Should I trust my daughter's pediatrician?

Question

I usually try to trust a doctor's advice for the most part, but there are some things that my daughter's pediatrician has suggested that I'm questioning. What do you think of this?

1.) My daughter is only 4 mo. old. The doctor advised us to feed her rice cereal (as much as she wants) twice a day. I think this is too much to give her right off since her little system is having a hard time digesting it. I mentioned that, and she said, "She'll get used to it."

2. I asked her about when to take her pacificer away and she said, "Let her have it for at least 18 months." I think this is waaay too long, but she said she needs to suck it until all of her teeth come in.

3. She wants us to start jarred foods at 5 months and only wants us to wait two days between introducing the next food. For example, carrots for two days, sweet potatoes for two days, etc. I thought you were supposed to wait at least 5 days between foods to make sure there is no allergic reaction.

Answer 1

That's kind of unusual that your ped would have such specific recommendations (2 days inbetween new foods, rice cereal twice a day as much as she wants, pacifier till 18 mos). I mean why not 3 days inbetween foods, rice cereal 3 times a day, pacifier till 12 months? That seems total random and arbitrary to me.

You can take your MD's advice with a grain of salt when it comes to things like this. How and when to start solids is really up to your preference and when baby is developmentally ready and interested. Go from your baby's cues and not the rigid guidelines your pediatrician has suggested. None of these things in and of itself mean you need to change pediatricians - if she is a good experienced doctor with good skills & assessment of the patient, you can get into appts, you're not kept waiting, she takes time to talk to you, you never feel rushed and she answers your questions adequately, good bedside manner, etc all those things are more important.

Answer 2

I wouldn't read too much into it. Just do things as they feel right. Every baby is different as we both know (since ours are like night and day sometimes LOL) so just do what you feel is right.

Evelyn will be fine whether you give her cereal twice a day or once every 3 days, it's really just up to you. If you think she's not digesting it well then reduce the feedings or try a different kind...just do what your motherly instincts are telling you to do. You know her best and therefore when it comes to things like this you are the best judge. With the jarred foods, to be completely honest it's extremely rare for a baby to be allergic to these foods. As long as you are feeding her the typical starter foods (green beans, peas, squash, sweet potatoes, bananas, applesauce, pears...) you really run a very minimal risk of allergy. When was the last time you heard someone say, "My baby is dealthly allergic to green beans" LOL So waiting only 2 days is perfectly fine as most food allergies appear in the form of a rash within 48 hours of being introduced to it.

As for the pacifier thing, I personally think that they need to be thrown out much sooner than that. In the line of work I am in I have seen all kinds of children and one of the common denominators of children who's speech is either non-existent or garbled is having a pacifier too long. Logan's was taken away at 8 months and his verbal skills are still far above other children I know that had paciifiers past one year old. Once they reach about 10 months it becomes a crutch and most kids by then will want it all the time, which is a hard habit to break.

I guess what it all comes down to is that you are the parent and you are entitled to make the decisions about when and how you do things, the Dr. is just there for support and to keep her healthy. Don't second guess your judgement, you are a wonderful mother :)

Answer 3

I think you should do your own research and determine if these answers are best for your child. I have a 12 month old and here is what I did for my kid:

1. I didn't feed her anything other than breastmilk/formula for 6 months. The latest research shows that introducing solids too early can cause allergies.
2. Our daughter only uses a pacifier at night and our doctor said the same thing - take it away at 18 months. There is some evidence that pacifier use decreases the risk of SIDS. My kid is still a very "sucky" kid - she seems to need it at night still. I've heard you should be able to tell when your kid has moved on from it though.
3. Again, we started jarred foods after rice/grains at 6 months because of the allergy concerns. We did introduce new foods every 3 days. The 3 day waiting period was to make sure there was no allergic reaction. But yes, once you start giving them solids, go at it fast and furious. I have a GREAT eater now - she eats everything you put in front of her, but she is still only in the 45% for weight, so she's not a chunk-baby.

