Is having a pediatrician 45 min away irresponsible?

GreenEyedGal · June 2011

Long story short-My son's pediatrician was 10 minutes away. We moved 5 months ago to another part of town and now it's a good 45-1 hr drive WITHOUT traffic. We've kept her up until this point because we love her, she's been his doc since Day 1 and we all seem to be on the same page. Then again, I feel like having a doctor do far away is irresponsible. What happens if he gets a fever and we need antibiotics and it's pouring rain? What then? Drive one hour in the storm with a sick baby for a prescription and a check up?

cjsbdl · June 2011

I wouldn't call it irresponsible, but I wouldn't want our pedi to be that far away. Our pedi is 5 minutes away (15 mins if traffic is really bad) and I love it that way. For me, personally, 45 mins would be too far.

ETA: I guess I should point out that Henry is a very sickly kid and we spend LOTS of time at the pedi office. If our history was that we only had to go in for well visits I might very well feel differently.

desabean · June 2011

I don't know about irresponsible but certainly inconvenient and possibly a bad idea. I mean, if your kid is really that sick, you will take them to the emergency room. Garrison has only needed to go to the pedi for an unscheduled visit like 3 times and two of those were for reflux/eczema when she was an infant (so not an emergency) but....you never know when you are going to be in the situation you listed above and then what. I would ask your pedi if she could recommend someone closer due to the distance. I am sure she would get that.

kittylove · June 2011

Not irresponsible but not ideal either. I would switch Drs but don't think you have to.

sasa625 · June 2011

Our pedi is currently 20 minutes from our house. I can honestly say I would consider driving an hour to see him if we moved or he changed offices. We love him and I don't know that I'd be able to find anyone I'd trust as much.

It can't hurt to look around for a new pedi though... maybe you'll find one you love who is closer to you.

kimarino13 · June 2011

Ours is 7 miles away but it takes 30 minutes to get there with all the stop lights. There are a few closer, but I drive for the better doctors/practice and it hasn't been an issue at all.

RoxBride · June 2011

Eh, we live in a mountain community. Ours is 45 minutes away, since everything just about is.

No big deal, but then again we've never gone for anything other than well baby visits.

readyin07 · June 2011

Ours is 15-20 minutes away, which is fine. But they only have one office open on weekends, which is maybe 35 minutes away. There has been one time when "our" closer office could not even squeeze us for a sick visit and we had to drive to the farther office and honestly it pretty much sucked. It was just a cold, but DS was pretty miserable and throwing him in the car for that long (plus having to wait at the office) seemed to be a long time out of his jammies and away from home when he didn't feel well. The 'long' car ride did lull him almost to sleep and then I had to pull him out to go into the dr's office and let's just say that didn't go over

LucyPevensie · June 2011

I don't think it's a big deal. You wouldn't take a really sick baby to the pedi - you'd go to the closest ER or Children's Hospital. You'd take a somewhat sick kid to the pedi to be seen but unless your kid gets really frequent illnesses that require anti-b's - you shouldn't need to do this very often. So you'll make the 45 minute drive for regularly scheduled check-ups - and the hopefully very infrequent sick visit.

THAT SAID ... my pedi is literally 5 minutes away and I LOVE that - but part of that is due to us always flying around and almost being late - so being able to jump in the car at 8:55am and (almost, kind of) still make it on time to a 9am appointment - pretty much rocks.

laura1 · June 2011

We had a pedi down the street from us (5 min walk) - and we hated them. So we switched to one that was about a 20 minute drive, and it was worth it to me to drive that far for her!

We just moved, and now we are 45min to 1hr away depending on traffic, and we did the drive this morning, which was pretty bad (and it was for DD's 1 year well baby check up). It might be really bad if we were going for a sick visit! But I did schedule her 15 month check up, and if we find someone else by then I will cancel. But to me, I need to trust the doctor, and that is worth the drive!

skoorbnibor · June 2011

Ethan's first doctor was about 30min away. He is still my doctor (and my husbands) When we moved, we decided 30 min was bad enough, but 1 hour is too far. I still love him, and he will still treat E if we need him too (via text, or email or even a fb message lol) but we did find a pedi who is 7 minutes away and I love her, too

GreenEyedGal · June 2011

Thanks guys! I'm going to look around for a pedi near us but won't go out of my way to find a new one, kwim?

cara-n-steve · June 2011

Our pedi is 45 minutes away. I chose her because she's amazing and is associated with a good hospital. Since both DS's have health issues I would rather drive further to make sure they are having the best care possible.

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