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11 Ways to Raise a Healthy Child
As a parent, you are an important teacher of health care and health information for your child. Here are 11 recommendations to help you succeed at this important job.
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2-Year Olds: Terrible or Terrific?
Remember that "terrible twos" phase of a child's life also can be the "terrific twos." Watching your children grow and learn is an enriching experience.
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A Child's First Dental Visit Fact Sheet
Your child should see a dentist six months after eruption of the first tooth, experts say. The dentist can provide or recommend preventative information regarding baby bottle tooth decay, infant feeding practices, mouth cleaning, teething, pacifier habits
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A Guide to Jogging Strollers
Jogging strollers come in a variety of shapes and sizes to match almost anyone's needs, including parents with twins or children with physical disabilities.
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A Primer for Preschooler Safety
Your little ones can learn a lot about safety if you take some time to teach them. Here's an ABC that you and your children can recite together.
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Air Bags and Kids
A car with an air bag is considered safer than a car without one. But for children under 12 years old, air bags can be dangerous.
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Alcohol Use Among Teens Is Epidemic
The leading substance-abuse threat to children may be as close as your refrigerator. About 10 million adolescents drink alcohol. In fact, minors drink 19 percent of the alcohol consumed in the United States.
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All About Child Passenger Safety
Installing your child's car seat properly and using it every time your son or daughter rides in the car is one of the best ways to help keep him or her safe in case of an accident.
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All Family Time Is Quality Time
Quality time should be woven into our lives. As our children get older and slip away, we need to stop worrying about the extraordinary and think more about the ordinary."
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Babies Need 'Tummy Time'
Putting babies to sleep on their backs has dramatically reduced the incidence of SIDS. One unexpected side effect: Many infants now have a flattened head.
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Balancing Work and Home
To keep the scales of work and life balanced, you must be organized. This means you must not only organize your stuff, but also your time.
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Basketball: Make Safety a Point
Experts say players can avoid injury by strengthening muscles through a supervised weight-training program before the season. That helps prevent injuries to knees and ankles, the most common court injuries.
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Beating an Eating Disorder
Eating disorders such as anorexia and bulimia have risen steadily to affect nearly 10 million women (and 1 million men).
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Being There: Advice for Expectant Dads
Remember scenes from old movies where the husband paces around the waiting room while his wife is in labor? As a father-to-be today, you know that you can participate throughout your partner's pregnancy.
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Beware of Supplements for Kids
Firms are advertising herbs and supplements as remedies for everything from colds and asthma to attention-deficit/hyperactivity disorder, but dietary supplements and herbal mixtures aimed at children may be a waste of money -- and a threat to their health.
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Blood Pressure Rising Among Children
High blood pressure has joined type 2 diabetes and high cholesterol on a list of ailments that once struck only adults but now afflict children.
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Bridge the Gap With Teen Grandkids
If you want to develop a closer relationship with teen grandchildren, the key is arranging for one-on-one time, without parents in the picture.
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Building Bonds with Your Grandchildren
Spending dedicated time with your grandchildren enables you to play many roles in their lives, including family historian, teacher, and spiritual guide.
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Bullies Go High-Tech
You can now add bullying to the list of things made easier by technology. Bullies use e-mail, instant messaging and text messaging on cell phones to reach victims.
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Buying a Bike for Your Child
Most youngsters learn the basics of pedaling, steering and braking on a tricycle or "big wheel" cycle, and around age 4 are ready to try a two-wheeler with training wheels.
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Caring for a Child With Type 1 Diabetes
If your child suddenly develops a fever and grows weak, tired and nauseated, the youngster probably has the flu or some other virus. But the symptoms could also be warning signs of type 1 (juvenile) diabetes.
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Caring for Tiny Teeth
Make sure your baby's developing teeth are not at risk from nursing or bottle tooth decay.
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Caring for Your Sick Child
You should always call a doctor if you have any doubts or questions about how to take care of your sick child at home.
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Child Health Emergencies
A good guideline to follow is that a medical emergency is any time your child has an injury or illness you believe threatens his or her health or may cause permanent harm.
