We use a family doc (Dr. Carrie Carlson) and love her. I know some prefer a ped b/c they specialize in children but I have had no issues with Carlson lacking in experience or knowledge.
We have a family practice doctor, and we have been very happy with that arrangement. That way our whole family sees the same doctor, and he knows us all. We have been fortunate not to have had any health issues with any of our children, but I am confident that our doctor would refer us on if there were something we needed that he couldn't provide. Everyone has a different opinion on this, and you have to do what you feel comfortable with, but we love our doctor and wouldn't have it any other way!:)
We have used both and currently have a Family Practice Dr (Dr Kari Hultgren) and we love her. She is the first to admit if she can't handle something she will refer us on, but so far she has done great taking care of our Emma. I think if it is easier for you to use a family practice then go ahead and do it!
I had a family doctor for the first month. She never really seemed to answer any of my questions. Personally, I always walked out with more questions than when I went in. So I switched to a ped, Dr. Donna Weichnat, and couldn't be happier. As a first time mom I had lots of questions. I always go into every appointment with a list. She will take the time to answer them all. Great doctor! Maybe I just had a bad family doctor!
We go to a family doctor as well. She is always very informative and as long as your baby has no special needs that a fam dr may not specialize in, I think it is fine. I hope that makes sense..I mean if my baby was 4 mo premature obviously I'd go the ped route. Then again I'm sure if something came up your fam dr would recommend somewhere else too.
~Amy~
We go to a family doctor (Mark Rector). Can't say enough nice things about him! However, I agree with the other posts...if she had some special needs, I am confident that he would refer us to someone more specialized.
http://www.sanfordhealth.org/CradleRoll/BabyList.cfm?CradleRollParentId=21188
Personally I prefer a Ped over a family doctor for my daughter. I did try a family doc for a short period of time when we moved; but I just wasnt happy with her and she basically would tell me I was overreacting; so I switched to a Ped again and have been so happy! I just feel that they are trained and specialized in children and that is where I need to take my children. I personally dont mind driving a little more to see a ped.
I prefer my pediatrician. Long story, but I LOVE him and would not take my kids elsewhere. Hubby and I have a perfectly great FP, but for the kids we really feel we have been better off with a pediatrician.
We chose our FP and she's done great. It seems like we got in more quickly than my friends who were taking their babies into peds during the flu season. Another good thing was that when we take our baby in, there's such a mix of patients that have different needs so it seemed like my baby wasn't being exposed to other children with illnesses. My daughter is healthy so I feel like this is the best choice for us and we really love our doc. Congrats on your first baby.
We do family practice for our kids, however my stepson still sees a pediatrician(his mom's choice) I was very fond of our old fp doc but now he just does acute care :( Our new one is the one that replaced the old one, he's good at what he does but we don't have the same rapport. There are two Sanford family practice clinics on Sycamore. The one I go to is right across from WHS.
Pam,dss Jadeyn-11,ds Kristofer-6,dd's Bethany-3 & Emaleigh-1 & baby #5 ??? edd 2/18/09
With my first we had her go to the same family practice doctor that my husband and I went to. I always felt that he wasnt very thorough and that she never got a really good check up. Well when my second came along I decided to switch to DR. VanBeek a Peds doctor. She is amazing she answers all of my questions and then more. When my son was 5 months he ended up getting an infection in his knee. She took charge and made sure that Mason got the care that he needed and now its like it never happened. He is a normal 1 year old and can do more physical things then a lot of other 1 year olds I know. I am so happy that I switched doctors. I know that there are good and bad doctors in both areas its just finding a doctor that you truly trust and that you feel really cares for your child!
I take both my daughters to the FP doctor that I've had for almost ten years. She knows me, knows the family history, delivered both babies, and has three children herself. The biggest benefit for me is that she knows all of us forward and backward and always offers suggestions/advice on how something may affect everyone else in the household. It's kind of like she treats the whole family, not just one member. Just my personal opinion, no disrespect to peds or their specialty.
We go to a FP (Ecklund). I like having a FP Doctor that we can build our relationship with and stay with rather than switching when she becomes a certain age. I also feel it is important to find a doctor fits you and you can always set up an "interview" with them before you choose them. I waited last minute and only went off of a reccomendation from someone close to me and it worked out well.
At my place of employment (a medical facility), those of us who are parents have had this discussion several times. As a physician (not a FP or Ped) put it, "If you broke your ankle, would you let your FP set it? No, you'd go to an orthopod, a specialist. It is the same with your kids. They aren't just little people in big bodies. They have different needs and issues, and a Ped specializes in these things."
I used a FP for the first 2 years of the twins lives (they weren't premies or have any health issues). I was never really satisfied with how things went. We switched to a Ped, and I really feel like I'm getting the answers I need.
As with anything though, there are some really good FP's out there, and some not so good Peds. The most important thing is if you are uncomfortable with anything at your Dr.'s office, then switch. Don't stick with it for 2 years like I did thinking things will change.
Our little guy has multiple food allergies and was listed as Failure to Thrive due to his limited intake. We see our fam prac doctor for him with the basics - immunizations, ear infections, etc. We see our specialist at Sanford Childrens. We saw a specialist - ENT for his ears. Our whole family sees the fam prac doc, that way when one gets strep and another seems to also have it, I can just call and they know us and our whole fam and they will prescrib meds for the 2nd with strep. I love that our whole family sees one doc. If we have something SPECIAL that needs to be taken care of, we go to a specialist! It just seems to work for us! Our doc office is about 15 blocks from our house, so I LOVE that also.
