We are proud to provide content for the parenting site of the Jack and Jill family of magazines—Turtle Magazine for Preschool Kids (ages 3-5), Humpty Dumpty (ages 5-7), and Jack and Jill (ages 7-12). The site US Kids Magazines, promotes “the healthy physical, educational, creative, social, and emotional growth of children.”
Naline Lai, MD and Julie Kardos, MD
©2013 Two Peds in a Pod®
Hot!
Pictured is a kid with a second degree burn. No, this burn wasn’t caused by hot water or by touching the stove, but by the sun. A sunburn is still a burn, even if it was caused by sunlight.
Treat sunburn the same as you would any burn:
Preventing sunburn is much easier, more effective, and less painful than treating sunburn.
What is SPF? Which one should be applied to children?
Why does the bottle of sunscreen say to ask the doctor about applying sunscreen to babies under 6 months of age?
Which brand of sunscreen is best for babies and kids?
Remember when we used to call sun screen lotion “suntan lotion,” and tolerating red blistering shoulders was considered a small price to pay for a tan? Live and learn.
Julie Kardos, MD with Naline Lai, MD
©2013 Two Peds in a Pod®
Dr. Kardos’s dad is a pediatrician and during our long grueling hours of residency training he’d always serve as a source of encouragement. One of my favorite memories will always be the proud look in his eyes years later as he watched his daughter present at a physician conference.
Today we honor all Dr. Dads- dads or father figures- who help their children in times of crisis, illness, or injury. Following is a tribute sent by one of our readers, Jennifer Taylor.
Happy Father’s Day!
Dr. Lai with Dr. Kardos
_________________________
We are parents to three boys so needless to say, our house is always full of cuts, bruises or injuries of some sort. Band-Aids and “feel better” kisses are a regular part of our daily activity. And while my husband is a great “Doctor Dad” to all three boys, it is his every day involvement in my youngest son’s medical care that makes him a truly amazing father.
My son Luke is 4 years old. At the age of 6 months, he was diagnosed with an in-utero stroke. We were told at the time of his diagnosis that he may never talk or walk based on where the stroke hit. We’ve had several years of therapy, doctor’s appointments and testing. Throughout it all, Kris has been an amazing supporter- both for Luke and me.
While I tend to see the glass half-empty, Kris is perpetually positive. He always says “When Luke can” instead of “If”. He does research on therapies that might shake things up in Luke’s progress and is certainly a very active participator in all the therapies we receive. Kris stops in to chat with all the therapists so that they know he is Luke’s Dad. He is at every medical appointment: driving us to CHOP at 7:00 in the morning because he knows I hate driving on Route 76 by myself; heading up to Lehigh Valley Hospital for a speech consult; sitting by me while Luke has some sort of test done, holding my hand and telling me it will be okay. He is compassionate throughout it all and yet he still pushes Luke to succeed, knowing that our little boy can accomplish anything. When Luke gets frustrated, it is my husband who can calmly get him to try, try again. And they say laughter is the best medicine so my husband pulls out all the jokes and silly behavior he knows to get Luke to go “one more time.”
I really could go on and on about what a wonderful Dad my husband is but the true testament to him is sitting on the floor next to me singing and playing. Luke wouldn’t be where he is now without Kris.
And for that, I am eternally grateful.
Jennifer Taylor
©2013 Two Peds in a Pod®
Yesterday morning we were aghast to read medical misinformation in the print edition of our local newspaper. Aghast, because we were the pediatricians interviewed for the content of a summer time tips article.
Although a more accurate online version appeared, the print version contained several inaccuracies.
How can you tell if the medical article you are reading is accurate?
Despite our dismay at the inaccuracies in the print version, you will find the online article helpful. In addition, please check our prior summertime posts about bee stings, Lyme disease, tick removal, poison ivy, splinter removal, and stay tuned for near-future articles about swimming and sunscreen.
Whoever said, “You can’t believe everything you read on the internet,” was right… except perhaps this time.
Julie Kardos, MD and Naline Lai, MD
©2013 Two Peds in a Pod®
Two Peds in a Pod has reached over ONE MILLION visits!
That’s a lot:
-One million diapers piled up would reach higher than Mount Everest.
-One million peas lined up would reach from Maine to Florida.
-Kids would need 182 boxes of tissues to blow their noses one million times.
-To eat one million Cheerios, you would need to eat 200 boxes .
-One million views to our site…each affecting the life of a child.
Let’s make it a billion!
