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need pediatrician desperately
I signed up just to ask this question (and a little support wont hurt either). I have a 16 month old who is pretty dang thin, and has been "under the 5th percentile" since 9 months..she weighs less than 18 lbs and has average height. I am writing because I need a new pediatrician. I have one, but she is seriously judgmental and making implications that I am purposefully starving my daughter. After the last appointment, which she concluded that because I am thin, I must not feed my daughter or, in her words, "value food." Truthfully, I do VALUE FOOD, eat plenty, and more importantly make serious attempts to feed my daughter (though she never asked what my daughter eats, only what I eat...judgment, judgment...she balked at anything that was not "from the earth")...I really feel that this one is dying to write a CPS report on me, though obviously I am more upset than anyone else...and her added blame does not help...anyways, I would love recommendations for pediatricians in the Santa Cruz area (not part of Pediacare please). Any goodies out there? Oh, and sorry for the rant...Thanks in advance!
Replies to This Discussion
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Permalink Reply by Robin on -
My daughter is the same as yours! She is 17 months and weighs 19 pounds. She has never been above the 5th percentile. Just a peanut!
We love our Pediatrician, Dr. Block is at Santa Cruz Medical. He has never judged us for how small Emma is. We have two other kids we ar perfectly within their average percentiles, he know Emma is just small.
And if you are small too, then it's probably genetics! (Which I would love to have)
So don't feel as thought you are a poopr moms. Each kids is different. Check out Dr. Block.
Hope this helps.
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Permalink Reply by Lacy on -
Hi,
We love our pediatrician - Dr. Casey Schirmer. He's really informative and easy to talk to. He's very much a "whatever works best for your family" type of doctor. He's never judgemental and has three young kids of his own. They (he and his awesome physicians assistant Fatima) are great about returning phone calls and making time to see kids when they are sick. My oldest son is a big boy - well, with my husband being 6'5 - all my boys are big boys. Anyway, my 6 year old is a tad chubby and Dr. Schirmer was really sensitive about not talking about my son in front of him and helpful in suggesting ways that I could subtley encourage him to eat more veggies, etc. Anyway, I hope this helps! Dr. Schirmer is with Santa Cruz Medical Foundation and is at the Scotts Valley clinic on Mon/Thurs and at the Santa Cruz location on Tues/Wed/ and Thurs. Oh, and another thing I like about him is that he isn't a "drug pusher." He doesn't prescribe antiobiotics unless he thinks it's absolutely necessary.
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Permalink Reply by Pascale on -
Oh Goodness you need a new pediatrician STAT!! Guilt should never be part of the deal, we do quite enough of that on our own, thank you very much... My daughter was under the 5% percentile FOREVER - turned out she had food allergies. Once we started feeding her foods that didn't make her feel sick to her stomach all day long (she couldn't tell us she when she was just a little baby!) she started eating better. But she is still very small and has very little appetite and takes three times as long to eat than anyone else in the family. Food is just not that important to her. Our doctor is also Dr. Block. He is AMAZING. He just moved to the Santa Cruz Medical Clinic from a private practice called Capitola Pediatrics. We still go to Capitola Pediatrics for now but will probably follow him over as soon as I have time to call and have everything moved over. Another really good doctor at Capitola Pediatrics is Dr. Walker, she is very patient, takes her time with you and NEVER EVER makes you feel bad about anything ,very reassuring in every way, much like Dr. Block. They both tend more towards the "natural" way of addressing things rather than those drug pushers out there. And neither has ever given me a hard time for not vaccinating my kids (my son had a very severe reaction when he was 6 weeks old and after a frightening trip to the ER with my newborn baby in convulsions and major problems afterwards I did research and made a very educated decision not to vaccinate due to our family genetic history - anyways, long story...). All this to say (in a not so small nutshell), there are many wonderful doctors in this area and you've picked the right place to get some good guidance!! Good luck with everything!!!
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Permalink Reply by Mickie Bateman on -
Soooo Sorry to hear your situation. How HORRID! My infant developed infant asthma at 6 months and is now 11 months old. Since then, we have been to emergency three times and have had multiple ped visits. I have had experience with Dr. Block and agree, he is awesome. Our ped is Dr. Allison Herman. She is also wonderful. We even have her cell phone number. Both of them are out of Santa Cruz Medical Foundation, now known as Dominican Medical Foundation.
Like you, I did run in to one female on call doctor at Dominican Hospital who scolded my husband, mother-in-law, and me for eating Subway in our infant's emergency room. We were teaching Samantha bad habits, blagh..blagh..blagh. At first, I was caught off guard and agreed, because I do agree. But then later, I was appalled. How dare her! We had been living in that emergency room for three days and were sick of the hospital kitchen food. I can't remember her name, just that her glasses can come apart in the middle. Absolutley dislike this women. Especially since I had a second run in with her and I disagreed with her diagnosis and suggestions. Plus, I scolded her for encouraging my infant to play with her keys. Really, how many other children touched those keys! Sammy's asthma attacks are triggered by colds and she's encouraging Sammy to play with her keys. Those are little germ carriers. Now, I refuse to be seen by her.
