Am I the Only One Who Doesn't Use a Pediatrician?

You are not alone. My family practice doctor was my OB and delivered my children. We all see the same one. I like it much better that way - makes it easier to ask simple questions about one of them at my appointments, and vice versa.

I started out with a Family Doctor - my doctor. I thought it would be easier. However, with such a busy practice, I couldn't ever get emergency "sick" appointments for myself or for my daughter.

I don't have that problem with my pediatrician's office. They always accept "sick" visits and find a way to work them in.

We go to a family doctor too (father and son). He is also ok with homeopathy and preventive care (chiropractor). He will suggest these things first and only use invasive stuff if nothing else works.

I originally set my now 10 year old up with a pediatrician. My very first visit, with a 1 week old breastfed fuss budget. the office staff tells me "Since you weren't 15 minutes early, you have to wait until there is an opening after he has seen everyone else". Um... excuse me? No one TOLD me to be early. Granted, I probably should have been, but you know how life with a newborn is. I asked for my co-pay back, walked out and went to visit our family practice doctor. That doctor is great about referring to a specialist. The only other medical doctor to see my son is an allergist.

We have a Ped for the kids because I feel more comfortable with someone that specializes in childhood disease and illness. They have tricks of the trade that are tried and true to work with kids. Your way sounds incredibly convenient though...

I LOVE my family practice doc!!! An FP delivered my first, and a different FP (another state) delivered my next two. She was fabulous. My doula even encouraged FPs as perhaps being a little less inclined toward intervention during childbirth. She's been fabulous for us--she knows our family now, and mentions things from the previous appointments if she's come into new information. Most importantly, she knows US, and tells it to us straight--this is an ear infection, but don't use this prescription unless it gets bad--kind of thing. She just got a partner in her practice and begged us not to leave--though my husband will be seeing the male doctor now!

If I had it to do over again I would do exactly what you are doing. Good for you!

After we had to change pediatricians 3 times due to insurance, scandal (yes...scandal that shut one down!) and then one that just wasn't very good, we switched and all 4 of us have seen the same family practice doc for a few years now...make my life less complicated!! And being around my age w/ kids my own kids ages makes me feel like she actually knows what she is talking about! I think it's fine...it's a personal preference...if I had had a great ped, I would have kept him/her!

We dumped our pediatrician for a family practice doctor and we are so glad that we did.

We go to a pediatric endocrinologist, though.

When I was young I went to a Family Practice doctor--every one in my family saw the same guy. Then I moved to Madison, WI, where Pediatricians are really big. I mean, it was automatically assumed since the day I got pregnant that I would use a Pediatrician for my baby. I never gave it a thought. Pedatricians are trained to deal with babies, so I went along with it.

When we changed clinics when my daughter was seven, she and my husband both saw the same Family Practice doctor. By then I had grown horribly disillusioned with allopathic medicine to begin with but we needed to have doctors in the allopathic community to use our health insurance.

We just switched health insurance again and now all three of us go to the same doctor (my daughter is eleven). Since we're rarely sick, we pretty much only see her when we have to have a yearly physical--if even then. We have her as our doctor in case we get in a car accident, break a bone, or do something else that requires the skill of an allopathic doctor. Otherwise we self-medicate/use herbal and homeopathic treatments and take supplements to ensure our immune system is strong so we don't get sick. We do not get a yearly flu shot, nor do we get any vaccinations. They both put unhealthy and harmful toxins in the body and destroy the immune system. If you eat right/healthy to begin with your body is strong enough to fight off colds and flus.

I would say in our situation we like our Family Practice doctor. She is young and is willing to not only listen to us but she is aware that we use alternative medicine.

We love our family doc. If he is not available we see another family practice doc in the clinic. They are all very good. My kids really like him and he has school aged kids so he really understands what you go through with sick kids. Appointment are pretty easy to get. hope this helps!

We use a Pediatrician for my boys as my hubby and I don't go to the dr often (last time I went to my Family Practice was 3 years ago). So this works best for us.

