David E Safir, MD

My boyfriend and I met Dr. Safir while I was still pregnant, and he had a way to put me at ease instantly. Being a new mom I was and still am worried about everything. Dr. Safir addresses my concerns and does so in a «friend to friend» manner. He makes jokes that make me realize I was over concerned but never ever makes me feel like I was annoying or had a «dumb» question.
Dr. Safir visited me the morning I delivered and came to check on my son Anthony. He also came in the next day to make sure all was going good.
He goes out of his way to help, hye as even emailed me to tell me about sanitation bags he heard I was looking for.
His style is a very non aggressive approach but being the worrier I am, this is exactly what I need, and I also know he would be aggressive if he felt needed.
I am very surprised to see some of these nasty reviews. Dr. Safir is a down to earth doctor who truly loves children. He kissed my baby right on his cheek to calm him down, just so caring and father like. He’s a patient, very educated man, who in my opinion is the best doctor I have ever seen.
I feel very blessed to have found him and his girls, Kris and Kelly, they are all so helpful and sweet.
I trust Dr. Safir with my baby boy and I don’t trust too many.

Dr. Safir and his team of «Doctors» are a disgrace to the term MD. My nephew was taken to this office since birth and from Day 1 I was not confident in his abilities. But today was the day that pushed me over the edge. My nephew has been wheezing for over a month. Grabbing his ear coughing etc. Dr Safir kept saying it’s due to his teething. Seriously? One month and it’s teething? His symptoms got so bad today I took him in for an emergency. Lo and behold he had an ear infection and it had become so severe his life was in danger. This wheezing could ultimately lead to many future health issues. I advise any parent looking for a Doctor to continue their search because this Office is full of incompetents that will only put your child’s health and safety at risk. He will be lucky if I do not pursue legal actions.

We met Dr. Safir before my daughter was even born. We liked how friendly he was and he seemed caring knowing we are first time parents. My daughter is only 5 weeks now and we’ve had about 4 visits. We like him even more know. Just seeing him with her I know she is safe and in good hands. You can tell with how he interacts that he is good with children. I would highly recommend him.

We started to see Dr Safir after our son was born and we found him to be fairly direct but nice. We were a little put off when we started to have issues less than two weeks after our son was born. Our son was crying constantly — not the regular baby cries but horrendous screaming pain cries — for hours and hours. He’d also started to snore and would pull his legs up in pain and throw his head back and scream after every meal. We continued to see Dr Safir regularly, we told him our sons symptoms over and over again, his response — babies cry and perhaps it’s because you have old milk so you have low supply? This lasted for 2 months — (looking back I kick myself) at that time we were beside ourselves with worry and thought the dr knew best. It was an awful time. After a particularly bad weekend I went to a lactation specialist telling her what my doctor said — she took one look at our son and told us it was severe reflux!!! How could Dr S have missed this??? With all his years of experience and all our visits and descriptions of his symptoms — seriously — and every time our son was in there he was screaming. Anyway we changed doctors and our sons life got a whole lot better! It’s not easy dealing with severe reflux. Dr Safir has lost his sensitivity and advocacy for the child.

OK, so I was not going to write anything about this physician, but since it has been a year since we moved and I am still thinking about our last visit with him, I think maybe getting this on paper would get it out of my mind.
1^st of all Chris and Kelly-​LOVE them! They ALWAYS took care of my girls. If I lost my shot records or needed info for another Dr or one of my girls surgeries-​they were there for me. Dr. Safir-​he is who he his. I feel that anyone who barely listens to the parent, or seems to be bothered by the fact that you have a question or two should not be working with children. I always felt rushed, and somewhat ‘put up with’ when we went in. It also bothered me that he had his daughter working and doing intake a few times when we came in. I don’t like just anyone having access to our medical records.
The last time we were there my daughter had to use the restroom immediately. The door was locked and we knocked several times but could not hear anything. Crying babies etc from the other rooms. I thought maybe someone had locked the door when they left by accident (had happened before), but nope it was Dr Safir, who came out VERY upset and angry that we had continued knocking. (we knocked twice) Mind you, we were moving in a few weeks and this was our last appt. He was so rude, my kids were upset and I got them out of there. Again, no patience! Heartfelt goodbye to Kelly and Chris and we motored.
I hope this helps!

