Becoming a parent is both joyful and stressful, as the arrival of a baby signals a shift in lifestyle and priorities. This isn’t always easy for new parents to navigate, but a pediatrician can help you in this journey.
It’s important to find a good pediatrician you can work with for the next two decades or longer. This is the person you’re trusting to treat your child’s every rash, stomach bug or broken finger, flag any health problems you might have missed and generally keep your child in peak health using all the latest guidelines and medical thinking.
Here, we’ll unpack everything you need to know about how to find a pediatrician, when to pick a pediatrician and how to establish a partnership even before your baby arrives.
How to find a pediatrician
“The best place is word of mouth,” says Dr. Mona Amin, a pediatrician and founder of PedsDocTalk. “Ask friends, family or co-workers you trust.”
- Use the U.S. News doctor finder tool
- Ask your OBGYN
- Try online parenting groups
- Meet with doctors before deciding, including going to a prenatal visit to meet the clinician, see the practice and ask questions.
With the U.S. News doctor finder tool, you can search specifically for a pediatrician, read patient reviews, see how much experience they have treating specific health conditions and filter by your location and insurance plan. If you need a pediatric specialist for pediatric diabetes, cardiology or cancer, you can also search within those specialties.
One of the most important aspects of identifying a good pediatrician is learning how they were trained, including their certification status.
“I may be biased, but I think (board certification) is a good way of assuring the public that a doctor has gone through legitimate channels to meet a certain requirement,” says Ann E. Burke, professor of pediatrics and program director of the pediatric residency program at Wright State University Boonshoft School of Medicine in Dayton, Ohio.
To become board certified, a pediatrician must graduate from an accredited medical school and then complete an intensive three-year residency program, where they train in a wide range of specialty areas within pediatric medicine. You can check whether a certain doctor is board certified via ABP’s doctor search tool.
How to set up a pediatrician before your baby is born
It’s important to start your search for the right pediatrician early, and for many parents, this process can begin before your child is even born.
“I usually recommend (starting your search) by the end of the second trimester or early in the third. That’s right after the anatomy scan and before you are so uncomfortable and just want to nest. It gives you time to meet doctors, ask questions and feel settled before delivery,” says Amin.
It’s also important to remember that life changes may cause you to need to find a new pediatrician.
“If you are changing insurance or moving, make sure you take time to search for a pediatrician as soon as possible,” says Dr. Lisa Hoang, a pediatrician with St. Joseph’s Heritage Medical Group in Irvine, California.
You should also set up a phone screening appointment with a provider you’re considering, adds Dr. William Adelman, pediatrician and medical director of the Children’s Hospital of Orange County Primary Care Network in Orange, California. During this call, you’ll likely not speak with the pediatrician, but you can get a sense for how the office runs, what the support staff are like and whether the logistics of the practice might work for you.
Once you’ve had that conversation, you can make an appointment to meet with the pediatrician directly.
“Going into the office allows you to observe the doctor’s persona and bedside manner,” says Adelman.
It also gives you an opportunity to see the space, whether it’s clean and safe, and note how staff interact with you, each other and other patients.
“Some offices also provide meet-and-greet tours so you can get a feel for the practice’s environment and atmosphere,” Adelman says.
How a pediatrician keeps your child healthy
Pediatricians play a critical role in children’s health, which is why doing your research to find the right one is so important.
This multifaceted specialty looks after all aspects of children’s health, from physical and psychosocial concerns to developmental and mental health support. Pediatric care may begin before birth and typically ends sometime during young adulthood, usually between ages 18 and 21.
Most patients see a pediatrician for routine exams and well visits as well as childhood vaccinations, treatment for common ailments and other general health care. During the first few years in particular, children see their pediatrician frequently.
Pediatricians can also offer support and advice in several areas, such as:
- How to parent
- How to manage your child’s specific medical needs
- What to do if something goes wrong
If your child needs more intensive care, a pediatrician can refer you to a pediatric subspecialist, who can treat the health issue.
How to choose a pediatrician
The following five steps can help you find the best pediatrician for you and your child’s needs:
- Determine your preferences
- Consider logistics
- Ask for recommendations
- Assess the approach to care
- Trust your gut
1. Determine your preferences
Before you even begin searching for a pediatrician for your child, it may be helpful to consider what you want in a doctor and which traits and characteristics will make you feel most comfortable, Adelman explains.
