Questions to Ask a New Pediatrician
61 questions for parents who are looking for a pediatrician, whether that means picking a baby doctor before the due date or moving a child from one practice to another, to use at a meet-and-greet or a first appointment. They cover who you will see, getting in when a child is sick, after-hours calls, carrying records and prescriptions across, vaccines and antibiotics, ongoing conditions, how the doctor handles disagreement, and what to ask your pediatrician at the first visit once you have chosen.
The questions
Each question, and why to ask it
Basics
Are you taking new patients my child's age, and how soon could we get a first appointment?
Why ask it
Start here, because a closed panel ends the conversation. Some practices take only newborns or siblings of current patients, and the first opening for a new family can be weeks away. If it is, ask whether they would see your child for a sick visit before then.
Who would we actually see at most visits, you or another clinician in the practice?
Why ask it
Larger practices often book you with whoever has an opening. If nobody can say who you would normally see, continuity is probably not how the office is run, and that matters most once a child has an ongoing problem.
How far ahead do we need to book a well-child visit, and how quickly can we get in when my child is sick?
Why ask it
These are two different numbers, and offices tend to quote only the first. A checkup booked well ahead is ordinary in a busy practice. The sick-visit wait is the one you will feel at seven on a school morning, so ask what time the phones open and whether same-day slots are held back.
What happens if we need advice at two in the morning, and who answers the phone?
Why ask it
Some practices staff their own after-hours line with clinicians who can open the chart. Others use an outside nurse line that works from a script and cannot see your child's history. Ask which it is, and whether a doctor from the practice can be reached when the nurse is unsure.
Do you take our insurance, and what does a routine visit cost us out of pocket?
Why ask it
Ask about the practice and the individual doctor, since one can be in network while the other is not. Then ask how a checkup is billed if you raise a new problem during it, because some plans treat that as a second visit. Your insurer has the final word, so confirm with them too.
What do you charge for that parents do not expect?
Why ask it
Forms for school and camp, after-hours calls, missed appointment fees, and portal messages are the usual answers. A practice willing to list them now is unlikely to surprise you later.
What is your training, and are you board certified in pediatrics?
Why ask it
Many certifying boards run a public lookup, so you can confirm the answer at home. What you learn in the room is who you are talking to: a pediatrician, a family doctor or a nurse practitioner can each be a sound choice, provided nobody is vague about which they are.
How long have you been seeing patients here, and are you planning to stay?
Why ask it
Years on the job are not a score. What helps is knowing where the doctor is headed: someone a couple of years from retiring, or newly arrived and still filling a schedule, changes how long you can expect to keep them and how easy it is to get in.
Which visits here are handled by a nurse practitioner or physician assistant rather than a doctor?
Why ask it
In plenty of practices they take most sick visits and some checkups, and many families are glad of it. The thing to settle is whether you can ask for the doctor when a problem is dragging on, and how much longer you would wait for that.
When you are away, who covers your patients?
Why ask it
The name matters less than whether that person can see your child's records. Cover arrangements that do not share notes mean starting from scratch during the week you most need continuity.
What age range do you see, and when would my child need to move to an adult doctor?
Why ask it
It matters most when the child you are registering is already ten or twelve. Cut-offs vary from practice to practice, and a few stop taking new patients above a certain age, so check before you settle a teenager somewhere they will age out of in three years.
Our baby is due soon. Do you come to the hospital after the birth, and how do we book the first office visit?
Why ask it
Whether they come depends on whether the practice works at the hospital where you plan to deliver. If it does not, the hospital's own staff check the baby and you carry the discharge papers to the office. Ask how soon after going home they want to see a newborn, and whether you call from the maternity ward or once you are back.
How many checkups should we expect in the baby's first year, and which ones run long?
Why ask it
The calendar of infant checkups differs by country and by practice, so ask for this office's own. Knowing which visits include shots or a fuller exam lets you plan time off work around those and send one parent to the rest.
How do we get the baby registered with you and added to our insurance, and is there a deadline?
