How should you take care of your newborn’s umbilical cord? Conflicting instructions confuse new parents. But proper care is not difficult. The most important technique is to expose the base of the cord. If the base is not exposed to air, then bacteria can thrive in the wet, low oxygen environment; this may lead to [...]
Lots of experts give advice about how to care for fussy babies. There are special medicines (such as Mylicon), special formulas (such as Nutramigen), and home remedies galore. (Could someone please tell me what “gripe water” actually contains?) But most babies who cry a lot don’t have colic. I haven’t made this diagnosis more than [...]
When patients in the past have asked me whether to give their kids vitamin supplements, my opinion has been lukewarm. Most foods are supplemented with vitamins, even junk food! There’s no harm in a daily supplement, but I have not felt strongly about it. Until now! Recently, I have seen a steady stream of recent [...]
For many years, heavy advertising for Baby Einstein videos implied that infants who watch TV (specifically their DVD’s) grow up smarter. But pediatricians and advocacy groups were skeptical. No proof was ever offered, and several studies demonstrated harm to infants watching much TV. Complaints were lodged with the Federal Trade Commission, asking the FTC to [...]
If your child is our patient, and you have Medicaid insurance (or no health insurance at all) for your child, please call us: we have (finally!) received our shipment of “regular” (seasonal) flu vaccines. We are able now to vaccinate all our patients against seasonal flu, regardless of insurance. (The only exception is for Medicaid [...]
As of October 7, 2009, these are the regular (“seasonal”) flu vaccines we have in stock: For patients with “Commercial” insurance (Blue Cross, Aetna, Coventry, etc.): we have all “regular flu” vaccines: - shots for all children under 3 - nasal spray for all children over 2 (EXCEPT those with asthma) - shots for all [...]
The immediate spread of Swine Flu seems to be abating, but it’s likely to resurface in the fall. So far, Swine Flu hasn’t seemed very serious. Most cases have recovered fully; fewer than 500 people have died from it in the US so far this year. This is a remarkably low number, considering the high [...]
Everybody knows that kids need to wear sunscreen when outside in the summer sun. And it needs to be reapplied every two hours – even if the manufacturer claims that a single application lasts 4-8 hours, don’t believe the label! But what about little babies under 6 months? For decades, doctors advised against sunscreen for [...]
Breastfeeding mothers have been told for many years that pacifiers should be avoided, because of a fear that they might interfere with breastfeeding. Now, a review article in the AMA’s pediatrics journal (April 2009) reassures us that pacifiers may be okay for breastfed babies, after all. 4 randomized trials were reviewed; babies were assigned to [...]
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A federal program, WIC (“Women, Infants, and Children”) provides free food to low income families. This excellent program has been funded for many years by the US Department of Agriculture’s Food and Nutrition service. Money is provided to states, who give infant formula and nutritious food to pregnant women and children who qualify. A new [...]