Dr. Safir is awesome! He treats my kids like his own. Highly recommend him and the staff!

One of the finest physicians that I’ve ever met. He’s just an expert and knows what I“m thinking, worrying about, going to ask even before I say anything. He takes his time to listen and thoughtfully answer to all my concerns. He is a super straight-​talker and makes plain the complex.
I love how he handles my sons. He is so funny and playful and this really gets them through the exams, shots, etc. quickly and with minimal fuss.
Dr. Safir is highly trustworthy and grounded. He has fathered 5 children of his own, so he understands kids very well.
His staff is amazing. They take care of business very well despite being obviously very busy. They always take a moment to chat and smile.
Of all the things that I love about this office, it’s that they are committed to educating you about your child’s health, needs, wellness and growth milestones. Dr. Safir also offers astute observations about psychological factors at play in their development and rings the bell on when you should be worried and when it’s just within «normal» limits.
I couldn’t endorse a physician more given how wonderfully he’s cared for my boys.

Dr. Safir has been our daughter’s doctor for 14 years. When I was pregnant with our first, I wanted to «interview» a variety. Then we met Dr. Safir at our birthing class. My husband and I agreed right off his straight forward, no nonsense approach was just what we needed as new parents. He’s never let us down. He’s warm and trustworthy to the little ones, with his silly ties, Donald Duck voice and dinosaur vitamins. He administers any injections swiftly and without drama. He’s straight to the point about vaccines and gives sound advice about care. He encouraged us to have a common sense approach to parenting with a touch of humor. We still laugh about his comment that if you negotiate with a 3 year old, you’ve already lost! We’ve referred many neighbors & friends and will continue to do so. We love seeing the photos boards filled with familiar faces over the years. The girls are getting older now, but don’t want to go anywhere else. Kelly and Chris are the nicest staff imaginable. Great people all around. The doctors that cover for him have always been great too. You can’t lose.

When looking for a pediatrician, Dr. Safir came highly recommended by my OB. He took the time to meet with my husband and myself and answered all our burning questions. We have seen him for over 3 ½ years. He has the best staff. Chris and Kelly are amazing and incredibly helpful. Often they will fit us into the schedule when my kids are really sick. My son loves Dr. Safir’s personality and so do I!

Dr Dave has been our pediatrician for almost 3 years now for our 2 ½ year old and our 3 month old. And coincidentally he was both mine and my husbands pediatrician when we were growing up! I absoluetly love the environment of his office and staff, his straight and to the point demeanor and his overall personality! My husband was a bit taken back by his straight forward and to the point answers — hey but wouldnt you want someone to just give you the answer rather then sugar coating it or telling you what you want to hear? That’s what a doctor is suppose to do right? When I think back to my childhood and having my visits to Dr. Dave they are nothing but good memories… so why wouldnt I want to give my girls the same? My oldest absolutely adores him and he has a special way with every child. Also as many of us parents know — things happen with our kids and we often put blame on ourselves as parents. I had an incident with my older daughter and I was completely beating myself up… Dr. Dave also has a way with parents and helps us manage our feelings and guilts!
When I had my second child Dr Dave was off schedule so I was visited in the hospital by another doctor. I questioned her about something and she gave me a «hmm, well… let’s see… yeah that’ looks okay I think… I’m not sure» answer. I was completely annoyed because I am so use to Dr. Safir giving me my straight answer. Either I need to worry or I dont… It looks good or it doesnt… we should do surgery or we should go get ice cream!
I would recommend Dr. Dave to any of my family and any of my friends!