Why ask it
Many plans give parents a set window after the birth to add a newborn, and its length depends on the plan and the country, so ask your insurer how it works for yours. Then find out what the office needs in the meantime, so the first visit is not held up at the front desk over a missing member number.
Before the first office visit has happened, who can we ring with a question about the baby?
Why ask it
There is a gap of days between leaving the hospital and the first appointment, and it tends to be when new parents have the most questions. Some practices take calls from families who registered before the birth, and others point you back to the maternity ward's line. Get the number written down before the due date.
If the baby comes early or spends time in special care, how does starting with you change?
Why ask it
Nobody plans for this, which is the reason to raise it while things are calm. You are finding out whether the office has taken on babies from a neonatal unit before, who sends the discharge summary across, and whether that first appointment would be booked longer.
Switching
How do my child's records get from the old practice to you, and what should I carry over myself?
Why ask it
Transfers usually need a signed release and can take weeks, and what arrives is sometimes a summary, not the chart. Hand-carry the vaccine record, recent growth measurements and the last specialist letter so the first visit is not spent rebuilding the history from memory.
What happens at a first visit for a child who is new to you, and is it booked as a longer slot?
Why ask it
New-patient visits often get extra time, but only if the scheduler knows that is what it is. Ask what the doctor plans to go through, so you can decide whether the long-running concern belongs in this visit or needs one of its own.
How do you get up to speed on a child you have not known since birth?
Why ask it
A doctor who has followed a child from the newborn days carries a baseline in their head, and a new one has to build it. Encouraging answers mention reading the old chart before you arrive, putting questions to the child directly, and wanting to meet once when nobody is ill.
My child takes a regular medication. Will you refill it before we have been seen, or do we need a visit first?
Why ask it
This is the gap families fall into when they switch. Many offices will not prescribe for a child they have not examined, so the practical fix may be a longer supply from the old doctor before you leave. Skip the question if your child takes nothing regularly.
Would you want to repeat any tests or screenings the last doctor already did?
Why ask it
Sometimes a repeat is reasonable, because an old result cannot be found or sat on a borderline. Asking ahead shows whether the new practice reads what it is sent, and it may spare your child a second blood draw.
My child already sees a specialist. Would you work with them, or prefer to refer inside your own network?
Why ask it
Practices tied to a hospital system tend to refer within it, and insurance can push the same way. If keeping the current specialist matters to you, say so now and ask whether letters will travel in both directions.
If a child has missed several visits or is behind on vaccines, how do you catch them up?
Why ask it
Catching a child up is routine work for a pediatric office, so the plan itself should come easily. What you are testing is the reaction. A clinician who starts with the plan and skips the lecture is one you will still be willing to call after the next lapse.
Is there anything in my child's history you would want to look at again with fresh eyes?
Why ask it
Save it until they have seen the records. A change of doctor is a free second look at an old diagnosis, a prescription that has run for years or a problem that never quite cleared up. If they say it all looks settled, ask what they would keep an eye on.
How quickly do you turn around school, camp and sports forms, and do they need a recent physical with you?
Why ask it
Forms are often the first thing a newly switched family needs. Some offices will only sign off on an exam they did themselves within a set period, which can mean an extra visit squeezed in before a deadline. Ask for the turnaround in days.
Access
What are your office hours, and are there evening or weekend appointments?
Why ask it
Ask who staffs the late slots. Saturday mornings are frequently sick visits only, with whoever is on the rota, which is fine for an earache and no use for the checkup you hoped to fit around work.
Which urgent care or emergency department do you send families to when the office is closed?
Why ask it
Not every urgent care is set up for small children. A practice that has thought about it names a place, says what it is good for, and can tell you whether the notes from that visit find their way back to your child's chart.
If I message the office with a question between visits, who answers and how long does it usually take?
Why ask it
Most of your contact with a practice happens between visits, so pin this down. A real answer names a channel, a person or role, and a timeframe. "Just call anytime" can mean messages land in a queue nobody owns, so ask what happens to one sent on a Friday afternoon.
How do you send test results, and how long should I wait before following up?
