‘video’

All Articles tagged ‘video’

You Can Help Prevent Shaken Babies

Posted on April 7, 2013 in: Infant, Seattle Mama Doc 1011 Comment

Babies get shaken most after periods of inconsolable crying. Since April is Child Abuse Prevention month, here’s some information on abusive head trauma (previously know as “shaken baby syndrome”) and ways you can help support new parents with babies who cry.

All babies cry. But some babies cry more (see the graph in the video). Babies do follow predictable patterns in crying: most babies start crying around 2 weeks of age and their crying peaks by 2 months, then tends to resolve around 3 to 4 months of age. But there are some babies who simply cry more than others. Dr Ronald Barr has researched crying in infants for over 30 years and developed the PURPLE period of crying based off data on all types of infants. Learning about the PURPLE period so you can help reassure families that they aren’t doing ANYTHING WRONG when they have a fussy baby. It’s okay that a baby fusses and cries, particularly at peak times (around 2 months of age, in the evening), our job as parents and community members is to support parents dealing with this fussiness.

Crying is aggravating to all of us. When I spoke with Dr Ken Feldman, a pediatrician and expert in shaken baby syndrome (now called abusive head trauma), he reminded me of a startling finding. He mentioned a North Carolina study found that 20% of parents surveyed admitted to shaking a baby out of frustration at some point.

You’re not alone if you’ve felt overwhelmed while caring for a cranky baby.

Take turns soothing fussy babies. Put babies in their cribs on their backs if you get really frustrated. It’s always okay to walk away from a really cranky baby for a 10-15 minute break!

Read full post »

Parents May Hesitate On Teen Vaccines

Posted on March 20, 2013 in: Teens, Vaccines4 Comments

Since 2005, teen immunizations have been recommended at the 11 year-old well child check-up but rates of teens who keep up to date on their shots lag. In an ideal community, 90% of us would be up to date on shots to prevent disease spread most effectively.  Back in 2007, teen recommendations were expanded to include HPV vaccine for girls. In 2011, both boys and girls were recommended to get HPV shots. Although the majority of teens get the Tdap shot (tetanus and whooping cough booster) only around 1/3 of teen girls are up-to-date on their HPV shot when most recently surveyed.

Teen Shots Recommend at age 11:

  • Tdap (tetanus, diphtheria, pertussis shot)
  • MCV4 (meningitis shot)
  • HPV (human papillomavirus shot, requires 3 doses over 6 months)

A Pediatrics Study on teen shots revealed that parents may not get their teen shots due to concerns about safety or not understanding the shot was recommended. Not all shots are required by schools; I think some families tend to experience that as an endorsement for the shot being less important. In the survey conducted between 2008-2010, researchers sought to understand trends and rationale for lagging shots: Read full post »

Baby’s Ears When Flying

Posted on February 22, 2013 in: Infant, Seattle Mama Doc 1011 Comment

First off, I have connected with a few engineers and pilots — I may be wrong on one point here: Commercial airplanes typically ascend/climb faster than they descend for a landing. My apologies. I’m clearly no pilot…

That being said, you can help support your baby or child’s potential ear discomfort during flying by having them suck on something like a pacifier, having them breast feed, or offer a bottle during take-off and landing. The motion of their jaw and mouth during sucking and swallowing will help them equalize to the pressure changes. When they move their jaw to suck and swallow this helps facilitate venting in the Eustachian tube that allows your child to equalize pressure from the outside world with the middle part of their ear. That click or pop you feel when you yawn is your ear drum moving back to middle after getting pushed one direction in your ear from a pressure change.

It’s true that discomfort is far greater during pressure changes when there is fluid in our middle ear (from colds to ear infections). Check in with your child’s doctor or nurse practitioner prior to flying if you’re concerned about a potential infection. If that’s not ideal, consider getting Cellscope (an iPhone app that helps you look into your child’s ear, and/or allows you to send the image to their doctor) if you’re a frequent flier and your child is prone to fluid in the middle ear.

