Non-Vaxers - When do you see pediatrician? - Page 2

[Down2Earth]

Originally Posted by PhilsBabyMama

My son will be 2 in January and has been to all well baby checks. We don't vax at all, and since my husband is military we see doctors on post. Really, if you're not vaxing they will just weigh and measure baby, check hips and muscle tone, etc. They will also see how baby is doing developmentally. IMO, if you have a scale, measuring tape and a baby book most if that you can do yourself. The reason we go to all appts is so later down the road if I'm accused of being negligent for not vaxing I can at least say he was receiving regular care.

^This. We don't do any vaxes but it is nice to have a relationship with the doctor in case anything should happen. And it's been nice to be able to ask questions about a diaper rash or other stuff like that. And our insurance pays for the visits 100% because it is preventative care.

[Ldavis24]

we don't vax but we have been to all the well baby visits since DD was born. 2 mo 4 mo etc...we will continue this until probably she is a year or 18mo. Our ped doesn't totally approve but does not hassle me about it at all and the biggest reason I go is I want to be comfortable with him and feel secure knowing if there is a problem our ped is familiar with DD and how she has grown etc. Plus I am too lazy to chart her growth myself and we don't even own a scale so I like to see how much she weighs etc.

[Magali]

In case of emergency. My child is 2.5 and last saw a doc at 6 weeks old.

[fawnanddoe]

DS is now almost 4mo. We went to the well visits at first, but we skipped the 2mo. visit because our ped is not on board with non-vaxing and I decided we'd have to find a new ped. We went once when DS was sick right around the 2mo. mark so I got his weight and all that then.
Once I find a new one I will go to establish ourselves once, but I don't see the need to go all the time if we aren't vaxing, so I will go if there's an issue, and then maybe at 6mo. and 1 yr. to get a check up

[clicksab]

With DD we didn't go to many well visits. She went at 2 weeks, then at 6 months (at that appt. we got threatened), and then we didn't take her back in until she was 2 and we'd moved and found a new ped
For this next kiddo, we're doing it completely different. Since DD ended up severely regressing after she turned 2, we will be keeping a close eye on this one. I do kind of wish we had more "on record" about her before she turned 2. So baby #2 will go to well baby visits...not all of them but a good amount. Since he'll have a higher risk of also being on the spectrum, I want to take him in not only to make sure we catch things early if there is a problem, but also to keep me from freaking out all the time if there isn't anything wrong!

[SuburbanHippie]

Originally Posted by Magali

In case of emergency. My child is 2.5 and last saw a doc at 6 weeks old.

Same here except it was 4 weeks. He's 27 months now and healthy as a horse. He does see a chiro periodically because he comes with me.

[velcromom]

No WBV here. Took dd in at six weeks, after the infant care provided by the midwife was over, to introduce her & get her in the system. Other than that, I will take the kids in for anything I cannot handle here at home, for example ds2 had some trouble with his asthma that his prescription was not helping so we took him in right away. We have a chiro who works with kids too; dd saw him after a fall off a chair. So they get care when needed and there is definitely a record of that if anyone should be concerned.

[abc123xyz]

HOnestly, I feel there is no good reason to do "well-baby visits" on the vax schedule if you don't vax! Unless there is a problem, there is no good reason to see a Dr. Doctors are for sick people...parents intution is for healthy babies. You know when your baby needs a Dr.!!!! That being said, with our first, because we had a homebirth turned transfer where the hospital filed child abuse charges against us for homebirthing and in turn, created a CPS record for us, we found a ped that is vax friendly (and doesn't vax her own children) and established a good standing record there. While we lived in that county, we followed the well-baby visit schedule so that if we needed to go into the ER, we could proudly say that we are not negligent and have an established ped relationship! Since we moved, we only go in the event of a sickness or for yearly checkups. With this new baby, I am doing a visit after birth sometime, and then I am not doing another until the baby is 1 year old or it gets sick and needs to go in. She is totally okay with this because she respects our beliefs and honors them. And I know I can count on her if something were to go array. I think you really need to find the balance you are most comfy with. I don't need a Dr. to boost my ego about how my child is growing but some people do and that is okay if that works for them!

[CoachesWife]

We don't vax. She is 3yr and unless there is a severe problem we do not see her ped. They do send us the reminders in the mail for her well visits, but I just ignore it. The ped is good about us not vaxing. Our Chiro actually recommended her--that's were he takes his unvaxed children.

We do see a Naet practitioner for naet therapy. dd has allergies so we are eliminating them. I am also starting naet therapy in several weeks.

[aniT]

Never. My kids see an ND. Before that I took them to a local GP.

[DQMama]

Wow, do any of you who don't see doctors have an HMO? Probably not--I wish we didn't! We have a relationship with a pediatrician for school physicals and referrals. For example, E fell out of a tree last week and broke his arm in two places and had to have surgery. We needed a referral for the surgery and one for each follow-up visit (waiting for one now...grrr). Insurance in our area, and with my husband's job, is very expensive if you don't go with an HMO. So that's pretty much our only option, and it means going to the pediatrician for at least every other "recommended" visit. Luckily ours is NOT pushy about shots.