Why ask it
The useful detail is the default. Results posted silently to a portal is a different system from a phone call only when something is abnormal. Without knowing which, you cannot tell whether silence means normal or means a result went missing.
Can some appointments be done by video, and what would you always want to see in person?
Why ask it
Video tends to suit medication check-ins, some rashes and behavior follow-ups. The second half is the reassuring part: a clinician with a clear list of what needs hands and a stethoscope is using the format with judgment, and you will know when not to bother booking it.
Can you do blood draws, strep tests and X-rays on site, or is that a separate trip?
Why ask it
A swab done in the exam room is one errand. A lab order across town is a second one with a sick or frightened child, and sometimes a second bill. If tests go elsewhere, ask which lab they use and whether your plan covers it.
Where do sick children wait, and is it any different for a newborn or a child with a weak immune system?
Why ask it
Separate rooms are the tidy answer, but plenty of good offices manage with timing: well visits in the morning, masks at the desk, fragile children taken straight to an exam room. You are checking that someone has made a decision about it.
Can siblings be booked back to back, and would you look at a second child who turns out to be sick too?
Why ask it
With two or three children this decides how many afternoons a year you spend in the waiting room. Offices differ on the add-on: some will glance in the other child's ears, others need a separate slot and a separate charge, and both are fair if you know beforehand.
Which hospital do you admit to, and who covers there if my child is admitted?
Why ask it
Many office pediatricians do not look after patients in hospital at all, so the honest answer is often that the doctors on the ward take over. That is better heard now than at admission. Ask whether the hospital sends its notes back to the office afterwards.
Approach
What does a well-child visit include at this age, and how long do you schedule for one?
Why ask it
Compare the answer to the number of concerns you usually bring. A ten minute slot means growth chart, shots, and out, and the sleep or behavior question will need its own appointment.
Do you follow the national immunization schedule, and what happens if a parent asks to delay a dose?
Why ask it
The first half tells you what the practice does as standard. The second tells you how it treats a parent who hesitates: some offices talk it through over several visits, and some decline to keep families who refuse vaccines altogether. That policy is better learned at a meet-and-greet than at the two-month checkup.
When would you prescribe antibiotics for something like an ear infection, and when would you wait?
Why ask it
You are listening for reasoning, not a verdict. Someone who can describe watchful waiting and name what would make them revisit is thinking case by case. Reaching for a prescription at every earache and refusing on principle both skip that step.
How do you decide when a fever or a cough needs to be seen rather than watched at home?
Why ask it
The answer changes with a child's age, so give yours. A helpful doctor offers markers you can check at eleven at night, such as how the child is breathing, drinking and responding, and says which of them means call now. "Ring whenever you are worried" is kind and leaves you guessing.
How do you screen for developmental milestones, and what happens if something looks off?
Why ask it
Ask whether they use a written questionnaire at set ages or go by what they notice in the room. Then press on the follow-up: who they refer to, how long that usually takes locally, and whether the office sends the referral or hands you a phone number.
What support do you offer around feeding, whether that is breastfeeding, formula, or a baby who is not gaining weight?
Why ask it
One office has a lactation consultant down the hall and will weigh a baby between visits without an appointment; another refers out for everything. So ask what exists, not what they support in principle. If you plan to use formula, notice whether that part of the question gets as full an answer.
How do you approach sleep questions with parents, and do you have a position on sleep training?
Why ask it
Pediatricians hold different views on sleep training, and it is a subject where tired parents easily feel judged. Hearing the doctor's position before you need it tells you whether you could admit what really happens at bedtime. If your child sleeps well, skip it.
How do you talk with families about weight, and at what point would you raise it?
Why ask it
A remark about size made over a child's head can stay with them. Listen for whether the doctor would talk with your child or about them, and whether you could ask to have that conversation without your child in the room.
If we give our child a supplement or a herbal remedy, do you want to know, and how do you respond?
Why ask it
The answer you need is yes, they want to know, because some products interact with prescribed medicines. Beyond that, listen for tone. A doctor who scoffs teaches parents to stop mentioning what they give, and then the chart is missing something.
What do you do for a child who is frightened of shots or exams?
