Food Allergies, a New Sibling and Hidden Blessings

Last updated on September 2nd, 2019 at 07:46 pm

I remember the fear that ran through me during my second pregnancy. My first born has food allergies and at times, I really feel as if I am just unable to take another thing on. So being pregnant, I began to wonder how I would handle it if my second child also had food allergies. I would picture scenario after scenario of having to run from one to the other in just enough time to save them both. Was this my destiny, to see what else life would bring me?

But then, my daughter was born and my heart opened up even wider. Somehow, being a mother of two children became easier very quickly. Somehow, the moments that I need to split my attention are warped by time and space and I am able to just do it, with both children happy. It’s almost as if you are handed super powers when you give birth. How else anyone explain being able to take care of so much with even less time?

Then came time to try foods with my daughter- I was terrified all over again. I waited longer to give her foods that I gave to my son to make sure her fragile system could handle them better. Instead of getting the new food ready first, I armed myself with an EpiPen and antihistamine in case I needed to use them in a hurry. I made sure the telephone was close by and that my son’s diaper bag was packed up near the front door in case we had to go the emergency room. But then I realized- I wasn’t doing this out of fear, I was doing this out of knowledge and protection. I was doing this because I was a better parent than I thought I would be. And it was because my first born had food allergies…not in spite of it.

Having a food-allergic first child meant that when my second child was born, I honestly felt I was already scores past where I had been the first time around when it came to knowing what I needed to watch for. Whoever said “It was a blessing in disguise” was absolutely correct.

I tell people, always, that having food allergies is a positive thing and that there’s a reason for it, it should not be seen as a curse. The world works in mysterious ways. Little did I know that I would be taking my own advice.

But I also realized that it was not only a blessing for me – it was a blessing for my second child as well. My daughter is a better sister without even trying. As she grows up, she has the added wisdom of knowing what food allergies are all about and how to keep her friends safe if they have them. She knows why hand-washing is so important without making a fuss and that sharing foods is not even an option (which is good anyway because watching children share a half-eaten , soggy cookie grosses me out). And someday, when a mother at her school doesn’t know that a child is having an allergic reaction or what an EpiPen is, she will be able to tell them. How awesome is that? My daughter will have more knowledge about label-reading and cross-contamination than most adults and I am thankful for that.

Life truly does give you what you are able to handle. I’m not saying that it will always be easy but you will learn things about yourself that you would have never known if certain events had not happened to you. Embrace everything, both good and not so good. Someday, even you will be amazed at how your blessings have shown up in your life as well as whatever life has brought to you.

Worried About Letting Your Kids Get Dental X-rays?

Last updated on September 2nd, 2019 at 07:46 pm

Let us help calm your fears! We are concerned about radiation too, so we want you to have the facts you need to make an educated decision when it comes to your children.

We want you to know the truth about dental x-rays. Just to break it down for you, below is chart of the radiation doses you receive from different x-rays.

An annual maximum occupational exposure for radiation workers in the United States is 5,000 millirems (measure for radiation). When you spread low doses out over a period of time, it’s not as destructive to the body because it has time to recover.

High dose group includes:

• Mammography 1000
• Pelvimetry 875
• Lower spine 450
• Middle spine 347

Medium dose group includes:

• Abdomen 147
• Ribs 143
• Pelvis 133
• Skull 78
• Hip 72

Low dose group includes:

• Neck 52
• Femur 21
• Full mouth dental series (digital) less than 1
• Dental bitewing (digital) less than .05

To put this in perspective, you would need to have 2,000 dental x-rays to equal the radiation in 1 mammogram. To reach that maximum safety dose, we would have to take approximately 10,000 dental x-rays.

On average people receive 3 dental bitewings worth of radiation a day just from being outside in the sun, around concrete buildings or roads. There are some studies produces by radiologist saying that low doses may actually reduce cancer risks. Knowing how low the dose is, let’s talk about the benefits.

Here are just a few benefits of dental x-rays:

• Detecting hidden decay
• Detecting the presence of a cyst or tumor
• Determining the presence of permanent teeth
• Detecting oral cancer problems
• Detecting root involvement with the sinuses
• To help determine whether or not to remove primary teeth
• To determine if extra teeth are present

The list goes on and on. I hope you feel safe and secure when your child gets his or her next set of dental x-rays!

Childhood Asthma: Part II

Last updated on September 2nd, 2019 at 07:46 pm

In Childhood Asthma: Part I,  I presented ways in which Asthma can present and exactly what was the nature of the disease. Today we will deal with the diagnosis and various means of treating asthma.