Naline Lai, MD and Julie Kardos, MD
©2013 Two Peds in a Pod®
What you forgot to tell the babysitter
The first time my husband and I went out to dinner after our daughter was born, we walked out the door, got into the car, and sat in the driveway as my husband fretted over how our daughter was doing with the babysitter. “Did you see?” he said. “She looked sad when we left.” After a few minutes elapsed, he still had not started the car engine. Finally, to allay his fears, I told him to sneak back to the house and peek into the window. He came back amazed. “She’s fine,” he said with relief.
Finding someone to appropriately look after your child can be a difficult task. Even if you resist the urge to run back and check on your child when you leave the house, you may wonder as you pull away if there is anything you forgot to tell the babysitter. Chances are, you didn’t think of much beyond leaving your cell phone number and the name of your destination. Linda Miller, a nurse who taught a babysitting course for years for Child, Home, and Community (a United Way agency serving Bucks and Montgomery Country, Pennsylvania), shares with us the information she leaves her own babysitters:
Parents’ cell numbers
Kids’ names, ages and birthdays
House address (chances are, if your sitter lives down the street, she or he doesn’t know your house number)
The full name of the town you live in (is it Borough or Township?) In Nurse Miller’s case, there is a street of the same name in the neighboring township. Ever since the pizza delivery guy went to the wrong house one hungry night, her family is careful to be very clear as to where they live.
The nearest cross street. This important piece of information helps emergency responders confirm they are heading to the correct address. (It could also be helpful if your sitter is old enough to order pizza!)
Where you are going – name and address and phone number.
Phone number to call in an emergency: For most it is 911
Poison control center phone number : 1-800-222-1222
Height and weight of each child – for emergency medication administration
Allergies – to Foods and Medications
Since seconds count in an emergency, even if your sitter is a regular fixture in your home, it doesn’t hurt to point out the safety information each time, should he or she need it.
Remember to bring your sitter’s cell phone number with you so you can reach her, in case you cannot get through on your own house phone.
When is my child old enough to babysit?
Somehow the years passed quickly, and the tables have turned. My daughter herself is a babysitter. How will you know when your own child is old enough to babysit? First ask yourself whether he will be too scared to stay home without an adult. Then ask yourself if he can solve problems on his own. The age that kids start to babysit themselves or younger siblings varies. Ultimately parents need to judge their child’s maturity for themselves. Tweens can be mature enough to babysit themselves and a younger sibling for short period of time. In fact, the American Red Cross babysitting training course (which can be taken online) is offered to kids 11 years and older. Even if your child is not babysitting anyone else, but staying by himself at home, a course will give your child valuable self-care tips.
Outline specific Do’s and Don’ts for your child. Walk them through what to do if the doorbell rings or if the phone rings. What activities are they allowed to do? Are they allowed to eat? Cook? Can friends come over? What will they do in a power outage? What if someone gets injured or sick while you are out? Familiarize him with basic first aid.
Keep anything which is potentially harmful such as medications, guns, and alcohol inaccessible. Make sure you are comfortable with parental controls for computers and the television.
And of course…give them Nurse Miller’s list from above.
Naline Lai, MD with Julie Kardos, MD
©2013 Two Peds in a Pod®
In honor of Father’s Day, we would love to hear your anecdotes of any “Doctor Dad” moments your children have experienced. Tell us about how your child’s dad or any father figure in your child’s life helped your child through a tough time, an illness, or an injury. Send us your anecdotes to twopedsinapod@gmail.com by June 4 and we will include the top stories in our Father’s Day post.
Thank you in advance,
Drs. Kardos and Lai
You tuck your child into bed and five minutes later he cries for you. You bolt back in to find him moaning that his legs hurt. You rub his legs, he feels better, and drifts back off to sleep. Later you can’t put yourself to sleep. “What was that all about?” you wonder.
Growing pains cause recurring leg pain at night that sometimes awakens children from sleep. They usually affect boys and girls in two age groups: three to five years old and eight to twelve. We don’t really know what causes growing pains. We do know that massaging the legs, one dose of pain reliever (acetaminophen or ibuprofen), and warmth can help. The kids are always fine in the morning. Often growing pains occur after a particularly active day. Fortunately, growing pains do not cause any long term problems, just temporary discomfort and some disturbed family sleep.
Before you chalk up leg pain to growing pains, you need to be sure that some other ominous source of pain is not waking your child. If you see any of these symptoms, schedule an office visit with your child’s doctor:
Leg swelling
Leg redness
The pain is always in the same spot on the same leg
Your child is limping
Your child stops participating in her usual activities because of the pain
The pain comes on during exercise
Fever is present with the pain
Simple massage or Tylenol fails to relieve the pain.
