Are baby/child well visits worth it in the end

[mybodymyself]

Always wonder about this. I'm on the fence on this.

Thank you.

[Mama Calidad]

For our family, it is. It gives my kids a chance to get to know the doctor/NP at a time when they're feeling well. DS especially has a hard time with new people and that's much more pronounced when he is feeling sick. It doesn't really matter if the first well visit DS completely hides behind me and they only coax him out to look halfway in one ear and verify that he does indeed have a heart. That doesn't work so much when the doctor needs to actually examine him to see what's wrong. :giggle

[Mother of Sons]

For us, yes definitely.

[allisonintx]

For our family, absolutely not. If the doc isn't actively doing something for me, I don't want anything to do with them, and lining their pockets with wellbaby money is not something I'm intersted in.

We have a family chiro whom we see with regularity.

[simplegirl]

Just my opinion here...but I think they're worth it but on a much different schedule than the norm. I think it's important for your child to know your Dr. and vice versa, especially for when there IS a problem. We don't vac' so it's easy for me to say this, I think it's ridiculous the amount of well visits that are protocal with a newborn through the first year. I took ds at 6 months and a year. Those were the only well visits we've had so far.

[loveberry]

For our family, absolutely not. If the doc isn't actively doing something for me, I don't want anything to do with them, and lining their pockets with wellbaby money is not something I'm intersted in.


Totally agree. Plus, every time we were there we got sick after, from being around all the sick people. :/

[inesperada]

I definitely think well baby checkups are important and worth it *for my family*.

[mybodymyself]

Laura, mother of sons, Allison, Melinda, Jess, Liz,

Ditto with all of you especially what Melinda said here.

Thank you.

[Heather Micaela]

Yes but not at the frequency they want (Which is a vax scedule)

[Benjaminswife]

I definitely think well baby checkups are important and worth it *for my family*.


:yes

[3PeasInAPod]

:think When ds was very little, I looked forward to them. It was nice to get an accurate weight & length, & be re-assurred he's growing well & displaying age-appropriate functions. But I was a new mom too. Now that my ds is 22 months & I feel more educated - I don't plan to go to as many with our next baby (if we can avoid it).

[mybodymyself]

:think When ds was very little, I looked forward to them. It was nice to get an accurate weight & length, & be re-assurred he's growing well & displaying age-appropriate functions. But I was a new mom too. Now that my ds is 22 months & I feel more educated - I don't plan to go to as many with our next baby (if we can avoid it).


Kristie,

Thank you for your response. Ditto on what you said on this.

[Eowyn]

For our family, yes, worth it. :yes

[Firebird Rising]

I think for a first baby, it was nice to have someone affirming our choices. I was also in love with our kind family physician who made me feel like the best mom in the world.

I have no such doctor here. I want one, I just haven't found them yet and I'm on state aid so it's harder to find them.

After 6 months, we didn't go to the doctor anymore, just had no need to.

Jen D.

[mybodymyself]

I think for a first baby, it was nice to have someone affirming our choices. I was also in love with our kind family physician who made me feel like the best mom in the world.

I have no such doctor here. I want one, I just haven't found them yet and I'm on state aid so it's harder to find them.

After 6 months, we didn't go to the doctor anymore, just had no need to.

Jen D.


Jen,

So, sorry to hear about your current situation and ditto at the same time.

Thank you.

[BearyBlessed]

We see an awesome naturopath, so I actually look forward to seeing her. I also like to make sure that everything is going ok with the little guy since I'm a first time mom. I'm not sure what I will do if we are blessed with more kids. It will probably partly depend on what doctor we have at the time.

[Sylvia]

I enjoy them. I like knowing what her accurate height and weight are, and I agree about it helps if kidlets aren't sick the first time they meet someone!

[tree_hugger]

I enjoyed taking DS1 to the nurse to be weighed and measured. It was reassuring to me to see he was growing and thriving under my care! :giggle

But I stopped going after about a year or so, and I never took the other boys. I'm experienced mama, I know when something is up with my boys and they need to be seen.

We don't vax so there is no need to go in regularly.

