How to lie to your pediatrician

[@llli*phi]

My point is not that the clinic itself will be analyzing the data. It is that they are collecting data that are potentially available to researchers who might at some point find such data useful. Upon further thought, though, I bet this is just something that they keep as part of your patient history just in case something goes wrong. In the unlikely event of some weird problem they probably just want to be able to start ruling certain things out, and I don't think that there is anything wrong with that either. If the OP is interested then I absolutely would ask why they need to know. That's probably the best way to find out whether the questioning is problematic or not. I would ask the doctor rather than the nurses; it's more likely that the doctor will have a more accurate answer.

As far as getting funny looks, nurses do this all the time when you can't give them a quick answer. It's not good bedside manner, but unfortunately it happens all the time regardless of the situation or the clinic. After a fairly severe injury, I've had to "rate my pain from 1-10" on that stupid pain scale about a billion times, and I have the absolute worst time with it. In fact I often end up with some fraction of a "pain unit" and have gotten a lot of pretty weird looks for that. It's all innocent enough though. They need a number, and I'm not giving it to them. My dad has had the same problem at multiple hospitals and clinics. I'm not saying it's not annoying - I truly hate it. I'm just saying that this type of situation may not be as quite as nefarious as some seem to think. If the OP is uncomfortable with this doctor, then by all means I encourage her to find another. It's just that on these threads I've read some absolutely horrible advice given by doctors, and it seems to me that having to answer a couple of annoying questions isn't such a terrible thing if the doctor is otherwise supportive, a good diagnostician, and gives medically sound advice. If these other criteria are not met however, then I would be inclined to find a new doctor ASAP.

[@llli*chicas]

every time someone asks me that question I respond with a smile "as often as he wants to, I don't have clock handy, nor do I wear a watch to keep track". I recently went to the pedi for my older son and had my 3 month old on my husband's lap, the doctor came in and said "wow, he sure doesn't skip his meals, look at those tights!" he made my day

[@llli*lifeframes]

They always ask me that and never seem upset that I don't know, they just seem to want a rough estimate to put in the chart. My guess would be that it is more a requirement for them to put it in the system even though they know its not entirely accurate. That is just the way my peds have always acted about it and we go to a big practice and see someone different every time. What I'm trying to say is I have always just assumed it was a paperwork requirement because the doctor obviously doesn't care, it is just a number they need to put in the computer. Now I would assume if there was any kind of a weight or size issue then it would actually be a bigger deal.

[@llli*mom2pandt]

LOL This post made me laugh because at DS's 6-month appointment, the nurse (who is fairly new) asked if he was formula or breastfed, and then when I told her breast, she wanted to know how many ounces per day he takes. I said IDK because there's no way for me to tell. She just kept asking OVER AND OVER again, well, how many would you guess? LOL I just laughed and said, I really don't know how I would be expected to know that. He doesn't take bottles well AT ALL so judging from what he has at the sitter once or twice a week isn't a good indicator and I DON'T KNOW how many ounces he takes!!!! I felt like I was hitting my head on a break wall while talking to her, because she wasn't taking that for an answer!!!!!

Then she moved to the next screen on her computer where it has her fill in the number of times/day and length of time he nurses. Geez!!!!!!!! I know it's just because she was new but I was getting so frustrated with her wanting AN ANSWER for her computer that I could not reasonably give her!!!!

[@llli*rakoonz]

I guess my concerns were mostly that if they don't really care, and are just doing it to fill in the computer's spaces, then why do they NEED to know? The program is unlikely to be blocking them from just moving on, since if the mom was FF, then the spaces wouldn't be filled in... If it is just a matter of paperwork for my own baby, then I don't mind just trying to figure a rough estimate out for the next time they ask, but if they are trying to collect data and apply it to other people's babies, then I don't want to be so haphazard about what I answer, in case they head in the direction of "you need to feed x often for x amount of time." So if the case is that they're collecting data, I guess I'll err on the side of more feedings/more time just so no one is told to feed their babies too little. (But at the same time, I wouldn't want to swing too far to the "he eats all day long" side of things in case that would make their data scare other moms whose babies are probably more efficient than mine, who really likes to take his time, into thinking they're not feeding enough!)

Basically, I don't want my response to in any way negatively affect other nursing pairs. From all y'all's input, I definitely feel like now I have a better idea of what to ask/say/do at the next appointment to make sure that doesn't happen.

[@llli*jrunk8585]

my son is EBF and is 4 months weighing 16lbs which is also big for his age. They have never asked me how often I feed him. I also would have to say I have no idea. But my answer would probably be every 2-3 hours for between 15mins to an hour. Which is the truth but it changes every feeding lol so I would give them an answer like that. Maybe they are asking you because he is so big they want to know if you every take him off of your breast you know like how people overfeed babies on formula.

[@llli*amysmom]

Then that's a problem with their computer programs. It's okay that it's a required field - but it should be free-form text. That way they can type in "On demand". Or if it's a drop down menu, they should be able to add selections such as "BF on demand" because it IS an acceptable answer.