Here’s tips for parents about fluid in the middle ear and nice summary about ears & pressure changes from Kid’s Health.

Safe Holidays For Your Children

Posted on December 13, 2012 in: School Age, Seattle Mama Doc 101, Toddler1 Comment

This is a wonderful time of year. It’s also a really stressful one for many of us. Some quick reminders about ways to stay safe while bringing holiday decor into your home, traveling, while arguing with your brother about gifts, and when potentially having more alcohol around than is typical…

  • FIRE: Be careful of lit candles and check the safety of lights you place on trees or around the outside of your home. Christmas trees are like kindling for house fires. Check out National Fire Protection Agency’s info or watch this video of a tree catching fire.
  • DECOR: Holiday decorations often bring hazards for young children. This include candle holders, Christmas tree ornaments, plants, decorative garlands, and hot liquids. I’ve cared for many children with scald burns from soups and hot liquids. With decorations, anything longer than 12 inches can pose a strangulation risk. Make sure your trees and larger decorations are mounted in a way that your child (of any age) can’t pull them down upon themselves.
  • ALCOHOL: With holiday and New Year’s parties fast approaching, it’s good to have a plan for alcohol–if you’re serving it or drinking it. Many sober alcoholics relapse this time of year and many small drinkers consume alcohol more excessively. We have to be careful with our guests and ourselves — for our children. Clean up after parties, too–don’t want toddlers finding the punch!

This kind of advice feels heavy-handed and self-evident. It’s not as if we wouldn’t have thought of most of this. Read full post »

Teasing Out Self-Talk: Our Inner Critic

Posted on November 26, 2012 in: Mama Doc Philosophies, Parenting, Seattle Mama Doc 1015 Comments


I had the good fortune to hear Jim Webb, PhD give a lecture on the emotional needs for children.

During his talk he mentioned children and their self-talk. You know what that is, yes? Self-talk is that voice that constantly evaluates how you’re doing things, how the world is playing out, and ultimately how you feel about it. Dr Webb shared the tip that we can tease out and bring to light the inner critic our children have, too. Not only can we mention that this self-talk exists, we can demonstrate and model that voice for our children. We can show them we also have a voice that hovers to illuminate what we do wrong or what we do well.

Dr Webb made me realize we identify this self-talk early and help children acknowledge and own it. If I remember correctly, no one taught me about my self-talk growing up. I wonder if they had if my critic would be a bit more forgiving or generous…Maybe we can help our children identify their inner-critic and help them shape their critic into a more productive coach. Just knowing self-talk exists and bearing witness to this critic could be a great start to insight…

Teach Children About Self-Talk Early

  1. Teach children that self-talk exists. Once children are in school, start mentioning and letting them know that their voice and inner-critic is there. Help them recognize the self-talk they are participating in and ask them how it helps them during they day. Ask them if it trips them up. Read full post »

Buy Organic Food Or Not?

Posted on November 1, 2012 in: Parenting, School Age, Seattle Mama Doc 10116 Comments

I was surprised by a recent clinical report on organic foods. I summarized the findings in the video. Sure, I thought organic foods didn’t offer any more nutrition (vitamins, minerals, fatty acids) than foods grown conventionally. I’d seen a large study published in the Annals of Internal Medicine evaluating research spanning 1966 to 2011 that didn’t cite evidence that foods were more nutritious or better for us, per se. But I did recognize that data was on the side of organics when it came to keeping our children healthy and safe–because of pesticides.

I wasn’t entirely correct.

