Questions for pediatrician

catem07 · March 2017

DH and I have a meeting with our potential pediatrician today. Any must-ask questions? Things you wish you'd known or asked?

M&Max · March 2017

DH and I were in the same boat before DS came - we had no clue what to even think about asking. The below are just a few of the questions I would find the most helpful:

1. How soon do you see the baby after delivery? Do I need to call to set up an appointment after you see the baby in the hospital, etc?
2. If baby gets sick, how easy is it to be seen same day or next day at your practice? (Ours has 3 separate locations and guarantees to get you in same day at one location - just may not be your first preference)
3. Do you have separate well/sick waiting rooms?
4. Do you have a set vaccine schedule and can I see a copy of what shots will be received and when?
5. If I have an issue after hours, is there someone on call or what is the recommended method to get in touch with you? (Our office coordinates with the local children's hospital and will put you through to one of their nurses if you need something after hours).

There are others I'm sure but these are just the first few that jumped out at me. All in all - I feel like a lot of pediatricians are the same and it's more of who you get the right feeling from. Our pediatrician is amazing with our son - he seriously loves going there.

SnarkasaurusRex · March 2017

When do they want you to schedule the first appointment? Do you need to "pre-register" as a new patient before you can be seen? (Mine just had us call after delivery and they worked us in as a new patient then.)
Policy on vaccinations - Do they accept unvaccinated kids? What schedule are they following? Are they open to a delayed schedule?
How many doctors are in the practice? Do you typically see the same doctor or do you rotate through whoever is available?
Do they have multiple locations?
Do they have separate waiting areas for sick and well kids?
Sick visits - how easy are they to get same day?
Do they offer late hours or weekend hours?
Do they have an emergency nurse line for after hours?
Do they have admitting privileges at local hospitals? (So, if your kiddo had to go to the hospital, could someone from the practice be their doctor/have access to their medical records?)
Do they support breastfeeding, or do they tend to push formula?
Do they have a lactation consultant on staff? (If you are planning to breastfeed)
Do they use different growth curves for breastfed v. formula fed babies? Most don't, but they are aware that BF babies tend to be slower to catch back up to birth weight.

Also just note the general vibe of the practice - is it kid friendly (do they have toys, books, etc in the waiting room), do the doctors/office staff have good bedside manner? You can also google reviews of that particular practice if you want some opinions from strangers, but I always take those with a grain of salt since people only tend to leave them if they were really pleased or really pissed off by the service they got, haha.

Edited to add some more questions and for clarity since I was mobile bumping and I HATE bumping on my phone.

HGRich · March 2017

I'm in this boat as a FTM and have found a lot of info on their websites regarding vaccinations and insurance and doctors and such. The one I'm pretty sure I'm going with doesn't have separate sick and well waiting rooms, just divided "areas," though from what I've read the separation is not that effective anyway. But the whole practice is better, friendlier, and easy to access. The other contender gave me such a runaround on their automated answering machine that I could never talk to a human being and still haven't been called back. So I decided despite their two locations they probably aren't the best fit. Anyway, for me, it has a lot to do with the vibe. Their website provided answers to most of my questions, though others I was able to ask. But they were things like:

--do you have lactation consulting/stance on breastfeeding
--vaccination schedule
--same day appointments
--weekend and evening hours

Some of the things I found via reviews were:

--length of waiting room waits
--ease of getting a appointment
--knowledge and competence of doctors
--friendliness of staff
--ease of getting records or doctor's notes

But also as a FTM I don't know if I got all the important stuff answered or not. I just know what I like!

rachelmiller03 · March 2017

All of those questions are great! I would add some questions about breastfeeding, if that's what you are planning to do. Breastfed babies tend to not gain weight as quickly after birth as formula fed babies, and some pedi's can push formula because of this. My pedi was OK with the fact that DS wasn't quite up to birth weight at 2 weeks- he was still about 2 oz shy, and he still considered him a well-baby.

-How do you feel about breastfeeding?
-Do you use a different graph for breastfed vs. formula fed babies?

catem07 · March 2017

Thanks! The doctor was recommended by a bunch of parents from a local moms group, so I know people generally like her.

HappyAnjel · March 2017

My main concerns when we looked for DD were

1. Lactation consultant available- but not forced.

2. Knowledge and competence (you can usually look up their education, merits and history)

3. Ease. Do they have an after hours number? Is it easy to get an appointment same day if necessary?

4. Legal history. past & pending lawsuits etc.

5. Vibe. Are they friendly, genuine and easy to talk to?

6. How "script happy" are they? I wanted a Dr who was willing to look into problems and solutions before just shoving medicine down their throat to see if it works. But also not opposed to giving meds if really needed.

7. Vaccinations. The basic timeline.. are they willing to spread them out if you are uncomfortable with multiple shots in an appointment? Are they pushy about optional shots?

Also I checked ALL the reviews I could find. If you check one or two you might be missing something.. reading 20 reviews that say wait time is minimal will weed out the one that thinks waiting 5 minutes to be seen about a hangnail was "all day".

Omie_Wise · March 2017

I asked a lot of the questions others are mentioning above. In addition I asked about circumcision, baby led weaning, and how to contact them if I had a question or (more importantly) a minor emergency (like illness). My OB suggested finding a place that was close to our house, so location might me something to consider as well.

Omie_Wise · March 2017

I thought of something else too. Think about the type of relationship that you want with the pediatrician. Do you just want somewhere where you get always get in fast? Where maybe you will see a nurse practitioner but they have a huge staff, lots of doctors, and so from an admin perspective, it's easy to get in or ask a question. Or do you desire having a really close relationship with the pediatrician, someone to whom you will go for medical and behavioral advice? This might be a smaller practice where there aren't as many resources or staff but you will get more one on one care.

ConstanceGoodspeed · March 2017

Fee and timeline for forms (daycare, camps, school, etc all require various medical forms filled out by the dr's office).

ebloom3 · March 2017

Having kids now, my biggest look-fors are if I am comfortable with the Dr (or Drs if it is a bigger practice) and availability. Our practice has multiple pedis in it, so children can easily been seen when they are sick (typically same day as you call). They also offer Saturday hours for illness and vaccinations. Additionally, there is a triage nurse line for questions or after hours problems. We have our pediatrician, but have also seen a number of others in the practice and they are all awesome. The practice even offers an in-house lab for blood work, which has been wonderful.

Nolegirl1185 · March 2017

I asked my pediatrician the majority of these questions as well. The only one I didn't see on here applies to male intact baby care. This was the ONLY answer I wasn't happy with as she said that as soon as he can take a bath, he should be retracted slightly for cleaning. I made it very clear when she came to see us in the hospital that absolutely no retraction is allowed and she was okay with my decision.

Questions for pediatrician

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