Selecting a pediatrician

[laur1020]

I don't know if this has been discussed before (like, on TB), but I missed it if it has. I'm a FTM so I'm learning...I have been thinking lately about selecting a pediatrician. How do you go about choosing one? I know there will be one at the hospital and I could probably choose them as my pediatrician, right? Or is this something I should have worked out before birth?

[miraclebbye]

Ask around to other mom friends, try some local FB mommy groups for opinions. I selected a few from word of mouth, googled them like crazy for others opinions and ratings, narrowed it down even further and then called to do an informal meet with them and to tour their office. Obviously make sure your insurance accepts them and that they have rights at your hospital too.

[kate6214]

My OB gave me a list (that have rights at the hospital where she delivers) and I plan on talking to friends with young kids.

[Starbuck128]

It's something you want worked out before the birth. If for no other reason than just to be sure the one you like is accepting new patients. We started out by asking our MW and some friends.

[jil]

For DD1 I didn't really think about it and was lucky that the pediatricians who did her check-ups in the hospital were awesome. After reading about their practice we decided to stick with them.

When we moved we asked coworkers and read online reviews before picking a new doctor.

[CTri17]

Jan 23, 2015 20:45:31 GMT -5 Starbuck128 said:

It's something you want worked out before the birth. If for no other reason than just to be sure the one you like is accepting new patients. We started out by asking our MW and some friends.

This, also ask friends who are like minded. I'm really glad that our pedi and I jive, she loves that I research things and respects me enough to talk through things. And she is willing to try different things before prescribing abx (if possible).

I have to wait a little longer than I'd like as far as the waiting room, but the care we get is excellent.

[Deleted]

With my daughter, my OB told me that I had to have the pediatrician picked out before I gave birth. They had a pediatrician at the hospital to check her out at birth, but I had to fill out paperwork with the information for the pediatrician that she would be using. I started by asking everyone that I knew who had children who they use, and who they reccomend. Then I also checked out reviews online, and gathered information about how long they had been practicing, things like that. I made a list and called all of them until I found one that accepted my insurance plan.
With this one, we live in a different state, so DS will be using the same pediatrician that DD goes to now. She is the pediatrician that my sister, brother, and I all went to when we were younger.

Good luck.

[rocksforludo]

Jan 23, 2015 20:45:31 GMT -5 Starbuck128 said:

It's something you want worked out before the birth. If for no other reason than just to be sure the one you like is accepting new patients. We started out by asking our MW and some friends.

We also asked our midwife.  She recommended two pediatricians - both of whom were far along in their careers and starting to cut back hours.  So they weren't taking new patients.  But, they did in turn recommended a younger colleague and she's who we went with. 

Edited for grammar

[jerseyakl]

We have to choose one before going to the hospital (we have to bring a form with the info). I am just starting to do some research online.

[Deleted]

Mines was pretty easy. The boys pediatrician was my pediatrician when I was a kid.

[laur1020]

Thank you for the info, ladies! It definitely helped!

[smile55k]

I asked my OB and friends/cousins with kids for recommendations. Since DD was born early, we didn't have anyone picked out yet. Luckily, we really liked the on-call pediatrician and decided to stick with her. Close proximity to home is a consideration too, since there are a lot of pedi visits as a newborn.

[mcbaby]

I got some recommendations from my OB for some in my area. I plan to check them out for reviews and see if they accept my insurance and if they have permissions at my hospital. Also going to ask my mommy friends on Facebook who they recommend and do the same for whoever they say. I'll narrow it down and do some informal interviews with them from there. Word of mouth led me to my OB, who has delivered my younger siblings and many of my friends/friends kids, and he's great!

[kgnordman]

After getting suggestions, I'd definitely call the office to make sure he or she is accepting new patients. I live in a small town and so many expecting mothers call wanting to set up with one pediatrician. He's well known and been in practice a long time, but he's not accepting new patients. With that being said, if you fall in love with with you pediatrician that sees you in the hospital, it's never bad to ask. Even our doctors that aren't accepting patients are suckers and will if you ask them to their face.

[corrys12]

I asked my sister who she takes my nieces to. She passed along the info and I have an appointment to meet with her pediatrician on Monday. Crossing my fingers DH and I like her as much as my sister does.

[mrsf0831]

We are meeting w a pediatrician reccommended by several ppl. What type of questions do yall ask? Besides hours, last min sick visits

[putput19]

I agree with everyone above saying ask your friends. An important factor for me that I don't think anyone mentioned was that they would support me bf and not push formula too quickly. Which was great because I did end up having trouble and she had amazing tips!
Also, it's totally normal to go in and have a get-to-know each other / interview appt before the baby comes.

[veenie]

mrsf0831 you can Google a list of questions. Most Pedis around here don't do interviews, and the people I know that did them said the Dr seemed annoyed with the questions. So maybe try to stick to one's about them /how they practice medicine. Like beliefs on vaccinations, breastfeeding v formula, etc. Find someone that goes to the practice to get the ease of scheduling type questions, they will tell you the truth (not a canned answer) anyway.

[Cornflakegirl]

I asked friends and family for recommendations. My OB is 45 minutes away so I prefer to have someone close to home. I'm actually meeting with a couple of them next week and hope to make a decision.