:)

[lettucebabies]

For our family, absolutely not. If the doc isn't actively doing something for me, I don't want anything to do with them, and lining their pockets with wellbaby money is not something I'm intersted in.



ditto.. i also think the amount of well baby check helps to inflate the already high insurance costs in this country... but that's a whole nother can of worms lol

[Lavender Lily]

I also disagree with the frequent visits but I do think they're worth it. I like to see the progress my child is making. With ds I was always on top of it, he was vax'ed so he had to go. But with dd2 she's not vax'ed I was taking her from birth to about 6 months thats when we moved. She will be going to her first one since we moved its her 1 year tomorrow. Its a Family practice doctor, I've made sure that we all (kids and I) have the same doctor so that way when we go the kids get used to seeing her regardless if its for them or I. Ds doesn't like doctors normally but since he's gotten used to seeing this doctor so much he doesn't cry when she comes into the room.

[musicmama]

It was definitely worth it for us so far. I never would have known how serious my supply issue was if I didn't know my child had lost almost a pound! Our well-baby visits also counted as reflux and med checks, so it was good. It's still good. For us, we'd do it again.

[milkmommy]

I'm alive because of well child visits. I do believe strongly in them. I don't neccesarly feel they need to follow the more traditional schedule that often are vaccination schedules.

[mybodymyself]

I don't neccesarly feel they need to follow the more traditional schedule that often are vaccination schedules.


Deanna,

Ditto on not neccessarly to follow traditional schedule because of the vaccination.

Thank you.

[mammal_mama]

I'm alive because of well child visits. I do believe strongly in them. I don't neccesarly feel they need to follow the more traditional schedule that often are vaccination schedules.


Do you mean your mom took you to a well child visit when you were (or appeared to be) completely well and she had absolutely no concerns about your health -- and the doctor happened to notice a problem which you would have died from, if he hadn't noticed it and intervened? Or do you mean that your mom took you in with a concern about your health, and the doctor got to the root of the problem?

I don't want to sound disbelieving if it was the first scenario, and your mom had absolutely no idea there was anything abnormal going on. I realize there are some extremely rare cases like this. But I think generally mothers are the first to notice if there's something out-of-whack about their children's health.

Of course, if the first scenario was your reality, I can see why it would seem worthwhile to take your own healthy children to the doctor, just in case. But since it seems like such a remote possibility to me, I think more of the germs from all the sick people (mentioned by a pp), and also the possibility that I'll get razzed (or worse) for extended breastfeeding or not vaxing. I've even heard of some cases where doctors insisted on hospitalizing children to find out why they were (to the doctor's way of thinking) over-weight (or under-weight). And some doctors even view some AP practices as abusive.

I personally don't find routine doctor visits helpful. We do go if there's a problem that I'm not capable of dealing with at home -- but I don't see any reason to unnecessarily draw attention to our non-mainstream family.

I used to think I wanted to find one family doctor that me, my husband, and my kids could all bond with and see for our entire lives. But then reality hit: in 8 years of marriage, dh has held 6 different jobs; the insurance changes every time. Right now we can't afford the insurance through dh's job, and the girls have Medicaid. If we're later able to get insurance, who knows if their current doctor will be covered by the new policy? So I've given up trying to "bond," and just view doctors as people to turn to when we have a problem that nothing else seems to be solving.

We do bond with people in the community, like our mail-carrier!

[mybodymyself]

Never mind

[GodChick]

Do you mean your mom took you to a well child visit when you were (or appeared to be) completely well and she had absolutely no concerns about your health -- and the doctor happened to notice a problem which you would have died from, if he hadn't noticed it and intervened? Or do you mean that your mom took you in with a concern about your health, and the doctor got to the root of the problem?

I don't want to sound disbelieving if it was the first scenario, and your mom had absolutely no idea there was anything abnormal going on. I realize there are some extremely rare cases like this. But I think generally mothers are the first to notice if there's something out-of-whack about their children's health.

i'll let deanna speak moore for hwerself when she can, but IIRC, she had a heart problem that was NOT symptomatic at the time her mother took her in, and the doc caught it BEFORE deanna exhibited any syptoms. deanna can correct me if i'm wrong. but the reason i remember this tidbit about her is because i had a similar situation. i have a heart defect. it didn't cause symptoms my mother would have been able to see -- it manifested as only a slight fluttering/palpating feeling in my chest, not painful, all throughtout my childhood. (in my later years, it vecame more pronoiunced causing syncope) but as a baby, there was no way i could have comunicated to my mother that there was a slight fluttering sensation in my chest -- it's unlikely as an infant i even took notice of it. i take my babies for well visits, so the doc can listen to their hearts. i agree also that it's not necessary to take them according to the vax schedule, though.

