Posted by: drmolly in sleep, school on
Sep 01, 2010
During the summer we might get a little more lax about bedtimes and stay up later watching movies, swimming, playing outside and generally having fun. Many kids have the luxury of sleeping a little later in the morning and so they shift their wakeup times to make up the difference. Once school starts though, some kids resist the return to earlier bedtimes. Just how much sleep do kids really need? Here's the scoop:
Kids under 8 really don't
Posted by: drmolly in school, anxiety on
Sep 01, 2010
I remember the first day of school every single year. I was a very good student, never a behavior problem and had good friends. Yet every single year, the night before school started I was up with a stomach ache. I worried I wasn't really ready or that I wouldn't be able to handle the workload. I worried I would miss the bus, forget my lunch or not remember how to buy milk. I worried my teacher would be mean or never let me go to the bathroom.
Posted by: drmolly in illness, allergies on
Sep 01, 2010
The last couple of weeks, I saw a big uptick in questions about sneezing, runny noses and coughing. Parents weren't sure if their kids were experiencing allergy symptoms or had a summer cold. Here are some clues to help figure this out:
Fever. If your child has a fever over 100.5 degrees this is most likely an illness. Allergies shouldn't cause fever; illness can.
Sneezing. If sneezing occurs once or twice it could be due to either allergies or a
Posted by: drmolly in pesticides, ADHD, ADD on
Sep 01, 2010
ADHD is a complex condition. Genetics clearly play a role as does TV exposure in young life and a less structured family life. Now it seems early exposure to a specific class of pesticides (organophosphates) may play a role.
A study published in June assessed urine metabolites of these compounds in pregnant women who had significant exposure to these pesticides through farm work and followed their children. The children's urine was also assessed
Posted by: drmolly in periods on
Sep 01, 2010
Irregular menstrual cycles are due to a variety of reasons. Here's a concern from a young woman:
Q: I'm 15 and I haven't gotten my period in six months. It started when I was 13. Shouldn't it be regular by now?!
A: Some women never have regular periods. You are right, though, that because you started your period when you were 13 and its been two years, if you were going to be regular it should have typically been so by now. What matters more is
Posted by: drmolly in puberty, overweight, obesity on
Sep 01, 2010
Puberty is daunting enough when it starts at age 10, but it seems a growing number of girls are developing breast buds (the first sign of puberty) much earlier than that.
A study published in Pediatrics reported that just more than 10 percent of white girls and nearly a quarter of African-American girls will have breast buds when they are 7. What is even more interesting, and worrisome, is that in 1997 a similar study showed only 5 percent of
Posted by: drmolly in only children, development on
Sep 01, 2010
We can all see the pros and cons of siblings. I can tell you first hand, my brothers are both a blessing and a curse. I can also tell you that when I would tell my parents that I wished I was an only child, one of their arguments in response is that siblings help you learn how to negotiate the world socially. Apparently that widely held belief is just wrong.
A study published recently looked at teenagers who are only children and found that they
Posted by: drmolly in vaccines, pertussis, cough on
Sep 01, 2010
Whooping cough is in the news again. In Michigan, health officials are urging vaccines as a way to stop the spread of the illness. And California has declared that the illness has now reached epidemic proportions in that state and shines the spotlight on this vaccine preventable illness.
I suspect that a large part of the reason for this eruption of illness in California is due to the large number of undocumented immigrants who cannot access
Posted by: drmolly in serious health issues, death on
Sep 01, 2010
Last week a childhood friend passed away at age 43, leaving two daughters, the oldest in tenth grade. A week or two before he died, his sister-in-law and I had a long talk about how to discuss his impending death with her children, his niece and nephews. What a horrible and difficult discussion to have.
Many of us will never have to face this hurdle with our children and we are lucky. Having to explain how a man who the children know and love, a
Posted by: drmolly in diarrhea, bowel movement on
Sep 01, 2010
Poop, poop, poop. What's normal and what's not? Often, bowel moments can be telling of other things. Here's a question from a reader:
Q: My almost 4 year old has had loose and pale stools for the past 8 months. For about 5 months they were consistently pale and loose, now they are about 50 percent normal colored and 50 percent pale, always loose. One day they just changed. He became severely anemic at one point, so bad that he had trouble
