How soon did you take your baby to the doctor?

[*EarthMama*]

Just curious if UC Mamas tend to do things differently in regards to baby checks. If our sweet baby seems fine after the birth and we intuitively feel all is well then we will probably wait quite a while before taking her in (several weeksI think ). My only concern is dealing with my mom's fear tactics about having babies checked by doctors and how important it is blah blah blah (normally we would appease that by saying the midwife looked her over) and the doctors response to us waiting so long when we do finally take her in... thoughts?

I know it doesn't really matter what my mom or the doctor or anyone else thinks but I would love to hear what mamas with the same birth/ health philosophies as I have to say about it. How do you mamas feel about baby checks? What have been your experiences after birth as far as that goes?

[TopHat]

I might be on the "out there" spectrum, but my daughter has never seen a doctor- and she's just a few weeks away from turning 2. Well, I took her to a chiropractor at 3 or 4 months when she refused to nurse any way besides lying down because I thought that might be a spine thing, but other than that, no WBVs at all. We weighed her regularly with the fish scale we had from the birth and she was never sick enough to see a doctor, so we just skipped it all.

[Serenyd]

1 week check-ups for both.

[nolonger]

My two year old saw a doctor when he was a bit under a year to get a prescription for scabicide. I don't think he went in before that. He doesn't get sick very often and when he does, it's never been bad enough to warrant a trip to the doctor.

The doctor didn't ask for his records. Apparently one of my older children's records was lost when I stopped vaxing him and I didn't have any trouble either when I had to take him in for specific concerns.

You can find most of the info online to do your own WBVs, which helped me gain confidence, but right now I couldn't tell you what height/weight percentile he's in, just that he's "big for his age".

[NettleTea]

Originally Posted by TopHat

I might be on the "out there" spectrum, but my daughter has never seen a doctor- and she's just a few weeks away from turning 2. Well, I took her to a chiropractor at 3 or 4 months when she refused to nurse any way besides lying down because I thought that might be a spine thing, but other than that, no WBVs at all. We weighed her regularly with the fish scale we had from the birth and she was never sick enough to see a doctor, so we just skipped it all.

My oldest will be 3 this year and he has never had any reason to see a doctor. Same with my youngest. If there was ever an actual need for a doctor then we would go. Otherwise, I don't see the purpose.

[sweet_tart_vt]

All 6 of my children have a pediatrician, but ive never brought any of them in unless they were so ill it was something I couldnt take care of at home. My oldest who is 11 does have a yearly physical, but only because it is required for him to play football. My last 3 LO's were birthed UC and are 5, 3, and 13mos. my 3 yr old and 13mo old have never seen a doctor at all. We are expecting baby #7 5/16 and are planning our 4th UC. No plans to take her to the Dr. either

[*EarthMama*]

Thanks for all of the answers mamas! I kind of feel similarly and don't suspect we'll bring our baby to the doctor, unless she becomes sick with threatening symptoms. Thanks again and happy UCing

[lia_joy]

my first baby (UC) was born about 8am & I took him to the ped. that afternoon.... it was really just an unneccesary interupption to the baby moon. The next two, we took a few days later. The paperwork for a birth cert. in our state requires a signature from a medical professional, and it's supposed to be mailed in within 7 days of the birth, so that was part of the reason. We also opted for the PKU test.
Now that we've formed a relationship with our local family dr I'm really comfortable seeing her only when it's needed (usually a few times during the winter months if/when illnesses get to a point that I want to treat with antibiotics) I've felt more and more that she really 'gets' the way we do things (that I'm comming in for information& support in deciding a plan for treatment, not to have decisions made for my family) and I'm really happy to have that relationship. My youngest has never had vaccines or well-baby visits, and they've never hassled me about it, though I used to feel they were a little more insistent on that kind of thing with my second son... I'm not sure if it's just because they've gotten to know us, because they have become more relaxed, or just because its clear that I'm a confident mama of 3 rather than a confused young mom.... Maybe they all talk about how wierd we are after we leave, but whatever it is, It's working for us!

So, the things I'd say are worth considering when deciding if/when to take baby in are:
-are there requirements for birth cert. or other documentations you might need?
-do you want any tests/screenings/vaccines?
-do you want to establish (or do you already have) a relationship with a care provider incase something comes up and treatement or support is neccessary?
-Is it worth appeasing family/friends/etc by having a professional say baby's OK even if you feel it's otherwise uneccessary?