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Child Safety for All Ages
Some safety hazards apply to all children. But many problems are especially dangerous for children at a particular age or stage of development. Keep these precautions in mind as your children grow.
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Children and Cholesterol
If you, your parents or your parents' siblings had a heart attack before age 55, you should have your child's cholesterol tested.
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Cough Medicine Abuse by Teens
A common ingredient in many cough and cold remedies has become a popular substance to abuse by teenagers searching for a cheap, easy high.
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Cross-Cultural Adoptions Raise Sensitive Issues
As the parent of an adopted biracial/bicultural child, it's important o acknowledge that your child is different. The goal is to help your child feel a sense of pride about his or her culture and race so it becomes a positive part of his or her identity.
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Depressed Kids Need Help
Teen depression is a serious illness. The benefits of getting help, including taking medications if needed, far outweigh the potential risks.
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Does Your Child Have Exercise-Induced Asthma?
"Asthma is a disease with many triggers, including allergens and viral infections," says a clinical assistant professor of pediatrics. "But for a small set of patients, exercise is the sole trigger."
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Eat Well, for Your Children's Sake
You can tell your children how to eat well, but experts say it's better to show them. Children must learn from their parents and caregivers to value themselves, eat nutritiously, and get proper exercise and rest.
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Eating Together Is Good for Kids
How often do you and your family all manage to sit down together for dinner? Your answer means far more than a chance to find out what's going on in school.
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Eczema in Kids: Annoying, but Treatable
A scaly, red, itchy, dry rash can show up in the first weeks of life. It signals a vexing but treatable skin problem called atopic dermatitis (AD), often known as eczema. Most children outgrow AD, but in some cases, it may recur in the teenage years or in
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Eye Protection Keeps Kids in the Game
The sports that cause the most injuries are basketball, baseball, pool sports and racket sports. But any sport that involves a projectile is considered hazardous to the eyes.
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Find Nutrients for Children in Food, Not Pills
While you want to make sure your child gets the right vitamins and minerals, it's best for kids to get all the nutrients they need from food. But there are some children who may need a supplement.
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Five Mealtime Survival Tips for Harried Parents
You and your kids need to eat right. But with your busy schedule, it's tough to make sure everyone has nutritious meals and snacks. Check out these timesaving tips for preparing nutritious meals for the whole family.
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For Kids, Games Can Build Strong Minds
Citing the latest research on the brain, experts say chess, Scrabble, Monopoly -- even jigsaw puzzles or tic-tac-toe -- help children build analytical, organizational and creative skills.
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Get Serious About Playtime
Since the late 1970s, children's playtime has fallen 25 percent and their outdoor activities have dropped 50 percent.
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Getting a Start on Solids
As a child approaches 4 to 6 months of age, most mothers begin to worry about when to start solid foods.
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Glasses Can Help Even Young Children
Doctors who specialize in children's eye care say children usually become near- or farsighted between ages 6 and 12. But even infants can wear glasses if they need help to see well.
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Growing Up Short or Heavy Can Be Difficult
When children believe they are different in some way, they feel bad. Whether because of their height or some other characteristic, they are going to be aware of differences.
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Guidelines for Raising Smoke-Free Kids
The most important thing is to keep the lines of communication open -- the more you talk to your children, the better chance you have of staying close when things get tough or when important issues like smoking arise.
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Help for a Child with a Cold
You want to help a child with cold symptoms feel better, but choosing among countless over-the-counter (OTC) cold medicines can be daunting. Here are some guidelines that can help.
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Help Your Child Find the Meaning of Sports
Win or lose, experts say, it's far more important for young people to take away from sports some lessons about self-esteem, motivation, discipline and getting along with others.
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Help Your Children Breathe Easier
Air pollution hurts infants and children more than adults, studies show. Kids' lungs are still developing, they breathe faster and they spend more time outdoors.
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Help Your Children Chill Out
Kids must cope with all the issues, such as violence or global warming, that stress out adults. But they must also handle stresses added by their parents and the media.