Hope the info helps.
What is your child eating? Doe's she have allergies?
Mickie
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Permalink Reply by wisher on
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eee gats..that mean dr. was her!!! I was not going to use names, but it was definitely Therese Trolan (magnetic glasses wearing, red haired, key dangling Meanie!) Thanks for validating my experiences!
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Permalink Reply by Randy Driscoll on -
Dr. Casey Schirmer, SC Medical Center 458.5555. We moved here 3 yrs ago and he was recommended to me from a good friend. He is a wonderful pediatrician and father of 2 young children.
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Permalink Reply by Meredith on -
We see Dr. Schirmer & I know him not only as my ped but as a friend & I truly value him as my kids doctor. My son was thin when he was younger i.e. only the 20th or so percentile - it's just the way he is & probably always will be. I have had some friends who have had the same issues you are dealing with - 1 with a boy & 1 with a girl - both see Dr. Schirmer & he was terrific with them...helping come up with some meal suggestions to make sure everything is moving along etc. - both kids are fantastic & doing just fine. I'd go & do some evaluations of some other doctors. I know both of my friends felt super confident with him! and their kids are thriving!!!
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Permalink Reply by Christy Hadland on -
Oh my...what a terrible Dr...We love our Dr. he is Dr. Tom Silverman he is on Claires Street in Capitola right off of 41st ave. He is the most caring loving Dr. I have ever met. My 2nd baby Owen was really ill during the Thanksgiving holiday he dropped everything to attend to our little Owen and was very concerned and helpful & available. I have the opposite my boys have always been at the top of those dumb charts and he has never once said anything about over feeding them...he always commends me as mother and says how healthy my boys are. Anyway, whomever you choose please dont let them insult you as a mother. You are your child's best caretaker. Good luck. Finding good care in Santa Cruz is like finding a needle in a haystack!
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Permalink Reply by Gina Johnson on
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Hi,
I can totally relate to everything you said! I can highly recommend Dr. Tom Silverman, who has a solo practice in Capitola.
http://www.healthykidzdoc.yourmd.com/
We have been seeing Dr. Silverman for almost 4 years and switched because our first pediatrician was SO concerned about my son's weight (even when I stressed both my husband and I were slow to grow as babies). Dr. Silverman basically looked at him and his growth chart and said he looked fine and because he was gaining weight (slowly) he was fine. He was almost 20lbs at one year. He is now almost 5 years and didn't start "catching up" until he was almost 3 years. He's still thin, but totally healthy and "on the chart." In fact, my other son who is 2 years, has always weighed less than my first son - he was only 18lbs at one year and at 2 years he is only 23lbs. But, he looks healthy and Dr. Silverman has never acted worried! He still isn't on the chart, but who cares!
It sounds like changing pediatricians is a great idea. Good luck!
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Permalink Reply by Warrior mom on
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Seriously, file a complaint on this nasty ol' hag. You should not be subjected to this kind of treatment. You and your daughter deserve the best, thoughtful and solution supporting doctor. I recommend any of the pediatricians/family practice doctors with Santa Cruz Medical Foundation. My experience with various doctors with scmf, (I have moved around the county) have been great. Hard to get same day appointments unless you use the right lingo to get your kid seen that day but you can always use their Urgent Care, which is like a walk in clinic. Usually wait around an hour to be seen, but even those docs are great! Good luck!
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Permalink Reply by meredith marine on -
she sounds like a nightmare- scolding you for eating subway? hell, that's practically health food around here! :)
i have to second everyone who has suggested the docs at santa cruz medical clinic. we see dr. gallagher and have also seen schirmer and borba, and dealt with dr. block on the phone. we loved everyone- no judgment, very open to suggestions, take plenty of time, and very good about getting us in same day.
we did see dr. watson for the baby's 4 month check up, and i did not like her as much. she expressed surprise that i was still using the moby wrap. not disapproval, just surprise....not a biggie, but it sort of rubbed me the wrong way. and she said we could start solid food because he has good head control. i told her we were waiting until 6 months, and she continued explaining all the solid food info...again, not a big deal. and maybe i was just in a bad mood that day. i guess i just didn't feel i connected as well with her. but she was great with david and i was happy with her exam. i would see her again if we needed to, i just didn't love her like i did the other docs.
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Permalink Reply by Julie on -
I'm sorry you had to have such a negative experience with your daughter's ped. That's just not okay. My boys see Dr. Bennett at Capitola Pediatrics. We love him. He is so gentle and has such a wonderful demeanor. All the docs there are wonderful. We really like Dr. Walker too. My first son was also around the 5th percentile as a baby and even into toddlerhood. He reached 20/25% when he was 4 and finally reached 50th by the time he was 5 1/2. Please try not to worry too much. You know what's best for your baby and it's a good thing your searching for a new doc. Best wishes!
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