Parents, let’s admit it. Many of the tears shed on the first day of school are our own. The first day of school for parents is not easy. There is genuine sadness and ache that goes beyond the bittersweet as our kids approach momentous milestones such as kindergarten entry and college send off. As our pediatrician friend Dorothy Novick posted on Facebook, “Because here’s a thing no one ever says out loud on Facebook: as all the balloons and congrats explode on our feeds, many of us parents of graduates are experiencing some pretty serious grief. There’s true pride in the photos, yes, but there’s also honest to goodness grief.” Continue Reading
Perfect timing. I have been seeing a lot of kids starting table foods in the office lately and my sister (an Emergency Medicine doctor) just came out with a video on what to do when someone is choking. She goes over what do with any age group, so worth a peek even if your kids are bigger than you are.
Prevention hints: As a toddler parent you will find kitchen shears perfect for cutting up food into bite sized pieces. But watch the number of little pieces that your child eats at one time- kids get into trouble when they scoop a pile into their mouths. As for toys, anything that can fit into a paper towel roll is a choking hazard.
Hoping you will never have the opportunity to use the information in the video!
When preparing to travel with your kids, do you sometimes you wonder if it’s worth all the time and effort? Click here to find an article from the Children’s Hospital of Philadelphia where your two Peds and colleagues give some tips to get you through.
Wondering about signs of anxiety in your child or teen? Interested in everyday ways to help calm them? Take a peek at this post that one of your two peds contributed to: When Your Child’s Anxiety Is Worth Worrying About — and How to Help in The Children’s Hospital of Philadelphia’s Health Tips.
A Bucks or Montgomery County, Pennsylvania parent or caretaker? May is mental health awareness month and NAMI Bucks County and CHOP Primary Care, Doylestown have teamed up to give an in-person talk this week! Registration information above- hope to see you there!
Everything has a season, incluing seasonal allergies.
In our area near Philadelphia, we associate spring with the Phillies opener and also with the onset of spring allergies.
Here is a nice summary of how to treat allergies, from The Children’s Hospital of Philadelphia (note that one of your Two Peds was a contributor). And following are some of our prior posts that can help you treat your child’s seasonal allergies this spring:
Did your child wake up in the middle of the night crying from ear pain? Fortunately, not every child with an earache has an actual ear infection. However, all children with earaches deserve to have their pain treated, no matter what is causing their pain. Here is our post about what to do for your child’s earache.
Remember when feeding your baby was fun? They way he opened his mouth like a baby bird when you fed him oatmeal. They way she thumped her hands on the high chair tray waiting for another bite of mashed bananas. It was hard not to laugh as your nine-month-old slowly picked up each piece of pancake and chewed thoughtfully, or the way your eleven-month-old, covered in tomato sauce, double fisted a messy meal of cut up meatballs and elbow noodles. And then they turned one. You call your pediatrician and search the internet to ask, why won’t my one-year-old eat?
Maybe they actually did not stop eating entirely, but instead of the serene or comic meals you used to enjoy with your baby in the high chair, you now have a one-year-old who deliberately deposits each pea off of the high chair tray and onto the floor, smooshes their potatoes all over the plate, or thrashes like a chained-up wild beast to escape their high chair. You fluster, you offer other previously enjoyed foods, you become convinced they will starve, you offer a cookie, you offer more milk, you cry.
Let us reassure you: your one-year-old most likely is acting in a normal and predictable way. In this post, we explain why many one-year-olds seem to stop eating, and how to handle your suddenly picky, food-averse one-year-old.
Sound familiar? It’s probably not the first time ‘round this rodeo, but ever wonder if your child’s headache could be a sign of something more problematic? The good news is, while kids get headaches for many reasons, there are telltale signs every parent can look for at home to distinguish normal headaches from bad headaches in children.
Tension Headaches
For most kids with headaches, the odds are in their favor. The most common culprit is the tension headache—the kind we have all experienced at least once in our lifetimes. Fortunately, they are also the least scary kind of headache.
Death, politics, mental illness, and sex- all difficult topics for parents to talk about with their kids. Your Two Peds joined a social worker, school guidance counselor, and former teacher in a lively panel discussion at the Haverford Township Library in Haverford PA on how to normalize conversations on difficult topics between parents and their children. Watch as we talk about on ways parents can give kids give information while limiting their anxiety .
Is your child’s sore throat “dragon” them down? This month we contributed to The Children’s Hospital of Philadelphia’s Health Tip of the Week on the subjects of sore throats and strep throat. We hope you find our tips helpul if your your child’s throat feels like it’s on fire.