My cousin referred me to Dr safir her children are now 20 and 17. Starting 10 years ago, my older children went to dr safir for years and we had a very pleasant experience with him and his office staff. But we had to switch to kaiser. I very excited to find out a few years later, id be able to go back to him with my husband’s new job.
So now i have my 3^rd child and I set up an appt for shots (which it was my fault i did miss) then i set up the next appt for her. the weekend before her appt, she got a fever, i called for after hours and they said that his partner cannot see us because my daughter hadn’t technically been seen by him yet. she referred me to someone somewhere else (408−365−9300 awesome staff, after hours care and bill like regular visit) I explained my daughter wouldn’t be able to have her shots this tuesday, and I guess i is my fault i didn’t specifically ask her if she could make sure the dr safir knew i was canceling. i thought it was in the same office. Apparently she didnt let them know.
I called today to get a new appt; at first, i explained i left a message… and this was her response (she was very condescending and quite snotty with me) «well, i find that hard to believe because that was just an after hours answering service…(she didnt understand what i was saying so basically called me a liar), you had two ‘no shows’ and you are technically a new patient and so dr safir made the decision this morning that you will just have to go else wear to find a new primary care physician» I explained i told the other lady and filled her on my call to the office that weekend. she said «oh» thought about it for a second and said «well unfortunately there is not anything else she could do dr safir already made his decision» I just had my records transferred there and i asked if i could come get them and she said that she has to check with billing, they normally charge $ 25 for them… well, frankly they don’t need to copy anything, my children didnt see him yet so they can just give my file that was sent to them, im waiting for her to call me back, as she informed me in a huff that they were swamped and shes not sure exactly when she can get back to me.
I understand that this is a private practice, i understand he needs to make money too… but I was an old patient there for years, I have referred SO MANY people to him from my MOPS group, and from school moms, and i would of just appreciated a warning, or even a different attitude. I felt like my mom was punishing me for being late after curfew.
SO… maybe they should just charge a fee for no shows instead of «kicking me out of the club» and embarrassing me on the phone. I would much rather paid the fee then dealt with that call.
Like I said before, i never had an issue with them before, after reading Jamie r’s comment… maybe Dr safir is just getting cranky in his older age? not sure. But needless to say, even if they offered for me to stay with them i would tell them no thank you.

We saw Dr. Safir for a brief period of three to four months following my Son’s birth. I personally loved the Dr and his office staff. After a rather difficult delivery, my low birth weight child was admitted to NICU for slightly low body temp. Dr. Safir saw him in the NICU for the next couple of days. He was nice enough to call me on the intercom every time he saw my baby in the NICU to tell me that the little boy was fine. After the delivery we continued to see Dr Safir for another three to four months. All our follow up visits to the Dr’s office were nothing but pleasant, questions and concerns were always answered with enthusiasm. My child gained weight for the first couple of months but then acid-​reflux set in. We stopped going to Dr Safir because the distance was too far for us (over 1 hour in traffic with a little refluxing baby is challenging).
I also have to point out an odd experience that I had there and you can judge it for yourself –my son was not given the rotavirus oral vaccine which was new in the market at the time (I don’t care much about him not getting that vaccine because I read about it later and it’s not like it is one of the most essential ones). It is my guess that Dr. Safir was being conservative and did not think that this was needed, or perhaps the risks outweigh the benefits. Whatever the reason, I wish that someone from Dr’s office had called us and made us aware of their decision of not including this vaccine. Imagine the surprise/​shock when you realize that other children who are born around the same time are getting some oral vaccines from their doctors to protect them from stomach flu. I called Dr Safir’s office and they took my message but no one called me back. I called the next day again and again the dr was busy and said that he would call back but never heard from them.
We selected Dr. Safir because of the recommendation from our Good Sam Lamaze classes, where he came as a guest lecturer. Out of the several parents who were there many just fell in love with his philosophy and signed him as their baby’s pediatrician, but I have admit that there were a handful parents who thought he was a little abrasive and direct. Dr. Safir has a very wry sense of humor and if you cannot take it you might find his statements condescending or out of place. If you read his articles in NY times you will realize that he likes to debate on controversial issues and he also likes to be direct in his writings (this is what made me like him). Some people can be sensitive to that so I would not demean any parent who posted a view that may not be in tune with several other parents here. We are all entitled to our opinions based on our likes/​dislikes and that’s why we Unilocal