Asthma may present in early infancy but is very difficult to diagnose for the reasons mentioned in part one. Also the signs and symptoms of asthma in the very young child can be caused by many other issues. So it is when the symptoms are very severe or they continue beyond two to four years of age that one begins to suspect asthma.

Let’s assume for the purpose of this article that all the other causes have been ruled out and that it appears that your child indeed has asthma. The first thing to realize is that the symptoms may vary from very severe to extremely mild requiring daily close control or only occasional use of medications and treatments to keep your child comfortable and active. The goal in treatment is twofold: first to allow your child to remain active, socially oriented, and happy. The second is to prevent the permanent secondary changes in the lungs from longstanding uncontrolled asthma.

Early in the course of treatment, a child who presented to the emergency room or physician’s office with symptoms of acute asthma usually needed to be admitted to the hospital for a few days in order to get the symptoms controlled. As time went on, newer systems such as nebulizer treatments that could be performed at home were implemented and admissions to hospitals dramatically diminished. Today it is not uncommon at all to see a nebulizer machine in the home of a child with asthma. The other issues that were improved upon were the level of education of a family in which there is a child with asthma, and the greatly improved medications available to treat asthmatic symptoms with fewer side effects and greater efficiency.

As more becomes known about asthma, through research and observation, the efficiency of treatments increases dramatically. Since we know from the previous article that the underlying problems causing symptoms of asthma are related to constriction of the small airways, mucus production and inflammation, there was a body of research that tried to find out which of these causes were more important, and which specific medications could be used for each symptom. At one point or another each of them were implicated but recently the inflammatory process seems to be very important. Also inhaled medications seemed to give the best results without some of the bothersome side effects, both long term and short term.

With the development of better mobile delivery systems for these medications and the increase in knowledge that families now have about the disease, the disease can now be managed very efficiently at home. Fewer and fewer hospitalizations have been the result with a greatly decreased cost of delivering medical care to these children.

Your Doctor is very familiar with the armamentarium of medications available to use for children with various degrees of the disease. The two main issues with the treatment of asthma is the immediate treatment of the acute problem, breathing difficulty, and then the long term control of the recurrence of those symptoms. There are many medications, or combinations of medications, available to gain and maintain control over the symptoms of asthma and your child should be able to live a perfectly normal life style.

You as parents will shortly become, with the help of your Doctor, the “expert” when it comes to asthma in your child.

7 Solutions to Turn Pessimistic Kids Into Optimistic Thinkers

Last updated on September 2nd, 2019 at 07:47 pm

“Why should I bother? You know they won’t choose me.” “What’s the point? I’ll never make the team.” “Why are you making me go? You know I won’t have fun.”

Let’s face it: Kids with pessimistic attitudes are among the most frustrating breeds. They give up easily, believe anything they do won’t make a difference, and assume they won’t succeed. Sadly, they rarely see the good, wonderful things of life. They dwell instead on the negative, bad parts, and often find only the inadequacies in themselves: “I’m so dumb, why study?” “Nobody’s going to like me, why bother?” (Beware: the trend is increasing: a child today is ten times more likely to be seriously depressed compared to a child born in the first third of this century.) So what’s a parent to do?

First, do know I empathize if you have one of these little critters. I know this is troubling stuff, and at times even heartbreaking. After all, one of the hardest parts of being a parent is when your child isn’t happy. But there is one point you must keep in mind: Kids are not born pessimistic. Research shows a large part of this attitude is learned along the way. So take heart: research at Penn State University concludes that parents can help their kids become more optimistic. Doing so will dramatically increases the likelihood of your son or daughter’s long-term happiness. So roll up your sleeves, and let’s get started. Here are secrets to help make a real difference on your child’s life from The Big Book of Parenting Solutions.

