Since the beginning of the pandemic, we’ve had to find new ways to do almost everything — and the same is true of this year’s Halloween celebrations. Two mainstays of Halloween, trick-or-treating and Halloween parties, could be very risky this year. Going from house to house, sticking your hands in bowls of candy that many other hands have touched, or being close to people indoors or out, are all activities that could spread the virus. Even if … [Read more...]
Give Your Kids A Hygienic And Happy Home
Motherhood can be extremely multitasking (and demanding too)! The one job where you have to keep on doing something or the other to make sure your child is well from all spheres, and super happy too (or so you would always want)! We mothers are so much obsessed with our kids’ safety and wellbeing, that we even tend to get up and look at them even during the middle of the night when they are deep asleep, and at times even right next to us! Crux – … [Read more...]
Grandparenting: Navigating risk as the pandemic continues
At the end of March, as the pandemic reshaped all our lives, I wrote a blog post about how grandparents might cope with safety recommendations made at that time while remaining connected with their families. Many of us hoped that the crisis would be short-lived, enabling us to return to “normal” before too long. Now six months have elapsed, and as one reader recently wrote to me, “we grandparents are muddling through.” So, with fall here and … [Read more...]
Advancing maternal justice on both sides of the Atlantic
Positive pregnancy and birthing experiences go beyond merely having a healthy mother and baby — so, too, does maternal justice, a term that encompasses broad goals. Affordable, timely, high-quality, equitable, and dignified care during and after pregnancy is essential for all birthing people. Maternal justice is a model of culturally sensitive care that aims to dismantle inequities in maternity care and maximize maternal health and well-being. It … [Read more...]
Cultivating joy as a family
The pandemic has been hard on families. There has been so much loss, so much hardship, so much stress, and so much change. What makes it even harder is that there is so much uncertainty about when and how it will end; our lives, and the lives of our children, are going to be disrupted for the foreseeable future. There is so much we cannot control in all of this that it’s easy to lose sight of what we can control. One thing we absolutely can do is … [Read more...]
As family well-being declines, so does children’s behavior
The COVID-19 pandemic is bad not only for our physical health, but our mental health as well. It has killed thousands of people and disrupted our lives in terrible ways. So it’s not surprising that a recent survey finds that parents in the US are having a hard time. Researchers did a national survey in June of 2020 of more than 1,000 parents with children under the age of 18, asking questions about mental health, insurance coverage, food … [Read more...]
Sick child this school year? Planning for the inevitable during a pandemic
Children get sick; it’s part of life. They catch colds, they get fevers, they throw up and get diarrhea. Most of the time, it’s nothing at all. But this year, as we struggle through the COVID-19 pandemic, every sniffle will be complicated. The problem is, the symptoms of COVID-19 can be not just mild, but similar to the symptoms of all the common illnesses kids get all the time. Symptoms can include fever, even a mild one cough (that you don’t … [Read more...]
(Un)common Knowledge – 5 Things Everyone Failed To Tell You About Becoming A Parent
Despite the plethora of baby books, how-to videos, and information on Google, no one can fully prepare for becoming a parent. Every child is unique, which presents unique parenting situations you must tackle along the way. While experienced moms and dads love to share words of wisdom with up-and-coming parents, there are a lot of things they fail to divulge for one reason or another. That is, until now. Keep reading to discover a few things … [Read more...]
The Catch-Up Kid – 4 Ways To Help Your Child Catch Up If Their Studies Have Suffered In 2020
It goes without saying that 2020 has been a difficult year for everyone. For kids, it has been especially challenging where school is concerned. With their 2019-20 school year cut short and the 2020-21 school year still uncertain, it’s no surprise that some children have fallen behind in their studies. Parents play a pivotal role in helping their kids stay on track in school – now more than ever. The new school year is still young and there’s … [Read more...]
Managing the new normal: Actively help your family weather the pandemic
When the pandemic first began earlier this year, it seemed like if we could just hunker down until perhaps summer, things would get better and we’d be able to get back to life as usual (or at least something similar to life as usual). We were in survival mode: we cut corners and made do, broke some parenting rules, and otherwise made choices we would never usually make. Because that’s what you do when you are in survival mode. It’s now very clear … [Read more...]
