What does a Naturopathic Pediatrician do?

While perusing my site, you may have asked yourself, “how does a Naturopathic Pediatrician compare to a conventional one?”. Allow me to explain.

The services that an ND primary care pediatrician, such as I provide are essentially identical to those of a conventional pediatrician. We routinely conduct wellness check-ups, including school and sports physicals, or other physicals necessary prior to dental or surgical procedures. Acute visits for sick and injured kiddos or appointments to discuss and manage chronic conditions are also par for the course. Any medical concern is fair game for an appointment, even if it is to talk about dietary habits and troubleshooting how to get your little one to eat more veggies. We can be very creative when it comes to boosting nutritional content of food or increasing hydration. Within these visits, we can provide referrals to specialists, send for imaging, order labs, and prescribe medications as necessary.

But where ND pediatricians really shine is in how we differ from our conventional counterparts. For example, many of my mom friends have expressed disappointment at the short appointments with their pediatricians and the lack of time to ask questions. A typical well child visit with a naturopathic physician lasts around 45 min - 1 hour. During this time, we discuss health concerns, diet and hydration, elimination, sleep, developmental milestones, health screening, vaccinations if applicable and anticipatory guidance while also performing a complete physical examination. Within this time, we happily answer all questions, ensuring that you leave feeling informed and that your child was cared for.

Additionally, respect is of the utmost importance. I have heard many sad stories from parents expressing feelings of being disrespected by their pediatrician over their personal, philosophical, or religious beliefs and how they influence their medical decisions. Mainly, the most controversial, that occurs most frequently, is over vaccinations. My job as your child’s pediatrician is to facilitate your role as a medical decision maker by providing you with information, answering your questions and respecting and supporting those decisions. My aim is to help you feel empowered in making choices for your child’s health and work with you in any way necessary to achieve your goals.

Last, but definitely not least, is the emphasis we place on natural medicine. Naturopathic physicians have many additional tools in their toolbox to help with treatment such as extensive knowledge of herbal medicine, supplements, homeopathy, physical medicine modalities including hydrotherapy, and manual manipulation, counseling and so much more. We prefer to treat our patients more conservatively, focusing on gentle, natural treatment options first and opting for harder hitting treatments such as medications or antibiotics only when necessary or preferred by the patient.

It is my hope that this post helped answer any outstanding questions you may have had regarding naturopathic primary care. If you have a question about what I do that was not addressed in this post, please feel free to leave it in a comment, and I will be happy to answer your questions there.

Enthusiastically,
Dr. Andrea Lutac