Hellobee Boards

Is there something particularly important to you? Vaccines, stance on other issues? I'd ask about those things.

I asked a few breastfeeding questions (to gauge if she would be supportive), discussed vaccines, and asked about the availability of the nurse hotline. Our office has a detailed website so I also checked out the "get to know the doctors section."

@lauraeabel: I wasn't sure what questions I should be asking, either. Our peds office had a baby basics class they required all new potential patients (parents?!) attend and I LOVED it.

I didn't realize it until I was there, but I am so glad that I love the front staff as much as I love the doctors.

@stine_ciro: I LOVE having a lactation consultant on staff at my peds office (she is also the Nurse Practioner). It was huge for me those first few weeks, and meant I was paying $25 (co-pay) per visit instead of a lot more for a private visit. Several of the practices in my area will have info/meet-the-practice nights once a month or so for new parents- that was a really nice way to get a feel for the practice without the pressure of coming up with questions!
To be honest, I liked just getting to see the offices and get a feel for them. I agree that a lot of questions that I care about (hours, policies, etc.) are often online.
If there's any area of parenting that you are particularly passionate about, or are considering doing "outside the norm," I'd bring that up. Like, if you really want to nurse as long as your child is interested, tandem nurse through pregnancies/other kids, etc., you could say "Hey, what are your recommendations on breastfeeding?" I think pretty much every ped is going to say "yeah, go for it," but if it's super important to you, you might care whether the answer is "Give it a try, but don't worry if it doesn't work out" or "The WHO recommends EBF for 6 months" or "I think it's fantastic and strongly suggest it and want to work with you to make that happen." (And if you know in advance that you are NOT going to nurse, you might want to make sure your ped isn't going to make you feel bad about that). If you plan to co-sleep or do a lot of babywearing, you could ask about that too. I love my pediatricians, but one area where we disagree (which frustrates me) is CIO- at 4 month, she was telling us to let our oldest cry it out, so DH wanted to but I was not ok with that (we did some sleep training a few months later, but I wasn't ready for it that early). You could also ask about their thoughts on vaccination and alternative schedules and such, and not just if you want one- we actively sought out a practice that was not particularly friendly to non-vaccinating families.