An alarming government report regarding toxic heavy metals in baby food may have caught your attention. It says these foods are “tainted” with dangerous levels of arsenic, lead, cadmium and mercury.Is this information cause for concern? Yes, but it’s...
Being a new parent is hard.
Being a new parent today is even harder.
With the limitation of visitors, changes to doctor’s offices, and lack of ability to get out of the house (among many other challenges), being a parent in COVID-times is causi...
Is breastfeeding worth the possible exposure to Covid-19?
Short answer: yes.
Unfortunately, the risk of COVID-19 is everywhere in our lives right now, but the reality is your baby needs another human to survive. So regardless of the way you...
Previously, I covered the bascis about infant reflux. If you missed that article, please click here.
I have a few, more specific topics I promised I would go over in my previous post.
Should We Try a Medication for My Baby’s Reflux?
This i...
Desperation or neglect, whatever the reason the story is devastating.
In the wake a baby is dead and her mom has been charged with her murder. In addition, the baby’s dad has been charged with aggravated battery and cruelty to a child for diluting...
Newborns aren't able to manage their body temperature like adults can. So, as the thermostat dips, the way you handle outings with little ones needs to change.
Know your babies' limits and plan ahead when making a trip outside so you can keep the...
If I had a nickel for every time I talked to parents about teary, gooey baby eyes I’d own a yacht and would be sailing it around Europe right about now.
So let’s talk about it, and what you can do to help it go away.
Baby eye tear ducts don’t w...
Bah-bah. Binky. Button. Nip-nip. Num. Paci. Sassy. Soothie. Wubbanub.
Whatever you call it, parents have lots of questions about pacifier use.
Let’s look at some of the most common:
1. When is it OK to start a pacifier?
A pacifier can be ...
“My baby spits up all the time.”
“My baby never spits up, but seems like they are fussy all the time."
I know this sounds like reflux, but the truth is spitting up can be normal. Even if it’s with every feed, even if it seems really bad.
May...
Is your 6 month old sleeping through the night?
Maybe not and that’s OK, at least for your baby. You, on the other hand, may need some rest.
Let's start with your baby. Does their lack of sleep pose any risk to their health or development?
A...
Are you looking for the miracle cure for your baby’s congestion? Me too. Sorry, it just doesn’t exist. I tell families all the time that if I find it I will market it and retire.
In the meantime, here are some things you can do to help.
Suction...
Participation in formal swimming lessons can reduce the risk of drowning by 88 percent among children aged 1 to 4 years old, according to Pediatrics and Adolescent Medicine.
...
Don’t leave your child alone in the bathtub.
That’s the simple message that the folks at Cook Children’s who watch out for your kids’ safety wants you to know.
From March 14 to April 10, 2018, five children were rushed to the Emergency Departme...
For eight days after her son was born, all Whitney Coben could do was look at her fragile little boy.
Brayden was born premature at 27 weeks, weighed less than 3 pounds and couldn’t breathe on his own. Right after birth, he was immediately taken t...
When bringing home a beautiful newborn, it can worry new parents to see one or both eyes constantly watering and developing ‘eye gunk.’ This problem is often caused by a clogged tear duct, also called nasolacrimal duct obstruction.
Normally, tears...
Carol and Emmanuel Vallecalle welcomed their first daughter into the world in late October, beaming with excitement. Everything seemed so perfect, they couldn’t imagine a single thing could go wrong. Their 7-year-old son looked forward to becoming a ...
WFAA - During the holiday season, Cook Children's Medical Center takes decorating to new heights, from twinkling lights and festive ornaments to a magnificent tree. They make it so special, knowing that for many families, there is where they'll spend...
When Stella Amechi found out she was pregnant with her third child, she was over the moon with excitement. She was already the mother to two young girls, and soon, her first son would be arriving.
Never in a million years did she dream that he wou...
For years, Americans have been told the safest place for a baby to sleep is on their backs, but a new study finds many parents aren’t following that advice.
According to the study published this month in the journal Pediatrics, just half of mother...
“Your baby needs surgery in order to breastfeed correctly.”
Those probably won’t be the words that are said, but it might be the message that you hear.
Breastfeeding can be a tricky thing and many different problems can lead to a poor latch or ...
It can be tempting to turn on the tablet and let it entertain the kids while you travel. But just like at home, screen time needs to be approached with balance.
“While it’s all right to let children watch some kid-safe programming while you travel...
“Does my baby have reflux?”
“Is it GERD?”
Or, as I frequently see it spelled, “Is it gurd?”
Every baby spits up ... there is definitely a spectrum from the babies that spit up once in their whole life all the way to the babies that spit up e...
Just in time for the holidays a reader wrote in with this question:
“My friend...was told by her grandson’s pediatrician that her grandchildren who are vaccinated should never be around any unvaccinated children. Well, the parents of her other...
“We try to put her on her tummy to play, but she just cries! It breaks my heart!”
I hear this almost daily as a pediatric physical therapist. However, tummy time is more important than ever these days.
Our babies today tend to have more time on...
Adele, you are not alone.
The pop superstar gave an interview in the most recent edition of Vanity Fair and talked very frankly about her battle with postpartum depression, following the birth of her son. She said her postpartum depression made h...
Have you ever wondered why they do hearing screens on babies?
Let's begin by looking at the facts:
About one to three babies out of every 1000 will be born with a permanent hearing loss.
Infant hearing loss is the most common health conditi...
If you deliver a baby via C-section, should you swab them with your vaginal secretions?
A new study in Nature Medicine started the process of trying to answer this exact question
You might be thinking, “What the?” But there is some logic to thi...
Mark Zuckerburg had his baby vaccinated and I don’t particularly care.
Don’t get me wrong, I’m glad he had his baby vaccinated for his baby’s sake, but I don’t want it to affect your decision to vaccinate at all.
I don’t want your vaccine decis...
There are some interesting things that happen when you have a newborn.
You will be awake during hours of the night you didn’t even know existed.
You will begin to interpret everything as a smile.
You will allow words like spit up and poop beco...
The upcoming flu season leaves many questions, but one thing remains certain for Mary Suzanne Whitworth, M.D., the medical director of Infectious Diseases at Cook Children’s.
“Vaccinations are still the best answer to preventing the flu and protec...