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Help Your Kids Quit Smoking
Every day, about 3,000 U.S. teenagers start smoking. If you're a parent of a young smoker, you can take steps to help the child quit. But first, it helps to understand why teens light up.
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Help! My 9-Year-Old Wants to Dress Sexy
With so many mall shops offering sexy styles for the youngest girls, some parents wonder whether their daughters are risking sexual harassment for the sake of fashion.
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Helping Children Conquer Fear
Studies indicate that almost all children report having fears. Some of the most common fears are of bugs or ghosts, and studies have shown that kids are afraid of pretty much the same things no matter where they live in the world.
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Helping Kids Cope with a Divorce
Anger, fear, separation anxiety, a sense of abandonment, self-blame, sadness and embarrassment are common reactions to divorce for most children.
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Helping Kids to Avoid Cigarettes
Every day, nearly 6,000 teens and pre-teens try cigarettes for the first time, according to the American Lung Association. A third of these first-timers will end up becoming smokers.
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Helping Teens Embrace Self-Care
By involving teens as full participants in their self-care, they're more likely to choose healthy behaviors throughout their lives.
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Here's Why Exercise Matters to Your Kids
Some children are very involved in competitive sports, but many other youngsters get no exercise at all. That lack of exercise is tied to an increase in childhood weight problems.
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How Is Your Child's Backpack?
The Consumer Product Safety Commission found that in one year, more than 10,000 children ages 5 to 14 see doctors with backpack-related complaints.
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How Parents Influence Kids' Health Behaviors
Research indicates your parents may have played a significant role in shaping your perception and reaction to illness. You can in turn pass these behaviors along to your children.
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How Safe Is the School Bus?
During the school year, 23.5 million elementary and secondary school children ride a bus to and from school each day. Add in extracurricular activities, and school bus system becomes the single largest public transit system in our country.
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How to Babyproof Your House
Once your baby begins to walk, you'll need to keep a close eye on your child to protect your roving tot from hazards in the home.
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How to Bathe Your Baby
As a new parent, you may find "tub time" a bit scary. Here are some suggestions on how to make it less stressful.
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How to Find Good Child Care
A lot of firsts in your child's life will make you smile: first laugh, first step, first word. One first that isn't as appealing is the first day you have to leave your child with someone else.
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How to Help an Overweight or Obese Child
Ask a parent to name the greatest health threat to children and you'll hear about drinking or drugs. Rarely will anyone cite obesity -- even though it can lead to heart disease, high blood pressure or diabetes.
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How to Prevent Childhood Obesity
According to the American Academy of Pediatrics, one in five children in the United States is overweight or obese. That's twice as many overweight children as 20 years ago.
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How to Reduce the Risk of SIDS
For more than a decade, pediatricians have urged parents to put babies to sleep on their backs. That strategy seems to be working -- but millions of parents still haven't gotten the message.
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How to Spot Drug Use in Kids
Although most adolescents who use drugs don't become drug abusers or drug addicts in adulthood, drug use in adolescence can put their mental, emotional and physical health at risk.
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How to Stop a Crying Baby
Some babies cry for long stretches at 3 and 12 weeks of age during steps in development when their sleep is less settled.
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How to Tell if Your Child Needs Braces
Orthodontic treatment most commonly begins between ages 9 and 14 because kids in this age range have at least some permanent teeth and are still growing.
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How to Use a Pacifier
It seems everyone has an opinion about pacifiers. That’s because there are both advantages and disadvantages to using them. Get the full facts so you can make the right choice for your baby.
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In Children: Corticosteroids for Asthma
Daily inhaled corticosteroids are a key part of the treatment for children with mild, moderate or severe persistent asthma. "The possible side effects of medication are far less important than the known effects of untreated asthma," says William E. Berger,
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Influenza Shots Urged for Young Children
Each fall you hear that the flu threatens senior citizens and folks with chronic ailments. But the rate of hospital stays is highest in another group—young children.
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International Adoptions and Medical Needs
Understanding the medical, social and developmental issues unique to international adoption can help parents prepare for the special challenges and special needs of these children.
