Be careful if your child is taking an antibiotic you are allergic to
Before prescribing antibiotics for children, doctors ask if the child has any known drug allergies. It is not uncommon in this situation for parents to mention their own history of drug allergy. A doctor’s standard response is to reassure parents that their child is...Don’t diagnose drug allergies over the phone
The parent of a 12-month-old patient called my office recently and talked to one of my nurses. I had put the infant on antibiotics the previous day for an ear infection, and the baby woke up with a rash. The parent asked if we should diagnose the baby with an...
- What’s a strawberry hemangioma?
Strawberry hemangiomas are a collection of tiny capillaries located on the skin. Most resolve without treatment by the time a child is 5 to 10 years. - What are the incubation periods of some common childhood illnesses?
There is a lag time between being exposed to an infection and coming down with the disease. This time frame is called the incubation period. - What’s in a teaspoon?
Nowadays, doctors and parents need to be more precise in the way they give medicine to kids. - Are febrile seizures dangerous?
Febrile seizures occur in 3 percent of children between 6 months and 5 years. The seizure is triggered by the rapid rise in temperature that accompanies an illness. - It’s common for fathers to bond with their babies after mothers
I have made a point of telling new fathers that it’s “normal” for moms to bond to babies before they do. - Kids eating too many Halloween treats? Try this trick
Despite my confession, it used to drive me crazy to watch my kids gobble up pounds of candy every fall. My wife came up with a perfect solution to our dilemma. - Limit visitors the first week you are home with your baby
While it helps to have friends or relatives assist you in taking care of the baby, what begins as a 5-minute visit can easily stretch to an hour or more. - How to make tummy time easier
Once parents start tummy time, lots of questions come up. How long should it last? How many times a day should we do it? - How to clean a newborn’s vagina
Cleaning this area often makes parents nervous. I recommend two things to make this easier. - Why newborns poop when they’re nursing
When a person’s stomach fills with food, it triggers a reflex that stimulates peristalsis.