Children's Health Issues

I've long been a believer in the idea that all of us are born to be creative artists. Playing music, drawing, acting, dancing, writing, designing, building, even playing sports at a high level - when we nurture our creative instincts through any of these artistic experiences, we stand a good stance of feeling deeply fulfilled, and we almost certainly add value to our and other people's lives. In my opinion, both of these consequences of nurturing our artistic spirits are essential to experiencing our best health.

Updated on February 2, 2009

Nasal congestion in babies can lead to a number of health problems associated with breathing and sleeping difficulties.

A young mother once brought her eight-month old son to me with a request to provide an acupuncture or acupressure treatment that would help to alleviate his stuffy nose. While asking about her baby's health history, I discovered that his nasal congestion came about whenever his body experienced a cold. Dried-up mucous obstructed his nasal passageway, making it difficult for him to breathe and sleep.

As parents to two preschool boys, my wife and I are deeply concerned about our boys running into bullies at school. At the same time, we realize that bullying tends to stem from a lack of care and education at home, and that those who bully need as much compassionate guidance as those who are bullied.

Updated on October 12, 2008.

According to National Family Violence Surveys and a number of research studies, over 90 percent of parents use some form of punishment that involves inflicting physical pain when disciplining their children.

In considering this statistic, the questions that come to mind are:

Updated on October 11, 2008.

After reading the responses to the article Should Parents Spank Their Children?, some of which support spanking, it occurred to me that perhaps many parents just don’t know how else to influence their children’s behaviour. Some parents feel that spanking is the best way to teach their children not to misbehave. Some parents feel that everything else has failed and so, having run out of other options, they turn to spanking. If you are a parent, especially one who would like to begin learning about alternatives to spanking, please consider the following points.

This article was originally published in May, 2006

It's no secret that breastfeeding provides both a mother and her baby with numerous physical and emotional health benefits.

Unfortunately, some new moms who have every intention of nursing their babies end up switching to formula within the first few weeks of their babies' lives.

Of all the concerns that parents have contacted my office about over the years, one of the most common ones has been what to do with a child's fever.

In order to know what to do with a fever, it is important to understand that fevers serve to protect your body against infection and trauma in three major ways:

In the spring of 2005, when I was pregnant for the first time, I wrote an article about the potential dangers of leaving a baby to cry. I received much feedback on this topic, some in support of my views, some in complete disagreement of my views, and some merely encouraging an open mind. Three years, two children, and an enormous accumulation of sleep-debt later, do I still believe that it is wrong to leave a baby to cry?

Yes and no.

While I still believe in attachment theory and consider myself to be an attachment parent, through my experiences with our babies I have come to realize that this issue, as with most of life's issues, is not black and white.

According to reports by the Center for Environmental Health, the New York Times, and the Canadian Broadcasting Association, baby bibs imported from China and available for purchase at Toys 'R' Us stores in the United States contain high levels of lead.

According to test results by the Center for Environmental Health, the vinyl bibs in question contain up to three times the amount of lead that is allowed in paint.

Before my wife gave birth to our first child, our primary midwife asked us to think about whether we wanted our child to receive a vitamin K shot after he was born or not.

Vitamin K shots are routinely administered to newborn babies because 1.8 out of every 100,000 babies who do not receive vitamin K injections suffer permanent injury or death due to uncontrolled bleeding in the brain that may be the result of having extremely low levels of vitamin K in their systems.