I too am not sure what happened with the one negative review, like the other parents I only have rave reviews for Dr. Safir. He’s been the pediatrician for my children for over 13 yrs now. Like the others said he’s factual and to the point but has never ever made me feel bad about questioning him on something I’ve been researching, such as immunizations and autism link. He has his opinions and suggestions based on his medical experience but when I wanted to try a little different route with immunizations with my 4^th child he was supportive of that as well. I have suggested him to EVERY person who has ever asked me if I know of any pediatricians and I will continue to do so. And hands down Kris and Kelly his office staff are just as amazing!

Not sure what happened with a reviewer below, but I have a 3 year old and a 17 month old and went the same route with interviewing pediatricians with our first child. Dr. Safir came recommended by a friend, so we met with him. Loved his work ethic and friendly office staff! He answered any questions I had and helped me feel comfortable with him as my new babies first doctor! Maybe the hormones got to the other reviewer… but, honestly, he answered any and all questions I threw out at him. Now, he doesn’t have time to drink a cup of coffee with you as he is pretty busy, but very professional.

First let me say it looks like the review from Jamie R below definately had some sort of agenda. Only one review interesting, it sounds like he just didn’t say exactly what she wanted to hear. I personally am glad I will not be running into her in the waiting room.
Just about about 15 years ago (yep hard for me to imagine) my wife and I were interviewing pediatricians for ouir first child. We interviewed quite a number, and got reccomendations from friends. First of all, everyone has different ideas of what they want in their childs pediatrician (to each their own). In short we found what we wanted in Dr. Safir. If you are looking for someone to just do what you pretty much have decided is the right thing and all else be damned, go find a different Doctor. Dr. Safir is exactly what we were looking for in a pediatrician. Yep, pretty much no nonsense, no beating about the bush. He will give you his opinion along with a smile. He is good with the kids (now we have a 15 and 12 year old with him). He is able to talk their language and is pretty good communicating with them, also he listens to then. As they grow and have the ability to communicate, he encourges the communication come from the child.
Overall I am impressed with Dr Safir’s knowledge and demeanor. Oh and of Chris and Kelly are great! They all put up with my scarcastic sense of humor (uh oh, now will they know who this is?)
If I had to do this all over again, I would go the same route. Although I must admit, I don’t like him getting this San Jose Mercury «Best of Silicon Valley — Pediatrician (especially 2 years in a row). While I believe it is true, selfishly to me it just means I have to get through more people to see him. I want my «I saw him before you did» card!

Dr. Safir has been our pediatrician for 13 years (13 year old boy and 10 year old girl). Not only do we trust him, more importantly, our children trust him. They both feel they can tell him anything which is super important now that they are getting a bit older.
We, like many first time parents, had those «stupid questions» that you are a bit embarrassed to ask — he always answered them seriously and never made us feel foolish. He totally believes in a parent’s instinct and truly loves our kids — and they know it.

Love Dr. Dave! He is a no nonsense type of doctor and is wonderful with the kids. He is patient enough with you but doesn’t beat around the bush. His staff are wonderful!!! I went to Dr. Dave when I was little and now take my girls.
He has a new website too:

Dr. Safir has been our pediatrician for 18+ years. We recently had another baby, and he is just as enthusiastic and caring as he was the first day we met him. He is great not only with babies but older kids and teens as well. He offers no nonsense advice, and his info is always relevant. His office staff is prompt to respond, and always has a smile when you walk in the door. I even love that the message you get when you call after hours is Dr Safir’s voice telling you when they’ll be in the office, and who to call when they aren’t. I can’t recommend him highly enough!