We used to use pediatricians but when the last group stopped taking the insurance we had, Dh and I were already seeing a family practice doc and just moved the kids over to his care. They were probably 9 and 5 years old when we did that. I love the convenience of all of us seeing the same doctor and having our medical records all in the same place

I used one for a short time and they just weren't knowledgeable enough when it came to my baby for my peace of mind. He would have to look stuff up about medications, and long story short, it just went downhill fast. So i switched back to our pediatrician and have used one for my kids ever since. But if your Dr. is good and sees enough kids to know about medicines and dosing and stuff then that is awesome... it probably just the one i used...

My daughter's pediatrician is also an internist so she sees both adults and children. She basically has a family care practice set up but is not technically a family care physician.

Our kids see a family doctor also and have since birth.

I love my family doctor too! And as a nurse I know he treats my kids just fine and has the knowledge to do it :) If it is something complicated, that's when a pediatrician is needed, because they went to additional training specializing in children. I do know a couple of good pediatricians, so if something is beyond my family doc I have a preference, or if my mother's instinct feels that I need a second opinion, etc I have someplace to turn, but won't stop taking my kids to the doctor that knows our whole family :)

Family Practice doc has been working well for us. We do schedule appointments back to back, and I think it's nice that he knows our history when looking at our daughter. Not sure what is special about a pediatrician in particular. If the doc is well informed, thorough, and you like working with him/her, then why not? The general care is the same. If a special issue arises our FP will send us out for a referral. For example, he's been trying to tackle my daughter's ear infections but we will see the E.N.T. today because she isn't getting better. It's all about your comfort zone. Good luck!

When my girls were younger, we all used the same Family Practioner but when my son was born, I switched to a male pediatrician for him. I think it is important for kids to have docs that are their same gender. When they get a bit older, and a doc needs to look "south" or check for hernias, etc., I felt it was important for him to have a male doctor doing those checks (for son's comfort.)

Important to point out though...I have ALL female doctors for myself (OB/GYN, FP, DDS) so maybe it's just me.

When we go to our pediatrician (son is 15 y.o.) we never wait more than a few minutes. He does not over schedule his patients so he has plenty of time to really get to the crux of the reason we are there. I have never had a doc do this with my kids.

Sorry a bit late on response.

We tried our family doc but the reality was he just didn't see enough infants to ensure my confidence. Although he was very willing to accept and admit that he didn't know everything, I didn't like that he had to look up so much information, i.e. immunization schedule, common infant issues, etc. He also didn't work directly with a lactation consultant which, for me, was key to my successfully breastfeeding my two kids.

He also mistakenly diagnosed a blocked tear duck for an eye infection and needlessly prescribed antibiotics. Again, I like him but he just didn't have enough routine exposure to the little ones for my comfort level. So we found a pediatrician that we really like.

Good luck to you.

We use a Family Practice now that we are in VA. I am very happy with the docs and the care. The Pediatrician's office is 20 miles from here. I'm not interested in driving 20 miles with a puking kid... you know?

When we lived in MA, we went to Lahey Clinic - they had everyone under one roof - Pediatricians, GP, Gyn, Orthopedists, Xray, phlebotomy, etc.
I LOVED Lahey. If someone needed an Xray, we went downstairs. If someone needed a CAT Scan, we went downstairs. If someone needed a spine specialist or an ear specialist we went upstairs. If we needed anything, it was all right there... it was very very convenient and the care was awesome.

YMMV
LBC

I use family practice doc which I love! He is the primary doc for me, my hubby and kiddos. I wouldn't have it any other way.

When I was little I went to a family practice doctor instead of a pediatrician and I loved it. My son sees a Certified Pediatric Nurse Practitioner instead of a pediatrician, only because I did not like the pediatrician assigned to him at the hospital, and I had gotten raves about the CPNP. We are happy with the situation. However, for specialists, I prefer to see someone who specializes in both the main specialty and pediatrics. We see a pediatric dentist, and we will be seeing an allergist who is also certified with the AAP. I think that Some doctors have better bedside manor with little ones. I took my 5 day old son to the emergency room and the man who was there could not do an IV properly, not because he was bad at his job, but because he was not trained on treating small bodies.

You might be interested to know that in Britain, everyone sees a family physician -- called a "General Practitioner" or GP there -- first. A pediatrician is considered a specialist and you'd have to be referred to one if you wanted your child to see one. I'm sure its the same in other countries with a national health care system. It works OK, on the whole, and does ensure that everyone has the same basic access to health care without having to have insurance.

