Paediatrician?

[Turkish Delight]

I have never taken any of my kids to a paed before. Just to my local GP or MCHN for their routine checkups.

I took DS to our GP last week who referred him onto a paed. I called the paeds office to organise an appt and the earliest appt i could get in berwick (close to where i live) was in September! The lady asked if i could drive out to Pakenham (which i agreed to) and the earlist one in Pakenham was on the 30th of June!

I was gob smacked.

[Schmickers]

The other girls are right. You always start off with your GP first - if there are any health problems that you need a paediatrician for, then your GP will refer you to a paediatrician for those specific problems. You don't go to a paediatrician for general things.

You are better off shopping for a really good GP that is good with children. Ask around, and get recommendations - it can be difficult, because often the best GPs are booked out and aren't taking new patients. Sometimes you can get them to take you if you mention you have been recommended by other people in the practice. Something else to check for - does the GP you are considering have some "emergency appointments" cleared each morning so you can be seen on the same day if you ring early enough? Or do they have a policy where they will see children on the same day? One or both of those is really important for a child-friendly GP.

Good luck!