Pediatricians and the clinicians who care for children writing on KevinMD about child health: childhood illness, development, vaccines and the parents who refuse them, breastfeeding and the pressure around it, childhood obesity, prevention, and the realities of caring for young patients and their families. Most contributors are pediatricians. For a maintained record of what pediatricians have said about children's health since 2004, from fever and sleep through obesity, abuse, teenagers, and Medicaid, see Children's health: what pediatricians say, in their own words. For what physicians have said about vaccines and vaccine hesitancy, from the autism claim through measles, exemptions, and federal policy, see Vaccines: what physicians say, in their own words. For what child psychiatrists and pediatricians have said about children's and teens' mental health, see Mental health: what psychiatrists and physicians say, in their own words. For what pediatricians have said about breastfeeding and postpartum care, see Women's health: what physicians say, in their own words.
There are several Tumblr sites where people submit their actual name and compare it to the name the Starbucks employee writes on the cup. There’s “Starbucks Name Fail,” “The Starbucks Name Game,” “Starbucks Can’t Spell My Name,” and “That’s Not My Name, Starbucks.”
There aren’t Tumblr sites for calling out Starbucks when they biff your drink. “Starbucks F***** Up My Drink,” “Would You Just Look at This Beverage,” and “There’s No …
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Call people by their rightful name. It matters more than you think.
The other day while having my lunch in the doctor’s lounge, I ran into one of the older physicians who works at the hospital. He had a weary look on his face, and so I inquired if he had a tough call night.
“Actually, I haven’t slept well in a few months,” he quietly responded. It turns out he was being sued by a family who had only seen him once …
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Society doesn’t allow doctors to be human
As part of my pediatrics rotation, I recently spent a week taking care of patients at juvenile hall. The patients were physically healthy for the most part; I saw them for screening physicals that they receive while incarcerated. However, these encounters were far more than a typical physical. Instead of focusing on medical issues, we primarily talked about health behaviors and general well-being.
It was a rare opportunity to interact with …
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An eye-opening week in juvenile hall
On January 5, 2016, emergency crews were called to Our Kids Daycare and Learning Center in Middleton, Idaho. The reason: concern for carbon monoxide poisoning. The daycare center’s director Robin Hagaman noted that some of the 12 toddlers in the classroom were acting strangely when they awakened from their naps and were also noted to have dilated pupils. In addition, two of the teachers were simultaneously experiencing headaches and …
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Are essential oils safe for children?
As a child and adolescent psychiatrist, I have the privilege of working with many children who are victims of severe abuse, neglect, and trauma. Some, in turn, become perpetrators of violence. One adolescent, let’s call him Steven, told me that he wants to be an electrician, but he is struggling to earn his high school diploma, which he needs in order to enroll in technical school. When I inquired about …
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These are the 4 words every child needs to hear
Potential patients — usually parents — occasionally ask me if I am “vaccine-friendly.” After having this question posed to me numerous times, I’m prepared for the conversation that follows. I’ve tried to ease into it in various ways, but none has proven universally comfortable.
The question’s phrasing is telling about a person’s perspective. It implies that their previous experiences with physicians were perceived as “unfriendly.” Also, my defensive side infers it …
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Don’t deny access for vaccine skeptics. Here’s why.
Men, we need you.
We — mothers, daughters, and sisters — need your help in raising healthy young women. We need every ounce of masculine courage and wit you own because a father, more than anyone else, sets the course for a daughter’s life.
After more than 20 years of listening to daughters — and doling out antibiotics, antidepressants, and stimulants to girls who have gone without a father’s love — I …
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Why daughters need their fathers
If you’re like most parents, you want your kids to be healthy. And if your kids are like most kids, that isn’t always the case. The most frequent illness of childhood is the common cold, and children — especially those in daycare — can get several of these infections per year. While cold viruses rarely result in significant complications, they certainly cause their share of discomfort, lost sleep, and time …
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How to boost your child’s immune system the right way
(The following story was told to me by a friend; details have been changed to protect privacy.)
