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Choosing a Doctor For Your Child
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Finding the Right Doctor for Your Baby
One very important thing to do when preparing for baby is to choose a pediatrician or doctor for them. The earlier the better!
What Kind of Doctor Do We Need?
Because of some of our natural ways, we opted to go with a family doctor instead of a pediatrician. We don’t see eye to eye on everything, but on the important stuff we do and he is respectful of our wishes that he doesn’t agree with.
Here’s our list of ‘interview’ questions. I hope you find it helpful.
Where To Start
Ask friends and family for recommendations, what they like about their doctors and what they do not. Call and set up appointments with ones that interest you.
How To Use These Questions
Please do your research on each of these question yourself, deciding where you stand (and why). Decide what things are important in the person caring for your child, and which one(s) are ‘deal breakers’ before you go to interview your little one’s potential doctor. Think of how you will handle having to constantly defend your parenting choices. And remember-they work for you!
General Questions For Potential Doctors
- Where did you go to school?
- Can you tell me a bit about yourself?
- Do you have any specialties?
- Do you have hospital privileges?
- Is there another doctor in the practice?
- Who covers your patients when you vacation?
- What are your office hours?
- What would I do after hours?
- How long does it usually take to get an appointment?
- Are there separate sick/well visit waiting rooms?
- Do you do your lab work in house? Where would we go to have labs done?
- How often do you prescribe antibiotics?
- Do you have any kids?
- You may want to ask about their faith/beliefs.
Breastfeeding/Feeding
- What are your thoughts about breastfeeding in general?
- How long do you recommend breastfeeding for?
- How do you feel about exclusively breastfeeding for 9-12 months?
- What are your thoughts on delaying solids until 9-12 months?
- And how do you feel about extended breastfeeding (past age 2)?
- How do you feel about breastfeeding on demand?
- How do you feel about tandem nursing?
- What do you recommend starting baby on as far as foods go? (Starches and grains are essentially packing peanuts, filling, but no nutritional value for baby because they lack the enzymes to digest them)
- How do you feel about starting baby on avocado and egg yolk?
Vaccines
- What are your thoughts on vaccines in general?
- What are your thoughts on selective/alternative vaccine schedules?
- Do you see patients who choose to not vaccinate or do selective/alternative schedules?
- Do you receive a bonus if a certain percentage of your practice is vaccinated?
- Can you name 5 vaccine ingredients?
- Are you familiar with VAERS?
Miscellaneous
- How do you feel about co-sleeping/bed sharing?
- How do you feel about the BMI chart?
- How do you feel about home-birth?
- Do you see patients who have home-births?
- How do you feel about using natural remedies/homeopathic treatments before prescribing a drug?
- Do you have knowledge about herbal remedies?
- How do you feel about homeschooling?
- What are your thoughts on circumcision?
- How do you recommend caring for intact sons (correct answer: clean like you would a finger, do not retract)?
- How do you feel about crying it out?
- What are your thoughts about attachment parenting?
- What are your thoughts on chiropractic care in general? For kids?
- How do you feel about amber teething necklaces?
- How do you feel about using essential oils?
- What do you think about fluoride?
- How do you feel about cloth diapering?
These are some absolutely important questions. Thanks for sharing. Also — I would add — don’t the pediatrician know if you are displeased with their answers.