So, my doctor does not belive in car seats!!

Byron

New member
Before reading this, please note, this is not what I said...

So visiting my doctor for the kids check-ups and needles and in the conversation she mentions that she thinks car seats are over rated and she does not believe in them. :eek:
Now I know that she has two young kids, and has a specialisation in paediatrics, so this surprised me even more.

I was so shocked that I totally did not ask any further questions. I told a friend, and she said that her doctor (no kids this time) had said a similar thing.

Has anyone else come across this with their doctors, and if so, what was the doctors reasoning.
 
ADS

Patriot201

Car-Seat.org Ambassador
:(

Please remember that doctors (even pediatricians) are just regular people, too. Most have no training whatsoever in child passenger safety, so they are generally just spouting what they've heard/read, regardless of its accuracy or antiquity.

Your doctor might not "believe in carseats," but unless she has child passenger safety training, her opinion regarding carseats should hold no more weight than the grocery store produce stocker's opinion, your next door neighbor's opinion, or the queen of England's opinion. She is just one more person.
 
I wish people who had this thinking would watch just *one* crash test video with unrestrained test dummies, especially one with child-sized dummies. It's horrific.
 

krasota

Well-known member
I've found that the most of our health care providers who are really gung ho for carseats are those who have worked emergency/trauma medicine at some point or worked in the PICU.
 

mom of six

Active member
:twocents: Another thing to consider is that pediatricians are not trauma surgeons. Often Peds are in their offices all day and are not taking care of the children in hospitals recovering from injuries received in an MVA. More and more peds are the well-baby-visit-immunization-fever-ear-infection-home-management doctors. In hospital care is often managed by the surgeon or a hospitalist (doc who only works in a hospital who coordinates and manages patient care while the patient is admitted).

***cross posted with krasota***
 

eduller

New member
Whether a pediatrician is an expert on car safety or not, it is totally irresponsible for one to tell a patient something like that. She is supposedly an "expert" in children. How is a parent to know that she is not also an expert in vehicle safety? What if someone listened to that advice and the child died? Totally irresponsible.
 

YinzerMama

New member
I wish that you had asked more questions. I'm curious if she meant across the board - baby buckets through boosters - or if perhaps this was a commentary on, say, current practices to harness to 6, 7, 8 years old (which I could legitimately see a pediatrician questioning). Could there possibly have been any sort of qualifiers and if so, why?

This isn't something I would pick a new pedi over... we go to the pedi for shots and sickness and anything else I tend to let flow in one ear and out the other. It could be bad information for parents who rely on the pedi for such things but again, I wish I knew more about what led her to say it.
 

Athena

Well-known member
You're in Canada, right? In this recent thread, http://www.car-seat.org/showthread.php?t=250329#.Udx7QfmmiAg there was a discussion of the differences between Canadian and American pediatricians. In the US, the pediatricians absolutely should know the current AAP recommendations and their expertise covers a wide range of topics. Still, I agree that was an incredibly irresponsible thing to say.

Whether a pediatrician is an expert on car safety or not, it is totally irresponsible for one to tell a patient something like that. She is supposedly an "expert" in children. How is a parent to know that she is not also an expert in vehicle safety? What if someone listened to that advice and the child died? Totally irresponsible.

I think I would be seeking a new pediatrician.

:yeahthat: * 2

As I said on another recent thread about pediatricians and car seats, if this happened in the US, I'd be concerned about what other research and AAP recommendations the doctor wasn't keeping up with. Luckily, we don't have this problem and have been with the same practice since my first was born.
 

Patriot201

Car-Seat.org Ambassador
Whether a pediatrician is an expert on car safety or not, it is totally irresponsible for one to tell a patient something like that. She is supposedly an "expert" in children. How is a parent to know that she is not also an expert in vehicle safety? What if someone listened to that advice and the child died? Totally irresponsible.

I 100% agree that it is irresponsible for a doctor to tell a patient that she doesn't "believe in carseats." It doesn't matter what in what the doctor "believes." I wouldn't want to know whether my doctor believes in Jesus Christ, ghosts, astrology, etc. Those are personal beliefs that are unrelated to the medical care I have sought; those personal beliefs shouldn't be shared.



I disagree, however, that pediatricians are supposedly "experts" regarding children. They should absolutely be specialists/experts in the health and physiology of children, but they are not experts in everything related to children. They likely know very little about appropriate education of children, child passenger safety, spiritual upbringing of children, where to buy the best cloth diapers, etc. They shouldn't be expected to know everything related to children; that would be unreasonable.

I am a teacher. I know a lot about English/Language Arts, as well as about differentiated and appropriate education of children, particularly children aged 10-16. However, I am certainly neither an expert on everything related to children, nor on all subjects or all age groups.

Much like how a pediatrician should be an "expert" on the health and physiology of children, a teacher should be an "expert" on the education and development of children in the age group/subject he/she teaches.


I've rambled. I hope my thoughts above make at least a little bit of sense. :) :eek:
 

Mysweethoneybee

New member
I live in Missouri in the US and my son's doctor thinks the new recommendations are way over the top. He thinks bucket seats for infants are good because the baby can remain sleeping once inside. He thinks after 20lbs forward facing is plenty good enough and that at 4 a backless booster seat is plenty good enough and that once a kid reaches 80lbs they are big enough for a plain seat belt. The notices posted around the office last time I went were from the 1990's and still recommended seats with shields. I asked if I could print off the new recommendations for his office and that is when I was told the new ideas were over the top. I tried telling him to watch videos and he said that a person could find stuff online to support any point of view. He is the reason my neighbor insists it was fine for her 6 month old to ride forward facing. He isn't the only one in our area that has that attitude. And most parents think what the pediatrician tells them is all they need to know.
 