We use a pediatrician here at home, but in Britain (where my husband's family is) we've taken our daughter to GPs a few times when needed. I have to say the experience was only OK, and the doctors weren't very skilled at asking questions of a child. But then, I'm used to seeing a pediatrician, and in Britain we stay in an area with a high number of older folks rather than kids! I prefer a pediatrician since they see all kids, all the time, and are attuned for instance to what particular sicknesses are making the rounds in the schools at any given moment, or to the fact that kids don't show pain the same way as adults sometimes (true!). But I would not hesitate to use a GP here if I found a practice that had a lot of experience with children!

We have numerous reasons we refuse to see a pediatrician with our children. We have a family practice DO for absolutely necessary doctor visits that cannot be treated at home naturally or with our chiropractor. Other than that, we pretty much avoid the allopathic stream of medicine.

We had a family doc with my first two, then switched to a pediatrician after the third (actually two different practices) for convenience- it was closer, easier to get appts, and now we're back to the family practitioner. Ultimately, it is nice to go to a practice where we're not a number and our doctor and staff know us.

This is a great question because I have been toying with leaving our Ped. He is great don't get me wrong but I find that even when I have an appointment, it is at least an hour wait. and then once we are back inside the room, we wait there. I know our FP takes time with patients but they don't pack 'em in either. I think we are going to wait until her 2 year appointment in a few months but after that, I think we are outta there! Thanks for posting this. The responses were helpful for me.

We use a family practice doctor and LOVE him. Besides convenience of having all of our records in one place (though I do use a different ob/gyn) he also sees my parents and grandmother. My dad and grandmother have some serious health issues, so it's nice that he understands what's going on with my family, too.

We've all been seeing a family practitioner since the birth of my youngest - and actually my girls and I usually see the PA who is WONDERFUL and much easier to get in to see. I love having us all under one care.

I had a ped for my first but I now go with a family doc. I also like being able to have one Dr for the whole family.

I didn't even know that was an option. Thanks for mentioning it!
However, I LOVE our son's pediatrician....and I don't really care for my family doctor that much....so I think I will keep the 2 separate relationships for now. :)

My first baby I was delivered by a OB/GYN and the baby saw a Ped for a year plus, but that is just becasue that was covered by our insurance then, and the pregnancy and the baby initially had some issues....bedrest, pregnancy hypertensin, c-section, and jaundice for the baby at first, then reflux for the first few months.

But my second baby ( third pregnancy - had a m/c in between - was still with the OB/GYN then) we went through the whole pregnancy and c-section with our Family Practice Dr. and we all still go to him, he did my Hubby's Vasectomy, and removed some precancerous growths from both hubby and me, and is now working on figuring out with me what is going on with my periods and possibly thyroid, as well as high blood pressure! I think he is a great guy, really cares about his patients ( takes you opinion into account too) and remembers things about us and the kids, kids favorite stuffed animals names, kids ages, our occupations/companies, and stuff before looking at the chart. He has a good "bedside manner" and the office is great about working us in if we have a need to get in the office for sickness. For instance, I had my period 3 times between Nov. 10 and Dec. 10 in 2011, and they got me in less than 4 days after I called, before the end of Dec. to see him, AND got me in at the bigger medical center where they refferred me for the Thyroid Ultrasound, Pelvic Ultrasound and blood work before the end of the year, between Christmas and New Years, too. Now I am just waiting to hear results.

My family growing up all saw the a GP, too, and he always did great for us. We have always lived in smaller towns and so many times, that is your only choice anyway. I think that used ot always be the way, unless you had a very specific problem/condition, people always used to go to just a family Dr. and then if something further dveloped, then they were referred up the line to a specialist, and I think a ped is a specialist.

My whole family uses the same doctor. He is a DO and we love him! He's was our doctor first and then we brough the kids. He does refer us to other doctors if that's what's needed. Both my girls needed surgeries as infants and toddlers and he was the one who first diagnosed the problem in both my kids.

I love our family practice doctor! Since I'm nursing, it's much easier to have her check any medication I'm recieving, rather than having my doctor and my baby's doctor trying to communicate about it.