Your child is losing weight or seems otherwise sick
Leg pain is accompanied by night sweats: your child’s pajamas and sheets are soaking wet
The pains seem to be getting more frequent or worse
Pain in the daytime
Even without the above symptoms, if your parent intuition is telling you to get your child checked, then please do.
Julie Kardos, MD and Naline Lai, MD
©2013 Two Peds in a Pod®
This Mother’s Day we bring you definitions inspired by our children and our patients. Don’t think we’ll out-hip Urban Dictionary, but we’re moms…. by definition we are not hip. Enjoy your day.
Sleep walker: the daytime state of a new mom.
Sweater: a garment worn by a child when his mother feels cold.
Displacement: a vacation with toddlers.
Sick: something moms are not allowed to become.
WOW: MOM upside-down.
Mommometer: a mom’s hand on a feverish forehead.
One zillion: number of times a mom says “wash your hands” to her children over the course of their childhoods.
Yesterday: when the sports/camp/school field trip form was due.
Today: when the child hands the mom the sports/camp/school field trip form.
Working mother: Every Mom
Water torture: a grade-school son’s interpretation of a mom’s announcement of “shower night.”
Boomerang: a mom’s realization that her child is acting like she did at the same age.
Happy Mother’s Day from your two Pediatrician Moms,
Julie Kardos, MD and Naline Lai, MD
©2013 Two Peds in a Pod®
What would you do if your child told you he or she was drinking or using other drugs? Standing with one’s mouth gaping open is probably not the best response. As your child arrives back college, or if he’s about to embark on his first year, take the opportunity to discuss alcohol and drugs. Today, psychologist John Gannon talks about how to approach the subject. —Drs. Lai and Kardos
Okay, it happened. Your child went off to college and now he tells you his college experience is just as bad as yours was. Yes, he is doing well academically. But he is smoking pot and drinking alcohol– it is just about enough to push you over the edge. OMG!
I won’t tell you to relax about this, but remember for the most part, this is a transitional time and not necessarily a life changing scenario. After all, people have gone off to college for 100’s of years and survived. The likelihood that your child will be the exception is not overly high. Most likely, the actions are unlikely to be life changing and isolated to college. If this scenario occurs and you comment about drug and alcohol use, you will be acting responsibly without necessarily condoning the behavior.
So what is fair to talk about and what is probably too much to talk about? First, if there is any family history for either drug or alcohol abuse, this should be discussed. The family secret needs to be revealed so that your child has a chance to minimize the impact of biology/genetics. Painful as it may be, your child deserves the chance to understand why his situation is somewhat unique and that he is at greater risk for drug and alcohol abuse issues than other students.
Secondly, if there is any family history of depression, anxiety, mood disorder, or other significant mental health issues, this also needs to be revealed. These disorders run in families. The presence of these disorders increases the likelihood a person self medicates with drugs or alcohol in order to combat mental illness.
Next, isolated events do occur. We always hear about them from our friends. We are grateful that the events do not happen to us. Although these events do appear random, your child has the potential to experience one of them. For instance, episodic binge drinking can be epidemic at some colleges. Chances are your child will participate at some point or another.
Did you ever have that talk about alcohol and drugs that you promised yourself you would have with your child before he went to school? Did you explain about mixing substances? Did you explain about how the body metabolizes alcohol? Did you talk about how alcohol and marijuana lower impulsivity and reduce judgment? Did you tell him how proud of him you are and yet you also feel scared? Did you set the stage to have a dialogue versus a lecture from parent to child?
So go on! Have the talk even if your child already started college. Sure you might be met with some eye rolling. Don’t forget, you rolled your eyes at your parents. What goes around comes around. Listen, if your child hears one thing from you that he remembers, that’s a win! With luck, your child’s events are not the ones others are talking about.
John Gannon
Psychologist, Marriage and Family Therapist
Information and tools to help prevent and treat drug and alcohol abuse by teens and young adults www.drugfree.org
If you are concerned your child is addicted : to find treatment- U.S .Department of Health and Human Services- Substance Abuse and Mental Health Services Administration – Substance Abuse Treatment Facility Locator www.findtreatment.samhsa.gov 1-800-788-2800
Naline Lai, MD and Julie Kardos, MD
©2013 Two Peds in a Pod®
Modified from the original 12/3/2009 post