Athena

Well-known member
I disagree, however, that pediatricians are supposedly "experts" regarding children. They should absolutely be specialists/experts in the health and physiology of children, but they are not experts in everything related to children.

Except that this is a medical topic. The AAP considers it to be and pediatricians most definitely should be up to date on their recommendations. It's as simple as that.

And pediatricians shouldn't be giving advice or spouting off uneducated opinions about topics on which they lack expertise anyway. :duck:
 

creideamh

Well-known member
I disagree, however, that pediatricians are supposedly "experts" regarding children. They should absolutely be specialists/experts in the health and physiology of children, but they are not experts in everything related to children. They likely know very little about appropriate education of children, child passenger safety, spiritual upbringing of children, where to buy the best cloth diapers, etc. They shouldn't be expected to know everything related to children; that would be unreasonable.

I TOTALLY agree with this, but the amount of parents who assume otherwise is insane. My mom is a pediatrician, I work in her office, and the questions she gets about car seats, cry it out vs whatever, the right preschool/daycare, best kid vacations, on and on... it really boggles my mind.

FWIW, she rolled her eyes at me when I said (during pregnancy) how I'd ERF and I got the "what about the legs" "some kids just won't do it" etc spiel. But the moment the AAP guidelines came out, bam she was on board. (ETA- til 2, though. She complains about M still being RF.) Her office software has a [current] car seat section that she goes through during well-checks, and my info is posted all over the place. (Of course, that still doesn't mean people listen...)

We're in the US where many use peds as their kids' GPs.
 

Athena

Well-known member
cry it out vs whatever

She doesn't advise at all about sleep techniques? When I had a baby who wouldn't let me sleep (for months!), my pediatrician saw how tired I was and was incredibly supportive on this topic. Sleep, anxiety, healthy eating all seem like health related topics to me and are all things for which our pediatricians would offer support and information, even if that support requires referring us to a specialist. However, someone mentioned where to buy diapers, well that's just silly and I would never ask them about that.
 

Patriot201

Car-Seat.org Ambassador
Except that this is a medical topic. The AAP considers it to be and pediatricians most definitely should be up to date on their recommendations. It's as simple as that.

The AAP does have recommendations regarding carseat use, but I think it is ridiculous that it is considered a medical topic. I agree that pediatricians should be up to date on the recommendations of the AAP; I never stated that I didn't believe that. In fact, I never mentioned the AAP.

That said, the main issue here is the pediatrician stating her beliefs about carseats. That wouldn't be much different than her stating her beliefs about circumcision, vaccinating, etc. Those too are medical topics, but that doesn't mean the doctor has a right to spout her beliefs about those topics.



The AAP also has recommendations regarding pediatricians and disaster preparedness, but it would be unreasonable to expect a pediatrician to become an expert in disaster preparedness. The AAP also has recommendations regarding breastfeeding, but I wouldn't expect them to be experts in this area, either. The AAP has recommendations regarding use of fluoride to prevent dental caries; while a pediatrician should know about this important topic, he/she should not be an expert (a dentist should). The list of such recommendations is quite lengthy.


Even though the AAP has recommendations regarding carseat use, I stand by my opinion that doctors should not be expected to be experts on the topic, nor should they be expected to be experts on all topics related to children. They should know when to refer out (just as every other doctor should know to do) to a "specialist."
 

creideamh

Well-known member
She doesn't advise at all about sleep techniques? When I had a baby who wouldn't let me sleep (for months!), my pediatrician saw how tired I was and was incredibly supportive on this topic. Sleep, anxiety, healthy eating all seem like health related topics to me and are all things for which our pediatricians would offer support and information, even if that support requires referring us to a specialist. However, someone mentioned where to buy diapers, well that's just silly and I would never ask them about that.

She'll ask about sleep (it's on the software) and will discuss certain techniques if asked, but she doesn't say "this way is better" "this is what you need to do" etc, KWIM? A lot of that is the parent's call and she'll encourage more research, but she's not comfortable telling parents what to do beyond medical-related issues. (And if the sleep problem is medical related, she'll refer to the children's hospital with the sleep specialists. We do a lotttt of referrals.)

And :yeahthatlove: to everything Patriot just said.
 

Athena

Well-known member
I didn't mean they should be installing seats. :D I meant they should know the recommendations that help to save lives and reduce medical injuries and maybe even be familiar with the related medical research. I would only expect them to have the appropriate knowledge and expertise as it relates to their job and their field. For the most part, seems like we agree.

She'll ask about sleep (it's on the software) and will discuss certain techniques if asked, but she doesn't say "this way is better" "this is what you need to do" etc, KWIM? A lot of that is the parent's call and she'll encourage more research, but she's not comfortable telling parents what to do beyond medical-related issues. (And if the sleep problem is medical related, she'll refer to the children's hospital with the sleep specialists. We do a lotttt of referrals.)

That sounds great! I thought you were saying it was inappropriate for parents to ask about it and I didn't understand that. Thanks for clarifying.
 
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Byron

New member
So I went back to ask my doctor if she could explain further . But she was off for the afternoon and had a locum covering her.

Will try again next week
 

sunflower

New member
My ped. believes very strongly in car seats, and follows all advanced recommendations, from AAP and Health Canada. He's the head of a clinic.

It's a big clinic (20+ docs, and an endless number of nurses), and they tell everyone that kids should RF until 2 years old, and FF longer! He's impressed that my kids RF till 4+.
 
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