[mybodymyself]

mammal_mama,

Sorta ditto with what you said, but I'm with godchick on her response.

Thank you.

[milkmommy]

Do you mean your mom took you to a well child visit when you were (or appeared to be) completely well and she had absolutely no concerns about your health -- and the doctor happened to notice a problem which you would have died from, if he hadn't noticed it and intervened? Or do you mean that your mom took you in with a concern about your health, and the doctor got to the root of the problem?

It was a bit of both. I was a sickly baby born with fairly severe asthma issues so doctors became part of my life right from the start but my parents were at the same time never ones to rush to the doctor. We happend to have a well child check up (actually a follow up but a rare instance when I was really 'well' and the issues with my heart could suddenly be heard. It wasn't ong before surgury was decided on This was in January and surgury was scheduled for that May. However in February I had what my parents thought was a bad asthma attacked but it turned out to be organ failure. The well child visit and discovery of the issue meant that I already had a cardiologist and doctors in place and things while took a bad and potientlially deadly turn if we;d waited till I really showed symptoms it could have been too late. I'm EVERY much about finding a doctor (natural more "traditional" ect that your families comfortable with that you trust if at all possible. I'm NOT for just going to the doctor over every little sneeze or just 20 times a year. I searched and off of lousy state innsuarance (talk about annoying) and when we payed out of pocket to find a dr whos respectful of my choices on vaccines that both accepted and promoted my desire to nurse past the 1 even 2 year mark (and I also kept things to what she needs to hear) :shrug I also avoid say setting a well child appointment during cold flu season and other percautions I deam appropiate for my family. SO far we have no issues of her ever getting sick from a well child check up. :shrug
Frankly this is what I feel is best for my family if another feels diffrently that is fine with me :shrug however I was simpily answering the OP question and really don't feel like I need to justify my answer. :hugheart

Deanna

[mybodymyself]

Do you mean your mom took you to a well child visit when you were (or appeared to be) completely well and she had absolutely no concerns about your health -- and the doctor happened to notice a problem which you would have died from, if he hadn't noticed it and intervened? Or do you mean that your mom took you in with a concern about your health, and the doctor got to the root of the problem?

It was a bit of both. I was a sickly baby born with fairly severe asthma issues so doctors became part of my life right from the start but my parents were at the same time never ones to rush to the doctor. We happend to have a well child check up (actually a follow up but a rare instance when I was really 'well' and the issues with my heart could suddenly be heard. It wasn't ong before surgury was decided on This was in January and surgury was scheduled for that May. However in February I had what my parents thought was a bad asthma attacked but it turned out to be organ failure. The well child visit and discovery of the issue meant that I already had a cardiologist and doctors in place and things while took a bad and potientlially deadly turn if we;d waited till I really showed symptoms it could have been too late. I'm EVERY much about finding a doctor (natural more "traditional" ect that your families comfortable with that you trust if at all possible. I'm NOT for just going to the doctor over every little sneeze or just 20 times a year. I searched and off of lousy state innsuarance (talk about annoying) and when we payed out of pocket to find a dr whos respectful of my choices on vaccines that both accepted and promoted my desire to nurse past the 1 even 2 year mark (and I also kept things to what she needs to hear) :shrug I also avoid say setting a well child appointment during cold flu season and other percautions I deam appropiate for my family. SO far we have no issues of her ever getting sick from a well child check up. :shrug
Frankly this is what I feel is best for my family if another feels diffrently that is fine with me :shrug however I was simpily answering the OP question and really don't feel like I need to justify my answer. :hugheart

Deanna


Deanna,

So, sorry to read your story about your health problems. Ditto that baby/child well visits are worth it in the end along those lines.

Thank you.

[milkmommy]

Do you mean your mom took you to a well child visit when you were (or appeared to be) completely well and she had absolutely no concerns about your health -- and the doctor happened to notice a problem which you would have died from, if he hadn't noticed it and intervened? Or do you mean that your mom took you in with a concern about your health, and the doctor got to the root of the problem?

