Maaaaaaajor milestone in our house today. O filled up his first reward chart for potting training. Even bigger, last night just before he went to bed, O and I discussed that he only had two spaces left on the chart. Once filled, he gets a special trip to the toy store. Although seemingly unclear about the rules and benefits of the chart last night, he told me he would wait until morning to pee.
Thing is, he did.
He awoke with a dry diaper. We felt like lottery winners! O went to the bathroom, peed in the toilet, and then came to find me this morning. His 4 1/2 year old brother did the reporting:
“O peed much more than we thought he could this morning, Mommy.”
I was astonished. I went to the toilet to see the evidence. Dark yellow bowl of pee. Immense pride….I think my heart pushed out a double-beat. Read full post »
Consider this an intermission. A moment where I have no wisdom to share, no knowledge or research I’m compelled to report, and no breaking news I feel I have to detail. This is a day where those words don’t come easily for me and thus I’ll give you a brief intermission. The reason? I’ve heard terrible news today about children going missing, children who have been hurt and children who have been killed. It’s left me a bit breathless. I’ve found myself unable to finish 5 posts that I’ve started. This past weekend I flew out to Minnesota for a 24 hour visit to support a dear friend who just lost her father. It’s Wednesday now and I’m still a bit consumed by it. And more, I’ve been sick for the last 7 days, feeling fairly miserable. As I wring myself out and attempt to stand back up after a long week for me personally, I acknowledge this: often we lack control of all that we’d like. Everything from our own health, our family’s health, the safety and vulnerability of our friends and loved ones, and even our own future.
Yet the saving grace can be that our lives can feel entirely whole in a single moment. A single moment of simplicity amidst a slanted sun. The bare bones moments away from technology and away from a clock– those moment surrounded by those we love. Those moments that define and then refine who and what we cherish most. Read full post »
Wonder all mixed up with dread, F got a new bike over the holiday weekend. Great trepidation spun into sincere pride, it’s been a big step. For me. For F, it’s just another joy, another leap into the chapters of requisite or quintessential childhood. To F, I think this feels fresh and cool like dipping his toes into a new stream. Although I’ve seen fear in his eyes for small moments while on the bike, most of the time his face is lit with exhilaration. When he’s spinning his pedals it really looks as if he feels he’s flying. And allowing those wings to unfold is the privilege and pleasure of parenting. It’s just that:
Thank you reader Max for your question on facebook: “Environmental and food toxins. What should we be most vigilant about? Where can we be most effective in protecting our kids?”
Here is one thing you can start immediately to reduce environmental toxin exposure in your home. Many more tips to come.
Ever wonder how the CDC makes the vaccine schedule? For example, how they decide when to start a dosing series (at birth versus a year of age versus age 11) or why pediatricians and other clinicians recommend the number of shots that we do?
Ever want to let them know your thoughts about how the schedule feels to you and what values you feel should contribute to changes?
This morning as I was getting ready for the day, my 2 1/2 year old was watching Sesame Street. In the show, the segments change every few minutes or so and seem to weave old-school 1970′s content (familiar to me) with newly created vignettes that have a modern feel and construction. I like it nearly as much as the boys. One of the stories this morning was about tooth fairies. An animated group of fairies were detailing how they got to the tooth under a child’s pillow (lifting up the child) to replace it with a golden coin. Mind you, I was coming and going from the room and didn’t view the whole story. However at one point, the fairies accidentally turn on the child’s TV and worry it might wake the child, ultimately uncovering their work and secret magic.
I’ve got 2 boys under the age of 5. While reading a Pediatrics article just now my stomach flipped. It’s because I read:
Children younger than 5 years, especially boys, are at greatest risk from drowning in swimming pools.
The words startled me as pediatrician but as Mama, too. Three thousand children under the age of 5 were treated in the ER each year between 2006-2008 for injuries associated with submersions. Private pools were the riskiest pools of all. Over half of the children who drowned and died (129/209) did so at their own home. Wrong, terrible, traumatic.
94% of the fatal and nonfatal downing injuries in portable, above-ground pools in the US between 2001 and 2009 were in children younger than 5 years. If you have, or entertain, or care for, or ever have the responsibility for a child under age 5 near water, think about safety ahead of time. That pool you buy at Target for $11.99 comes with real responsibility. That pool you buy at Target for $11.99 comes with real risk. Don’t believe because of a portable or above-ground pool’s size, cost, or convenience, it’s any safer than the ginormous pool at the YMCA. The article this week would suggest it may be alarmingly deceptive from a danger stand-point. Those plastic blow up pools just look so benign… Read full post »
A joint statement published in 2009 by the American Academy of Pediatrics Committee on Pediatric Emergency Medicine, American College of Emergency Physicians Pediatric Committee, and Emergency Nurses Association Pediatric Committee spelled out the need for reform in emergency care when it comes to caring for children.
