Choosing a Pediatrician. What's important to you

Asantusa1 · April 2014

I have yet to pick my Peds. What sort of things to you ladies ask when visiting for the first time?

gutsysneakers · April 2014

Business hours. The practice we are going to is open 3 days a week until 7pm, open on Saturday for sick appointments, and on Sunday for additional appointments as necessary. They also have two lactation consultants on staff. Basically, I wanted somewhere close with flexible hours that worked with our lifestyle.

krlovell · April 2014

Our pediatrician is open 364 days a year (closed only on Christmas) open at 7 and stay until the last patient is seen, they also have X-ray capabilities, and labs in the office to avoid a hospital visit or stay. And they promise to call back to questions within a 1/2 hr. All of these things were/are extremely important to us and we have utilized all of these conveniences. Being a ftm and knowing that I can always get my son in and questions answered and not have to go to the er means the world to me!!

typeset · April 2014

Hours (including weekends), staffing, wait times, on-site lab and x-ray capability, foreskin-savvy, some degree of flexibility with vaccination.

bumpuser9353653 · April 2014

We visited two offices that were close to us. The main things we asked about were office hours, whether there were separate sick/well visit rooms or waiting areas, and how the doctor rotation worked (if it was a group practice).

But it ended up being more about the vibes we got when we sat down and actually talked to the doctors. The one that had early morning walk-in sick visits, Saturday hours, and separate sick/well waiting areas just didn't give us as good of a vibe as the other.

We went with a smaller practice with 3 doctors (all moms) and super nice nurses. They had a genuinely caring atmosphere that just gave us warm fuzzies. We've been very happy over the last 2 yrs.

Just remember to ask about any topics that are important to you (vaccines, breast v. bottle feeding, office hours, etc.)

Good luck!

Storrmys · April 2014

I pick mine on past experience. We are going to use the pediatrician I had for my daughter. They have a night clinic for evenings. He was sometimes the only person who could calm her down through childhood problems and accidents. He has a great bedside manner that just puts kids at ease.

Its important to me for my child to be comfortable with who is treating him.

iqwedding3 · April 2014

We had a bunch of questions ready, but only ended up finding 1 pediatrician that we could connect with.

typeset · April 2014

Oh, and we switched to a dude because I figured the kid might be more comfortable talking to a male doc about stuff once he gets older.

Asantusa1 · April 2014

Thank you everyone!

pistolpackinmomma · April 2014

We had basically two options, a single dr practice or a practice with 2 or 3 drs. We figured we would take whoever was on call the morning DS was born and if we didn't like them then we would switch. Luckily we loved the one that came in that morning and so we will go with her again when this LO is born.

SMM1986 · April 2014

I think the hours is an important thing to look for. I recently switched peds because over the past few years, I have been having trouble getting the kids in for sick visits; it got to the point where they told me they don't do appts after 3 PM anymore and that was the last straw for me.

The new ped is not in a fancy office, but he's smart. He's quick while still being thorough.

typeset · April 2014

Being able to communicate non-urgent issues via e-mail is nice. We can ask for referrals that way, etc.

fatbarbie0226 · April 2014

I researched on my own and picked a practice that I liked. My research was more deciding on either a family doctor or a pediatrician. (Small town so nothing is open on weekends or nights. Just not an option here. All Dr. Offices have the same 8-5, hours.)
I decided on a pedi. So in the hospital, I just put the practice's name so I could decide which doctor I liked through the rotations. The doctor I picked was so sweet with Shorty when he first saw her in the hospital. He picked her up after he examined her, swaddled her, talked to her, changed her diaper for me, rocked her a little, handed her to me when he was done instead of putting her back in the hospital cradle... basically treated her like a baby instead of another patient on his rotation. He's been great ever since and I will be using him for this baby too!

chillypenguin · April 2014

I agree with PPs about hours, flexibility of scheduling sick appointments, etc. I think a lot of it will just come down to who you feel comfortable with, and you can always switch. I think it can be hard to know beforehand which individual doctor you will feel most comfortable with. Before we moved, we took DD to a pedi practice that had 5 doctors and I thought I knew which one I wanted as her "primary" doc, but as we met them all through sick visits I realized I connected a lot better with another doctor there.

flockofmoosen3 · April 2014

I did online research first to find a practice that looked good on paper. Great hours, weekend hours, etc. Their website has additional resources about vaccinations, lactation, general child and adolescent care, etc.
We had a consultation and LOVED it. They have separate sick- and well-visit waiting rooms. The practice is fairly large, but they break up the doctors (plus nurse and receptionist) into small core groups so it feels small. The receptionist gave us a tour and answered general questions. Then we met the doctor and she was so easy going and made us feel super comfortable. I had a long list of questions and she answered them all with no sense of impatience or rushing. Then they sent us home with a huge packet of very useful information, including the well-visit appt schedule, and lots of info about the vaccinations.

TLDR; open hours, weekend hours, separate sick- and well-visit waiting rooms, comfortable atmosphere, friendly and easy doctor, lots of information provided.

MissLadyTay · April 2014

Location, hours, and where the doctors went to medical school.

rainydayluck · April 2014

Ease of same day appointments
Pro vaccine/does not allow non-vaccine crazies
Hours
Good reviews
Location

artroyer · April 2014

Availability and hours were the most important things to me

Mittens14 · April 2014

In addition to the questions about hours and afterhours calls, etc. It was important to us to know what their thoughts on vaccinations were and if we were going to be pressured into certain schedules for that. Also, views on feeding, reaching development milestones, etc. Basically what their views would be on things we were bound to have questions on as DS was growing up to make sure that they shared the same views and ideals as we do. Also, personality and bedside manner were big for us, we wanted to feel comfortable with our peds. Also, the personalities of the front desk personnel and office staff. The last thing you want to dea with as a new mom with a sick baby is some biatch at the front desk when you're trying to get answers about your baby. We went to 3 offices for "interviews" and never even made it to actually meet the doctors because either the people at the desk were nasty or the office wasn't very clean, etc. The practice we picked has two phenomenal women doctors who are moms themselves and NEVER made us feel stupid or uncomfortable asking questions, the office is clean and the girls at the desk are sweet. Plus our doctors don't pressure us into anything, we wanted to delay certain vaccinations and they were fully supportive and wrote letters to DS's daycare with explanations and such.

RedInLove · April 2014

Weekend hours and/or alternate clinic hours.

In-house facilities vs. going to another location for labs, x-rays, and results turn-around.

Vaccine policy.

Well child/sick child waiting rooms.

Hospital affiliation.

lovey1 · April 2014

Our birthing class nurse sang praises about our Pedia so we decided to go with his practice. Apparently he was really good at performing circumcisions, but we were having a girl so that wasn't a concern. He was originally a surgeon and went back to school to become a pediatrician.

He was so great with the kiddos and parents. He would quiz us with each appt to see if we were paying attention with baby's growth and progress. Once DD turned 6 mos, he wrote out his parenting tips and advice on a post it pad and hand them over to us.

Sadly, he passed away while on a weekend getaway and we haven't been able to find another pedia like him. We still go to his old practice but no one can compare with the level of care and service that he provided.

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