The American Academy of Pediatrics’ clinical report found that although levels of pesticides differ on fruits and produce, the effects on the health of our children remain inconclusive for recommending organics. Read full post »

All Children Need A Flu Shot

Posted on October 18, 2012 in: Seattle Mama Doc 101, Vaccines4 Comments

This is part deux to an earlier video/post describing the global effort to reduce flu & reasons why we need one every year. Infants and children under age 5 are at higher risk for serious complications from influenza infection. Influenza (“the flu”) is an illness that strikes during the late fall and early winter annually in our country. Great thing is, there is a global effort to coordinate knowledge to reduce the consequences of severe infections. Each year a new flu shot is released to protect us. All children need a flu shot. The reason? It’s estimated that somewhere between 10-40% of all children, each year, get influenza. Sometimes it’s a mild upper respiratory infection, but sometimes it can cause severe lung infections and even death. Each year hundreds of children die in our country from flu even though it is a vaccine-preventable illness. I hear lots of myths and rumors about the flu shot in clinic (more than any other vaccine). Check out my friend Dr Claire McCarthy’s post on de-bunking the myths.

Of those children who are seriously ill and hospitalized, somewhere between 1/3 to 1/2 can be children with no underlying medical issues. Healthy children get the flu, too. If your child has underlying neurologic problems, wheezing or asthma, or diabetes they are also considered higher risk for severe infection.

It takes a well-immunized community to reduce the spread of influenza. And our children, swapping spit and snot at school, are one of our most precious groups to protect.

Which Flu Vaccine And How Many to Get?

Infants 6 months of age and up can get flu shot. Most infants will need two doses, separated by 1 month, while all children over age 9 years need only one dose. If you have a young child (<9 years) and they have never had the flu shot before, they will need two doses. Ask your child’s doctor how many doses your baby, toddler, or child needs this year.  What you need to know about flu.

There are two types of vaccine, the flu shot & the nasal spray. Both protect against the same virus strains. Check out www.flu.gov. Here’s a quick explanation: Read full post »

Why A Flu Shot Every Year?

Posted on October 8, 2012 in: Infant, School Age, Seattle Mama Doc 101, Teens, Vaccines2 Comments

We need a flu shot annually because influenza virus changes structure and shape as it moves around the globe each year. The strains that cause human disease are different from one year to the next, so we update and add to our protection annually by getting a shot or nasal flu spray. Children, especially those under age 5, are at higher risk for severe disease from influenza. In children and adults, influenza can cause a mild illness, but unfortunately, sometimes it can cause severe or even life-threatening complications. Children may have a more difficult time fighting off influenza partly because they don’t have years of exposure to other strains of flu and no real immunity built up. Therefore all children are considered a priority group for flu shots. Pregnant women, families with infants at home, and those with underlying medical problems like asthma, diabetes, or neurologic problems really need to get them, too.

It takes a well-orchestrated, worldwide effort to help predict which strains come to our country and which 3 strains are included in the annual flu shot or flu nasal spray here in The United States. The video explains more.

What You Need To Know About “Flu Season”

How Experts Determine Flu Strains for Shots/Nasal Spray

Find A Flu Shot Clinic Near You

Every Year Is An Influenza Pandemic For Children (commentary)

BPOD: A New Acronym

Posted on October 5, 2012 in: Mama Doc Philosophies, Parenting, Seattle Mama Doc 1016 Comments

This may be the best decision I’ve made in a decade. In August, we came up with a new acronym around our home and a tradition was born. Our boys take this very seriously now. Consider starting one at your home, too? Gratitude is powerful stuff.

Swim Lessons Before School

Posted on July 26, 2012 in: Seattle Mama Doc 10110 Comments

New data around the world has found that early swim lessons (between age 1 and 4) may confer added protection against drowning. Maybe a new rule should be swim lessons before the start of school?

Many parents tell me in clinic that they are terrified about their children drowning. If you’re one of those, arm yourself with information: read some of the links (below) and consider signing up for lessons. However, don’t use swim lessons as an excuse to decrease vigilance around the pool or lake or riverside. Young children between age 1 and 4 years of age drown the most. Drowning happens quickly, and sometimes it’s very quiet or even silent.

Information, Myths, Truths, And Opinion About Swimming Lessons And Water Safety

  • Never let an infant or toddler out of arm’s reach when swimming or playing in water. There is good data stemming from an article published in March of 2009 to suggest swimming lessons may prove to be protective against drowning. Drowning is the second most common cause of death from injury in kids less 14 or younger.
  • 6 myths about water safety  Read full post »