When I was pregnant with Jack I didn't look around for the best pediatrician because I knew we were moving soon. The one our insurance automatically assigned to us was conveniently located and was just fine for a couple visits. With our move we had to find a new pediatrician. This was a lot harder than I expected it to be. There are a few rating systems out there and we signed up for Angie's List, but in our smaller town there aren't a lot of people who have turned in ratings. Back in Phoenix, pre-baby, I would have done a pre-birth interview and asked all my health professional friends for recommendations. Here, I chose a pediatrician based on combined recommendation of friends (all recommended the same person), on-line reviewers, and physician board certification. (Mostly the recommendation of friends.)
A couple days before the appointment I realized I was nervous about how the doctor would react to us using cloth diapers. I know that his "diaper area" is perfectly healthy, but (just like anyone who poops in a diaper) sometimes his little toosh isn't flawless. I was sure the doctor was going to be anti-cloth and would tell me I was doing something wrong by choosing cloth diapers. She didn't. In fact she didn't even mention the diapers except to ask for help getting them snapped back up.
Our new doctor has a great personality, is easy to talk to, doesn't introduce herself as "Doctor," (I don't know how physicians ever get used to that, I still cringe every time I try to introduce myself as Dr. D) and was quick and efficient, without being rushed.
She had a great description of kids Jack's age as being like over hormonal women. You say something not quite right and they start bawling their eyes out and then a few seconds later are just fine. (Which is funny because Jack has no idea what she is saying, but broke into tears when she mentioned that he has a "healthy build" (he's a chunk).)
I also really liked how she did the majority of the exam with Jack sitting on my lap and the nurse gave all the vaccines while I was holding Jack. This clearly made him more comfortable and I appreciated being able to snuggle my little guy while he was scared and hurting. I had read about the benefits of holding your child during stressful situations prior to Jack's first vaccines. When I asked about this the Nurse Practitioner (this was at our last pediatrician's) told me that they don't do that because then the baby learns to associate pain with Mom (or Dad). BULL HONKEY! Let me say it again, BULL HONKEY! Grr. I might be a little bothered by that, maybe.
I didn't love the physical office, it was a bit run down, and the lady who brought me our paperwork smelled like cigarette smoke (seriously, you work in the health professions quit already!), but the doctor is a keeper. Plus, unlike our last place, I was able to make an appointment 3 months out for our 9 month check. (Three whole months! Some of you know what I'm talking about.)
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