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: Read more
Most parents don't realize that not getting enough food can be the cause of unexplained vomiting in the middle of the night or first thing in the morning.
Where there is no fever, stomach flu, or any other common cause of vomiting in younger children, vomiting is often caused by low blood sugar. Most typically, this happens to children between 8 months and 4.5 to 5 years of age. Read more
How do I know if my child has appendicitis? Few parents get through the journey of raising children without wondering this at some point.
In the late 90s, one of my early mentors, the late Dr. David Scott, showed me a whole stack of cases of diagnosed appendicitis that he had helped children and adults recover from through rest and water fasting. Given the wealth of his experience utilizing water fasting to help people overcome countless health challenges that allopathic medical care typically addresses via surgery and/or medication, I had good reason to wonder if excision was the best first line treatment for appendicitis.
Today, some within conventional medicine also question the decision to use excision as a first line treatment for appendicitis. Studies like "Antibiotics as first-line therapy for acute appendicitis: evidence for a change in clinical practice." are prompting some physicians to try a combination of intravenous and oral antibiotic therapy in mild to moderately severe cases of appendicitis where there is no clinical evidence of perforation. Read more
If you're raising young children or even teenagers and wonder from time to time if your approach to parenting will yield emotionally intelligent, courageous, and persevering progeny, I think you'll find Dr. Angela Duckworth's book on Grit to be a worthwhile read. Read more
Throughout the world, abandoned babies are found every day in woods, dumpsters, creeks, laundromats, and under subway seats. Poverty, psychological distress of teenage pregnancies, and undesired gender are common root causes of child abandonment.
In 2009, a South Korean pastor named Lee Jong Rak and his wife installed a drop box in front of their home, a box that has become a depository for unwanted babies, many with disabilities. The Drop Box is a heartbreaking documentary that tells their story. Please feel free to view the trailer here: Read more
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 addressing this concern, it's vital to understand that a fever serves to protect your body against infection and trauma in three major ways: Read more
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. Read more
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. Read more
The U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention is warning not to give over-the-counter cold and cough medicines to children 2 years of age or under without consulting with one's doctor.
This warning is the result of research that was conducted in response to the deaths of three infants in 2005; all of them were found to have dangerous levels of pseudoephedrine, a nasal decongestant, in their systems. Read more
Jealousy. Nowhere is this emotion more evident than in a toddler who suddenly finds a new baby in the house to gobble up mommy's and daddy's attention.
My mother-in-law once told me about walking into a room to see her then-5-year-old son about to smother his infant sister's (my wife) face with a pillow. In the same breath of laughter, she went on to tell of another time when she was nursing her youngest, when suddenly, her baby screamed in pain. My mother-in-law wheeled around to discover that her son had pinched his baby sister on the arm while he was behind his mother's back. Read more
After 21 years, we made the difficult decision to bring our catalogue to a close. To stay connected with Dr. Kim's writings, please feel free to subscribe for free here: Dr. Ben Kim on Substack. Sending best wishes and thanks to all.