Category: Pediatrics
When is it safe to leave your child home alone?
Many parents struggle deciding at what age to leave their children home alone. In Indiana, there isn’t a specific legal age for this, so it’s up to parents to decide. It would be easy if there were a set age for staying home alone, but not all 12 year-olds, for example, are equally mature. How old […]
When Children Ask About Suicide
Most people associate youth suicides with the teenage years, but pre-teens are also vulnerable. In 2018, suicide was the second leading cause of death for children aged 10 to 14 in the United States. It’s important for parents to be prepared to discuss suicidal ideation with preteens as well as older adolescents. When very young children bring up the […]
Is My Teen Clinically Depressed?
Teens are famous for having moods that go up and down. When the “downs” become the norm, however, parents need to ask themselves: “Is this a normal mood swing? Or is it clinical depression?” Symptoms of depression include: Sadness Irritability An abnormal decline in school performance Losing interest in activities the teen used to enjoy […]
Treat Bedwetting with Patience
While bedwetting can be miserably embarrassing for a child at a sleepover, it’s much more common than many people realize. Up to one in five children is still wetting the bed from time to time at age 5. By age 7, this has decreased, but bedwetting still occurs in about one child in ten. 1 […]
What to do when your child has a sore throat
It’s always concerning when your child gets sick and you can’t tell whether or not it’s serious. You don’t want to rush to the doctor if there is no need. You also don’t want to put off a trip to the doctor is your child needs help. One of the most confusing illnesses children can […]
What to do when your Teen is Depressed
Teen depression isn’t like cloudy weather, that blows over if you wait long enough. Even when counseling or medication aren’t required, the suffering your teen endures when depressed is very real and needs to be recognized. Unfortunately, recognizing teen depression isn’t always easy, even for the most caring parents. Some teens aren’t able or willing to talk about depression with the adults in their […]
Mental Health Key to Managing Child Obesity
With one in five children suffering from obesity, it’s important for parents to know how much weight is too much for teens and children. It’s also important to know when a teen or child is NOT obese. To help with this, the CDC has developed an online Body Mass Index calculator for children and teens. […]
Vacation Safely with Medication Safes
For many of us, vacations are a time for visiting with out-of-town friends and family. Whether staying in someone else’s home or having them stay in ours, it’s easy to forget medication safety. Drugs that might be locked away at home may only be stuffed in a purse or suitcase while traveling. Leftover narcotic prescriptions […]
The Magic of Board Games
If you’re one of those parents who refuses to invest in a Switch, you’ll be happy to hear that Video games have never quite managed to kill off board games. Whether being played at home or at commercial game stores, board games are still magic in a box for people of all ages. Young children […]
Fainting (Syncope) in Kids
By Adam Powell, MD, pediatric cardiologist at Cincinnati Children’s Pediatric Fainting (Syncope): Fainting (also called syncope) is very common in the teenage and young adult years. Around 20% of young adults report having passed out at least once in their life. Fortunately, fainting is rarely a sign of a dangerous condition. Despite being common and […]