Checkup Newsroom

Father’s Day advice – Put your children second

Fri, 16 Jun 2017 10:44:21 -0500

Frank McGehee, M.D., may surprise you when it comes to his parenting tips as a father of four biological children and two step kids – he puts all of the children second.

Dr. McGehee, seen here with his daughter Brigid, became a stepfather of two younger girls 15 years ago, after his own four children were nearly grown and out of the house. He feels like the commitment he keeps to his wife, Pam, is what makes him a better father of a strong family.

“I know, to some, it sounds like it defies common sense to say put the children second,” Dr. McGehee said. “But, I think you have to have a strong marriage and a strong bond between the husband and wife. From there, everything grows from the love in that relationship. If the marriage is solid, the kids will benefit.”

That strong relationship between spouses will also be needed, Dr. McGehee said, with the extra challenges that come from being a stepparent.

Children of divorce often have emotional issues, sometimes of abandonment and sometimes of anger against the new father. Dr. McGehee said the parents need to have a unified front in dealing with their kids.

“You have to eventually find that place where you trust the stepparent and their objectivity,” Dr. McGehee said. “The stepparent can look at things with fresh eyes and without some of the emotional entanglement that may be there with the biological parent and the children. Hopefully, the biological parent will find that objectivity helpful.”

And then there’s one more relationship that Dr. McGehee feels stepdad has to at least attempt to make – with the biological dad.

“We have something in common – the relationship with the kids,” Dr. McGehee said. “I would hope that we are both trying to love and nurture the child. You have to try to get along with each other, eventually you will have things like graduation and weddings to attend together. You may not ever be friends, but you should at least be colleagues in raising a child. All the parents involved should have the same goals for the child – making them a happy, healthy and successful person.”

Get to know Frank McGehee, M.D.

Dr. McGehee is a Cook Children's pediatrician in Fort Worth (Magnolia). Dr. McGehee is married and the father of six children, with an age range of teenager to in their 30s. Brigid, seen in the photo in the story, has Down Syndrome and it helps Dr. McGehee work with patients with DS and other special needs. In his role as primary care physician he treats a wide variety of children and helps them with everything from the common cold to complex issues. Dr. McGehee stresses at well-child visits the two most important things a mother can do for a child remain breastfeeding and making sure the baby's car seat is properly fastened.

New Study Finds Babies Sleep Longer, Safer If They Don’t Share Room With Parents

Mon, 05 Jun 2017 10:46:23 -0500

A new study has found that babies sleep longer if they don’t sleep in the same bedroom as their parents.

The research, published in the July 2017 of Pediatrics, found “that room-sharing with infants at ages 4 months and 9 months was associated with less nighttime sleep, shorter sleep stretches and unsafe sleep practices.”

The study also found that babies who shared rooms at 4 and 9 months had four times the odds of moving into the parents’ bed during the night, a risk factor for Sudden Infant Death Syndrome.

“I encourage people to get their babies into their own rooms, although it definitely seems like everyone has a different time that they are ready for the move,” said Hillary Pearson, M.D., medical director of Cook Children’s Sleep Laboratory. “I think it is more about the parent/child interaction, how well a baby is feeding/growing, and whether it is a parent’s first baby that factor in to moving into an independent sleep space. I have also tried to encourage ‘middle ground’ - with the baby’s sleep space in a closet or bathroom nearby with the doors closed. This way everyone can “ease in” to moving the baby away from immediate view. I think moving the baby helps to promote self-soothing, which makes for better sleep for both parents and the baby.”

Parents of newborns know a good night’s sleep can be hard to come by – especially when they decide to let the baby try to sleep alone.

Frank McGehee, M.D., a Cook Children’s pediatrician in Fort Worth, says that while you never want your child to experience discomfort, you aren’t doing babies any favors by not helping them learn to get to sleep on their own.

“A parent’s job is not always to make their child happy, but to meet his or her needs,” Dr. McGehee said. “When your child gets older, he or she may not like algebra, but it will serve the child well to learn.”