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Is Your Child at Risk for Hepatitis B?
Hepatitis B is a highly contagious, sexually transmitted disease caused by a virus that attacks the liver, possibly causing lifelong liver infection, cirrhosis (scarring) of the liver, liver cancer and death.
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Is Your Teen Abusing Drugs or Alcohol?
Besides having trouble with school and relationships, teenagers taking drugs may display emotional extremes with irritability, anger and changes in sleep patterns.
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It's Great to Be a Great-Grandparent
Great-grandparents are living ancestors. They're the keepers of family histories and legends. They can also serve as mentors and role models while grandparents are still working.
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It's Time to Bench Bad Behavior
Experts say you should look at your child as a kid who happens to be playing sports, and not as an athlete who happens to be a kid.
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Keep Kids Safe During Yard Work
Power tools make yard work easier, from mowing the lawn to trimming the bushes. These tools, however, also pose a threat to children if precautions aren't taken.
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Keep Kids Safe from Bugs
Many products seek to prevent bug bites, but products containing DEET (usually listed on labels as N,N-diethyl-m-toluamide) are quite effective.
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Keep Kids Safe in the Car
All 50 states have a combination of laws that require drivers to restrain children in car seats, booster seats, and seats belts. Specifics vary by state, based on the child's age and size.
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Keeping Little Shoppers Safe
The number one rule when shopping with your children is to remember you're shopping with your children. Keep an eye on them at all times.
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Kids' Healthy Eating Not Just About Food
The National Institute of Diabetes and Digestive and Kidney Diseases offers suggestions to help your child develop and maintain good eating habits and to prevent chaotic mealtimes in your home.
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Kids in the Kitchen: Let Them in on the Fun
Here are recipes that fit the bill for teaching some baking basics and setting some good nutrition patterns early. All you'll need are some simple tools and tolerance for a few spills. These recipes are safe for a child to make (with adult help) and are pr
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Kids Need Their Nutrients
Learning a bit more about vitamins and minerals can help ensure your kids are on the right nutritional track.
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Know How Your Preemie Will Grow
Premature babies may grow at a slower rate than full-term babies, but usually catch up in height and weight by 2 years of age. But premature babies are more likely to have trouble with speech, motor skills, hearing or vision.
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Learning More About Autism
Autism is not one single disorder, but refers to a group of disorders known as autism spectrum disorders.
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Letting Kids Grow Up…At Their Own Pace
As much as parents might want to hurry their little ones to the next stage of development, most children follow the same general growth and development pattern that can't be changed much.
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Make Variety a Goal in Kids' Sports
Children should avoid specializing in a sport until they reach adolescence, the American Academy of Pediatrics recommends. Reason: for every prodigy who becomes a successful athlete, thousands of youths suffer physically or psychologically from being push
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Making the Grade on School Tests
Parents can do a lot to ease test anxiety, both in their children and themselves. Start by focusing on the learning and not the scoring.
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Making the Most of Family Moments
The time you spend with your children each day doesn't have to be scripted or scheduled. In fact, if you set aside only specific times as "family time," it puts a lot of pressure on both you and your kids.
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Making This School Year Your Child's Best Ever
The amount of planning help a student wants differs by education level. An elementary-schooler needs plenty of help, a middle-schooler expects more freedom. But parents should find ways to stay involved.
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New Parents...Sore Backs
When it comes to parenting, back injury is an occupational hazard. New mothers, whose backs have just endured the stresses of pregnancy and birth, are particularly vulnerable. So are taller fathers and mothers who must bend farther than others to scoop up
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Nuts: Snack Causes Problems for Some Kids
If your child is allergic to peanuts or tree nuts, such as walnuts, almonds or pecans, it's important that you teach him or her to ask about any treat offered at school or day care before eating it.
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Obese Parents Influence Children's Weight
Children whose parents are overweight or obese are at higher risk for becoming obese themselves, studies have shown. One study, in the New England Journal of Medicine, found that for a child under 10, having an obese parent more than doubled the child's ri
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Paging Dr. Mom
One of the many hats that parents wear is that of a “first responder.” When their child is sick, they are the first to assess the symptoms and treat the illness.
