How do you know when your school-aged child can safely come out of the car seat, and use a regular seat belt? It’s longer than you think.
The safety issue relates to the way that the safety belts themselves restrain the child. In order for the belt to restrain the child without causing injury, the belt [...]
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 infection.
Hydrogen [...]
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 2 [...]
A few parents are still asking about the safety of the H1N1 vaccine. Please be reassured! You and your children are much better off with the vaccine than without it.
This is certainly not a “new” vaccine; the H1N1 vaccines are just like the regular seasonal vaccine, made by the same manufacturers, who use the same [...]
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 babies under [...]
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 program [...]
Would you like to have your infant daughter’s earlobes pierced? You might have some difficulty finding someone to do it for you.
Some pediatricians have recommended against having the ears pierced until the child is old enough to take care of them herself. Usually this meant waiting until the child is school age. However, I have [...]
Does your baby sleep restlessly? Some babies are helped to sleep by some ambient noise. We’ve all heard stories about babies who would sleep only with the vacuum cleaner running … !
You can run a quiet fan, or buy “noise machines” from a baby store. Or, for a buck or two, you can download an [...]
Q: At what age should babies stop spitting up after feeding and what can be done to control it?
A: Many babies spit up occasionally with feeds. I don’t get concerned if weight gain is good, the baby eats eagerly and seems satisfied after feeding, and the baby is cheerful and sleeping well.
If the baby’s vomiting [...]
