Recs for easygoing pediatricians near Ridgefield CT

October 11, 2009 1:20 PM

[kidsfilter] Recommendations for easygoing, vegetarian-friendly pediatricians near Ridgefield, CT?

Good friends of mine are moving, rather suddenly, to Ridgefield, CT next week. They have two sons, under two years old - one is about 20 months, and the other was born a few weeks ago.

They've asked, since I live in the NY Metro Area, if I could find recommendations for pediatricians within a half hour of the area, who are "ok with vegetarians and cosleeping, not prone to panic, and not married to charts." Neither of the kids has any medical conditions that require specialty care, and both are healthy to my knowledge.

Any suggestions you have to offer would be greatly appreciated!

posted by mccn to Health & Fitness (2 answers total)

A better place to ask this question is probably mothering.com, in the "tribal" section of the forums. Or on the Fairfield County Attachment Parents meetup group. Alternatively, give the midwives at the CT Birth Center in Danbury a call (the only freestanding birth center in CT) and ask for a recommendation. My pediatrician fits the bill, but she's an hour's drive from Ridgefield. (Sorry no hyperlinks - I'm on an iPhone, but memail me and I will dig them up from my home computer.)
posted by xo at 11:25 AM on October 12, 2009

We love our pediatrician: Joe Hufnagel, of Doctors Pediatric, on the Wilton/Norwalk line. Looks like the drive can be as little as 15 minutes. We've never asked him about his feelings about vegetarianism and kids, but I bet your friends could find that out by phone. My suspicion, though, is that he would find a way to make it work. Their number is 203/762-3363. There are six or seven pediatricians there, and we've had good experiences with a lot of them, so even if ours had a thing about vegetarianism, your friends might be able to find someone else there.

As far as the charts, our little guy is something like 75th percentile for height, 95th for weight. I don't know what Dr. Hufnagel would have to do to prove he is 'not married to charts,' but he hasn't suggested we starve our little guy or anything; he gave us some dietary suggestions when it was clear we were mildly concerned about weight, but with the high percentile for height, and the good level of activity our guy gets, and the balanced diet, he's pretty understanding.
posted by troywestfield at 9:10 AM on October 13, 2009