Healthy Living
How Important Are Baby Teeth?
Parents frequently ask me how important baby teeth are. After all, they just fall out and are replaced with another set. I often respond with a one-word answer: vital. Baby teeth are essential to not just dental health, but a › Continue Reading
How to Listen to Earphones Safely
No matter where you go these days, people are using earphones. They use them for communicating, listening to music, and blocking background noise. They come in a variety of shapes and sizes — from those that completely cover the ears, › Continue Reading
How to Properly Clean a Dirty Car Seat
While throwing a car seat cover and straps in the washer and dryer seems like a convenient and sensible way to go about cleaning a dirty car seat, this is usually not the recommended method. Car seats are made of › Continue Reading
Praising kids comes easily for most parents. We want them to feel good about themselves and what they’re doing, so we tell them they’ve done a great job. The only issue with this is that we haven’t told them what › Continue Reading
7 Exercise Ideas to Keep Kids Active This Winter
We’re all aware that regular physical activity is important and has many health benefits. But even some very active kids have a difficult time keeping the exercise going during the winter months. We get it – it’s cold, it’s dark › Continue Reading
I’d like to spread awareness for a public health issue impacting both kids and adults: a mislabeled amoxicillin allergy. I say mislabeled because many people who think they are allergic to amoxicillin are not actually allergic to it. Or they › Continue Reading
Tis the season for holiday parties, food-related treats, and off-kilter schedules. It’s great fun, but if your family is trying to maintain a healthy lifestyle, you may be wondering what can be done to prevent it from spiraling of control. › Continue Reading
Along with sleepless nights, diaper changes and loads and loads of tiny laundry, new parents will eventually have to deal with their baby getting sick. One of the most common respiratory illnesses new parents encounter is bronchiolitis, which 90 percent › Continue Reading
When your child breaks or fractures a bone, you want him to feel better and heal as soon as possible. The good news is that kids’ bones are great at healing and remodeling. In fact, they’re better at it than › Continue Reading
Family Health History: How to Begin Tracking
Do you know how long your mom has had high blood pressure? Or the age when your grandfather was diagnosed with arthritis? These pieces of family health history are important to ask about. We know some health conditions run in › Continue Reading
Family Health History: Why Track It?
You may quickly rush through those doctor forms checking boxes for the health and medical issues your relatives have. But it’s worth taking time to slow down and really think about your family health history. Family history is one of › Continue Reading
How to Help Children Learn Habits of Gratitude
The holiday season is officially upon us and with it comes a great opportunity to focus on being thankful. Many children look forward to this time of year with excitement and wonder. Many also have big expectations and sometimes not › Continue Reading
How to Help A Preschooler Who Begins to Stutter
Stuttering is not an uncommon occurrence in preschoolers. In fact, some researchers suggest that stuttering may occur during development in 5-11% of kids between the ages of 2.5 and 5 years old. We outlined some examples of stuttering in a › Continue Reading
Teen transitions can be hard. And let’s face it, there are a lot of them. Making the move to the world of adult healthcare is just one of the many transitions that teens must manage. Changing from pediatric to adult › Continue Reading
Each season has its own set of respiratory illnesses that can be problematic for kids — and especially for those with asthma. Typical peaks of asthma exacerbations happen in the fall, around when kids go back to school, and spring, › Continue Reading
While social media was meant to bring people together in a positive way, we’re all well aware of the potential abuses, such as cyberbullying. One of the main reasons that social media is ripe for abuse is because many apps › Continue Reading
In simple terms, post-traumatic stress disorder, or PTSD, is a psychiatric condition that develops after a traumatic event and can involve intense, disturbing thoughts, as well as changes in mood and behavior that interfere with day-to-day functioning. When we think › Continue Reading
If you have a child with ADHD, she likely experiences strong emotional outbursts as well. This is because kids with ADHD are more prone to be emotionally impulsive, which means they are more easily frustrated, impatient, excited, angry and annoyed › Continue Reading
7 Tips for Making Mealtimes Less Stressful
The benefits of eating family meals together are well documented – better grades, healthier eating habits, and stronger parent-child relationships. We envision that our meals will be happy, social times with our families. But the reality is often very different. › Continue Reading
What To Do When Your Child IS The Bully
The American Justice Department statistics show that 1 in every 4 kids will be bullied some time in their adolescence. With the consequences of bullying well-documented, this is a sobering statistic. On the flip side, it can be equally disheartening › Continue Reading
10 Healthy & Portable Post-Sports Snack Ideas
Somewhere along the way, snacks immediately following youth athletic events got complicated – not to mention unhealthy! What used to be orange slices and water has turned into the complex coordination of salty and sugar-laden treats and drinks. As a › Continue Reading
The prevalence of kids who are overweight or obese is growing at an alarming rate. In fact, 39.6% of kids between the ages of 2-19 are overweight and 18.5% are obese. What’s even more concerning is that these statistics seem › Continue Reading
Risk Factors for Suicide
As a clinician who has completed psychiatric assessments in the Emergency Department and now teaches suicide prevention, I believe knowing the warning signs of suicide can be helpful for parents in addressing the needs of their child. These warning signs › Continue Reading
Warning Signs of Suicide and Ways to Get Help
Studies suggest that the majority of people who die by suicide give warning signs beforehand, but the signs are not always obvious. We all – as parents, friends, family and community members – need to be looking for the warning › Continue Reading
As a dietitian in the Center for Better Health and Nutrition, parents often tell me that they spend a lot of time packing their kids’ lunches, only to find the majority of it coming back home. This situation can be › Continue Reading
