New to the forum :) Do you do "well" visits? - Page 2

[Chicky2]

No, never.  I don't see the point.  If anything ever came up about our children's care, they certainly have been to enough dental appointments to please anyone, lol.  W/our first, I did a couple of visits, because she had a rare epigastric hernia that needed surgical repair.  After she was healed from that at 11 months, we never went back.  One time 2 children had bacterial ear infections that needed treatment. We went for that.  Other than that we've had one child in the ER twice, but that's it. One child has never had need to go to an allopathic dr. 

[mamakah]

We see a naturopath who told us "Well Child Checkups" are basically for vaccinations so they aren't that important if not immunizing *but* he prefers to see his patients once a year.  We end up going to him once a year for sickness, so I count those as his yearly visits. We're uninsured and simply can't afford to take healthy people to the doctor. :)

I don't tell friends or family that he doesn't go for "checkups" though. If someone brings it up I just say..."Oh yea...he's due for one..."

[ILoveMyBabyBird]

with ds i vaxed him for 9 months so he made it to all those appts, then he switched to an indivitual plan at a year and i took him for his year checkup and we were charged full price for him to be weighted and measured, so i decided since we weren't vaxing anymore what is the point. I did take him to the er at 2.5 years for an earache turned infection. Then decided to find a safe dr. and have been taking him yearly for a check up or for his allergies, about 1x a year. DD i have taken 2x so far, but may skip the 4month check and just do the6 and 9 month checkup. My kids to don't get sick often and i don't run them to the dr. for a small fever either so...

[akind1]

We did until DS was 4 months old. He's not been vaxed at all. While at the 4 month visit, no one thought to schedule the 6 month one, so we've not been back. I wanted to establish care somewhere though, in the event he did get sick or injured and we would have someone who at least knew us. We've seen the doc around town . . . just not in the office.

As far as percentiles go; I have an app on my phone for that :) I think I found one that uses WHO breastfed charts instead of the CDC ones.  Since we don't do the WBV, I do like to keep a general idea of his growth.

For this new baby, I think I may try to find a more non-vax friendly doctor. I honestly don't mind going in just for reassurance - about growth and general well being - because honestly, there may be something I miss. The doc we saw with DS, while not harassing us about vaxes, did give us lots of CDC handounts *rolls eyes*

[SIXSIMMONS]

My 3yo has not seen a doctor since she was 4 mos (when we decided to stop vax'ing) My school aged children get their required physical at the school based health zone and I get the shot info in the mail. My youngest, however was a preemie and has some health issues. I do feel I need to take him to just make sure he's doing ok since I'm not sure exactly what to expect but had he been born on time and healthy I was hoping he could avoid them altogether!

[Nicoleoleole]

We stopped going to them because they kept trying to pressure us to vaccinate.

[Shanesmom]

My visits are free and my doctor has never pressured me. So.....I haven't missed one yet!

[SuburbanHippie]

My YDS (totally unvaxed) was only seen when he was one month old.  When I had concerns regarding his speech when he was 3, I was royally chewed out by the pediatrician for not seeing a ped on a regular basis because "this could have been caught sooner."  I doubt this would have been caught sooner.  He didn't start to stall until he was over 2 years old anyway.  I just had another baby and have her 2 week appointment scheduled for this Friday.  I am dreading it.  I have a feeling that I'm going to end up harassed about vaccines again since we declined Hep B at the hospital.  I did find a naturopath in my area finally and am waiting to see if they accept healthy patients for routine care.  I hope they do!

[Xerxella]

I'm so jealous of all of you that have these great docs! 

I go to the first few to establish the child as a patient than stop.  Then I only go as needed.  (Luckily it's been almost 2 years now.)  But, I do want the kids to have a regular mainstream pediatrician.  My reasoning behind this is that the only time I really ever NEED a ped is when the child is REALLY sick.  And, if my child is REALLY sick I would want the whole enchilada of the medical establishment trying to help my child.  And, I couldn't get that at a non-prescribing naturopath or at the CVS Take Care Clinic. 

[Monarchgrrl]

DD is only 8.5 months now and the only one we went to was at 6 months, just to meet the Pedi and see what we thought of him and so we had somewhere to call if she gets sick and we have questions. He's great and we like him a lot. We won't be doing WBV's though.

[joy2grow]

DD saw a Naturopath twice.  Once at 1yo, then again at 2 just b/c I thought we should, but it really was a waste of time as she was growing and healthy.  The Dr had "radically" left his own kids unvaxed 40 yrs prior so we were totally supported in our choice.  We moved away from the town he was in and now the whole family shares a Dr in a nearby clinic, DD never had a Pediatrician. 

I don't believe in exposing DD or myself to sick environments for no darn reason!  I say go when there is a problem, otherwise trust yourself and the inherent wisdom of the body. 

[shiningpearl]

I have, and I am so happy that I did.  I would get some strange looks and sometimes the nurse would forget, and I would get an "Oh that's right" or "have you changed your mind at all"  But my doctor knows who I am and that have been researching it and continue to do it.  They know my kids and have even commented on how HEALTHY the always are.

I am so happy that I have a 5 1/2 year history with them.

Edited by shiningpearl - 8/2/11 at 8:51pm

[writteninkursive]

Nooooo "well baby" visits for us!  We used to take our first two, until we figured out what a joke they were and that they were really only about vaccinating.  Plus, our kids got sick EVERY time we took them to the doctor.  It was more like "sick baby" visits for us.  Once we stopped vaccinating the kids (and have never vaccinated our youngest), we skip the visits.  Our kids don't have a pediatrician - they have a holistic chiropractor, who does *amazing* things that doctors can't even pretend to do.  (For instance, our second baby had chronic constipation, and we spent years giving her prescription meds via her mainstream doctor, and took her to a chiro once and he gave her probiotics after an adjustment and she has never again had constipation in her life).  Healthy kids don't need doctors.

[keevelish]

I can't remember the last time our daughters were at the doctor's.  We're only veeery rarely sick.  I've never had a doctor at the office cure or fix anything.  If one of us is sick enough to need medical attention we're going to the ER.

[Paigekitten]

Nope.  We started out going to every single one with my first, and then I started declining vaccines with her.  We took my second daughter for a well child checkup once and I just didn't see much point after that.   Then the ped I liked left the clinic and I took DD2 in once because I thought she might have an ear infection (she didn't) and got put through the wringer about vaccines, so I've never bothered to go back.  We have gone to the ER once with DD2 because she had a fall, but that's the extent of our doctors visits in the last 2.5 years.   It's a waste of my time and money, I can tell my kids are healthy and growing, and I can take care of any little colds we have just fine myself.