He recommends making a checklist that’s divided into three categories:
- Must have
- Nice to have
- Not necessary
This can include everything from the doctor’s gender and languages spoken to weekend hours and whether there’s a laboratory on site to make taking blood samples easier.
“Once you’ve outlined the most important criteria, you’ll be able to target your search and make an informed decision,” Adelman says.
2. Consider logistics
Some of the specific considerations that may end up on that checklist include basic logistical factors.
Insurance
“The first practical thing to do is to check with your insurance company,” says Burke, who is also a former chair of the American Board of Pediatrics.
Many insurance policies require that you work with a provider who’s in network, so that can limit your options. Most carriers offer an online database of providers who are in network, so run a search on local options as a starting point. The U.S. News doctor finder also allows you to input your insurance to find doctors covered under your plan.
If you lack health insurance, Burke says you should seek care for your child anyway.
“Still call and ask or go to the nearest children’s hospital, and ask if there’s any way to find a pediatrician,” she says. “Most children’s hospitals and even some private offices have social workers and people who can help. Sometimes folks are eligible for things they’re not aware of.”
Most children’s hospitals won’t turn away a child in need.
Location
“The location of the practice is really one of the most important things,” says Dr. Kristen N. Slack, a pediatrician at Children’s Hospital of Philadelphia (CHOP) Primary Care, Haverford in Bryn Mawr, Pennsylvania.
Again, online tools can help. For example, within the Philadelphia area, parents can search for CHOP-affiliated doctors by ZIP code, which can help determine the offices that are easiest to access, Slack explains.
Hospital affiliation and access to pediatric subspecialists can also be an important factor to consider, Adelman adds.
Hours and availability
Ask how long you’ll typically have to wait to get an appointment and whether the doctor has weekend and evening availability, in case your child needs care outside of normal business hours.
For some people, consistency is key; research suggests that your child has better health outcomes when they see the same provider over time. Ask how often you can see the same clinician.
Hoang also recommends asking about same-day visits and if there’s a nurse advice line available.
Other elements of convenience you should consider include:
- Methods of communication (email, phone or app)
- Ease of scheduling appointments, availability of urgent appointments and cancellation policies
- Telehealth availability
- Cost of services and how insurance billing or payments are handled
3. Ask for recommendations
Talking with friends, neighbors and loved ones about who they’ve trusted to care for their children may yield some great suggestions for local providers.
You can also check with:
- Your own primary care physician. Ask who they would take their child to see. “Knowing who medical professionals choose for the care of their own children is a powerful endorsement,” Adelman confirms.
- Your obstetrician, if you’re pregnant. “They may be able to refer you to a pediatrician they trust and have worked with in the past,” Adelman says. “Nurses and staff at your delivery hospital may also have recommendations for you.”
- A local parent’s group, if you’re new to an area.
Do note, however, that people’s preferences and priorities may be different from yours.
“Take what others are saying with a grain of salt, knowing that sometimes your own personality type might be a little bit different from someone else’s,” Slack says. “You might have a really great experience with someone who another parent didn’t click with.”
4. Assess the doctor’s approach to care
It’s a good idea to learn about a pediatrician’s approach to care and decide if it’s a good fit for you.
“If there are specific aspects of medicine that are really important to you, such as vaccination schedule or breastfeeding, or if the child has any special medical needs, it’s important to ask the pediatrician, ‘How do you feel about XYZ?’ to get some insight into their practice style with those specific things,” Slack says.
When you meet with the pediatrician for the first time, you should also consider how both you and your child feel about the doctor.
“Most pediatricians go into this field because they really enjoy working with children,” Slack says. “You want to make sure you find a pediatrician who really seems to connect and bond with your child.”
5. Trust your gut
In the end, you’ll need to trust your instincts. If you have concerns, speak honestly with the doctor.
“It’s completely okay to change doctors,” says Amin. “Sometimes parents feel unheard. Sometimes your values just don’t match, maybe around sleep or feeding.”
A pediatrician is an important part of your and your child’s life during critical moments, so if you’ve spoken with the doctor, and it’s not working out, consider starting your search again.
“The bottom line: you deserve a pediatrician that you trust, one who listens, supports and works with your family. This is someone who may be with you through your child’s whole life, so it should feel like a good match,” says Amin.
READ: How to Find the Best Pediatrician for Your Child | U.S. News
