We know that parents are working hard to avoid any unnecessary visits to their pediatric office (which is great!), but there are still cases when children need medical care. If you have to take your child to your pediatric provider, or if you have to urgently go to the ER (hopefully not!), here are some […]

I have seen a lot of fear and misinformation circulating these days regarding Tamiflu, so I decided to put some evidenced-based information together for parents to have at their fingertips. The flu, or more accurately, influenza, is a serious illness, and it can be scary to watch your child go through it. Add to this […]

This post was originally published in February 2019 in response to the measles outbreak in Washington state. Since then, the number of measles cases have continued to grow across the United States. I’m tracking all new measles cases and outbreaks and adding updates to the top of this post. Below these updates you will find […]

It’s that time of year again, dreaded flu season. Hospitals, urgent cares, and primary care offices are full of sick patients, every nurse I know has chapped hands from washing a million times a day, and I think we all know some unfortunate family member or friend who has come down with it. Even I’ll […]

I received a lot of great responses after publishing this post about dry drowning symptoms. So many parents are concerned about their children dry drowning, and it’s been great to set some of those fears to rest. I’ve updated the end of this post with more water safety tips and a free printable — my hope […]

One of the top struggles of parenting sick children is giving them yucky tasting medications. As a pediatric nurse practitioner, I’m no stranger to watching a fresh dose of medication get spit right back up. With sick babies, this situation can be extra difficult, because they do not understand that the medication will actually resolve […]

As pediatrician Paul Offit said, “There’s no such thing as conventional or alternative or holistic medicine. There’s only medicine that works and medicine that does not.” Most of us parents today are constantly being fed information and suggestions from our friends and family, healthcare providers, and of course, from the internet. I regularly see articles […]

Constipation. It’s something most children have dealt with at least a few times. No doubt, constipation can be annoying and uncomfortable at any age. This is one of the most common concerns I encounter as a pediatric nurse practitioner. Most of the time I hear “It’s been X days since my child pooped. She must […]

One of the most common concerns from parents of newborns revolve around the issue of reflux. “My baby has been spitting up – do you think she has reflux?” or “My baby has been fussy this week – do you think it’s because of reflux?” These are questions I hear all the time, both in […]

Seizures are very scary for parents, especially when a baby or young child is seizing. While seizures can be serious, not all seizures carry the same risks or complications. The febrile seizure is an important example. Most febrile seizures end without treatment and do not require seizure medication for prevention. What Is A Febrile Seizure? […]