Hospitalist nurse practitioner Amber Jewison and psychiatrist Kia Carter, M.D. were featured on the nationally-syndicated show “The Doctors” on Thursday, Nov. 5. The show highlighted a recent trend of TikTok videos that encourage viewers to take excessive amounts of the common allergy medicine diphenhydramine, aka Benadryl.

Cook Children’s first reported on these videos on Checkup Newsroom over the summer after three teens were admitted to the hospital for overdoses.

“We had three patients in a week who specifically told me they saw a video on TikTok that told them they could take Benadryl to get high, and it gave them a specific number (to take),” Amber said in an interview on "The Doctors." “When I viewed that video, I was pretty shocked.”

Patients who overdose on Benadryl can have abnormal electrocardiograms (EKGs) and may not be able to urinate. It’s even possible to suffer seizures. Amber has treated such patients and says parents are usually shocked to find out their child has overdosed.

“I try to tell parents that it’s really good to know what’s out there on social media and to be aware of what your kids may be doing,” she said.

And it’s not just shocking for parents. Medical professionals are also surprised to see healthy adolescents and teens taking part in these dangerous challenges.

“I was alarmed, I was extremely shocked that children are participating in something so lethal,” said Dr. Carter, who is also the medical director of Psychiatry at Cook Children’s. “Being a parent myself, it’s petrifying to think about the idea of my pre-adolescent daughter participating in this.”

So why do teens participate in dangerous viral challenges like the one involving Benadryl?

“I think people have to realize that children’s brains are not fully developed like an adult and judgement and executive function are a huge part in making decisions. When we see kids participating in these high-risk behaviors, we have to remember that their brains are not fully developed,” said Dr. Carter. “There’s some research also to show that social media and participating in these challenges is activating the reward center in the brain, which can cause kids to become further attached to participating in these challenges.”

Dr. Carter says it’s also important to realize the difference between a child participating in an online challenge, and one who is actively trying to harm themselves. She says kids who are taking part in challenges because they want to fit in are usually active and part of a social group. Kids who are taking medicines or over-the-counter substances to harm themselves are often excluded or bullied on social media.

Her advice for parents - be aware.

“Know what your children are doing on social media, participate and ask questions,” Dr. Carter said.

Sleep, it’s important, right?!

Has your kid's new COVID-19 schedule got them going to bed after midnight and sleeping until noon?

Well it’s time NOW to start getting back into a normal sleep schedule for school, even if they are learning online.

So how much sleep does your child need? This is a good estimate, but teenagers can require up to 12 hours of sleep while they’re going through a growth spurt.

How much sleep does my child need?

• 3-6 year olds need 10-12 hours of sleep
• 7-12 year olds need 10-11 hours of sleep
• 13-18 year olds need 8-9 hours of sleep

If your child has a midnight or (gasp!) even later bedtime right now, start working on adjusting their bedtime slowly over the next few weeks. I propose the following schedule:

• Aug 1: 11:30 p.m.
• Aug 2: 11:15 p.m.
• Aug 3: 11 p.m.
• Aug 4: 10:45 p.m.
• Aug 5: 10:30 p.m.
• Aug 6: 10:15 p.m.
• Aug 7: 10 p.m.
• Aug 8: 9:45 p.m.
• Aug 9: 9:30 p.m.
• Aug 10: 9:15 p.m.
• Aug 11: 9:15 p.m.
• Aug 12: 9 p.m.*

*Early elementary children will likely need a 7 p.m. or 8 p.m. bedtime, adjust the 15-minute pattern above as needed.

Keep in mind that bedtime means lights out, no screen time. Charge your child’s phone in your room, you’d be shocked to find out the long text message conversations happening at 2 a.m.! No TV in the bedroom either. If your child is having trouble with the adjustment in bedtime, it is perfectly fine to give melatonin about 20-30 minutes before bedtime. One or 3 milligrams is appropriate for elementary age, up to 5 milligrams for teenagers. Don’t allow caffeine after noon either.

Best of luck transitioning to school this year! We’re all going to have to work nicely together to get through this, but we can and we will!

And, I’m pretty sure my freshly minted 10 year old will soon be asking about his own Twitter, Instagram or YouTube account soon. I realize this is a tricky situation. Especially since I’m the medical advisor for Digital Health at Cook Children’s and I’m active on social media.

Trust me I see the irony … or maybe the hypocrisy.

But Right now I’m planning to hold off AS.LONG.AS.I.CAN.

Why?

Because I’m a parent. I worry about my kids like everyone else and I want them to be safe and protected

I’m also a pediatrician and I talk to too many kids in my office who are dealing with the negative fall-out of social media. I also see way too many studies addressing how social media has caused harm.

