Do you question your pediatrician's advice? Do you feel like you can? Do you ever feel like your pediatrician is wrong?

Check out this story:

http://www.cnn.com/2008/HEALTH/family/03/13/ep.pediatrician.advice/index.html

Yes, I sometimes question our doc's advice. I think the parents know what's best for their children. All babies / children are diffrent and a doctor's suggestion on something may work great for one child but not another. I think it's a good idea to pay attention to current research / theories also, so that you can make informed decision. There may be other options other than what the doctor is suggestiong.

About the paci, how many of you use them, or how old was your kids when you weaned them from it? My son is 14 months old, and he still uses it at bedtime, and I don't see us being able to take it away in the near future. I was thinking around 18 months, but I don't know. I only know my neice still had one at 3 1/2, and she clearly didn't need too. I will definitly do it before then. But when is the right time?

My 14 month old still has a paci - it comforts her.

I personally have no problem with comfort items at all. My oldest will be 4 in exactly one week and she still sucks her thumb - when she's tired, bored, sad, scared, whatever.

It doesn't bother me at all, and I have no plans of taking it away. I figure if I had something that comforted ME that much, I'd want to use it too. Will she need braces? Probably. So will most other kids. Doesn't bug me.

So, I don't know when we'll take the paci away - It's a different ballgame from the thumb since we actually have control. For now it isn't bothering me though.

I have no problem with him using the paci now, I just know that I don't want my 3 year old sucking on a paci. LOL!

I would be careful with your older child sucking her thumb. My nephew sucked his thumb when he was two, and a sore came up on his thumb. It got infected, and when it got so bad they had put him in the hospital, he caught staff and it was a double whammy. I would watch hers to be sure she doesn't get a sore that could get infected. I think I am gunshy with the whole thumb-sucking after seeing my two year old nephew sooo sick laying in that hospital crib. I never knew sucking your thumb could be such a hazard!

I don't have a problem discussing options with my children's doctor. To me, it's more of an attitude on the part of the doctor than anything else. I would steer clear of any doctor that had a habit of "giving advice" in the form of absolute, paternalistic (although some are women, of course) terms. Condescension is a trait I find offensive in doctors, and when I've encountered it (not often, thankfully), I haven't returned.

Ronaldsmom - yikes! That's scary!! It definitely sounds like a one in a million freak accident though. But I can see how it would make you gunshy. In general, I'm pretty sure thumb sucking doesn't pose any hazards, other than for braces.

LawMommy - totally agree. There is nothing more off-putting to me than drs. that get annoyed when you have done your research. Now, I can see how some patients can go overboard and get annoying, but advocating for your child and doing your research is just being a good parent.

Okay, dirty little secret time: My son turned three in January, and he still uses a pacifier at night and during naps.
I feel a little embarrassed sometimes, but I'm trying to get over it because I feel like Moozle - 90 percent of kids need braces these days (and if he inherits my husband's dental probs, he's doomed anyway!), so why stress him out about it? Who is he hurting?
I forced my eldest to grow up WAY too fast (he started crawling & I didn't pause to feel proud - I thought "When's he gonna learn to walk?" He started walking - at 9 mos!!! - and I thought "Why isn't he talking?"!), and can barely remember any of his milestones.
I refuse to do that with my youngest. I want to enjoy every minute of his childhood, and I want him to enjoy it, too. I'm not rushing anything.
And I can tell you all from experience - when your child is 18, you'll wish you rushed him/her less & enjoyed him/her more. I do.

DistractedMom - my best friend's little girl will be 4 next month. She still uses a paci at bedtime and on carrides.

My daughter will be 4 on Thursday and still sucks her thumb.

Don't feel bad at all! There are a lot more of us than you know. LOL.

I'm with you - I refuse to rush any of this away. I just feel like - and it's just my opinion - that it's cruel to take away something that brings them comfort just b/c people think it "looks" wrong, or might hurt their teeth.

No one would ever snatch away a kid's blanket or favorite stuffed animal like that, you know? What's the difference?

Thanks for your support, Moozle! I'm glad to know there's someone like me out there!

And PS - saw your daughter's pic in the college paper! She's adorable!
Also love the pix you posted, and LOVE the Easter baskets - are you the one who said you use the same ones every year? I've got to get to work on something like that for mine...

DistractedMom, I hope I didn't make you feel embarassed. I just hope that by that age, my LO can find something else to comfort him. Like the thumb(if I can find the restraint to let him do it), or a stuffed animal or blanky. I just want him to move on past the paci before that age. My nephew starting using his blanky after the thumb infection, and he still does (he is almost 4). I wouldn't feel bad if I were you. Your son probably just loves his paci. My niece that I referred to did not need hers. My niece however, just wanted it. I hope you know what I mean by that. She did not need it for comfort, just wanted the paci to prove to her parents she could control them and get what she wanted. Does that make sense? She is very stubborn (as most 3 year old I know are LOL) and would push and scream to get the paci until her parents caved. And that is something I will try not to let my LO do.

I do agree about making kids grow up too fast. My LO just started walking 3 weeks ago at 14 months old. He was taking steps, but still had to hold on to something before then. Everyone kept asking me why he wasn't walking yet. I kept telling them he will do it when he is ready. Didn't seem to keep them from asking the next day though.

I always try to savor every moment and milestone(and take lots of pics ). I still look at him walking and can't help but get a huge smile on my face to see how cute he is. He holds his arms up to help keep his balance and kind of looks like a monkey doint it. Yesterday he learned how to get on and off of a little picnic table we got for him when he was just a baby. Soooo sweet!

Thanks, Ronaldsmom. And, no, you didn't make me feel bad. I don't think I would have admitted it at all if I really felt as embarrassed as I claim!
And, honestly, I'm old enough & have been a mother long enough that I really don't care what other people think of my parenting choices. I know what I believe, and usually that's enough.
That said - my son only uses a paci (we call it a Googy at our house, and that's a long story...) at night, and I guess that's mostly because I don't like the looks we get when he has it out in public (and also because he talks nonstop these days & it's kind of hard to understand him when he has a Googy in his mouth!), so I can't say I'm completely unswayable .
Anyway, you stay strong and don't listen to those people who are trying to rush you and your child along! He'll grow up soon enough, that's for sure.

I was so excited to see her picture in the paper! Oh, about the easter baskets, I wish I had ANY creativity or artistic ability at all, but I don't.

I'm a bit embarassed to admit I didn't even make them myself. A coworker of mine made awesome ones for her kids, so I bought the baskets and supplies and begged her to make my girls baskets. She did a fantastic job though!

I can't make anything, either, Moozle. But my Mom can - and boy won't she be surprised when I show up at her door with a basket & all the supplies needed to decorate it!

That's a cute name! I try to help him do what he should be doing without pushing him. Like I would help him practice walking sometimes. If he got interested in something else though, I didn't push him to work on it.

I have to say the only reason I have a problem with the paci at that age is because of the looks my niece got when her parents allowed her to go out with it. I know that may seem like a bad reason, but having to explain to strangers why your child still sucks a paci, and having other parents look at you like you are a terrible parent for letting her have that, was enough for me to decide several years ago I didn't want my children to have a paci at that age. It is a very personal decision with alot of reasoning behind why and when you do away with it, and a decision I try very hard not to judge other people on. Especially after seeing how harshly they were judged by complete stragers.

I don't know how it happened that we all feel like our children are behind if they aren't talking and walking at a year old. They all just do it at their own pace, and we really should stop pushing and judging each other on how quickly our children develop. Some kids are faster, and some slower, but most of the time it has nothing to do with what the parents do or don't do. I am not talking about you ladies, just in general. It is really frustrating when I see other women starting at me and know they are judging me when they don't even know me. So any of you get that?