1. Eliminate the negatives you can. Start by doing what you can do: Cut the sources that might be exacerbating your kid’s pessimism. Possibilities? Why not reduce the terrifying news on CNN; stop talking about the bad stuff on the front page; listen to your own negative talk and curb it; monitor the cynical musical lyrics your kid is hearing? Where once those tragic and terrifying world events seemed so far, far away or only printed words in the newspaper, they are now 24/7 on our TVs and Internet screens. So be more vigilante and turn off what you can control. Enough!
2. Look for the positive. Next, consciously stress a more optimistic outlook in your home so your child sees the good parts of life instead of just the downside. For instance, start nightly “Good News Reports”: each family member can report something good that happened that day to him or her. Or share optimistic stories. The world is filled with examples of individuals who suffered enormous obstacles, but don’t cave into pessimistic thinking. Instead they remained optimistic, and kept at their dreams until they succeeded. So look for examples to share with your kids.
   • Institute goodness reviews. Each night start a new ritual with your child of reviewing all the good parts about her day. Your child will go to sleep remembering the positives about life. If you do it often enough, it will become a routine that your child will do on her own.
3. Confront pessimistic thinking. Don’t let your child get trapped into “Stinkin’ Thinkin’. Help him tune into his pessimistic thoughts and learn to confront them. You could point out cynicism by creating a code–such as pulling on your ear or touching your elbow–that only you and your kid are aware. The code means he’s uttered a cynical comment. Encourage your kid to listen to his own cynical comments. Suggest an older kid wear a watch or bracelet. The watch reminds her to tune into how often she is pessimistic. Or even help your kid count their pessimistic comments for a set time period: “For the next few minutes listen how many times you say downbeat things.” A young kid can count comments on his fingers. An older kid can use coins moving one from his left to right pocket.
4. Balance pessimistic talk. One way to thwart your kid’s pessimistic thinking is by providing a more balanced perspective. If you use the strategy enough, your child will use it to help counter pessimistic talk. Suppose your child won’t go to her friend’s birthday thinking no one likes her. Offer a more balanced view: “If Sunny didn’t like you, you’d never have been invited.” Or if your kid blows her math test exclaiming that she’s stupid. You say: “Nobody can be good at everything. You’re good in history and art. Meanwhile, let’s figure out how to improve your math.”
5. Deal with mistakes optimistically. Pessimists often give up at the first sign of difficulty, not recognizing that mistakes are a fact of life. Tips to help kids keep a more optimistic outlook to setbacks are: Stressing that it’s okay to make mistakes. Give kids permission to fail so they can risk. Admit your mistakes. It helps kids recognizes mistake making happens to everyone. Or even call it another name. Optimists call mistakes by other names: glitch, bug, etc., so rename it!
6. Encourage positive speculation. Help your child think through possible outcomes of any situation so he’ll be more likely to have a realistic appraisal before making any decision and less likely to utter a pessimistic one. You might: Asking “what if?” kinds of questions to help your kid think about potential consequences. List pros and cons of any choice to help your child weigh the positive and negative outcomes. Or name the worst thing that could happen if he followed through so he can weigh if it’s all that bad.
7. Acknowledge a positive attitude. Do be on the alert for those times your child does utter optimism. If you’re not looking for the behavior, you may well miss those moments when your child is trying a new approach. “Kara, I know how difficult your spelling tests have been. But saying you think you’ll do better was being so optimistic. I’m sure you’ll do better because you’ve been studying so hard.”

Face it, this is a troubling time to be growing up, and cynical kids tune into the bad times often seeing only the downward side of any situation. The world really is a wonderful and hopeful place. We just need to take the time and point out all the goodness in it to our kids. After all, this is their world, and the habits they learn now will last them a lifetime. Let’s make sure that one of those habits is the optimistic thinking and recognizing the wonder and beauty in life.

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Dr Borba’s new book The Big Book of Parenting Solutions: 101 Answers to Your Everyday Challenges and Wildest Worries, is one of the most comprehensive parenting book for kids 3 to 13. This down-to-earth guide offers advice for dealing with children’s difficult behavior and hot button issues including biting, tantrums, cheating, bad friends, inappropriate clothing, sex, drugs, peer pressure and much more. Each of the 101 challenging parenting issues includes specific step-by-step solutions and practical advice that is age appropriate based on the latest research. The Big Book of Parenting Solutions  is available at amazon.com

The Happy Visit: A Child’s First Trip to the Dentist

Last updated on September 2nd, 2019 at 07:47 pm

You want your child’s first experience at the dentist to be a positive one no matter what age they are. A child going to the dentist for the first time is often a handful of anxieties. Any dentist or hygienist using the right techniques can transform the most terrified child into a cooperative patient who is no longer afraid – a child who will leave the office with a smile on his face.

The American Dental Association or (ADA) recommends that you schedule your child’s first appointment with the dentist after their first baby tooth erupts. These early visits are encouraged between 12-18 months of age for several reasons. Educating mom and dad on proper nutrition and dental hygiene for their kids is a big part of that. All children should be socialized into the dental setting with what we call “happy visits” beginning by age two. This no-stress visit would be tailored to the child’s level of maturity and self-confidence. A ride in the “cool dentist chair”, playing with the air-water hand piece, and seeing a big sister do all this are all steps to successful rapport building even with the tiniest of patients.