Social media can lead to:

• A fear of missing out. I wasn’t cool in high school (this may shock you and if it doesn’t just stay quiet) but I really didn’t know what I was missing out on. Everyone partied on the weekend but didn’t say much to me about it on Monday. If there had been pictures and posts from the weekends, I would’ve understood how left out I probably was.
• Inappropriate expectations of appearance. We don’t look like the celebrities we follow on social media and we probably never will. Sometimes though it’s important to remember the celebrities don’t look like the celebrities when they are on social media either. They are photoshopped and edited many times. But still, our kids are left to compare themselves to people who taking professional photos or using editing software to make everything look perfect. It’s their job after all. Unfortunately, that doesn’t keep many of us from feeling jealous or feeling like we’ve fallen short when we don’t.
• Bullying. Anonymous or even semi-anonymous (or “behind the screen”) empowered bullying can cause isolation and fear. And it doesn’t stop when you go home from school like it did when I was a kid/teen.
• A lack of ability to process our feelings. The constant ding of dopamine we get from the amount of likes on our posts enables us to continue posting to get our fix rather than process and dive into our sadness.
• Oversharing and shame. Teenagers and preteens don’t understand the significance of oversharing and what can happen later when those details (or pictures) get shared to a wider audience.

So what should we do as parents?

Here’s what I recommend:

• Keep your child off social media as long as possible. I know. I hear it too with my three kids. But the longer you can keep them away from it, the more time you have to talk to your kids about this issue and let them mature to handle what will inevitably come their way.
• When they get on, you get copies of their passwords and connect with their accounts. You can have privacy when you are out from under my roof. Oh man, I’m starting to sound more and more like my dad. But until then, sorry kids, I’m doing everything in my power to protect you.
• You reserve the right to delete the account and take their phone at any time. I paid for it and I can take it away.

I hope this helps. Just know I’m dealing with it too and would love to hear your thoughts. Again for irony … on social media.

The affidavit included in one of the tweet's details an adult here in North Texas engaged in inapproapriate behavior with a 15-year old child in New Jersey.

It reads: “The victim stated he was playing Minecraft on his computer…and was contacted by a person wanting to chat.”

According to the affidavit, the conversation between the victim and the adult then moved to Skype which led to grooming, sexual messaging and even sexually explicit photos and videos being exchanged.

This is so awful I hate to even post it. But, it is so important to know what kind of predators are out there and what they are doing to connect with your kids.

Predators know what is cool. They know more than you do about what your kids are into.

They know how to reach kids and they will use whatever means necessary to connect with them.

Any app or game with a chat function that is connected to the Internet is a portal for exposure to terrible people with terrible ideas. Be aware and monitor! Turn off the chat function or have your child play in offline mode where able.

Of course, there’s more to evaluating an app or game than just the risk of exposure. Here are some general guidelines for evaluating both for your child.

About the author

Justin Smith is a pediatrician and the Medical Advisor for Digital Health for Cook Children's in Fort Worth, Texas. He has an active community on both Facebook and Twitter as @TheDocSmitty and writes weekly for Cook Children's checkupnewsroom.com. His interest in communications started when he realized that his parents were relying more on the internet for medical information. He believes that strategic use of social media and technology by pediatricians to connect with families can deepen their relationship and provide a new level of convenience for both of their busy lifestyles. Dr. Smith’s innovative pediatric clinic, a pediatric clinic “designed by you,” is set to open in Trophy Club in 2017.

If you want proof, read this diverse list of our most popular stories of 2016. We hope you enjoy our look back:

10. 7 Ear Infection Myths Every Parent Should Know. Parents flocked to this blog from Doc Smitty. Can your child go swimming with an ear infection? Do all ear infections need antibiotics? If your child gets ear tubes, will the infections stop?  All this and more was answered in this blog.

9. 7 Online Challenges This ER Doctor Warns Could Be Deadly Oh the Internet. Where kids do all kinds of things to get noticed and maybe go to hospital in the process. We asked our medical director of the Emergency Department to look at seven really silly, really dangerous dares that kids (or grownups for that matter) shouldn't try at home. 

8. Almond Milk: A Nutty Fad or Healthy Alternative. Almond milk sales have gone through the roof over the past decade. But is it the right drink for your child? Doc Smitty gave the answer in this informative piece. 

7. The Death of Ethan: A Life of Chronic Pain Ends in Tragedy. This is the most recent entrant in our list of top 10 stories. Only the fact that it was published in December kept this story out of the top five. We were so honored that Ethan's parents shared their son's story of a life filled with chronic pain. They want you to read it to learn about their son and hopefully help other children who may be suffering as well.