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Parents: Check Toys for Lead
If you have toys that have been recalled, don’t throw them out. Take them back to the store where they came from.
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Parents-to-Be Must Communicate
few mothers- and fathers-to-be receive training for the much more challenging and long-term tasks: becoming good parents and remaining close and loving partners in the face of new stresses and strains as their family grows.
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Peanut Allergies Require Planning, Communication
If your child is allergic to peanuts, this common food can fill you with dread. Peanuts are the top cause of severe allergic reactions to food, says the Food Allergy and Anaphylaxis Network (FAAN).
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Pertussis Protection
Pertussis is a highly contagious respiratory tract infection that can be prevented through vaccination.
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Picking Snacks for Picky Eaters
Nutrition experts agree that a wide assortment of nutritionally balanced snacks served in moderation can be a healthy, essential part of a child's diet.
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Prevent Shaken Baby Syndrome
Many of the injuries thousands of babies receive every year because of severe shaking can be avoided if parents and caregivers remember just these two simple words: Be patient.
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Protect Kids From Lead Poisoning
Although lead poisoning is often associated with the paint of older homes, children may be exposed to lead if the soldering on water pipes is new. In fact, lead may be found in many parts of a home, including soil, food or even the air.
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Protect Your Kids From Internet Crime
Youngsters spend time online messaging, chatting, searching and surfing. Although most of these Internet experiences are likely positive, parents need to be aware of the dangers to better protect their children.
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Put Peer Pressure in Its Place
Peer pressure can get the best of children and push them to do things that they don't really want to do. Parents can counter it, if they're ready to help.
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Reading to Kids Helps Their Development
Research shows that reading regularly to young children, especially those between ages 6 months and 5 years, is central to their overall growth and development.
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Road Rules: Teaching Your Teen to Be a Good Driver
Teen drivers have the highest accident and fatality rates of any age group. If you're the parent of a young driver, you can help protect your child by learning about the problem and taking steps to decrease your child's risk of dying in a car crash.
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Safe Summer Play
May through August is the most dangerous time of year for children, according to Safe Kids Worldwide. In a recent report, Safe Kids found nearly half of all injury-related childhood deaths occur during the summer.
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Safety Checklist: How Does Your Family Rate?
Keeping your family safe and sound can be as easy as following simple safety rules consistently. Here's a checklist from the National Safety Council can help you maintain essential safety precautions.
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Safety Precautions for Kids in Cars
Motor-vehicle crashes are the leading cause of childhood death in the United States. But when properly installed and used, child safety seats reduce the risk of death by 70 percent for infants and 55 percent for toddlers.
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Sleep and Your Child
Without enough shut-eye, children are more likely to struggle with their school studies, do poorly on the playing field, and suffer depression.
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Solving Battles at Mealtime
Pediatricians say there are easy and effective ways to get your kids to eat well other than playing the food enforcer. Parents need to avoid the bickering and control games that make meals tense and unappetizing.
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Sound Advice for MP3 Users
Experts say today's small music players pose a big risk of hearing loss. One reason: The "earbuds" used with iPods and other MP3 players fit into the ears, not over them.
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Spare Your Baby From Diaper Rash
The top cause of diaper rash is moisture, made worse by chafing or rubbing. That's why it's important to check your baby's diaper often and change it.
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Stop Dating Abuse Before It Starts
Although teen dating violence is worrisome, it's not inevitable. You and your teen can avoid potentially perilous situations and reduce the risk for problems.
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Take a Hard Line Against Soft Drinks
Kids who drink soda tend to eat fewer fruits and vegetables, and get less calcium, protein and vitamins A and D, because they are drinking less milk. They also take in more calories.
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Taking Baby's Temperature
For a parent who needs to take an infant's or child's temperature, there are now three digital options.
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Talk With Your Kids About These Issues
Talking with your child about drugs, alcohol and tobacco is tough. But you can't afford to ignore these topics. Children learn about these substances and feel pressure to use them at a very young age.