Dr. McGehee suggests letting your child sleep in a crib near you for the first two to four months after birth. Then he suggests moving to another room.

He recommends these steps:

Don’t do anything for the first 10 to 15 seconds the baby cries. Then, walk in and use verbal soothing to calm the baby.
After another 15 or 20 seconds of crying, touch the baby and speak softly in a soothing voice.
Don’t let the baby cry more than five minutes before intervening and picking up him or her.
Continue soothing until the baby is comfortable enough to fall asleep on his or own, then place the child back in the crib.

While in the crib, parents should keep blankets, pillows, bumpers, stuffed animals, mobiles, monitors and other humans or animals out of a baby’s sleep environment.

For more information:

Navigating transitions in leadership

Thu, 26 May 2016 10:37:15 -0500

The practice of pediatrics is changing rapidly. New ideas for payment models and care delivery models come and go. Navigating through those changes can send a practice or health care institution on a tangent that leaves the providers and staff feeling like they don’t have a compass. It is important during these times to have someone who can help put the new changes into context and help us to remain grounded on what is most important-providing the best patient care possible.

Navigating Transitions in Leadership

Frank McGehee, M.D., is a pediatrician in the Cook Children’s Magnolia clinic. He practices in an office that has roots in an 80-year tradition of providing excellent patient care to the children of Fort Worth. He has seen many changes in medicine, but still believes that the heart of pediatrics lies in his connection with families.

There are probably a bunch but what are a few of the big changes you have seen in pediatrics over your career?

How have you seen your role in leadership change over your career?

What do you see coming for you in leadership in the next few years?

Ways to listen:

Listen on Soundcloud

Subscribe for series on iTunes

Download/Listen to MP3

Protecting your child's lips is da balm

Fri, 09 Jan 2015 16:35:52 -0600

Let’s face it, we aren’t exactly used to the winter in Texas. Sure it’s cold, but one day it could be 30 degrees and the next day, it’s 70. So sometimes we forget the importance of taking care of our children’s skin during the coldest months of the year.

Moisturizing children’s skin during the winter is important and that includes wearing protective lip balm.

“When children get chapped lips, they tend to scratch their lips with their tongues, which can lead to infection if there are germs on the skin,” said Frank McGehee, M.D., a Cook Children’s pediatrician. “Children should apply lip balm two to three times per day.”

Dr. McGehee recommends parents purchase an inexpensive variety of lip balm because many children are prone to lose small items like lip balm frequently. He also suggests the lip balm have sunscreen in it.

Speaking of sunscreen, people in warmer climates are especially susceptible to winter sunburn because it’s tempting to stay outdoors longer when the stifling heat of summer passes and the temperature is milder. Dr. McGehee said children should wear and reapply sunscreen every 60 to 90 minutes when they’re outside.

That information should last until next year, when we’ll probably forget again. After all, who wants to get used to this cold weather.

About the source

Frank McGehee, M.D., continues a Cook Children's legacy that began more than 70 years when took over the office at 1129 Sixth Avenue in Fort Worth, near the medical center. For an appointment, visit here or call 817-347-6859.

Did you wash your hands?

Sun, 14 Sep 2014 15:00:00 -0500

Along with vaccinations, hand-washing is one of the most effective ways to prevent flu. Alcohol based hand sanitizers are not effective against enterovirus 68, only good, old fashioned hand-washing.

Hand hygiene is especially important while children are attending school, where nearly every interaction carries the possibility of transmitting viruses.

“Children should wash their hands before and after going to the bathroom, as well as before eating or drinking,” Frank McGehee, M.D., a Cook Children's pediatrician in Fort Worth, said. “They should work the soap into a good lather and scrub for at least 20 seconds—the amount of time it takes to hum ‘Twinkle, Twinkle, Little Star.’ Have them scrub especially well around fingernails and jewelry.”

It’s also a good idea to have children wash their faces frequently during flu season.

Sometimes it's difficult to make your child take the time to wash his or her hands. How do you get your children to wash their hands? We would love to hear from you.