best advice

As a nervous new mom, it was important to me to feel a connection with our pediatrician. I chose another woman who is a mother to young boys. I would probably ask her to be my best friend if that wasn’t completely creepy.

Thankfully, she’s an excellent doctor.

But I love that I can talk to her and that we can relate as parents. She tells me what she would do if her children were in my kids’ position.

I’ve told my breast feeding story before on this blog, so some of this won’t be anything new.

Both Hudson and Hayes were jaundiced when they came home from the hospital. We spent two weeks with each baby going to the lactation consultant and the pediatrician daily for heel pricks and weight checks. The fear that you’re starving your baby is so overwhelming and scary and watching your baby continue to lose weight is so sad.

After lots of tears (from me and my babies), I felt defeated. I looked at our pediatrician and said, “I’m so tired of doing this to them. I want them to be full and I want them to gain weight. What else can I do?”

And she said, “Let’s give him a bottle.”

I fed Hudson a bottle of formula right there in her office, and he did great. She sent me home with more formula and told me to come back the next day. She encouraged me to continue to nurse at each feeding, but to supplement to make sure they were getting something.

The next day, Hudson was back to his birth weight. And a huge weight was lifted off my shoulders.

Her advice to just give him a bottle was so simple, but it’s like I needed her permission to do it.

Over the years she has encouraged me to follow my gut. She takes a no-nonsense approach to parenting, and I always appreciate her little bits of insight when we’re discussing a behavioral issue or how to approach teaching our boys to sleep in a big boy bed.

What’s the best advice your pediatrician has given you?

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Comments

  1. Lauren says

    I live in the Lexington/Columbia area! Do you have any advice on pediatricians?! We are looking to switch practices!

    • says

      My kids go to Dr. Delaney at Lake Murray Peds and we love him! Also, from reading Erin’s post I’m pretty sure I know who her pediatrician is and she’s fabulous as well…I’ve sent many friends who live in the downtown area to her (I’m a pediatric nurse).

    • Erin D says

      my girls see Dr. Caroline Webber at Lexington Pediatric Practice (across from kmart, on the 2nd floor of the urgent care building). I love the doctor and I ESPECIALLY love her nurse. She is so sweet and caring and the best vaccine-giver of all time. We have also seen two of the other doctors (both men; dr wheeler who is young, dr reynolds who is older) in the practice and liked them both too. The fourth dr who we have not seen (dr bates) is a member of my church, has done some medical missions trips, and I have friends who use and love her.

      I hear many great things about Sandhills Pediatrics also, but I admit I don’t know whether people are speaking of the one in Columbia or the one on 378.

  2. says

    Our regular pediatrician is a woman too, and she was very helpful with answering questions on breastfeeding. But the BEST advice so far she has given us is how to pop an elbow back in joint! Our son did it the first time last year, so she explained to us (while she was putting it back in place) how to pop it back. Once it happens, it’s very easy to happen again. And it has. It’s happened 3 other times, but we were able to get it right back in place, saving a trip to the emergency center!!

    Judging by the previous comment, you live SC too?? I’m not far away, up in Greenville!

  3. says

    The best advice I received was not to push the “my kid doesn’t like to eat” issue too far. Kids will eat, they won’t starve as long as healthy food is available. Sometimes they will eat more than others-and he taught me not to fret.

  4. Erin D says

    I agree with Rebecca. It’s really reassuring to hear that my picky picky eater isn’t unhealthy or suffering for it. If she only likes 2 vegetables, give her those all the time (and of course keep trying new things)! My favorite thing about a good pediatrician (or nurse) is how they can help you realize the things that can just eat you up aren’t so damaging after all.

    Nursing was a big fat bust for me and my girls too, and our doctor has never once made me feel badly about it.

  5. says

    The best advise I got from my pediatrician had nothing to do with medicine and everything to do with parenting. After I quit my job to stay home with the kids, she told me to just love on them and thoroughly enjoy them at this stage even through all the tantrums because it goes by fast and soon they’ll be too old to sit on your lap and be embarrassed by your kisses. It’s advise I’ve gotten numerous times from family and friends, but it was different coming from our pediatrician. For some reason, hearing it from a doctor made it seem really official and It made me step back and really focus on enjoying all the precious moments with my kids.

  6. says

    Ya know, the best advice I have received since 7 weeks ago when I delivered Ari was from our family doctor — it was that *I* am the mother and that my husband and I, a parents, are the best judge of our babies — no one else. And it’s funny because I’ve gotten some crap from people about bottle feeding Ari. I’m pumping and bottle feeding; I haven’t formula fed him at all. But it’s amazing what people ‘think’ I’m missing out on because I’m bottle feeding. But it works best for us. I was nervous because Ari wasn’t latching on. And it was painful — really really painful — when he tried. So I started pumping and bottle feeding because it’s important to me that he still get breastfed nutrition. But women have been hyper-critical because I’m not nursing. SO odd.

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