Medication Tips & Safety
I don’t like to brag, but I consider myself a bit of an expert at giving yucky medicine. I worked for years at a children’s hospital, where I learned all the tricks of the trade from superstar pediatric nurses. Between nursing and pharmacy, we were usually able to
Stomach & GI Issues
I've been puked on more times in my life than I care to remember, and 99% of those times have been from one of my children bringing home the virus of the month (or week?) from school or daycare. It's like a fruit of the month
Asthma & Allergies
Once winter rolls around, allergy season usually winds down in our house. Personally, I don’t love the winter because cold air hurts my face (why do I live somewhere where the air hurts my face?!), but there are some perks – playing in the snow and the lack of pollen!
Every kid experiences a fever at some point during childhood. My children, in particular, tend to get them at 3 AM, while on vacation, or during holiday events. There’s also the always fun first fever of the school year. Never a dull moment! This guide explains fever reducers, when
Cold winter months make me long for spring. When spring rolls around and everyone in my house can’t stop sneezing, I swiftly long for summer. Or some good noise-canceling headphones. Where I live, we don't have four seasons but eleven. There’s winter, then fool’s spring,
Imagine it's the month of May. Birds are tweeting, the sun is shining, and parents everywhere breathe a sigh of relief. We made it through cold and flu season, y’all. We made it. The kids run into the house after an afternoon playing outside, and that’s
Seasonal and environmental allergies in kids occur when their immune systems overreact to a normal substance in the environment. Pollen in the summer, ragweed in the fall, and dust in the winter are common allergens that can wreak havoc on little noses. With continual exposure to the offending allergen, children
December was full of news stories about norovirus outbreaks. Unfortunately, that trend has continued into spring. You'll hear a story about someone being sick with a stomach bug everywhere you go! The 2024-2025 GI illness season is officially one for the books. What is Norovirus? Norovirus is a
Expert-backed advice from pediatric pharmacists. Because kids don't come with a medication guide.
Cold season has a special talent for humbling parents. One minute, you are confident and well rested. The next, you are standing in your kitchen at 2 a.m. holding a humidifier manual, trying to understand the English language with only one eye open. As a parent, I will fully
My children’s holiday meals usually consist of half a roll, 14 cookies, and whatever soda or juice they manage to con out of a nice unsuspecting relative. If we’re traveling for the holidays, that one holiday meal becomes 6 to 9 meals… leading to constipation. Constipation in children,
It’s family road trip season! If you have ever packed snacks, water bottles, entertainment, and extra clothes only to realize halfway into the trip that you forgot the barf bags, you are not alone. Kids’ motion sickness has a way of announcing itself loudly, and it will leave parents
The holidays create extra challenges for children with food allergies or special diets. Ensuring holiday party food safety requires planning, careful cooking, proper food preparation practices, and clear communication with your kids, other caregivers, and any adults who may offer them food. This quick guide outlines steps parents can take
I'll never forget when I first started working in a pediatric hospital (too many years ago now), the ICU and medical floors were filled with kids sick with respiratory syncytial virus (RSV). It was a little shocking to me; we didn't learn much about it in
Before I became a parent, I envisioned sweet, loving bedtime moments and chubby little toddlers sleeping peacefully through the night. In my imagination, I'd snuggle with my baby and tell my older kids stories as they drifted off to sleep - all with my dog lying by my
Does anyone else spend a good part of their day chasing their kids with water bottles, telling them, "Don't forget to drink this!" or gathering six nearly full water bottles rattling around on the car floor? Or is it just me? We all know we need
As a mom, I notice a pattern every fall and winter. My kids develop lingering coughs and sniffles. Strep throat and earaches begin to sneak into my home. It inevitably spreads to my husband or me. I fall asleep every night to the “ode to winter” soundtrack – cough, cough, sniffle,
In my house, the time before 3 PM, Monday through Friday, is also known as the calm before the chaos. At 3 o'clock, when the bus rolls by, the afternoon marathon begins! We’re off to piano lessons, soccer practice, ballet, basketball tryouts, art class, and more. Usually
Every holiday season, my house turns into a candy crazed place of chaos. Between Halloween leftovers, goodie bags, classroom parties, and Christmas stockings, my kids somehow manage to hide treats in every corner of the house. Despite my best efforts, I’ve found candy canes mushed into couch cushions, Halloween
If your child uses or has been using the antihistamines cetirizine (Zyrtec) or levocetirizine (Xyzal) as a maintenance therapy, this one’s for you — and yes, this includes you grown‑ups too! The U.S. Food & Drug Administration (FDA) recently issued a safety alert about a rather unexpected outcome:
Twice a year, most of the country sets its clocks forward or back, and parents everywhere groan. Fall is especially tough. The rest of the country gets an extra hour of sleep, but parents of young kids somehow lose three. I don’t understand how that math maths, but it’
