When to get a pediatrician and recommendations?

[Anonymous]

When should you get a pediatrician? I'm due in 3 months; should you go check them out before hand? Any recommendations for pediatricians in the Tenleytown/Chevy Chase area?

[Anonymous]

You should definitely have a pediatrician selected before you give birth. If you don't, one of the hospital pediatricians will look after your child while in the hospital, then you'll have to find one ASAP because most pediatricians like to see the baby about 2 days after they're discharged. While it's not the end of the world if you don't have one, I think it's much easier to start seeing the same doctor from day 1, as they already have all the medical records and it's easy to make your follow-up appointments. You won't want to be making calls to try to find a pediatrician the day you get home from the hospital!

I highly recommend Capitol Medical Group in CC, MD. Unlike a lot of pediatric practices, they accept insurance, which is a bonus. My OB recommended the practice to me and one of the nurses at Sibley told me she thought they were the best, which was nice to hear. We've been with them 2 years and have had nothing but great experiences.

[Anonymous]

We go to Amy Sweeney with Foxhall Pediatrics on New Mexico and really like her. I believe she goes to SIbley and Georgetown if you are delivering at one of those...

[Anonymous]

We've been very happy with Brasch and Goldstein in Chevy Chase, MD. They also take insurance.

[Anonymous]

There have been a ton of posts on what to ask during pediatric meet & greets so you may want to do a search.

In addition, just keep in my mind that you don't have to keep the pediatrician forever. You may find that after the first 6 mo. that you may want to find someone else (for whatever reason - long waits, vaccine "disagreement", too busy, etc.). Go for it. This area is teeming with great pediatricians (some with some great LCs and new mom groups too).

Also keep in mind that some ped. offices are great with newborns/toddlers, but then when your child is more school age/teenager that their attention/focus isn't really that great. Again, just a thought.

[Anonymous]

Second the recommendation for Amy Sweeney. She's really smart, really nice, and spends as much time with you as you need.

[Anonymous]

You should have a ped before you have the baby, but I think it can wait till the third trimester to do the research and visit them. Most will have a period of open "office hours" or monthly open houses, or even brief interview appointments for you to meet the Drs.

[Anonymous]

We did our "interviews" around 35-36 weeks. I put a lot of effort into them and felt like we asked all the questions we wanted to ask. Ultimately, though, our daughter is 9 months and we're switching practices. So even though they were helpful in terms of seeing the different practices, I wouldn't completely stress out about your choice -- in our experience, you can't really tell until you're actually a patient.

[Anonymous]

I'm interested in finding a pediatrician that will be open to spacing out vaccinations and a more holistic approach to health care. It would also be nice if they accept BCBS PPO insurance. DC would be preferred, but I'd also be okay with a practice in MD. Anyone got suggestions? Also, I appreciate other people's views on vaccinations, but would prefer not to have that discussion here, so please don't offer your opinions on that topic.

Thanks!