I don't want to sound disbelieving if it was the first scenario, and your mom had absolutely no idea there was anything abnormal going on. I realize there are some extremely rare cases like this. But I think generally mothers are the first to notice if there's something out-of-whack about their children's health.

i'll let deanna speak moore for hwerself when she can, but IIRC, she had a heart problem that was NOT symptomatic at the time her mother took her in, and the doc caught it BEFORE deanna exhibited any syptoms. deanna can correct me if i'm wrong. but the reason i remember this tidbit about her is because i had a similar situation. i have a heart defect. it didn't cause symptoms my mother would have been able to see -- it manifested as only a slight fluttering/palpating feeling in my chest, not painful, all throughtout my childhood. (in my later years, it vecame more pronoiunced causing syncope) but as a baby, there was no way i could have comunicated to my mother that there was a slight fluttering sensation in my chest -- it's unlikely as an infant i even took notice of it. i take my babies for well visits, so the doc can listen to their hearts. i agree also that it's not necessary to take them according to the vax schedule, though.


Yes thank you. :hugheart Mine did require surgury (2) to help correct actually by the time it was repaired at age 4 my heart had been working so hard they said I had a heart of a 25 year old. I will never regain that. Luckily I was blessed with god doctors and have a second chance :heart
My niece was also diagnoised in a well child visit with a condition (but not the same) luckily hers shoud be okay to leave alone it will be monitered though.

[mybodymyself]

Do you mean your mom took you to a well child visit when you were (or appeared to be) completely well and she had absolutely no concerns about your health -- and the doctor happened to notice a problem which you would have died from, if he hadn't noticed it and intervened? Or do you mean that your mom took you in with a concern about your health, and the doctor got to the root of the problem?

I don't want to sound disbelieving if it was the first scenario, and your mom had absolutely no idea there was anything abnormal going on. I realize there are some extremely rare cases like this. But I think generally mothers are the first to notice if there's something out-of-whack about their children's health.

i'll let deanna speak moore for hwerself when she can, but IIRC, she had a heart problem that was NOT symptomatic at the time her mother took her in, and the doc caught it BEFORE deanna exhibited any syptoms. deanna can correct me if i'm wrong. but the reason i remember this tidbit about her is because i had a similar situation. i have a heart defect. it didn't cause symptoms my mother would have been able to see -- it manifested as only a slight fluttering/palpating feeling in my chest, not painful, all throughtout my childhood. (in my later years, it vecame more pronoiunced causing syncope) but as a baby, there was no way i could have comunicated to my mother that there was a slight fluttering sensation in my chest -- it's unlikely as an infant i even took notice of it. i take my babies for well visits, so the doc can listen to their hearts. i agree also that it's not necessary to take them according to the vax schedule, though.


Yes thank you. :hugheart Mine did require surgury (2) to help correct actually by the time it was repaired at age 4 my heart had been working so hard they said I had a heart of a 25 year old. I will never regain that. Luckily I was blessed with god doctors and have a second chance :heart
My niece was also diagnoised in a well child visit with a condition (but not the same) luckily hers shoud be okay to leave alone it will be monitered though.


Deanna,

Your :welcome and so sorry for your niece with the same problem. Wonder if its inheritory disorder.

:ty

[milkmommy]

No there not mine was a condition passed on by my mother because of an illines she contracted during pregancy thats all I'll say on that. My nieces condition was completely diffrent just happend it wasn't at all related.

[mybodymyself]

No there not mine was a condition passed on by my mother because of an illines she contracted during pregancy thats all I'll say on that. My nieces condition was completely diffrent just happend it wasn't at all related.


Deanna,

:ty and thats still interesting no matter what.

[mammal_mama]

Deanna, :hug Thanks for sharing! I certainly don't feel you need to justify your decision as to what's best for your own family, and your story gave me some pause to think about my idea that if something's wrong, Mother's always going to be the first to know.

I still think that's usually true (that mothers pick up on problems/unusualities before doctors do) -- but obviously there are some situations, like the one you've shared, where that's not the case.

I believe God put things in place for you, so that you happened to be at that well child checkup when you were well enough that the heart problem was noticed. I guess that's kind of where I'm at about the whole issue: I'll no longer say, "No, well child visits are absolutely not necessary" -- now I just think each mother needs to be attentive to her own child and to the Holy Spirit's leading.