Some tips for a good first dental visit:

• First and foremost, pick a dentist that has a good reputation for working with kids. Some dentists specialize in pediatric dentistry but many family dentists will also be able to meet both you and your child’s needs.
• Secondly, if you decide to bring your child to the dentist at the age of one, try not to make a big deal about the visit. They can sit on your lap and you can comfort them as you would at any doctor’s appointment.
• Thirdly, your child may not remember their first visit to the dentist if they were a baby or toddler. We find a great way to help kids adjust is to bring them with you while you have your teeth cleaned and examined. They will be able to observe what the hygienist and the dentist does in your mouth. Allow them the opportunity to ask questions during your appointment.
• Another way you can help your child adjust is to talk about what a dentist does. Using things such as a small mirror at home to look in their mouth and count their teeth helps make them feel more comfortable when the dentist does it.
• Leading up to their first appointment, encourage your child to brush their teeth letting them know that their dentist will be excited to see nice clean teeth at their appointment. Tell your child how great their smile is and how their dentist wants to see them smile.
• Stay away from using phrases such as “Don’t worry, they won’t hurt you”. This places the idea in your child’s mind that it could hurt. Keep things low key and easy going. Kids also tend to do better with morning appointments rather then afternoon.

In the end, your goal is to create a non threatening environment for your child’s first experience at the dentist. You want to help them be excited about taking good care of their teeth which will in turn help them take better care of their whole body.

Childhood Asthma: Part I

Last updated on September 2nd, 2019 at 07:48 pm

Asthma is the most common chronic disease in children and is responsible for more school absences than any other childhood disease in this country. It is a disease with a long history and is surrounded by much misconception and fear. Asthma is constantly being studied in the medical community which leads to new methods of diagnosis and treatment.

What is Asthma?

 Asthma is a disease characterized by repeated, mostly reversible episodes of wheezing. The symptoms of asthma are the end result of a series of reactions occurring in the body set off by a variety of causes. These causes vary from true allergy to specific substances in the air, to emotions, to exercise, to plain old colds. The tendency to develop asthma may very well be an inborn trait present from birth but the final common pathway of observable events remains the same: the development of small airway narrowing (bronchioles) with a decreased ability to move air in and out of the lungs, slowing down the normal process of exchanging oxygen from the air for carbon dioxide from the body through the lungs. The reasons for this narrowing are related to inflammation in those airways with the production of mucus, and muscle spasm surrounding the airways: all have the effect of narrowing these airways. Oxygen is needed by every cell in the body in order to carry on the process of metabolizing various products that we use every minute of every day.

When the inability to properly exchange these gases is recognized by the body, a series of changes immediately takes place to make the system work better. Because each breath brings in less oxygen, the rate of breathing increases so as to equalize the gas exchange rate. We see that as breathing faster in the child with an asthmatic attack. Since the air that does get in and out must go though narrower airways, a person having an asthma attack must use accessory muscles (such as abdominal and even neck muscles) to help breath, and we see that as working harder to breath, and may even hear it as a whistling sound as the air is forced through narrow spaces (wheezing). Cough is produced as a reflex to the various changes in the airways. As the lack of gas exchange progresses there are further changes that can lead to failure of the lungs to do any of the work.

Needless to say, it is important to recognize the symptoms of asthma and treat vigorously.

How to recognize asthma

Many children will have wheezing during the first two years of life and this is usually part of a viral respiratory infection. This child will usually not have wheezing at any other times. A small percent of these children will develop true asthma over time but at this time it is difficult to tell who they will be. Many children outgrow this type of wheezing and therefore many physicians will withhold labeling a child with “asthma” until at least 2-3 years of age. There is also several other types of “asthma”. Some children with allergies develop wheezing secondary to exercise – or exercise induced asthma (especially in cold weather). Others might just have a persistent cough without wheezing for no apparent reason and might eventually be diagnosed with “cough variant asthma”.

What to do

If your child has already been diagnosed with asthma you will already know most of the information in this article. If your child has had a few previous episodes of “wheezing” or seems to be “wheezing” for the first time and your child’s breathing is not normal (remember the symptoms mentioned above), you will need to call your Doctor for further information and treatment.

What else can be done?

There are many ways to treat the symptoms of asthma and get these under control. There are also many ways to control and prevent the episodes of asthma and therefore the aim of treatment is to relieve and prevent the symptoms, allowing your child to be normally active and to enjoy all the activities of childhood without breathing problems. These treatments are very effective, and the well educated family unit blends with the medical home to produce excellent outcomes and many fewer episodes leading to sickness and missing school.

Note:  Childhood Asthma: Part II will deal more specifically with the diagnosis and treatment of asthma

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