At what point does one look for a pediatrician?

[sybersus]

I'm in my second trimester and preparing for my first child. At what point does it make sense to look for a pediatrician? Thanks!

[Anonymous]

sybersus wrote:I'm in my second trimester and preparing for my first child. At what point does it make sense to look for a pediatrician? Thanks!

Now since the ped sees them in the hospital. At least mine did.

[Anonymous]

34 weeks is when i started interviewing practices.

[Anonymous]

You could start now. I'm 30 weeks and just picked one. I chose based on a friend's recommendation and did not really "interview" him, we just met with him and liked him and so that was that. He doesn't have privileges at the hospital where I am giving birth, but that just means whichever pediatrician is on call will see him when he's born, and then we'll take the baby to "his" pediatrician a few days later.

[Anonymous]

I didn't find interviewing practical. You won't really know whether or not you're going to mesh with someone until after you have the baby, and you see how they handle your child AND you! In our case, we switched practices after 6 months. As one PP mentioned, you could always use someone from the hospital and shop around after.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:You could start now. I'm 30 weeks and just picked one. I chose based on a friend's recommendation and did not really "interview" him, we just met with him and liked him and so that was that. He doesn't have privileges at the hospital where I am giving birth, but that just means whichever pediatrician is on call will see him when he's born, and then we'll take the baby to "his" pediatrician a few days later.

exact same situation here - was the same # of weeks along, doc we met (after hearing good things) doesn't have privileges but another from the practice will come, etc.

[Anonymous]

I think it's important to have a pediatrician selected before the child is born. Know of one family who had major issues at day 5, readmitted to the hospital, glad to have the ped in place.

[Anonymous]

We just selected ours today and i'm at 38 weeks. Ideally I would have wanted it settled at least 4 weeks ago but it all worked out.

[Anonymous]

We interviewed/selected ours early, probably around 30 weeks. I'm glad we actually went for the interview (or whatever they called it), because when I called after our baby was born to make the 1st ped appt, the person asked if I had come in to meet with one of the peds when pregnant. I later found out that they were no longer accepting new patients, unless it was a sibling of an existing patient, except for those who came in for the interviews.

[Anonymous]

We started the process early in the third trimester and didn't end up choosing until 39 weeks. I found that the interviews took a bit of time as some practices only do them 1-2x per month and of course I'd have to arrange my work schedule around them. I had something very specific in mind and didn't find it until the very end of my search. I think I looked at/interviewed 6 different offices.

[Anonymous]

Also depends on what you want in a pediatrician. If you're the type to go with the mainstream/AAP recs, it doesn't take long. If you want to do alternative vax schedules and stuff like that, you may need to search a little longer to find someone you feel will mesh with your parenting approach.

[Anonymous]

Can someone tell me how you 'interview' a pediatrician?

In the past I've picked doctors based on recommendations... I'm not against interviewing, I just don't know how to go about it ...? Call the office and say: I would like an appointment to interview the pediatrician???
And how did your interview go (those who did it)....?

[Anonymous]

I'm the 16:41 PP. The office I "interviewed" had something on their website about "prenatal interviews," and when I called they said the doctor we were interested in did them at specific times (lunchtime twice a week). So we signed up and went and talked to him then, for about 45 minutes. They didn't charge us anything, but I gather many pediatricians' offices charge for these meetings.

[Anonymous]

pp -- About half the offices we looked at did an orientation type meeting for a group of new parents to be together, and a few did an individual interview. I was a little nervous about the individual interview sessions because I didn't quite know what to expect. At the individual interviews, I found the pediatricians basically had a script... they would show their typical well child visit schedule, talk about their basic philosophy, ask questions about you/your family health, and give time for any individual questions. They wound up being very comfortable.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Can someone tell me how you 'interview' a pediatrician?

In the past I've picked doctors based on recommendations... I'm not against interviewing, I just don't know how to go about it ...? Call the office and say: I would like an appointment to interview the pediatrician???
And how did your interview go (those who did it)....?

PP here (16:50) - we basically called an office that had been recommended to us, asked for a certain doc, heard he wasn't taking new patients, looked online at their other docs and asked around and picked another one. Then I called again, told them I wanted to meet this doc, went in when I was scheduled (about 3 weeks after calling) and got an office tour with another couple and about a 20-min meeting with the doc. We basically talked about the pregnancy, medications I'm on, plans for breastfeeding/introducing formula, best ways to access the docs (email etc) I had a question she needed to look up and she emailed me the next day. I followed up with the office mgr shortly after and told them we liked her. She said great, when you're at the hospital tell them this is your practice and your doc and we'll send someone to see the baby and schedule your first appointment right after he's born. Hope it helps!