Did/will you do a pedatrician consultation?

[Bernadine]

It's in one of my books to have a consult, but I'm wondering if people actually do. My OB mentioned yesterday that we should start looking.

[meredithblake]

We did with our first. I felt a little awkward, but she made us feel comfortable as soon as she came in. I'm glad we did it, because we wouldn't have gone with her if we got bad vibes.

I think it's worth it even if it's awkward.

[polarbearfans]

I didn't and wish I did. I was scrambling to find another pediatrician who could see my daughter right away her first week of life. The first was a disaster, didn't take her elevated bilirubin serious and refused to test levels even though her testing was a condition of us being able to leave the hospital, and took over a day to return a phone call about red urine. She also missed mspi and reflux. She just dismissed everything based on her own child raising experiences. We had a rough first month and I feel it wouldn't have been near as bad if we had our current pediatrician right away. I didn't care for our first pediatrician from the first visit.

[smock]

We did for our first, at around 37 weeks, because we didn't know any local pediatricians and we didn't know anyone here with young kids to recommend a pediatrician. It was nice, because we really liked the pedi we met with, and she was very encouraging and positive, but I don't think it would have made a big difference if we hadn't done it.

[ouokie]

We did with our first. I wanted a pedi that did a delayed schedule so I needed to shop around. We loved her as soon as we entered the room. I would recommend it if you aren't really familiar with the doctors in your area.

[cmarie11]

We didn't with DD, we just asked around for recommendations, and the majority recommended the same doc. This is how I've found other doctors in the past and I've been satisfied so I didn't feel it was necessary to do a meet and greet.

[jssymom14]

I did a meet and greet but she is also my husband's doctor. I was hoping it would work out so we could have a family doctor and create a better relationship with her for future needs. She came to the hospital both days we were there to check up on DD and I am guessing she will do the same with this baby too. I must have put her name down on pre-labor paperwork for her to be notified of the birth.

[preventionrd]

We live in a small town and went based on recommendations from trusted friends with kiddos, but I think it's worth it if you're in a larger market with more options.

[Deleted]

We didn't because we had very strong recommendations from close friends, including one friend who is a close friend of the family with her. If we were choosing blindly I would have wanted to do a consultation. One of the things I really like is how accessible and tech-friendly she is (responds via text, etc.)

[Susie]

We didn't. Calvin asked his PCP for a pedi rec when he was there getting his TDaP shot, and we just took the recommendation. We skipped any kind of meet & greet, we just called to ask a few questions and give them our names so they were expecting us. Our pedi rounds at the hospital where I delivered, so we gave the hospital the practice name as part of our registration info. I met Hobbes' pedi for the first time in the hospital after she was born. As it happens, I love them, and I am so grateful for how they handled it when Hobbes wound up in the NICU (for something that didn't end up being serious, but could have been). The hospitalist had terrible bedside manner, and our pedi was invaluable to me at keeping perspective and staying calm.

[jessnpaul]

We did it... twice! With my first I was already in the hospital on bedrest, so a practice that came well-recommended came to visit me while one of their doctors was on rotation that day. 

Our beloved ped moved to FL (I'm in NJ) this past October so we stayed with the practice but I haven't loved anyone else we've seen. So again we interviewed a new ped who came well-recommended by local friends. This one is literally down the block from us and does home visits for newborns which is so nice! We're in the process of transferring DS #1's records there, and he has his 4 year old appointment there in a few weeks. And obviously she'll visit the baby at the hospital once he's born.

[bowies]

Practices here host open houses so it felt less awkward. The first practice we went to seemed OK but not all that warm-and-fuzzy. The second one we liked a lot and our friends personally recommended one of the pedis. The practice actually hosted a free breastfeeding class and I met with the LC on staff (who is also one of the pedis) a few times after DS arrived. I would never have known about those benefits if I hadn't gone to the meet-and-greet.

[Deleted]

We didn't. We only have one local practice and they came highly recommended so we went with it and figured we could change to a practice in a different town if needed. So far, so good.

[pirate]

We didn't do a consult beforehand. We asked coworkers and checked out places online. They had new parent orientation a couple of weeks ago and the two doctors there hosting seemed very nice, so I think we did ok as far as I can tell for now.

[MrsDarcy]

We did the first time around. It was nice to meet him and know who we were going to.

[noodle]

We plan to. I am getting recommendations from friends, but would still like to meet the pedi first. I'd love to hear their thought on some decisions we will need to make.

[mandapanda18]

Apr 7, 2016 7:21:03 GMT -5 meredithblake said:

We did with our first. I felt a little awkward, but she made us feel comfortable as soon as she came in. I'm glad we did it, because we wouldn't have gone with her if we got bad vibes.

I think it's worth it even if it's awkward.

This... I attempted to meet with one that came recommended from my old midwife, but she basically shut us down and said she didn't have time for such appointments.   

I immediately started researching on my own and found out that patients often wait hours to see her, and that she didn't have same day sick appointments. I researched a group that did and met with them. I LOVE our pedi, he is an older gentleman but he is very soothing and C loves him. We were stuck with just one insurance last year when my H switched jobs and had to go to Kaiser, the ped's there were terrible, so glad to be back with the old one!

[simpsongal]

We did, but it's not necessary. We ended up switching practices after a few times receiving less than stellar service/advice. They were not super supportive of breastfeeding too.

[crispnclean]

Our pedi's office had a new parent meeting (I don't remember exactly what they called it) where a group of pregnant parents could come in at the same time and meet with one of the doctors. She gave us basic info about their practice (office locations, vaccination schedules, etc.) and we could ask any questions we had. It was nice, but I basically knew all the info just from getting recommendations from friends.

[pinotgrig]

We did, but in hindsight it isn't something I would consider a huge priority. Unless I got a crazycakes vibe from her, we were pretty sure we were going to use her based on word of mouth from friends and how convenient her location is.

Honestly, now that G is almost 2 and has had sick visits, I'm realizing the nurses are as important as the pedi, since that's who we usually end up seeing for a sick visit.

[tarajane]

Apr 7, 2016 8:35:19 GMT -5 cmarie11 said:

We didn't with DD, we just asked around for recommendations, and the majority recommended the same doc. This is how I've found other doctors in the past and I've been satisfied so I didn't feel it was necessary to do a meet and greet.

This except DS instead of DD.

I figured we could change later if we ended up not liking her.

[boiler717]

We switched pedi's at 10 days old. I don't think an interview would have lead us any differently. I would have a back up in mind if needed and don't hesitate to switch if you feel something is off.

[genevieverose]

We asked around for recommendations and the one we chose actually asked us to come in for a meet & greet. I would have wanted to meet them even if they didn't require it, but I feel we really lucked out with a very proactive practice.

[lolo]

I was too overwhelmed with my first. My doula recommended someone, I read reviews, made an appointment and figured I'd switch if needed. It ended up being a great fit.

[pugs3602]

We only met with one pediatrician, and I liked her, so we went with her. When I had called to see if they were accepting new patients, they asked us to come in for a consult. The pediatricians in the office we go to all require that you get vaccinations, so I think they want to make sure that the patients they accept are on board with that.

[krystee]

We didn't. I read some threads on our local FB group and picked one that was recommended a lot. Then when he was diagnosed with jaundice right after being discharged, that doctor wasn't in. We liked the one we saw and stuck with her.

[MrsAggie]

Nope

[SJ]

No, we did not do this.

Our OB practice gave us a list of recommended providers. We started with the one closest to us & looked up reviews & asked around. We couldn't be happier there.