[aniT]

Originally Posted by DQMama

Wow, do any of you who don't see doctors have an HMO? Probably not--I wish we didn't! We have a relationship with a pediatrician for school physicals and referrals. For example, E fell out of a tree last week and broke his arm in two places and had to have surgery. We needed a referral for the surgery and one for each follow-up visit (waiting for one now...grrr). Insurance in our area, and with my husband's job, is very expensive if you don't go with an HMO. So that's pretty much our only option, and it means going to the pediatrician for at least every other "recommended" visit. Luckily ours is NOT pushy about shots.

We have a PPO. ND's are not covered and comes out of my pocket. We only go if it is important. I am not a believer in taking kids to the doctor for every little sniffle.

[InstinctiveMom]

Originally Posted by Daisie125

This exactly. I like to have the paper trail. Our doc is awesome about non vax, never had an issue, but I like to keep a good relationship that way if one of my kids has to go in for something serious (they have) they know the doc.

I'm glad to see other mamas who do this, too. That's my reasoning - we do so many things that are outside of the mainstream, I really want an independent, verifiable record of my kids' heathcare to back me up if we ever have to deal with CPS or something like that.

Our pedi doesn't agree with our stand on vaccination, but they do agree that it is my right as a parent to refuse. Since we have healthy kiddos, they can't exactly claim that we're neglecting their health because they see them every time they're supposed to go or in the rare instance that they're actually sick.

I took my newborns in at 2 weeks.

[yarngoddess]

I have 4 kids, and we have gone off and on to the WBV. With each kid it just became a pointless experience, waste of money I don't have, and total stress filled germ fest, lol.
I have a GREAT ped now, love her! She's wonderfull with my kids. My youngest was born at 36weeks exactly (so he was probably only 34 3/4 weeks 'cause they were off on dates- hubby was only home 1 weekend lol) and was having breathing troubles. He also had bad jaundice and I got the house ped- who was supposed to be the ped I had in the past. Luckily it was our new ped and she was fantastic! She has bent over backwards for my kids! She is avalible by email- and that's a must with ped's in my book! and she also will get on the phone her self and help. I Love her.

She has said though that the point of the WBV is to chronicle size and weight and shots. She said that the visits aren't even in order with baby's developmental milestones and if we aren't vaxing- then let's switch the visits to correlate with baby's milestones so we know that your baby is developing well, and gaining weight well. She's been an awesome ped. She would prefer us to vax, but given our history she understands why we don't vax.

I hope you, OP, find someone that you can feel comfortable with if your LO does have problems or get's sick, because there is nothing worse than a jack a#* of a doctor giving you the riot act when you've got a sick kid and are scared for your child. It's not fun- and many of us have BTDT and would rather never go there again

Good luck with your Vaxes research- there's lots of links here on MDC and helpfull momma's with more knowledge than one could shake a stick at! Blessed Be!!!

[hippy mum]

I thought you had to go within a certain time period w/ home and birth center births. I know the state I live in requires it.
Ds1 I took for most of his well baby because I didn't think not to, until he was about 6 months old. Then I only went if he got sick or at his yearly appt. Ds2 I took initially after he was born, and then not again until he was I think 1. The paper trail is a good thing, I hadn't thought of that. The practice I was going to changed the wbv schedule from monthly to every few months, to annual, so if I go to the annuals at least, it looks good.

[Emmeline II]

Originally Posted by DQMama

Wow, do any of you who don't see doctors have an HMO? Probably not--I wish we didn't! We have a relationship with a pediatrician for school physicals and referrals.

Nope. We have a PPO. I've had to take DS to the Dr twice in the past month (bowel trouble and a fall of a dresser he was climbing); we just went to the clinic down the block because their ped is 30 min away and it was after hours.

[aniT]

Originally Posted by bbrandonsmom

I thought you had to go within a certain time period w/ home and birth center births. I know the state I live in requires it.
Ds1 I took for most of his well baby because I didn't think not to, until he was about 6 months old. Then I only went if he got sick or at his yearly appt. Ds2 I took initially after he was born, and then not again until he was I think 1. The paper trail is a good thing, I hadn't thought of that. The practice I was going to changed the wbv schedule from monthly to every few months, to annual, so if I go to the annuals at least, it looks good.

Nope, my state doesn't. DS is three and has never been to a ped or an MD. He goes to an ND and I don't think he even saw her til he was a few months old. He was also a home birth. The midwives do check ups at two and six weeks. Why do you need to see a ped?

[ZoeyZoo]

I took DD to two appointments when she was first born to check some stuff. I'm glad I did because even though the MW did a thorough check the ped checked some different things. I haven't bothered bringing ber back since since I am am able to weigh/measure her at home, have the height/weight charts, had hit milestones, etc.

[sunanthem]

I don't understand how a state could make someone go to the ped. What do they do if you don't go? Take your kids away?
Nope, I had one hb in NY, one in NC, and both kids didn't see a pedi till they were at the least 1 yr. old.

[CHoney]

I bring DS in pretty often for checks. Because we aren't vaxing, the doctor asks quick questions to see how he's devleoping and checks him over to see if everything is where it's supposed to be. They measure and weigh him, ask what he's eating, if I'm still breastfeeding, and if I have any questions/concerns. She wasn't too pleased that we weren't vaxing, but seems ok with it now.

I usually have a question or two for her, so I like going to see if everything is ok.