Okay, I feel stupid... Haven't been to a pediatrician
My baby is 5 months old and we have never been to the doctor. Not once. A nurse practitioner came to our house at 3 days old and they were supposed to come at one month (kept missing each other's phone calls) and he went to a two week check up with our family doctor. But that's it.
We aren't doing vaccines for personal reasons is rather not get into, but.... It's he supposed to have checkups?!?!
No one told me or made me aware or had phoned... Do these check ups happen when getting shots usually? Or do you have to make them yourself? Should I have a pediatrician on to of a family doctor?!
I just use a percentile calculator to figure out where he is at. I weigh him often. He's never been sick. He's currently teething but hasn't actually been super fussy at all. Poops well, pees tonns.
I just feel like everyone is going to a pediatrician for regular scheduled check ups and I'm not 😂
Living in Saskatchewan Canada
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Itseems that baby should be checked at 2,4,6,9,12,18,24 months. I live in Quebec and getting a pediatrician is currently impossible. I've been on the wait list for family doctor for 4 ish years and still no family doctor.
My baby's 2 and 4 month appointment was done by clsc. They are a group of nurses who will check on the weight gain, height, circumference of the head and general questions about you and your baby. They unfortunately don't see at 6 months. So I called 811 to book an appointment for 6 months.
I will call 811 at 9 months if we don't get a pediatrician by then(Which I'm sure we'll not get.)
811 is to talk to a nurse or book an appointment with someone. Either nurse or doctor or pediatrician.
Vaccination dates and these checkups are different.
In many Canadian provinces, pediatricians are specialists who you see via referral from your family doctor who does well baby checks. Those checks typically happen in alignment with the vaccination schedule. You need to make those appointments for your child. Well baby checks look at head circumference, weight gain, hip mobility, physical and cognitive development milestones in addition to any concerns parents have.
Most pediatricians will not see unvaccinated children in order to ensure the well-being of the rest of their patients who are often more at risk than the general population of children.
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