[MJB]

I took my UC baby in at 1 week to have the newborn screen done. This time around I am going to do the newborn screen at home, so I will probably wait until 2-4 weeks to take the baby in. This is assuming I can get my kids into a pediatrician after we move back to our home state in June-- I've heard a lot of pediatricians there won't take unvaxed kids anymore but I'm hoping our old ped. will take us back.

[lafemmedesfemmes]

three days with both of my uc babies. i wanted the blood testing done, and also wanted additional documentation in case we had any issues with getting the birth certificate. since then we've been really casual about visits, since we delay and selectively vax.

christina

[Happiestever]

We took him in for a 2 day check. Which I feel now was totally worthless because the only thing they did was weigh him. He hasn't been in since and I don't plan to unless he gets sick.
I am still deciding on vaxes so we will have to wait until we are either planning our next out of country vacation or other unforseen circumstances.

[accountclosed3]

we took ours as soon as we could, which was after the holiday weekend. he was born labor day weekend, and our doctor was on vacation until tuesday. so, i gave birth at 12:30 am saturday, and he saw the doctor on tuesday morning.

on sunday, i called the doctor to report that he hadn't nursed, but he said that was ok. i called every lactation consultant in the phone book and LLL, and everyone was on vacation. i called every emergency line, and they could only see me the following week (so, a week from monday, labor day!).

i was freaking out!

we got to the doctor at 9 am on tuesday and he was dehydrated. now, every book told me to NOT give him water. so i didn't. i just kept trying to nurse him and he would not latch. i would pump my breast and no milk was there (it didn't start until about 9:30 on tuesday, honestly). i was calling everyone i could think of, and finally a friend refered me to a retired midwife who said that the baby would be fine, don't give him water!

well, at 9:15 am the doctor said to give him water. SO, we gave him water and he was thirsty! poor baby. at 9:30, i went to the LLL meeting and they helped me pump my breast and feed him with a spoon.

i was doing that about every 30 minutes and giving him water.

on wednesday, we went back to the doctor and the baby was not dehydrated. he asked me to see and LC, and i told him that all of them were on vacation (every one in the phone book). he felt that it was urgent, so he called the hospital (i'd called them too!) and told them the situation. they got me an appointment for the next day. doctor said to see him on friday.

that day, we learned that his tongue was too strong, so we had to teach him how to not push out the nipple. she taught us to train him using our finger--so we pumped, had a syringe with a tube, attatched that to my finger, and i would feed him that way every two hours.

on friday, i showed the doctor how it was working and he wanted to see if the baby would latch. he wouldn't, and so we called the LC again and she recommended a nipple shield. at the end of the day or on saturday, we had him latched with the shield.

the doctor saw him again on monday, and he was fine. he wanted to see him again on friday, and we did that. then we went the next friday, and then were given two weeks, then three. and then it was "just whenever."

so, we went through a process, but it turned out ok.

at 6 weeks, he latched without a shield and loves nursing.

on thursday, i was finally able to get ahold of a lactation consultant.

[ann_of_loxley]

In this country - if I remember correct from having my son... a MW sees you after the birth for a few weeks. Once they feel both you and baby are doing great, then they pass you on to the 'Health Visitor'. The HV will then see you for a few weeks in your own home until they also feel all is well and good and then it is up to you when you see them again. They usually hold weekly open clinics where you can go for any info/advice - but mostly to get your baby weighed if thats your thing. (I found it handy with my son as he was near 11lbs born and I needed to know his weight for car seat reasons - but other than weight, that is all I saw them for).

The GP here (GP - not really a 'doctor' ...doctors stick to the hospitals) normally sees your baby at the 2 month check. Followed by their first vaccinations if thats what you want. We don't do vaccinations but I don't have a problem with them listening to my babies heart and lungs and checking their testicals if they have them! lol

And though we are planning a UBAC - we will be calling the MW (that every woman here gets when they are pregnant) after it is all done and dusted - so I imagine things will go just the same as they did after having my son as well!