Some of the things that are really important to me are.

Flexible hours
Having a comfort level in calling to ask questions
Someone that's not too pushy
Obviously someone that's great with kids

[radtechgirl]

I don't plan on using a pediatrician. I plan on taking LO to my family practice doc. I really like her and it is only two miles from our house. And she is really good about same day appointments.

[scattered]

I just asked around, but specifically asked the like minded mom friends I had. Jack was a few weeks early so I didn't have a chance to meet the pedi I selected in person. I was able to get to know her pretty well at Jack's first visit and she was an open book with any questions I had about policies.

[mrsf0831]

Jan 24, 2015 9:34:05 GMT -5 veenie said:

mrsf0831 you can Google a list of questions. Most Pedis around here don't do interviews, and the people I know that did them said the Dr seemed annoyed with the questions. So maybe try to stick to one's about them /how they practice medicine. Like beliefs on vaccinations, breastfeeding v formula, etc. Find someone that goes to the practice to get the ease of scheduling type questions, they will tell you the truth (not a canned answer) anyway.

Thanks yea I was looking online too. This location holds walk throughs 3 days a week and I hear they have a lactation nurse and everything . Im never really one to have a lot of questions but feel I should ugh. I haven't met him yet but literally 7 different people told me how awesome this Dr. is, we shall see if I like him too.

[purpleroses]

Like many others, we asked around with friends, then called the practice where many of our friends go. There were only a couple of doctors in the practice accepting new patients at that time, so we scheduled a consult appointment with one of them before DS was born. Questions that I asked included the doctor's attitudes about BFing (since I had read some aren't very supportive of it), general office policies for things like scheduling appointments, whether we'd usually see that doctor, someone else, or an NP, and after hours phone calls/urgent care, and the doctor's background and experience.

We love our pedi, but our only complaint is that she's part of a really large practice (over 10 doctors) and sometimes they are a bit disorganized -- things like getting a different answer to questions every time depending on who is at the desk/answers the phone. I'm sure not all large practices are the same, but if we ever switched, I would probably look for a smaller office and try to get a better sense of whether the staff is more organized and on the same page. Overall, we think having a pedi we're comfortable with and who is great with DS is more important.

[mpiemont]

We had to have one ahead of time (my OB asked about it a few times).

We read reviews and asked around. We wanted someone close/convenient with good after hours call service, etc.

Once we decided who we thought we wanted, we had an initial visit/consultation before the baby was born to meet the drs (2 in the practice) and see if we liked them/the office/staff etc.

[Cornflakegirl]

I had a consultation with one of the Pediatricians that a family member recommended yesterday. Turns out she is everything we are looking for and couldn't be more thrilled. There's only 2 DR's there, which I love, great hours, ease of appointments, and both had an impressive resume. I also loved the fact that they encourage breast feeding and will help with that, and that they are not pushy with over medicating. Turns out that another good friend of DH also uses her...one more thing to check of that list!

[smilesp]

Thanks laur1020 for starting this thread! My MW has been asking me about choosing a pediatrician and I didn't know where to start but now I have some ideas!

[rels09]

Meh, I don't think it's essential that the pediatrician you choose have privileges at the hospital you'll deliver in. Fewer and fewer pediatric practices in our area even do rounds at hospitals anymore. Ours is a large, well-respected practice, and they do not. They just read the discharge information from the hospital docs. If your baby is healthy, the hospital checks are routine, and if your baby has problems, they're going to be with hospital inpatient specialists anyway. So I personally would not make that a factor - the hospital stay is 1-4 days out of a whole childhood of seeing a pedi.

[corrys12]

Blessed that my sister has kids and I basically just asked her. We have different insurance but we both have access to the same network of Dr's. DH and I had our "interview" with her on Monday. When we set it up on the phone the receptionist made it seem like it was pretty normal to meet the Dr. prior to delivering. The receptionist is the one who called it an "interview" which made me feel like I was going in for a job or something. So I made sure I was prepared with questions.

-Office hours
-Availability to see baby last minute in case anything comes up.
-communication, this Dr does email. So that's a perk for us.
-they only schedule 1 patient at a time and every 30 minutes so there is usually no more than 1 person/family waiting at a time. Also helps with minimizing wait time.
-comfortable with referrals to and working with any pediatric specialits. But this I already knew she was good with since she referred my niece to a pediatric cardiologist and continues to follow up.

I also liked that she asked us questions - nursing or formula, stressed lactation classes prior to delivering. She also told DH and I to follow up on our immunization records to be sure we had the TDap taken care of. Also the measels since SoCal is experiencing an outbreak.

She is part of a HUGE network of Dr's. But her particular office is just her. Super friendly small private practice feel to her office. Cute waiting room with couches and kiddie rugs, books, toys that they disinfect and rotate. Not that the decor is necessarily a make it or break it. But I remember as a kid my mom taking us to a clinic that felt very cold (thru my child eyes) and going to the dr felt like a very serious almost scary thing.

At the end of the day I want the best for my baby. Any informed decison I can make before he gets here is a bonus for me.

As we were leaving she said "see you in the hosptial!"