously. I met with one older man who was frankly, condescending and dismissive of me, and I knew he wouldn't be a good fit. I met with another woman who I liked fine and settled on. Then, when we were in the hospital, a different pediatrician (who I hadn't met) from the same office was the one on call and who ended up doing our discharge papers. I totally fell in love with her, and switched to her as our primary pediatrician on the spot.
What are some questions to ask a pediatrician before making a final decision that are not often asked or thought of? I can't think of any specific questions. I'd say that you're more looking for someone who will be supportive and who will take you and your parenting concerns seriously. You don't want someone who will rush through the appointment or who is going to suggest parenting strategies that REALLY don't jive with your philosophy.
What concerns or problems have you had with previous pediatricians? What did you wish you knew to ask before making a final decision? Honestly, none. I've been lucky to have great pediatricians.
What tips can you give first time moms when choosing a pediatrician? Get a gut sense of whether this is someone you trust your kid with.
Is it important to you that you and your pediatrician have the same views on cosleeping, bedsharing, vaccinations, and other topics not every parent agrees with? I wouldn't say it's important that they have the SAME views, but I would say that it's important that they basically respect and tolerate your views. For instance, my pediatrician did not (herself) bed-share, but after we discussed safe bed-sharing techniques (like having a co-sleeper) and my plan for it, she didn't argue with me. She also really helped with providing modifications to things I was doing that worked WITH me instead of against me. For instance, I really wanted to exclusively breastfeed but we weren't getting any sleep and my kiddo wasn't gaining weight quickly enough. She suggested adding a bottle of pumped milk right before bed to get me a good chunk of uninterrupted sleep, and doing this helped my kid gain weight more quickly. It was a perfect solution that worked with my preferences, instead of insisting that I supplement with formula.
Everything said made me feel comfortable and like This one is the one.
Hopefully the portrayal of the way things are done is true and accurate as an actual patient.