[honey-lilac]

Um, about an hour after birth. It was to placate DH who was really anxious. He was fine with the UC and he was totally on board, but after all was said and done he wanted the baby to get checked out at the hospital. I didn't put up a fight because she was early (36 weeks-ish). We ended up calling an ambulance (le sigh, DH's idea because we didn't have the new car seat in yet) and they came in a huge panic and tried to find the people to rescue butI was chilling on the couch, dressed and ready and the baby tucked under my shirt nursing, so they totally looked over us and asked where the baby and mother were. I walked downstairs to the ambulance and when we got inside all the nurses came in a rush but no one knew what to make of us because it had never happened like that before. (We said labor just went that fast, we didn't say anything about a homebirth, just that we never made it. I had a previously quick labor in the same hospital so I guess it was believable.) Finally the doctors said to admit us overnight even though there was nothing really "wrong" - they just wanted to keep an eye on us since she was early. Fine with me. I laid back and watched TV while DD nursed, got more sleep than I would have at home with my ten-month old at home. They didn't do any tests and I held DD the whole time.

The one time that was bothersome was when a really snotty nurse came in and told me that she would "let" me accompany DD to the hearing test in the nursery because the other nurses had told her I was insistent on staying with DD the whole time. WTH? She was almost angry and made it seem as if I was really weird for wanting to stay with my baby. With those birth hormones coursing through me it was TORTURE to stay in the nursery though because there were SO many newborn babies who were screaming in their cradles for their mommies but they were just being totally ignored and all alone. I had this barely controllable urge to tell someone to just pick them up and cuddle them, PLEASE! I almost ran out of there when DD was done with her test.

Anyway they let us out the next morning but we had to go back to the doctor every few days for a month or so for weigh-ins where they tried to get me to supplement; we didn't though and she was just fine, never had a bottle (well, until she was like 10 months old but whatever). And they stopped worrying when she started gaining again.

ETA: It was fine the way it happened for us because I had gotten all my prenatal visits in and I had delivered at the birth center there before, so my story checked out and we didn't have any CPS visits or anything, we got the birth certificate and so could get the SS number and all. It did say she was born at that hospital (grr) but I can live with that. As far as legalities go, I think we did the right thing for our situation, because we were on Medicaid and really did not want to ruffle feathers as far as trying to convince people that we were responsible about our UC etc.

[Sharlla]

I didn't. Unless she gets sick and requires medical attention I see no reason to take her.

[claddaghmom]

We went 3 days after birth. That was the only opening for awhile and the idea of doing it within the week of birth appealed to me, as the only reason I was doing it was to have the paperwork.

He's a nice doctor. I'd recommend him to anyone who wanted their child to have a doctor. We went a couple times after that, then stopped.

[AmeliasMum]

My Kiddos are 3 and almost 1 and neither have ever been to a Dr for anything. Ever.

[accountclosed3]

and, as it is now, he hasn't been in months. i see no reason for it. i do want to talk to a HCP here about the polio vax. apparently, they still do that here. so, i want to find out about the situation of vax here. we did selected and delayed back in the states. so, the appointments were really about that. i think we saw the doctor last in Oct when we had swine flu or whatever it was that acted like swine flu.

[Lizbiz]

I took my daughter to the doc for her 2 month visit. It was pretty much a joke in comparison to the awesome care my son received in the States from pediatricians. They barely did anything and charged us a $1. I don't think it was worth the $1. The doctor was so disinterested I could have sworn he was practically comatose.

My son is 2 1/2 has had every WBV recommended and I'm ok with that. We've gotten some great advice and some not-so-great - but I can filter it and respect that the pediatricians opinions and concerns will be dif't than my own. He's never been a really sick boy - but I've brought him to the doc twice for a very bad cold (that eventually resolved no thanks to the doctor) and for pink eye (that resolved thanks to the drops they prescribed).

My daughter will continue to receive regular check ups. I'm big on preventative care and we do vax. I like getting her looked at and having a relationship with a doc in case she really does get sick.

[accountclosed3]

i think that the term *relationship* is really important.

with our last doctor, i *loved* him. he was our family doctor. he was in relationshpi with us. we discussed things, he wasn't pro allopathic, even though he was allopathic trained. his undergrad was english, his post grad was in europe in anthroposphical and homeopathic medicines. so, he was much more likely to go alternative.

we are looking for a similar doctor here, or at least someone with whom we can have a relationship. it's like a touchstone or an ally.

he was the only doctor for whom i felt that way.