TTMA Your Pediatrician

[lola]

I have an appointment tomorrow with a potential pediatrician. In our area, spots fill up fast, so I'm hoping to find a good fit sooner rather than later.

So STMs, what do you love about your pediatrician? What do you wish were different? What questions should I ask?

FTMs, what do you plan to look for when choosing your pediatrician?

[Deleted]

FTM here, I've looked over a lot of bios at my practice and I'd be happy with a lot of them. I am looking though for someone who understands GI issues since I have celiac and I want someone who is familiar with what to look for. I will probably ask at my next appointment how the process works for getting an specific pediatrician vs. just being assigned one.

I think finding someone who supports whatever beliefs you have regarding the upbringing of your children is key too. Oh, and someone who makes you feel listened to. I hate it when docs just poo-poo people who have concerns and questions about health matters.

[mrswillie]

STM here. The practice I found when we moved here was a family practice. Only some of the doctors see babies. My boys' doctor is there daytime hours on weekdays, but the practice is open until 8 PM M-Th and has Saturday am hours. She has notes on their files to see them no matter what if she's there, so they will be scheduled as add on's if she's "full". Basically, can't tell us she doesn't have anything available. There are two doctors I don't like and I'll say no to an appointment with them if she's not there. But there are a bunch I DO like. They have a doctor on call every night. If it's not one who sees babies, they make sure one who does is also on call. I've had to call after hours a couple times and gotten a call back in a matter of minutes. They also return my calls same day if I call during the day with any questions or issues. The office staff, assistants, etc are really nice and willing to help me with carrying anything, taking DS1 potty, etc. My boys are happy there and never scared to go. We're really happy with their care and don't question or side eye info the doctor gives us.

[mrswillie]

@cahistoryteacher hopefully it won't be a problem to get a specific pedi vs being assigned one. I was assigned doctors at my PCP and OB and when they left I talked to them and told them I wanted to choose and who I wanted. It worked out great in both cases.

[mrsp121308]

I love that my pedi fully supports extended breastfeeding. I BF DD1 until 15 months and DD2 until her second birthday and she 100% supported that.

She's also been supportive of us adjusting the vaccine schedule after seeing reactions dd1 had to some. She won't accept patients who don't vaccinate at all but will do a modified schedule within reason. I didn't want my newborn sitting in an office waiting room with 80 kids who had never had a vaccine in their lives.

I also took her age into consideration. She's mid to late 30s and a mom to young kids herself so she's dealing with many issues we are, so she understands and really cares.

[mrsp121308]

I would ask how they handle call in sick kids. How long will it take to get back to you and can you get in for same day appointments?

[kaydee0402]

Mine is all mom run practice so I love that! It was also highly recommended by my midwife. They support extended breastfeeding, immunizing and extended rear facing. I love how educated they are on car seat safety! Also, it's affiliated with our local children's hospital, which is awesome.

My pedi is very straightforward and isn't afraid to tell me when I'm overreacting, which you sometimes needs as a new mom. But, she also listens and takes my concerns seriously, which is another plus. You want a good balance of the two. Because sometimes, it really is nothing, but you still want your concerns heard. I cannot brag on my practice enough. I'm so happy with them.

[Deleted]

kaydee0402, That sounds like an amazing practice!

[Lucy]

Our whole family goes to the same family practice doctor. I adore him. The best part is that since there are so many of us that see him, I'm in the office at least once a month for one reason on another. My OB is out of the same office every Friday AM too, so I see him there whenever I can. Because I'm there so much, it's easy to mention a quick issue that doesn't warrant a separate visit or appointment -- a note for a kid at school, a prescription I need a hard copy of, etc. Or "Oh hey, I'm having this sinus issue, I think I need to try a different allergy medicine."

Also, he knows all of my health issues and how the may affect the baby -- ie, my meds/nutritional issues/vitamin deficiencies and breastfeeding. My low blood sugar problems, etc. He's already prepared to keep a super close eye on the baby to monitor for things from the start, rather than waiting until a weight or feeding issue pops up then trying to play catch up on her weight.

[lola]

Thanks everyone! This was all super helpful. I felt like the appointment went really well, and we seemed to be on the same page about breastfeeding, vaccinations, etc. She's in her mid-thirties with three kids, so that also made me feel good. And she delivered at (and loved) the hospital we're switching to. In addition to calling in, they have drop-in hours for established patients every morning from 8-9 a.m., so that will come in handy I'm sure. And they also place priority on newborns, so they always make time for appointments and they don't keep you in the waiting room with a newborn baby (even though they have sick and well waiting rooms).

Also, I figure if for some reason it doesn't work out, it's easy to switch over, so I'm officially marking pediatrician off my list. Yay!

[lola]

Sept 12, 2016 18:17:17 GMT -5 W said:

I haven't even thought about this.. Ugh

It may be completely unnecessary for you! I live in a highly competitive suburb when it comes to things like daycare, pediatricians, etc. so I'm way ahead of the schedule. They don't even allow preregistration, so it was basically just a meet the doctor and see the office visit. Also, I've heard from lots of people who just chose a doctor based on friend and family recommendations without ever doing a prenatal visit. If we had any friends or family nearby with kiddos, I would've taken their word and skipped this process altogether.

[achromia]

The hospital where I'll be delivering just helpfully sent me a list of affiliated providers, so I'll probably check into those first and cross my fingers that I click with one of them.

I'm going to keep an eye out for things like occasional evening/weekend hours (I commute over an hour each way to work) and a good on-call/hotline setup for after hours, decent reviews on wait times, a vaccination policy I agree with, and obviously just good vibes. I can't decide whether I prefer a peds-only practice or a family practice, so maybe I will try to meet my top choices for each before choosing.

Sigh. This is a lot of responsibility.

[kaydee0402]

achromia, yes to the after hours line! I loved having the ability to call them at 2 a.m. on Saturday night.

Also, while an office itself might not have evening/weekend hours, check to see if your local children's hospital has an urgent care center. Our practice is affiliated with our local children's hospital, which was a big deal for me. Since we're under the umbrella of our local children's hospital, we can use their urgent care center. And because our practice is affiliated with the children's hospital, the doctor at the urgent care center had access to all of DS's medical records, which helped with diagnosing him when he was really sick last September.

[kaydee0402]

If you're wondering where to take your child, ask your doctor where they would take their kids. I found our practice by asking my midwife where she took her kids. All the midwives and the OBGYN at my OB office use the same pediatric practice, which alone spoke volumes to me about their reputation.

[hmr11913]

I'm a slacker mom I guess..... I didn't check out any pediatricians and we actually just went with the one that came to see her while we were at the hospital. We've never had to utilize her outside of routine appointments, thankfully, but she's really nice and it's at the same practice where I go which is convenient.

Not that it really matters, but they have a brand new ped building here which she LOVES... it's so cute and they have different themed rooms... pictures for attention. She also allows us to do a delayed vaccine schedule (instead of 4 shots at once, we do 2 and spread them out further).

[mrsp121308]

hmr11913, I did not interview any pedis before DD1 was born. I asked my OB for recommendations and read their bios on the hospital website and went with it. I figured if we hated her then we could always switch, turns out that we love her and couldn't have picked anyone better.

[ImAPepper]

We got recommendations for our pedi last time!