An early winter snowstorm left Janet with an unexpected whole day alone with her 17-year-old daughter Ally. As was typical for the pair, they spent the morning in comfortable separateness. Janet took advantage of the opportunity to catch up on paperwork, while Ally stayed in her room working on college applications. In Janet’s view …
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The value of moving through grief to healing and growth
I have a new hero. Her name is Mona Hanna-Attisha, MD, MPH.
Dr. Hanna-Attisha is a pediatrician in Flint, Michigan. She grew up in a suburb of Detroit. She graduated from the University of Michigan before attending medical school at Michigan State University. During her clinical years (the 3rd and 4th years of medical school), she spent many months at Hurley Medical Center in Flint, which serves as a clinical training site …
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Dr. Mona Hanna-Attisha is a hero. Here’s why.
It happens each time one of my children enters the teenage years (sometimes a little bit before). I go from having a lovely child and feeling like a reasonably pleasant parent to having a moody houseguest and becoming a shrew.
You’d think, having gone through this now four times, that I’d figure out how to avoid it. Or that I’d expect it. Or not let it bother me so much. Nope. …
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Maybe God made teenagers difficult so we can let them go
Without a doubt, parenting is simultaneously the most rewarding and difficult job we have as adults. As a child psychiatrist and mom, I am always asked if I find it easier to parent given my profession. I always respond by saying, “I was the perfect parent until I had children!”
I am also universally asked about how to raise happy children. I always pause before I attempt to answer this question. …
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5 parenting tips from a child psychiatrist
Fever phobia is common among parents. The vast majority of the time, these fears are unfounded, because a fever is very rarely a cause for significant concern. One important exception is in newborns under 2 months of age. Compared to older children, these very young infants are at high risk for serious infections, so any fever in this age group requires urgent medical evaluation. Here’s what parents needs to know …
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The truth about fevers in infants
Dear American Board of Pediatrics:
On December 17 2015, at 3:01 in the middle of my busy day seeing patients, I voluntarily gave up my American Board of Pediatrics certification. I thought I should write this letter, hopefully preempting any more threatening emails warning me that I must pay up or lose my certification. This was not mere oversight on my part. This was purposeful.
The reason I am no longer ABP …
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Stop MOC: An open letter to the American Board of Pediatrics
I was recently scrolling through my Facebook newsfeed when I came upon a long message chain started by one of my friends, an older woman from my hometown in New Jersey. She had seen a discussion given by a drug representative who was promoting administering Gardasil to early adolescents for the prevention of cervical cancer, and my friend wanted to know how other parents felt about allowing their children to …
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When patients question the motives of their physicians
When my twin sons were born prematurely at 26 weeks’ gestation, my family’s lives were thrust into the whirlwind of the NICU and living daily with the reality of the babies (William and Elliott) being on life support. Having had no prior intense and prolonged experiences with the hospital, and watching helplessly and fretfully as my tiny two-pounders fought for their lives, it’s almost impossible to put into language what …
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The benefits of trauma-informed care in the NICU
Recently, new dietary guidelines were released, recommending reducing sugar intake overall, and reducing meat intake in growing boys. Last year, as we remain in the throes of a nationwide obesity epidemic, the FDA changed the nutritional labels we’ve become all-too-familiar with. The emphasis is now on calorie count of an “appropriate” serving size. So much for my pretending that the “appropriately served” pint of ice cream I just downed had 350 …
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Childhood aspiration on food is a public health issue
I am old enough to remember standing shirtless on a chilly afternoon in the school gym lined up with my fellow teammates while a volunteer doctor went down the row clearing us for school athletics in a medical assembly line. This scene has been a familiar rite of passage for generations of student-athletes. However in this day of modern preventative medicine, is the sports physical the best we can do …
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Is the sports physical hazardous to your child’s health?