6. New Hope In Fight Against Deadly Brain-Eating Amoeba. The Lewis family holds a special place in the hearts of everyone involed in the Checkup Newsroom. Following the tragic death of their son Kyle to a brain infection caused by a water-born amoeba, Jeremy and Julie Lewis created Kyle Cares. Read their inspiring story as they fought to bring a drug to Cook Children's and other hospitals around the nation that may save children's lives.

5. 11 Tips That Could Save Your Daughter's Life.  In Janaury 2016, Rylie Whitten made national headlines after suffering one of the worst cases of toxic shock syndrome (TSS)  that her doctors had ever seen. Rylie's story moved us to run this informative piece on TSS that we hope every parent of a daughter reads.

4. A Sign From Heaven: Family Travels Across U.S. For Care at Cook Children's. A family's desperate search for answers on Google led them to Cook Children's. Read the fascinating story of what led this family to travel from Detroit, Mich. to Fort Worth, Texas, to be treated for a rare condition called hyperinsulinism.

3. The Most Common Rash You Never Knew About. Ever heard of molluscum contagiosum? We hadn't when Dr. Diane Arnaout wrote this blog for the newsroom. Dr. Diane's informative blog "that will save you and your child pain, money, time and anxiety" went viral quickly and became our third most read story of the year.

2. RSV On The Rise: 6 Things Every Parent Should Know. Here we are at the beginning of 2017 and we have been lucky in that we haven't seen much flu yet at Cook Children's. But we have seen plenty of RSV (respiratory syncytial virus), which explains the popularity of this great blog from Dr. Lizy Varughese.

1. Let's Learn Something: Bouncers, Jumpers and Walkers. Dr. Diane Arnaout's "Let's Learn Something" series was a big hit this year and none were bigger than this tale of caution. Dr. Diane's blog on how baby bumpers, bouncers and activity centers could play a role in your baby's motor delays is our most read new story of 2017. You've probably read this blog. But if you aren't one of the more than 117,000 readers who took a look, now's the time. And if you have read it, feel free to click again.

Well, that's it for 2016. Thank you all for reading. We'll be back with plenty more stories to tell in 2017.

I don’t have to look at a watch to know when it’s time for lunch. At around 11:30 a.m. my stomach starts to grumble. I’m ready to eat.

My gut kicked in once again on a Tuesday when my phone rang at 11 in the morning. It was my son’s school. Trouble.

The school nurse, who I have become all too familiar with, was on the line. She told me “Mr. Jack” had bumped heads with another little boy during a game of tag. Jack bled a bit from his mouth, his gums were swollen and his left front tooth was loose. He wants everyone to know that he didn’t cry.

Overall, he was OK, but now my kindergartner needed to go to the dentist to get checked out. Only one problem – I didn’t know the name of his dentist, what her practice was called or the phone number to reach her. I guess technically, that’s three problems, but you get the idea.

My wife flew to Washington D.C. over the weekend for work. She makes this annual trip and during that time I realize how helpless and hopeless I am. As a product of a single mother, I also tend to make more calls to my mom than normal just to say thanks.

As I write this, my wife’s on her way home, but here’s a quick overview of how the two men in her life fared while she was away:

Saturday – I totally caved and bought Jack unnecessary toys that I would have said no to if I had my wife there to back me up. Honestly, I didn’t want to hear him complain. Wimp. Not him. Me.

Sunday – We had cereal for breakfast, a few chicken nuggets from the golden arches for lunch and a flag football game that afternoon. Then that evening, Jack totally ratted me out to his grandparents at a dinner they made for the two bachelors. “I’m starving,” he said. When asked why, he told my wife’s parents how little he had eaten that day.

Monday – We had cereal for breakfast and dinner. That evening, we went out for Jack to work on his bike riding skills. There’s a challenging hill near our house that he’s had trouble conquering. With his helmet safely on, he asked if I would catch him if he fell. I told him I would do my best. He aced the hill. I strategically cut down sidewalk to be there for him as he rounded the corner. The only problem was that he didn’t round the corner. His momentum took him off the path and face first into the grass. As he lay motionless, I hate to admit this, but my first thought was, “His mom is going to kill me!” Jack was OK. Thank you God. He hurt his nose and his knee was scraped up a bit. He cried (don’t tell him I told you), but he was Ok overall. At least physically. That night he had a nightmare that I’m pretty sure was because of the fall and probably new found trust issues with his father.

Tuesday – We’ve covered it. But one thing I really do want to point out in all seriousness, dads know your emergency contact numbers and know the numbers of everyone you may need to call just in case.

Wednesday – Mommy’s coming home! My son can’t wait. He told me this morning that he was going to give her a big hug as soon as he saw her. Me too.