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Talking Sex With Your Teen
With studies showing that more than half of America's teenagers have experienced sexual intercourse by the age of 18, educating kids about sex is something all parents need to do.
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Teach the Joy of Gift Giving
Here are some ideas: Adopt a family in need for the holidays. Encourage your child to pass on toys he or she has outgrown.
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Teaching Your Child to Ride a Bike
You may have learned to ride a bike with your mom or dad running alongside to keep you from falling. That method still works, but there's an alterative that separates learning to balance from the other skills needed to ride.
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Teens and Prescription Drugs
Many young people take prescription drugs because they believe they are safer than street drugs, but they can be just as dangerous if taken improperly.
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Teens and Talk: What's a Parent to Do?
At the parent-teen communication gap, a simple parent-child conversation just isn't simple anymore. That's because when kids get to be teenagers they think differently than children.
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Teens and the Self-Esteem Shield
Research shows that adolescents who grow up with high self-esteem are far less likely to abuse drugs or drink, compared with children who grow up without much sense of self-worth.
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The Dangers of Binge Drinking
Too many young people are participating in a dangerous practice called binge drinking, or drinking to intoxication. It's defined as having five or more drinks in a row for men; for women, it’s four-plus drinks in a row.
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The Do's and Don’ts for Children's Meds
There are some simple rules for using over-the-counter (OTC) medicines for children. The first and most important: NEVER give any OTC medicine to children 2 years and under without a doctor's advice, says the American Academy of Pediatrics.
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The Facts About Marijuana
Knowing about marijuana can help you recognize its use in children and others and help a user seek treatment.
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The Road to Table Food
Feeding your baby during his or her first year of life can be challenging and stressful, especially if you're a first-time parent.
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The Supermarket as Classroom
Walking the aisles, you can talk about making wholesome food choices, show how ads drive purchases, and expose your child to new fruits and vegetables.
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The Trouble With Bullies
Bullying comes in different forms. It is commonly thought of as an actual or threatened act of physical violence. But name calling, spreading rumors, unrelenting teasing, and deliberately excluding a child from an activity can be other forms of bullying. R
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The Truth About Kids and Divorce
Divorce can be an emotional train wreck for both parents, but often the family members hurt most have the least control -- the children. What's the best way to help children adjust to divorce?
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Trampoline Troubles
Trampolines are popular. Thousands of children are rocketing skyward, and trampoline injuries are also on the rise.
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Treating Teen Acne
Just about every teen will find at least one blackhead or whitehead on his or her skin by age 17, and some teens will develop more severe acne, which can leave scarring if not treated.
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TV and Toddlers
As the scientific community continues to study how babies and young children grow and develop, the issue of television watching becomes even more complex.
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TV vs. Activity: Key Choice for Kids
New studies show that a sedentary child will likely become a sedentary adult, and a sedentary life leads to a host of health problems, from obesity to heart disease.
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Twins and Premature Birth
To lower the chance of early births, women who are pregnant with twins typically see their doctors more often.
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Understanding Teenage Depression
The medical community once thought depression affected only adults. The risk for the condition begins in the early teens, however, and increases steadily through the mid-20s.
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Understanding the Teen Brain
Parents need to realize the rational part of a teen’s brain isn’t fully developed and won’t be until he or she is 25 years old or so.
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Vegetarian Kids
Most nutrition experts and dietitians say that children of any age -- even infants -- can safely follow a vegetarian diet, according to the Nemours Foundation. But some planning is involved to ensure that children receive the proper nutrients, especially i
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Video Games: More Losers than Winners
Video games can take up too much of your kids' time. They may keep your kids from schoolwork and isolate them from family and friends. They can fuel obesity by limiting physical activity.
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Want to Get Pregnant? Follow the 90-Day Guide
At least 90 days before starting to try to conceive, both men and women should take steps to improve their diet and exercise routines, as well as fine-tune any medications they may be taking.
