Why do Well Baby Visits? - Page 2

[Kikelet]

Originally Posted by First Time Mama

We didn't do any WBV with DS who is now almost 3. I was afraid that I would be pressured to vax, and that I wouldn't be able to stand up for myself, and the other reasons that WBV could be good didn't occur to me.

I think this is a very valid reason to be uncomfortable with doctors, in gerenal. I feel like we should never have to stick up for our choices and have to force doctors to be respectful of them. But, at the same time, I feel that as parents, we have to be advocates for our children's health. I think we should take our babies to the doctor for WBC because our little ones can't always tell us what's wrong, nor do they always display symptoms to make you aware of a problem. This is much different to me than something like pregnancy and birth; babies can be born without intervention most of the time, plus *healthy* moms and babies do not need constant monitoring, poking, prodding, etc. So we have midwives who can do intermittent checking and whatnot to asses maternal health throughout the pregnancy and birth. Some women do their own maternity care after doing intense research, and have unassisted births. That is totally cool with me (I've even considered it with baby #2), but the idea is that you become as informed as possible about what you're doing.

My only worry with *some* families who opt out of WBC is that they don't do enough research about healthy child development, therefore, they cannot know if there is a problem unless the child is visibly ill. Of course, there are people who give any parenting choice a bad name by not being educated, just like the parents who nod their heads at the doctors and do every single little thing they say, even if goes against the parent's instincts.

Just a random example, I brought Evie in for her 4mo checkup and the pedi, who is also an IBCLC, noticed that she was developing thrush. It was so slight that even with my knowledge about it, I wouldn't have been able to diagnose the two tiny white spots on E's lip. She did a quick culture to make sure, and it was indeed thrush. We were able to treat it before I had burning, sore breasts. I am prone to yeast, so I was thrilled that we caught it that early.

So maybe something like thrush is not a big deal to moms who are pros at dealing with it, and maybe a lot of other issues that I would worry about aren't at the top of the list for some families who don't do WBC. Most importantly, you are your child's best advocate, so you have to do what you feel your child would want you to do. I think that's one of the hardest aspects of parenting..

[star*mora]

Originally Posted by aramat

I don't do WBV, even though our pedi is really great. It's a waste of time & money to me unless I have questions I can't find the answers to on my own. I also don't like taking baby where there may be sick kids, even if the waiting rooms are separated. IMO, you don't have to do WBV to maintain a relationship with a pedi who really is great!

last winter, the clinic where we are clients was one of 4 in the city marked as places to go if you thought you had h1n1 - yeah, no thanks. ds2 had one well baby visit at 3mths and then the h1n1 policy came in effect. he's been healthy ever since, so am not going to bother - will go when he has something i can't treat at home or with our naturopathic doctor.