Why ask it
Useful answers are concrete: numbing cream, a parent's lap, letting a child hold the otoscope first, spacing out what happens in one visit. Reassurance that children generally do fine suggests nobody at the practice has thought about it.
Conditions
What is your experience caring for children with chronic conditions like asthma or type 1 diabetes?
Why ask it
Swap in your child's own diagnosis if there is one. The answer shows whether the practice manages ongoing conditions itself or sends everything out, which tells you how much of the coordinating would fall to you.
How do you handle food allergies, and would you do testing here or refer us out?
Why ask it
Practices range from doing a first workup in the office to referring straight away, and either can be right. Ask how long the allergist's waiting list is at the moment, and what you are meant to do about the suspect food until that appointment.
If my child needs a specialist, do you make the referral and stay involved, or hand the case over?
Why ask it
A referral is a handoff, and handoffs get dropped. The answer you want includes who checks that the appointment happened and who squares the specialist's plan with the rest of your child's medications and history.
When our insurer wants prior approval for a medication or a referral, who in your office deals with it?
Why ask it
Approvals are paperwork between the office and the plan, and a child can be left without a medicine while a request sits. A practice that names the staff member who chases them, and roughly how long they take, has done this before. The process differs by plan and country, so ask how it runs with yours.
If my child needs an emergency plan or medication at school, who fills in the paperwork and how often is it renewed?
Why ask it
Schools and daycares generally want their own forms signed again each year, and a new practice may not sign until it has examined your child. If the plan from the old doctor expires soon, time the first visit around that date.
What do you do about mental health concerns, and is there someone you refer to for therapy?
Why ask it
Waits for children's therapists can be long, so an existing referral relationship is worth far more than a general statement that mental health matters. A named clinic or a counselor based in the practice is the concrete version of that answer. Ask what the doctor does for a child in the meantime.
If a teacher raises attention or learning concerns, do you evaluate that here or send us elsewhere?
Why ask it
Some pediatricians run the questionnaires and manage treatment themselves. Others want a psychologist's assessment first, and schools have a process of their own on top. Ask for the route in order, because each step can come with a separate waiting list.
Working together
Which new-patient forms can we fill in before the first visit, and who has to sign them?
Why ask it
Paperwork done in the waiting room comes out of the time you booked with the doctor. Many offices will send the forms ahead or post them on a portal if asked. Check whether a consent form needs a second parent or guardian's signature, because that one cannot be fixed at the desk.
Who else is allowed to bring my child in, and what do you need from us in writing?
Why ask it
Sooner or later a grandparent, a nanny or a co-parent from another household will be the adult in the exam room. What an office needs before it treats a child with no parent present depends on the practice and on local law, so ask how it works there and settle it at the first visit, while you are standing at the desk.
Now that you have met my child, what would you like to know that the forms did not ask?
Why ask it
Intake forms cover allergies and dates. They do not cover that your child goes silent with strangers, or that the last doctor always explained each step before touching anything. This gives the clinician an opening, and what they choose to ask about shows what they noticed in the room.
When do you want to see us next, and is that booked today or left to us?
Why ask it
A first visit that ends with no next step can turn out to be the only visit until someone is ill. For a baby the gap is short and the next checkup is often booked on the way out. For an older child it may be a long way off, so find out whether a reminder is sent or the date is yours to remember.
Can I stay in the room for everything, including blood draws and procedures?
Why ask it
Policies vary by procedure, and some offices routinely ask parents to step out for draws on the theory that children settle faster. Knowing the policy lets you decide in advance rather than being asked to leave mid-appointment.
At what age do you start seeing a child alone for part of the visit, and what would you still tell me?
Why ask it
Confidentiality rules for minors differ by state and country, so ask how it works where you live. A doctor who explains the arrangement to you and your child together, before it is needed, makes the teenage years easier on all three of you.
What do families who switch to you usually say they were missing before?
Why ask it
It is a polite way of asking what this practice does well. The answer shows what they believe sets them apart, whether that is time, access or seeing the same face, and how they speak about other doctors. Sniping at colleagues is worth noticing.