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Watch that Backpack Load
When your child acts as if she’s carrying the weight of the world on her shoulders, maybe you should check her backpack.
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We Can Head Off Teen Tragedies
Preventing teen turmoil starts at birth. Parents set examples in the way they interact, express anger, and treat substance abuse.
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Weight Room No Longer Off-Limits to Kids
The American Academy of Pediatrics and the American College of Sports Medicine now say that strength training is fine for kids, as long as they are supervised and don't try to lift too much weight.
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What Is Rotavirus?
Rotavirus is a viral infection that causes severe diarrhea in children. A vaccine is now available to help protect youngsters against this illness.
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What Is Scalp Ringworm?
Scalp ringworm isn’t caused by a worm. The infection is the result of a fungus, the same one that leads to athlete’s foot.
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What Kids Drink Is Important, Too
Just what should kids be drinking? "I think good old H2O,'' says the director of the Nutrition Information Center in New York. But you can add pizzazz: Buy flavored water or make your own with lemon or lime.
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What Tests Does Your Newborn Baby Need?
You may think your child's first test will come in school, but it will actually happen before leaving the hospital's newborn unit. Early screening tests for babies can find problems before symptoms arise, prompting early treatment.
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What to Do if Your Child Needs Surgery
If having surgery makes you nervous, imagine how it can seem for a child. By helping the youngster anticipate and face those fears, you can ease the trauma and smooth the way for a quicker, easier recovery.
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What You Can Do to Prevent Child Abuse
Child abuse can happen in any family and in any neighborhood. Studies have shown that child abuse crosses all boundaries of income, race, ethnic heritage and religious faith.
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What You Need to Know About Vomiting
Although nausea and vomiting can make you feel miserable, it's important to remember that these are not diseases, but rather symptoms of many illnesses.
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When a Child’s Tonsils Need to Come Out
While it doesn't take long -- about 20 to 30 minutes -- for an ear, nose and throat specialist to remove a child's tonsils, a tonsillectomy should be recommended only after careful consideration.
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When a Family Grieves
Learning about grief and how it affects your family can help you get through the difficult times together. It may even help your family grow stronger.
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When a Reward for Kids Becomes a Bribe
A reward usually doesn't need to be extra large to modify a child's behavior, says a Vermont professor of psychiatry. An extravagant promise, however, "suggests that there's a struggle between parent and child."
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When Children Say 'No' to New Foods
When it comes time to eat vegetables, do your children do the Brussels-sprout pout? Well, don't give up. It can take eight to 10 tries before children accept a new food, experts say.
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When Grandparents Raise Grandkids
More than 3 million American children currently live with grandparents or other relatives. In nearly one-third of these households, grandparents are the primary caregivers.
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When to Keep Your Child Home From School
Here are some tips for deciding what to do when a child awakens with a health complaint and you must determine whether the complaint is serious enough to warrant a sick day.
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When You Think Your Child Is Faking an Illness
School avoidance syndrome, as described by doctors, is the most common cause of vague, unverifiable symptoms in school-age children and is triggered by stress, says a clinical professor of pediatrics.
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Whole Grains in the Teen Diet
Better health for your teen could be as close as your breadbox. The more whole grains teenagers eat, the leaner they are and the less likely they are to develop diabetes.
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Why Measles Remains a Threat
Children still need immunization because measles remains a significant threat abroad. Worldwide, more than 800,000 children die each year from measles.
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Working Mom? Aim for Less Stress
In the United States, 78 percent of all mothers with kids ages 6 to 17 work in paid jobs. Most—including married working moms—also are responsible for child care and housework.
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Write On! Help Your Child Start a Journal
If your kids are angry or upset, tell them to write it down. A private journal helps bring resolution to things that have been troubling you. It helps you explore how you feel about something.
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Your Child’s Separation Anxiety
The prospect of new experiences away from parents or other loved ones can be quite frightening, especially for younger children. These worries are a normal part of development for all children.
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Your Child's Diabetes Care Team
Having a child with diabetes can be overwhelming. Fortunately, a team of experts can guide you now and in the years to come.
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