It's kind of like when I was pregnant with my second child, and felt okay about not seeing anyone (doctor or midwife) until I started seeing my midwife in the third trimester. I felt no need for ultrasound or any care that wasn't provided by my midwife (she just checked vital signs, measured, and had me check my pee for sugar and protein). I felt okay even knowing some of the other tests can be life-saving in some cases. I just had a gut feeling that, as a 40-year-old overweight pregnant mama, it was safer to stay out of the medical system if at all possible.

I was fully open to God speaking to my gut, and telling me I needed medicalized care if this was the case; I really believe He would have. And of course, I believe He's speaking to me all the time, so I want to remain open to any leading He gives, regardless of whether it's something I normally "believe in" doing.

[milkmommy]

Oh I do NOT dismiss mother knows best super power. :heart :heart

Deanna

[AttachedMamma]

FTR, our DD is 7yo and isn't vaxed, still co-sleepts occasionally, we are a natural, AP family.

I did all the well baby visits. My DD was very colicky and the doc I had at the time (disguised himself as respectful to AP and no vaxing) virtually blamed DD's colicky behavior on me. Then he tried to talk us into vaxs. He moved to a different clinic so I changed docs. Again, took DD regularly to the well visits. It wasn't until DD was 3 that they discovered her heart defect. Apparently it's harder to hear in younger kiddos. On one hand I was really angry that I had faithfully taken DD to all the well visits and yet they didn't detect her heart defect for 3 years. OTOH, I gave it up to God's sovereignty that He knew the right timing to reveal that to our family.

So I really am glad I did take DD to the well visits b/c she was hardly ever sick so she wouldn't have been there otherwise. And by the time her defect was discovered, her heart was working really hard and was quite enlarged. There weren't any outward symptoms to us, though I pleaded w/my doc all the while she was colicky, had reflux, etc. as a baby. (Interestingly, doctors later discovered that DD had an additional hole in her heart at birth which had closed up by the time they discovered the other problems.)

I had to ignore some of the "advice" given to me by the Peds, but that was good experience b/c parenting is such a minefield of opposing views, it toughened my resolve. :)

When I was choosing a doc, I really wanted someone who shared my parenting beliefs. In a perfect world, I would have a Ped who is brilliant and shared my beliefs. But I would take brilliant over beliefs only b/c I could tune-out what I disagree with. :P~ In the end, you're there to make sure your child is physically (and mentally) healthy. You can discard the editorials. :giggle

Ok, more info than you needed. :shifty

cindi

[Rabbit]

I have really appreciated developing a relationship with a family doc, instead of a ped. My children are familiar with her, and she knows them well. Well enough that when I brought Samantha in with the flu once she knew that it was serious for Sam, because Samantha's behaviour was so far off from her norm, while still perfectly normal for another child. They're comfortable in her office, never scared. I believe her when she says my kids are healthy, when I'm worried that I'm wrong, that something disastrous is looming. (I have multiple anxiety disorders. I don't believe any more in "momma knows best" about everything.)

I wouldn't go to well child visits with just any ped out of the book. I might never do well child visits with a ped at all. My kids are in a pretty special practice, with unusual procedures like only taking same day appointments, and keeping a less than 5 minute wait time. For us, it's worth every second. We even enjoy the outing.

[mybodymyself]

rabbit,

Ditto on appreciated developing a relationship with a family doc then a ped and your own as well.

:ty

[bliss]

I will agree with Allison in TX (not big on well-baby visits here) - with Booger they were constant opportunities to be harassed about my age, welfare status, parenting choices, etc. With Turkey, the few I attended were opportunities to harass me on my lack of vaxing, my knowledge that my milk would come in and my baby could not have lost over a pound in one day, etc. (one of those don't get me started topics) but I will say that one reason I was confident in not going to all the well-babies was that I happen to be surrounded by knowledgable people in my daily life. My mom has always been in the medical field, another friend is a ped. nurse, another a nutritionist, etc. So I had a community of support to ask questions of, that made me less likely to run to the Dr. for little things. (Plus that's just how I was raised, my mom rarely took us to the Dr., using home remedies and common sense for most ailments instead.)

edit to correct mind-boggling grammatical error :shifty