Children and their pediatricians

Couple of questions for the parents here. At what age do your kids see a regular doctor instead of a pediatrician, and do you or would you ever wait outside and just leave your kid and the doctor in the examination room?

Pertaining to the second question my own answer would be hell no. My mind's been made up on that one since I was 13 and read a magazine article about this doctor in Long Island who when he had 13 and 15 year old girls come in to see him, they came in alone, and he would penetrate them with his fingers during the exam, and half the girls didn't say anything, and the others did and some of them took action, and others were the typical 'oh he did not, you're just making it up', and to that one I gotta ask wasn't until after the bastard was dead that some of the mothers realized it was true.

I hadn't thought about what age I would stop my son seeing a ped. Probably at 16.

I won't ever leave the room unless he is having a physical. If he is being examined because he is hurt or ill, I need to be present to ask questions.

The last time I took him in and we saw a nurse practitioner, she acted as if I wouldn't be going in the room. It was for a suspected ear infection, so of course I was going in.

RedBedroom wrote:

The last time I took him in and we saw a nurse practitioner, she acted as if I wouldn't be going in the room. It was for a suspected ear infection, so of course I was going in.

Yeah, why WOULDN'T a parent be present for that?

Yeah, it was pretty strange. I'm not implying she was up to anything. I just think that maybe most parents don't go in once kids get older.

My son broke his arm and he was five. They tried to get him alone because even for a broken arm, it's pretty crazy the suspicion parents fall under. So, they wanted to question him alone about the injury. So, I ended up saying I understand they are required to question him one-on-one but the only way they would be able to do that is with me standing outside the open door. And that is how it played out.

I don't know if there is an exact age. 16-18 likely.

IDK when I'd let my kids go in alone. I'll figure it out when I'm a parent.

My daughter is fourteen and still sees her long time pediatrician, whom she has had since she was about five or six. The only difference is that they don't meet in the pediatrics section of the hospital anymore. There's this area designed specifically for adolescents and teenagers where she has her appointments now.