Just remember, you are the patient. If you don't like the first doc you see, go to another one. You will know if/when you are comfortable! Good luck!
Thank you for this comment drovick! I have always said the same thing, and about 9 out of 10 times when friends have chosen FP/GP over a specialist, they usally end up calling me to ask my doc's name. I also insist on an OB/GYN for all my "girlie" needs and prefer to have her deliver my babies as well. Do you want the person who delivers 100's of babies or a handful. Thank you!
I haven't had my babies yet but I do plan on going to a ped but that's just because I'm having multiples. If I were having a singleton I would probably do a FP. I work with all the docs and I know them all and I can tell you that Dr. VanEs in Brandon is very good if you wanted to go to the Sanford clinic in Brandon. Hope you find what you're looking for.
I have seen him a few times for my own illness and I do like him, so that would be the plan was Dr VanEs....
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Mom-2-be, cloth diaperin, babywearing, maybe co-sleeping, soon to be breast feeding, tree huggin hippy!
We go to a ped. I guess growing up I always had a pediatrician so I never thought twice about taking our son to a family doctor. He ended up having some problems with being early, failure to thrive, reflux, and some heart problems that we went to the Specialty Clinic for so it worked out for us having a pediatrician.
-Mommy to Jaiden-
I use a Pediatrician for both of my kids. I love my FP physician, but I feel that when your child is young, they need to go to a Pedi. FP physcians see so many people of all ages and there are so many things they have to keep up with (immunizations, etc.), making their practice a very broad one. A Pedi is specialized in only children, so their practice is focused only on that. I would definetly use a Pedi, espcecially if this is your first child-there will be things that you never knew about. Good luck!
i just moved here from texas and the pediatrician i thought of using and so good with my daughter so far he makes little duck noises also... and my daughter loves that he knew exactly what was wrong with her just by what i was telling him what was going on with her. which was her acid reflux acting up again. but he works at the sanford hospital his name is tery lang. i think he is a great dr he reminds me of her old doctor in texas who took care of my whole family. he is great... just a recommendation
Okay. That's hilarious! As soon as I read the part about the duck noises I decided to reply and ask if it was Dr. Lang because he was my doctor when I was little and he did that Donald Duck impression even then. Then I read on and saw that you recommended him by name. My mom would also sing his praises because she credits him, along with the nurses at the time, with saving my younger brother's life. He was four months old when he contracted meningitis and if it wasn't for Dr. Lang's quick diagnosis and rushing him into Sioux Valley, my mom is certain he would not have fared as well. My brother came out of it fine, while his hospital roommate of about the same age sustained some pretty significant damage to his central nervous system that would affect him for the rest of his life. Anyway...I also prefer to use a pediatrician, but went with a different doctor at Pediatric Specialists because I figured Dr. Lang is about my parents' age, which means he'll probably retire before all of my kids are old enough to see a general practitioner. I wanted to be able to stick with the same doctor for all of my babies. We've been seeing Dr. Zylstra and have been pleased so far. He seems very knowledgeable, my kids like him and he is also very practical and doesn't just race to hand out meds.
he is pretty good i agree... granted when i went ot see dr lang was to get meds bc there really isnt anything else you can do to stop acid relux specially when it has ur kid throwing up 4-7 times a day and its all curdled and full with bubbles from the acid. and 4 times of throwing up is a good day. she was diegnoced with this before but it graduatlly went away but came back with a furry and we knew what it was once we saw that the throw up was curdled.. anyways i see why ur not wanting to go to dr lang but i know that he is a good dr and if he does indeed go and retire while my daughter is still in his care we will probably try and find another dr just like him and our old dr in texas
Oh, I wasn't trying to imply that Dr. Lang is a doctor who rushes to hand out meds, I was just pretty sure that the OP was the mom who referred to herself as "crunchy" and into doing things naturally. So I just figured she would be looking for a doctor who didn't hand out antibiotics like they were candy or freak out about every little thing. Dr. Zylstra seems to fit that bill. I was hoping to convey the message that Dr. Lang is a terrific doctor if that's the person she decides to go with, I just wanted her to know why I chose someone else and it had nothing to do with his skills as a doctor. I also know that acid reflux is real and would never criticize someone for helping their baby through that. I'm sure most doctors, and moms, would be willing to try medication in that scenario. Sorry if I gave the wrong impression with my previous post!
o i didnt get offended... sorry if it came off that way... ive noticed that some drs are very quick to had out drunsg and i try to keep from having my daughters dr doing that.. now a days drs think that medicine and antibiotics are the bext thing in the world but did you know that it a child or person has taken too many antibiolics that their body will be ammune to it and wont kill off whatever they are sick with... so i can see her an dur concern to have a dr that doesnt had out meds like they are candy...
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This is our first kid, and the other day at my appointment thay asked me if I had picked out a Dr for the kid yet.... um NO I wasn't aware I should do that before she was born.:S
Anyway we live in Brandon and I really don't want to drive to Sioux Falls for everything health related so my question is what do you prefer a family doc or a Ped? If I go the family route I can take my little one to the Brandon Clinic...otherwise it is back to Sioux Falls for me....