What is with having to ask your doctor for everything? I have been around here for a while now and when i read

Question

the answers to some of peoples questions. Like when to start solids? What formula to use? Everyone always just says do what your doctor says. Does everyone really ask their doctor about all these things. I personally read about the pros and cons of these things like starting solids between 4 and 6 months and decide on my own if my baby is ready. I know about the tongue thrust reflex and all that and i try it if it doesnt' work i try later. One doctor tells you one thing and another tells you something else. I tell my doctor what we are doing now and make my own decisions by weighing the info myself. Is this so wrong. Should i call my doctor before i go for a walk and see if it's okay.

I do not claim to know all the answers.

I don't mean to seem enraged, i am not i just think it's ridiculous that some answerers get on people about asking a simple question on here and their only answer is for them to ask a doctor. I think that is appropriate for major problems but not every little decision.

To lauri888, proactive that's a good choice of words, that's exactly what i am talking about.

Answer 1

Look at it this way.

First, to a large extent you are right. Patients must be pro-active in their health care. Health care providers and patients "should" be making health care decisions together.

But there are a couple things you need to consider. First, doctors DO spend many years in school specifically learning about the things that we go to see them about. They can't learn it all, of course, and a doctor who can't say "I don't know" is not a doctor I would want to see. However, in general, people go to doctors for answers and treatment to things they can't take care of themselves. And in that line of people in the doctor's office there will always be someone who goes for every little thing, like a hangnail, and someone who only goes when their life might actually be on the line. And some, too late.

The concept you seem to have a problem with is that not everybody is knowledgeable enough to know how to look things up, much less how to research so that they are making judgements based on fact and not fiction (the internet has a lot of fiction, too). So yes, some people really do ask their doctors all of these questions.

And, some people find it easier to just check in 'answers' for random individuals' opinions, some of which is good advice and some which is just wrong, wrong, wrong.

All in all some of the best things we learn are from others' experiences. It would be nice if we could always learn from someone else's mistakes and not our own, wouldn't it?

You would think one clue on the accuracy of an answer might be whether or not they use proper sentence structure or capitalization or mispellings, but obviously this isn't the case either.

Answer 2

I feel that it's hard to find a good doctor these days. One that actually cares and that will listen. I feel that they are just too quick with thier patients today. And in the end after the advise you get from the doc it all comes down to what you decide. I have a 4.5 mo old son and his ped said that we can start him on solids between 4-6 mo. We have introduced it here and there but when I sit down and think about it, I feel he is still too young and have decided to wait a little longer. He has plenty of time to learn how to eat like a big boy in my eyes so why rush it if he does fine on his formula. You can call your doctor all you want and ask a million questions about your kid but they can't tell you what to do and they don't always necessarily have the right answer for you. Of course if it's a serious situation result in calling the doc. But I think it's nice since I'm a first time mom to get other parents opinions and what they did out of curiousity.

Answer 3

I totally agree with what your saying, I mean I started my daugther on rice cereal at 2 1/2 months and most books say 4 - 6 months. I told my doctor what I did at her 3 month visit and he was fine with it, she was eating 7oz of formula and that was not satisfying her, so I bought rice cereal and fed her by a spoon and she did awesome. 5 months now and shes still doing great. I decide on my own, Im with the child more then doctor, he sees her once a month. But if someone is asking serious questions, then I say talk to the doctor. But you don't have to be so irrate about it, some people just feel that the doctor knows the baby and if the parent can't decide on their own and needs advice from other parents, then maybe the doctor knows best. I mean someone might ask if its ok if their child eats rice cereal but we have no idea what that child is like, and if the parent isn't sure they are ready, then the doctor should know. Im a first time mom and I knew when my baby was ready for food, so Im sure others can figure it out on their own.

Answer 4

I answer with ask your doctor when someone is asking about a potentially serious condition, that should probably be looked at by a professional. Do I ask my doctor about every little thing I do? Hell no, but I do have a doctor that i trust, or he wouldn;t be my doctor, so if I have a question about anything, i like to get his professional opinion on it, to HELP me with my decision. I don;t think there is anything wrong with asking your doctor about starting solids and such, especially as first time moms. I myself have 3 kids and am pregnant with my 4th, so baby related inquiries i usually take care of from my own experience as a mom.

I have absolutely no problem asking my doctor about something I am unsure about, my thoughts when it comes to my children, better safe then sorry. That being said, i do believe that doctors are fallible human beings that make mistakes just like all the rest of us, so while I make sure the doctor I have entrusted my family to is trustworthy, I also have no problem questioning his diagnosis or asking for a second opinion when I feel it is warranted.

Answer 5

I will probably get thumbs down for this answer but most of the things I have questions on I ask either my mom or my best friend (my mom has a 2 yr old and my best friend has 4 under 6 and one on the way.) I started my daughter on baby cereal at 3 months regular baby food(stage 1) at 4 months. She drinks pretty much any kind of formula (I buy what ever is on sale) right now she is drinking soy formula and she has no problems what so ever very healthy and happy. So if I am not doing what is right it sure doesn't show.

Answer 6

Relax. Some people just aren't sure and want the best for their baby. Some just want advice from other parents. Why are u so enraged over it? And I am sure when people read the answers to their questions they still trust their natural instinct and gut feelings about what to do. I am not a parent but if I was I would probably come on here and ask a million questions just out of curiosity.

Answer 7

Because the child's peditrician and the child's parents KNOW the child in question, strangers on an internet message board do not KNOW a particular child. There could be underlying medical reasons a doctor doesn't want a child to start on solids too soon or the child may have certain food allergies that could kill the child if the mother were to take the advice of someone here on the boards. I would tell ANY parent "if you're in doubt maybe you should discuss this with the child's physician" because I don't KNOW this child. Don't know the medical history don't know the family medical history.
Here's one for you...What do you do if your child is stung by a bee for the first time? It happened to my daughter. Had her father paid attention to his friends at the pic nic they were attending my daugther would be dead right now, because all they prescribed was ice...There is a family history of being highly allergic to bee stings, my ex mother in law has been hopitaled twice and my mother once, so my ex DID take her to the doctor...had he not she would have died becuase she too is allergic to bee stings. Advice from strangers might SEEM good but only the parents and the child's doctor know the entire story...I will continue to advise parents to check with their doctor whether you like it our not

Answer 8

No. You do not have to ask your doctor for everything. I read a lot of book and I know alot about this stuff too. However that is what this chatroom is for. But the main reason people will tell you to ask your doctor is beacuse they want you to know that if the advice they give u doesnt work, you always have someone there (your doctor) that will always know the answer. See what I am saying? I hear ya though.

Answer 9

There are certian guidlines that NEW mothers need to know about. And there are somethings that I know I don't know anything about... and if it were me I would call the pediatrician.
Such as:
Switching from regular formula to soy or the other way around.
Feeding a 3 month old solid foods.
Diahrea which can be very dangerious.
How to treat rashes, fevers, and at what point these are dangerious.
After you have had a couple of children it is easier to know what to do and what you need help/advice doing. :)

Answer 10

Because we are talking about babies we feel that our responses should be tempered by a doctors opinion. One cant trust all of the responses on here to be right so Moms check with a doctor about any worrisome problem. And yes we do talk to the doctor a lot about our babies so we can take the best possible care of them.