The bottom line is this: if your child has an emergency and you have the luxury of time and choice of where to go, go to an ER at a Children’s Hospital or a pediatrician-staffed emergency room. Collect $200 and pass go. Learn from my mistakes.
Driving the joint statement was concern from both pediatricians and ER physicians about inconsistent care for children in Emergency Departments (EDs) that do not normally specialize in the care of children. The statement outlines strategies to prepare EDs around the country to care for children based on some sobering statistics… Read full post »
A recently published study proposed and evaluated a new autism screening checklist for the 1-year well baby check-up. I had a hard time getting my hands on the study (crazy but true–even pediatricians sometimes are boxed out of research studies), but read lots about it first in the press. I was excited about the potential for early screening. The checklist, designed to be administered by a pediatrician, intends to improve early detection and diagnosis of autism. The goal: to enable early intervention and treatment for at-risk children. It’s clear that early intervention improves autistic children’s outcome with autism spectrum disorders but the media may have provided false information and false hope. So before you expect this checklist at your baby’s next 1-year check up, let me explain what the study found, my concerns about the results, and how the checklist may become useful.
I take care in using any screening tool–any intervention can cause unnecessary harm. My main concern resides around false positives (when a test suggests there is a problem when in reality there isn’t) and the numbers from this study… Read full post »
While I was at my 15-year college reunion this weekend, I found myself repeatedly describing my boys to old friends and peers who had never met them. I told variant stories, but ultimately spent time on their differences. The contrast helps illuminate their truths. Eventually, it became clear that the easiest way was this:
The boys are entirely different but made of the same things.
Yet, F is really going to need O to drag him into the ocean to play in the waves.
And O is really going to need F to remind him that they could drown while in there.
Maaaaaaajor milestone in our house today. O filled up his first reward chart for potting training. Even bigger, last night just before he went to bed, O and I discussed that he only had two spaces left on the chart. Once filled, he gets a special trip to the toy store. Although seemingly unclear about the rules and benefits of the chart last night, he told me he would wait until morning to pee.
Consider this an intermission. A moment where I have no wisdom to share, no knowledge or research I’m compelled to report, and no breaking news I feel I have to detail. This is a day where those words don’t come easily for me and thus I’ll give you a brief intermission. The reason? I’ve heard terrible news today about children going missing, children who have been hurt and children who have been killed. It’s left me a bit breathless. I’ve found myself unable to finish 5 posts that I’ve started. This past weekend I flew out to Minnesota for a 24 hour visit to support a dear friend who just lost her father. It’s Wednesday now and I’m still a bit consumed by it. And more, I’ve been sick for the last 7 days, feeling fairly miserable. As I wring myself out and attempt to stand back up after a long week for me personally, I acknowledge this: often we lack control of all that we’d like. Everything from our own health, our family’s health, the safety and vulnerability of our friends and loved ones, and even our own future.
This morning as I was getting ready for the day, my 2 1/2 year old was watching Sesame Street. In the show, the segments change every few minutes or so and seem to weave old-school 1970′s content (familiar to me) with newly created vignettes that have a modern feel and construction. I like it nearly as much as the boys. One of the stories this morning was about tooth fairies. An animated group of fairies were detailing how they got to the tooth under a child’s pillow (lifting up the child) to replace it with a golden coin. Mind you, I was coming and going from the room and didn’t view the whole story. However at one point, the fairies accidentally turn on the child’s TV and worry it might wake the child, ultimately uncovering their work and secret magic.
I’ve got 2 boys under the age of 5. While reading a 
A joint statement published in 2009 by the American Academy of Pediatrics Committee on Pediatric Emergency Medicine, American College of Emergency Physicians Pediatric Committee, and Emergency Nurses Association Pediatric Committee spelled out the need for reform in emergency care when it comes to caring for children.
While I was at my 15-year college reunion this weekend, I found myself repeatedly describing my boys to old friends and peers who had never met them. I told variant stories, but ultimately spent time on their differences. The contrast helps illuminate their truths. Eventually, it became clear that the easiest way was this: