Do You Follow Your Doctor's Instructions?

If you are talking about an illness, definately listen to your doctor. But in the developmental arena, there is no standard that works for all. Each child is different and I have Five different kids to prove it. You just need to trust your instincts. As parents, we know when something is not right. If you think the problem in question might be a health problem, then by all means, consult a physician. If it is just a kid doing and being, read your kid. You'll know what to do.

I believe that for the most part, the best tactic is to take a doctor's advice - but I do think that you are always within your rights to question and get a second opinion if you are unsure about something. I think the crux is whether you feel that you have a good patient relationhip with your doctor, as that is what trust is borne out of. If not, I would strongly advise changing doctors as I think that forms the basis.

I think you have to take a balanced view. How much of what the Doctor is telling you is straight fact learned at Medical School - how much is a preference or an opinion? We tend to trust professionals less nowadays and want to question what they say. As a rule of thumb I would say you can question their opinions (if you can tell the difference between opinion and fact). For instance I would be happy that the Doctor could diagnose my condition and give me a prognosis, but would want to be part of the discussion about treatment if there were several ways to treat a condition. My Doctor is excellent, and I would trust him to make the right decisions (and he tends to 'include' the patient). If you think your Doctor is wrong, get another Doctor - I wouldn't employ a mechanic or plumber if I didn't think they were qualified...

I always listen to my doctor, but ask other people as well. I always ask my mom before my son ever even sees a doctor. She raised 4 kids and babysat countless others. I know when she tells me something, she's looking out for the best interests of her only grandson. One of the doctors that my son has to see sometimes, I really don't like. I don't believe much of what she says, and she always tries to blame everything on the parents. If I have to see her, you can pretty much guarantee I won't be taking her advice, but if he sees the doctor I do like, I always listen, and more often than not, take his advice. Sometimes just doing it some different way is what works best, though. When my son had a really bad diaper rash, they were saying we weren't changing him often enough (he was going through 8-10 diapers a day, and he was over a year old! We were changing him as soon as he used the bathroom!), or something like that. They gave us prescription medicine, and when it didn't work, they told us it was because we didn't follow the directions. We ended up looking elsewhere for ways to clear it up, and a friend of mine online gave me a link to a site with home remedies. The first one we tried was eggwhites, and the rash was gone within 3 days! I'm really glad I started looking for advice from people other than doctors that time!

Depends on the advice given. If the reasoning makes sense even if you don't agree with it try it. But don't listen to everything they say. When it comes to advice on kids habits a lot of it comes from personal opinion. Like cosleeping, potty training, etc. I always like nurse practitioners and midwives when it comes to advice on everyday problems with kids. They're more like going to a friend who is knowledgable for their opinion, than from "a medical stand point".