The pediatrician

My daughter had a doctor's appointment today, and I have determined that she needs a new pediatrician. Last visit, my little baby had a horrible diaper rash. It turned out to be from a yeast infection, so my efforts to treat it were only making it worse. She prescribed what I assumed to be an anti-fungal cream. I always read everything and I'm still kicking myself that I assumed I knew what I was doing with the so-called anti-fungal cream. After almost a week of applying it with only minimal improvement, I finally decided to read the information. I about cried when I realized I had been spreading steroid cream over my baby's bottom. I was able to find some herbal remedies, like putting yogurt on the affected area, and her rash cleared up within a few days.

Once I realized the doctor had given steroid cream for a fungal infection, and nothing to fight the fungus, I knew it was time to find a new doctor. I've been searching for one since then, but didn't know who was good. I decided to keep today's appointment. My daughter has been throwing up since she was 3 weeks old. The doctor in state A assured me that it was a laundry problem rather than a health problem, and said that we could medicate to ease the symptoms, but the side-effects weren't necessarily worth it.

Well, my little one doesn't throw up as much as she used to, but she won't keep down solid foods except potatoes. I would give her the smallest spoonful of one thing or another, and she'd seem fine for a few minutes, and then all the sudden I need to give her a bath, calm her down, clean the floor, and do another load of laundry. I determined to wait a few weeks, because she just didn't seem ready.

After trying again just a few weeks ago, I determined to exclusively breastfeed until she is at least one year old. I had read that it was considered ideal for them to be exclusively nursed until that time anyway. Since I can give her body time to develop, I decided I'd do so! It will save her throat and my sanity, not to mention that it just can't be healthy to throw up so much.

When I told the pediatrician the scenario and my plan, she said she wanted to refer my baby to a pediatric GI specialist, just to make sure nothing's wrong. I'm fairly certain there's nothing wrong, but there's nothing wrong with verifying. Then she continued to say that if it is just a sensitive gag reflux, as I suspect, she'll start my baby on medication to treat it.

I mentioned that I would prefer to just breastfeed my daughter and re-attempt solids at a year old. She said if new tastes aren't introduced before a year old, it will be difficult to get my child to accept new things. I was about to tell her that I'll cross that bridge when I get there. Really I was thinking that every child is different, so how does she know? Before I could say anything, though, she said that my daughter has to have solid foods added to get the proper nutrients or she'll become malnourished.

I left confused. Surely everything I had read before wasn't false! Surely it is ok for me to choose to exclusively breastfeed my baby for the first year of her life. I threw out the question to other moms and then pursued research. To be fair, I haven't found much research, but lots of anecdotal evidence that my plan is fine. I want a second opinion, and I need to find a pediatrician who thinks twice before giving meds.

I am so glad I found such a good church, because some people have started helping me find a doctor even today! I'm praying God will lead us to a good doctor!