As a follow-up to last month’s look at creating healthful habits for kids, it’s time to turn the camera on ourselves and see if we are setting healthy examples. Moms tend to focus so fully on everyone else that it can take a toll on their own wellness, in mind …
Read More »Courtney McGee
A Weighty Issue for Teens
It ain’t easy being a teen. No longer a little kid, but not quite independent. Identities are being forged; social dramas abound; limits are being tested; hormones are running amok; and you never know what your body is going to do on a daily basis. “Adolescence is a hard time …
Read More »Crash Course in Car Seats
The American Academy of Pediatrics recently revised its stance on an important car-seat safety practice. I want to get the word out on the change and also revisit car-seat rules and tips in general. Even seasoned parents can use a refresher from time to time. Tracy Whitman, program coordinator for …
Read More »Making friends with food
Food is essential for life. But what happens when you see food as the enemy? One mom drew the links between food allergies/feeding disorders and eating disorders. The disorders’ shared perception of food as foe may be taken for granted by someone dealing with only one or the other. But …
Read More »Hand, Foot and Mouth
Hand, foot and mouth disease is one of those illnesses that we’ve probably heard, but may not be sure what it really is. We just know we do NOT want it brought into our homes. In recent months, it became more widely talked about, partly due to news coverage of …
Read More »Keeping Ahead of Injury Concerns
Parents, coaches, physicians and athletes today are more acutely aware of the danger of concussions and mild traumatic brain injuries (mTBI). The Centers for Disease Control (CDC) notes that more than 800,000 children seek care related to traumatic brain injuries in U.S. emergency departments each year, and about 2.5 million …
Read More »Desperately Seeking Dryness
Bedwetting is an issue many parents deal with, yet few discuss. They may fear violating their child’s privacy or feel that others will criticize their parenting, or maybe they wrestle with their own feelings of concern and frustration. It can be isolating. The American Academy of Pediatrics says that five …
Read More »Campus Care
Parents sending their children to college have, for the most part, completely managed the family’s health care up to that point. But once students step on campus, they call the shots — and parents may be denied access to any health data, even though they’re the ones paying the bills. …
Read More »Managing Pediatric Pain in the Era of Opioids
With the tragic prevalence of opioid addiction in the United States, we all need to pay attention to the ways that children’s pain is addressed in both acute and chronic situations. Children feel and express pain differently than adults, both parents and doctors agree. At the same time, pediatric pain …
Read More »The buzz on coffee
One Saturday in 1999, I handed my husband a frozen latte and a honey-do list. It was his first time drinking coffee, and that list was cranked out in record time. I hadn’t figured myself a “pusher,” but he was immediately hooked. Now, we both drink coffee daily, though try …
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