Personal Hygiene for Teens

As your kids hit puberty and begin their tween and teen years, personal hygiene requirements begin to change along with their growing bodies. When is deodorant needed? At what age should a child start shaving? You may have all of these questions and more. Read more here...

Causes, Symptoms and Prevention of ACL Injuries in Kids !

You may have heard about anterior cruciate ligament (ACL) injuries and how they often affect professional sports players. While these kinds of injuries are much more common in adults, kids can still suffer from this injury. Kids who play a lot of contacts and high-impact sports are at a much higher risk.

If you or your child suspect that they have an ACL injury, it is important to get it checked out as soon as possible. Read on to find out more about the causes, symptoms, prevention of ACL injuries in kids. Read More Here

About Meningitis

Meningitis is a word you may have heard in the news since there have been a number of outbreaks reported in schools or colleges all over the country. It can be a serious illness, at times even fatal. Thankfully, with appropriate treatment, many kids recover completely from meningitis.

Introduction to meningitis

The central nervous system is surrounded by a fluid—called cerebrospinal fluid—that cushions and protects the brain and spinal cord when the body is active. Even more protection is provided by the meninges, which are membranes that cover the central nervous system. When the meninges are attacked by bacteria or virus, it can become inflamed. This condition is called meningitis.

How is meningitis acquired?

Most of the bacteria and viruses that cause meningitis are very common and come with other regular illnesses. Bacteria and viruses that infect the skin, respiratory organs, gastrointestinal tract, and urinary system can enter the bloodstream, reach the cerebrospinal fluid, and then attack the meninges. In some cases of bacterial meningitis, the bacteria can come from a severe local infection such as an ear or nasal sinus infection.

Meningitis treatment

Meningitis is treated aggressively. Core treatment includes intravenous (IV) antibiotics and other medications that reduce inflammation. If you suspect meningitis in your child, seek medical care immediately.

Tips for Potty-training Success

Parents often look forward to the time when their child is already completely potty-trained, because that means they don’t have to change or buy diapers anymore. However, they should realize that a child isn’t going to master the habit after just a few trips to the potty. In fact, most kids take several months to get fully potty-trained.

The key to successful potty training lies more on physical and emotional readiness and less on age. Many kids want to learn how to go to the potty by themselves at age 2, while others might not be ready until they’re 2 1/2 or older. Don’t rush to potty-train your child. If you start to train him too early, it might take longer for him to learn.

To know if your child is truly ready, you need to ask yourself these questions: Can your child understand and follow directions easily? Is your child able to tell you when he or she needs to go? Does your child seem more interested in the potty chair than in wearing underwear? If your answer is yes to these questions, chances are high that your child is ready for potty training.

Once you start training, though, remember that no matter how well the process is going, you’ll likely face some problems. Talk to a pediatrician before you try to fix such problems yourself, to confirm that it is, indeed, a problem that needs fixing and not just a normal part of the potty-training process.

Vaccination Schedules, as Advised by Pediatricians

When babies are born, they are given protection from different diseases by the antibodies that are passed onto them from their moms, and this protection is maintained as they get nourished by breast milk. However, this protection is only temporary, and kids could sooner or later get exposed to different kinds of ailments.

For more protection, children should be given different kinds of immunizations through vaccines once they reach a certain age. These vaccinations contain weakened or inactivated parts of diseases that would help your kid's immune system create antibodies. These antibodies, in turn, would fight those same diseases without letting your kids get infected.

Pediatricians have designed vaccination schedules that parents are urged to follow in order to keep children fully protected.

For example, right after a child is born, some doctors recommend giving a dose of Hepatitis B vaccine, and then a second dose after a month or two. During the second month, babies could also be given Rotavirus, Diptheria, and then Polio vaccinations, plus another dose of these at the four-month mark. Tetanus vaccinations are also recommended by doctors, along with booster shots when kids grow older.

Influenza vaccinations can be started once a baby is six months old. Doctors recommend having these done once a year due to seasonal strain changes.

There are more vaccinations on the list. To best find out about what they are and when to get them, consult your pediatrician.

Convincing Your Child that He's Not Hungry Anymore

Binge eating is as much of a problem for children as it is for many adults, only that the consequences pose much more of a threat to a child's developing body. Aside from the mental and emotional effects of child obesity, parents also have to worry about children's increased risk of premature death from diabetes and high blood pressure.

One way to help your kid overcome any eating disorder is to set a good example. Children are quick to mimic what their parents are doing, after all. Instead of heading to the fridge for a gallon of ice cream after a hearty meal, get up and maybe go for a nice stroll around your neighborhood.

Don't use food as a reward or punishment. Kids will only ever do things for the prospect of getting the chance to eat something nice, which probably isn't something healthy like veggies anyway. What's worse is that when they fail to get this reward, their depression just might cause them to crave even more food.

Finally, establish a clear eating schedule—preferably with some advice from the pediatrician—and make sure that it's strictly enforced. This will keep your kid from thinking about snacking whenever the mood strikes them. They might even stick to this schedule when they're all grown up.