What makes a family easy for you to look after, and what makes it harder?
Why ask it
It turns the interview around, and most doctors answer candidly: bring a list, lead with the real worry, admit when the medicine was not given. You also hear what wears on them, which is useful to know at the start of a relationship that may run for years.
Who do I call when something goes wrong on the office side, like a lost referral or a wrong bill?
Why ask it
A named office manager beats the main number. A lot of the trouble at a practice is administrative: a referral never sent, a form sitting in a tray. Knowing who can fix that saves you from explaining the problem to a new person on every call.
If I disagree with a recommendation you make, how would you want me to raise it?
Why ask it
Keep this one for the end, when you have a feel for each other. A doctor who can describe how they would work a disagreement through, including when they would suggest a second opinion, is one you can bring a hard problem to. Bristling at the question is an answer too.
Choosing and Vetting a Pediatric Practice
Practical guidance for the conversation itself
Before the appointment
Confirm coverage and an open panel first
Check that the practice is in network and accepting new patients in your child's age range before you spend a visit on it. An insurer's directory can go on listing a practice after it has closed its panel or moved, so confirm by phone.
Bring records rather than only questions
If you are switching, bring the immunization record and any specialist notes. A clinician who is looking at real history gives concrete answers instead of general policy, and you learn more from ten minutes of that than from an hour of philosophy.
If you are expecting, choose before the due date
The hospital will usually ask who the baby's doctor is going to be, and the first office visit tends to come soon after you go home. With a practice chosen and its number saved before the birth, booking that visit is one phone call.
If you are switching, overlap the two practices
Sign the records release and ask for a refill of any regular medication before you tell the old office you are leaving, and keep the next appointment there until the new one is booked. A few weeks with two practices is easier than a few weeks with none.
Spend five minutes with the front desk
The staff who answer the phone control same-day slots, refills and message routing. How they handle a stranger asking two questions is a fair sample of how they will handle you on a bad morning.
Split the list between the phone call and the visit
Nobody gets through a list this long in a fifteen minute meet-and-greet. Most of the Basics and Access questions can go to the front desk by phone, and the Switching questions suit whoever handles new-patient paperwork. Keep the Approach, Conditions and Working together questions for the clinician, and choose the handful that matter for your child.
What to ask your pediatrician at the first visit
A meet-and-greet is for deciding. The first visit after you have chosen is a different conversation, because your child is in the room and the doctor has a chart to respond to. The four questions that open the Working together group are written for that appointment: the forms, who else may bring your child, what the paperwork missed and when to come back.
What to notice besides the answers
- How far past your appointment time you waited, and whether anyone acknowledged it.
- Whether the clinician spoke to your child directly, at whatever level your child could follow.
- Whether sick and well waiting areas are separated, or at least whether anyone has considered it.
- Whether your second and third questions got the same attention as your first.
- Whether someone told you what happens next without being asked.
Common pitfalls
Deciding on the drive alone
Distance matters for sick visits, but it is the one factor you can plan around. A practice you cannot get an answer out of is a problem every week.
Reading warmth as a clinical answer
Rapport is real and worth something. It is not the same as a clear position on antibiotics, referrals or overnight coverage. Ask for both and judge them separately.
Waiting until your child is sick to choose
A first appointment at a new practice can be weeks out, and many offices will not book a sick visit for a child they have never seen. Registering while everyone is well is what makes the same-day slot available later.
Assuming the decision is permanent
Switching pediatricians is ordinary, and the office you are leaving can tell you how to request the records. If the fit is wrong after a few visits, that is information rather than a failure.
A workable order for picking a pediatrician
- 1Narrow to two or three in-network practices that are accepting patients.
- 2Call each and ask only about sick-visit access and after-hours coverage. Some will rule themselves out here.
- 3Book a meet-and-greet at the ones left, or a first well-child visit if meet-and-greets are not offered.
- 4Use that visit for the vaccine, referral and communication questions, and keep notes on the answers.
- 5Give the practice two or three real visits before deciding, since the second visit shows you the ordinary experience rather than the introductory one.