5 takeaways for returning to school
School districts in the United States are in a period of profound uncertainty, which will likely persist throughout the 2020–2021 school year. Many agree that remote teaching in spring 2020 was piecemeal and sub-optimal. Now, despite a stated universal commitment to full-time, in-person, high-caliber education, many states have rising rates of COVID-19, and teachers and parents share deep health concerns. Already we have witnessed a rapid and … [Read more...]
Limiting COVID chaos during the school year
Child: “Will I go back to school this fall? Parent: “I’m not sure yet.” Child: “Do you know when we’ll find out?” Parent: “I also don’t know that yet.” Child: “Will school be the same for the whole year?” Parent: “I don’t know that either.” Sound familiar? If the only thing you do know is that plans are in flux, you’re not alone. School plans seem to be changing frequently — before the school year even has started in some places! With so much … [Read more...]
Children, teens, and the safety of psychotropic medicines
Medicines prescribed for attention deficit/hyperactivity disorder (ADHD), depression, anxiety, and other mood disorders — known as psychotropic drugs — have largely been studied in adults. This concerns many parents whose children take these drugs regularly. Studies have most often looked at the effectiveness of these medicines in teens and children. Now a recent systematic review of multiple studies done in children and adolescents offers new … [Read more...]
School, camp, daycare, and sports physicals: What to do in the time of COVID-19
As some youth sports teams get started again, some summer camps and daycares are opening up, and we begin to think about school (or some form of it) in the fall, many parents are wondering: what do I do about getting that physical form I need for my child? Understandably, many families do not want to go to the doctor right now. They are worried about going anywhere, and especially worried about going to a medical office, where they are concerned … [Read more...]
Youth sports during COVID-19: What parents need to know and do
It’s become clear that the COVID-19 pandemic isn’t going to end anytime soon. This means that we are going to have to figure out how to live, and raise our children, when seemingly every action we take carries some risk. Youth sports can bring great benefits to children. Team sports offer opportunities for exercise, which is crucial for health, and also for socialization and learning how to be part of a community. Children need these … [Read more...]
What To Look For In A Childcare Centre?
The idea of leaving the most important person in your life with a stranger can stir up a range of emotions inside you. As a parent, you may have made your peace with the fact that your child is going to need a childcare center, but choosing the right one is still a big decision. Finding someplace where your child will be loved, feel safe, learn and be happy, however, need not be that difficult – Do your Homework! Check out all the local … [Read more...]
How to make the most of your child’s telehealth visit
Since the COVID-19 pandemic started, telehealth visits with doctors have been on the rise — and for many reasons, they are likely to be part of medical care for the foreseeable future. While they aren’t the same as an in-person visit, I’ve found as a pediatrician that telehealth visits can be very useful. I can accomplish more than I would have expected while my patients can stay in the safety and convenience of their own homes (or wherever they … [Read more...]
How to help your young child cope with the pandemic
The COVID-19 pandemic has been stressful for all of us, and this includes our youngest children. It’s easy, and tempting, to think that infants, toddlers, and preschoolers aren’t affected by the pandemic. The truth is, though, that that life has changed for them, too — and for some of them it has changed dramatically. Even if the change is mostly positive for them — such as having their parents home all the time — it’s still a change that can be … [Read more...]
Summer’s here, teens and parents — now what?
Summer is upon us, and for many teens in this country, school’s already out. Now what? Typical and cherished summer activities like jobs, internships, and camps may be on hold. There is a general sense of uncertainty about what the coming months will bring, and higher levels of worry in cities and states that struggled with many cases of COVID-19. This is going to be a very different summer than usual for many teenagers and their families. … [Read more...]
4 parenting tips to break the negativity loop
“It’s a beautiful day outside,” you say, smiling. Your son replies, “It’s supposed to rain later.” You share, “That game was fun!” Your daughter adds, “I messed up one of my turns.” If you find that your child tends to channel Eeyore from Winnie-the-Pooh and has difficulty seeing some of the bright moments in a day, below are some ways to help them interrupt a negativity loop. The first tip works well for all ages. Choose the other tools … [Read more...]
Study gives insight — and advice — on picky eating in children
As a pediatrician, I hear it again and again from parents: “My child is a picky eater.” All children are picky eaters at some point or in some way during childhood; it’s part of how they assert their independence. But some children are pickier than others, stubbornly refusing to eat everything except a few chosen foods. So what is a parent to do? A new article published in the journal Pediatrics gives some insight into picky eating — and into how … [Read more...]