This is what worked for my kid. Do your own research or get a second opinion about these items for your kid.

Answer 4

In the order asked:

1. If your daughter is satisfied by her current feedings and is growing fine, it's perfectly okay to wait to introduce cereal. The docs I work for say to wait until 5 or 6 months anyway. If you want to introduce it, start with a tablespoon or so once or twice a day - whichever works best for you.

2. You can stop the pacifier at any time. The older she gets, the harder it will be to take it away. Besides, once she gets teeth, there have been studies that show it leads to them coming in to give her an overbite. Save money on orthodontics - take it away whenever you feel you can!

3. You don't have to start jarred foods until she's 6 months old. I would wait at least three days, preferably five, in between new foods to make sure there's no allergic reaction. I would also start with the green ones - save the carrots and sweet potatoes for last before the fruit. Because they're sweet, babies LOVE them, and if you introduce those before the icky green ones (peas, green beans, etc.) they won't want the green ones, they'll ONLY want the sweet ones!

I've learned that moms know their own kid, and their gut instinct is usually right. Trust your gut.

Answer 5

I think in some cases you have to trust your instincts and I think your instincts may be on target in this case. Guidelines and advice change all the time and physicians aren't infallible.

If your baby is having a hard time getting used to the cereal, back off to once a day and see how she does. Don't start jarred foods until your baby can tolerate the cereal. If she doesn't like ,or do well with the rice, try another single grained cereal, like oatmeal or barley.

The pacifier question, I think, really depends on the child AND the parent. 18 months is probably the upper limit, but by then the child shouldn't have it all the time anyway. But, there's certainly no harm in taking it away earlier if that's what you want to do. I'm a counselor and I have to say that in all the years I've been working with people, I've never had a patient who has come to me with issues related to their parent's taking away their pacifier :)

What my granddaughter's pediatrician just told my daughter about the jarred foods was to wait 3 - 5 days between introducing new foods and if any particular food didn't agree with her, to back off and try it again in a few weeks or a month.

Answer 6

No, i do not continuously believe my baby's pediatrician. I continuously believe my gut though. at the same time as my twins were basically 6 weeks previous one among them were given quite ill. He became wheezing, coughing, having apnea, and basically an established complicated time respiratory. I took him to the pediatrician and he or she reported each and every thing became fantastic and he basically had a small chilly. I knew there became something more desirable incorrect with him than only a chilly. My husband and that i wanting to take him to a baby's well-being middle ER. From there he became admitted on the instantaneous to the wide care unit because he had RSV, pneumonia, and the flu all mutually. He became quite ill. Later that evening he became having one of those complicated time respiratory he had to be placed on a respirator and stayed on it for over a week. established he stayed interior the well-being middle for almost 3 months. Had I listened the physician who's conscious if my son will be right here now. for sure after that i got here upon a sparkling pediatrician who's remarkable, yet each and every now and then I nonetheless 2d wager her. i'm not afraid to inform her though that I disagree with a prognosis and would like something else done. on your case i'd genuinely believe your instincts, they under no circumstances steer you incorrect. Get a 2d opinion and probable a sparkling physician.

Answer 7

Both my kids had rice cereal and veggies a few times a day at that age. As far as the pacifier, that's an issue between you are the child..not the doctor. I waited only 2 days between new foods.

Answer 8

We have four children,ages 4 6 8 10,I have been told eveything you have been told and have listened to there advice.Yes they can eat the rice cereal,as much as they need,they will get used ot it,the process needs to start with the basics.we let our children have there pacifiers unitl they are ready to give it up,it is something they really need to make them feel SAFE,as the foods,we did as we were told too.as far as the allergies,you can have them tested for that.we did,and found out our son was deathly allergic to peanuts.Hope this helps.Steve

Answer 9

I think that giving ceral to a young baby is not a good idea. just think when they where in the womb they didnt require anything else but what u had so in thoery it would be the same out here.giving him ceral now would just make him dependant on having it always and thats not always a good thing..hope this help i never gave anything other than milk to all of my children