Non Vax and Well Baby visits

[tararaboomdeea]

We're not going to anymore. I don't see the point of taking my healthy baby to a germ infested office so that we can see his weight and have him compared to other babies his age. We'll take him at a year, and every year oafter that, unless we have concerns. But our Ped isn't very happy that we're not vaxing and I'd rather not have that pressure to deal with everytime we go. I know Noah is gaining weight, I know he's healthy, so that's good enough for me

[laprettygurl]

I take Cass with me to be weighed/measured when I go for my yearly pap/breast exam.

[urchin_grey]

We go regularly. Bram has joint, growth, and neurological problems so it would be neglectful for US not to.

[Gaiaschild]

I went with dd until she was 7 months old. That's when we decided that we wanted to delay her vax schedule. Since we were apart of Kaiser HMO at the time, we simply stopped going to WBV. They couldn't quite comprehend that we wanted to delay her vaxes.

By the time ds was born, we skipped vaxes altogether. He's never had a vax. ( He was also home, waterbirth so we were able to decline more easily most of the vaxes that come at birth.) Until he was 15 months, he had never seen a doctor.

We had waited so long mostly because I was the working parent and my insurance options had changed. I went from a part time to a full time position. We switched from HMO to PPO. I researched whom we wanted to go to. It took a bit of time and they did question why we hadn't seen a doctor sooner, but I'm happy with who we are seeing. In fact, I have to schedule ds's next appointment for Oct.

We decided that it was much more important to know who we were going to see and for them to respect our decision to not vax (but this waivers each day as dh and I continually discuss whether or not we wish to be selective or just skip them entirely.) I'm happy to say that we finally found an office who does and supports our extended breastfeeding relationship.

I also have to second the book reccomendation "How to Raise a Healthy Child...In spite of your Doctor," amongst other titles.

[Gaiaschild]

Originally Posted by SoftBumBaby We go! I like the assurance of having his eyes and ears looked at and getting his weight and length. I never thought of not going just b/c we're not vaxing, hmm!

Just curious,...

When we weren't going, we'd do this at home. I don't see the need to go to a doctor to do what we could do at home. I could see going more from the "I want documentation just in case it came into question with DPSS" as a more valid reason (and I'm also in SoCal. If I may ask, who do you see? Currently we're seeing Dr. Fleiss in LA, whose office I absolutely !)

[YumaDoula]

I don't do well-child visits. We moved to another state when my boys were 2.5yo and my girl was 3 mos. I took them all to the ped just to meet him, but he actually suggested that I don't have to bring them in for well-childs if I'm not going to vax. It's a small practice and he does see us at least once or twice a year because someone gets sick and then all 3 get sick. People always ask me how much my kids weigh; I have absolutely no idea. They all have height charts that dh built and painted, so I know how tall they all are!

[KiMayaMama]

I don't vax and I don't do well baby visits. The only thing the doctor does at them is pressure me to vax and if I even attempt to bring information to support why I'm not vaxing they don't want to see any of it- they write me off as a whacko and give me no respect so I don't go to the doctor anymore unless my baby is sick.

[ChurchPunkMom]

Nope, we don't go. I weigh and measure my dd at home and also measure and weigh the boys. Eliana has never seen a doctor. I'll probably take her soon however, she has a large birth mark on her thigh and I want a doctor to look at it and make sure it's not something that will cause her problems later in life. I love our pediatricians, so I have no problem taking her there.

[momovthree]

Personally I like to take them so they can see the doc while they are well. It gives them the chance to be in the office and see the doctor when nothing "bad" is happening to them.

Recently my daughter had to get stitches and was terrified of course. I can only imagine how much worse it would have been had she not been used to seeing a doctor, being in the office, etc.

I think the positive experience of a well visit is important.

[sewingmama2005]

We skip them. Our Ped is great, she is from India and thinks it's wonderful that we CD, BF and don't vax. She says, "there's no reason to bring a healthy kid into a sick office so we can weigh and measure them, you can do that at home."