Every now and then I take little Odin to get his ears checked out at the doctor. For some reason, he gets ear infections about every 6 months. If he's in a lot of pain we'll put him on antibiotics right away. If he seems tolerant of the pain, we'll drop some garlic oil in there and give him lots of TLC, until he seems over it.
This is about the only time I go to the doctors, when the kids are sick. I'm not a huge fan. In fact, we have some family rules about family doctors that have served us well. .
Rule #1. Never, ever, no matter how enticing, let our kids play with doctors office toys. Those little toys may look helpful, but they are tools of germ and disease spreading fun! Zadok asks, "Why do they have toys here if kids shouldn't play with them?" I don't know, man, I don't know.... Last time I broke down and let them play with the waiting room toys, we brought home some nasty virus!
Rule #2 Never allow a doctor to influence our parenting choices.
Doctors are good for one thing: Diagnosing illness. A doctor once told me that I had to start our baby on solid foods at 6 months of age. Ha! On what basis can you know my baby so well to know he is ready for solid foods at exactly 6 months old? Plus, there's no right way for every baby!
You may trust your pediatrician to help you diagnose an illness, that doesn't mean he's now the parenting expert. YOU are the expert on your baby!
RULE #3 Do our own research and make the best decisions for our family, regardless of any diagnoses a doctor gives.
A couple times I came home with a prescription from the doctor,and realized it wasn't right for our child. After doing our own research, we were able to find a better treatment plan. That goes for vaccines, too. The government schedule isn't right for everyone. It's so important to do your own research on vaccines, decide which ones are actually needed, and come up with a schedule you are comfortable with, if any at all.
RULE #4 Circumcision is outdated. Never trust a doctor who says it is needed.
There isn't any medical association in the world that promotes routine male circumcision as a healthy practice. Those who are still doing it are either doing it for religion, or tradition. Before we had our boys we researched heavily on circumcision and found that it was completely unnecessary. Besides not being medically necessary, I couldn't imagine in my heart of hearts bringing a brand, new baby boy into the world, then whacking off his genitals for no reason.
need info?: http://www.nocirc.org/
Would you circumcise a baby girl?
http://www.mothersagainstcirc.org/
http://www.doctorsopposingcircumcision.org/
RULE #5 Take home some of those rubber gloves. Fill them up with water and let your kids have their own rubber glove, water balloons!
Then put them in the freezer and make ice-cube hands and fingers! FUN!
We love our pediatrician! He is a happy, smiley, pleasant man. But, we only have to go in a few times a year, and that is enough for us!
