How and When to Research Pediatricians?

[Anonymous]

Out of curiousity, I just looked up the pediatricians in my health plan near my house and got over 100 results! How do I go about narrowing this list down?? Are there any good resources for the best pediatricians or other places I should check? Also, when should I start doing all this? (I'm due Aug 30th.)
Thanks.

[Anonymous]

I would start about 6 weeks in advance, so that you have a pediatrician lined up in case of an early delivery. We asked our neighbors for recommendations and also people I worked with who lived nearby. We kept hearing 2 names pop up, so we made appointments to meet with both and worked from there. If there is a particular doctor who you want to hear more about, you can always post here and see if anyone uses him. But I'd ask neighbors, coworkers, etc.

[Anonymous]

If you are hoping to meet the doctor(s) before you deliver, I would start looking now. It may be harder to schedule a "meet and greet" at the last minute. Otherwise I pretty much agree with the PP. Ask for references from your neighbors, coworkers, friends etc. and once you narrow it down you can always ask here and see what other people's experiences have been.

[Anonymous]

Resource for best pediatricians--the Washingtonian's "Best Doctors" issue. But I agree, ask neighbors, etc. We were lucky in that our dear friends used a pediatrician very close to our house and were happy with the practice. They were in our health plan (and also in the Washingtonian, though I didn't know that at the time) and recommended by a few people on our neighborhood listserv. So we didn't really shop around. They had an evening event for expectant parents, and we liked the doc who presented well enough, agreed with their philosophy, etc., so just went with them. Btw, there was nothing we really had to do to choose them, i.e, we just named them as our practice once we got to the hospital (Holy Cross), and they called them. The doc who was on call came to see our son in the hospital. I'm sure every practice is different, though--some may expect you to fill out some forms or something when you choose.