Troy pediatrician Dr. Molly O’Shea blogs on children’s physical and mental health, as well as offers parents tips on scheduling and other elements of well-being for infants through high-schoolers.
When you seek advice from a trusted source and it doesn’t jibe with what you think is best, do you follow it? When your car makes a little funny sound as you’re driving and half your friends tell you it’s nothing and half tell you that you need a belt fixed and then you take … Continue Reading →
Back when I was a kid virtually nobody had autism. Hmmm, that’s not right of course. But back when I was young, kids were either normal or hyper or retarded. Seriously. Those were about the only categories. I’m in my late 40s and all kids who with learning disabilities who weren’t able to compensate pretty … Continue Reading →
In a bold move, the American Academy of Pediatrics released a policy statement this week supporting gay marriage as a healthy environment for children. The policy statement is based on research done looking at emotional and physical health outcomes of children raised in same-sex households which found that children fare at least as well when … Continue Reading →
In two separate studies recently, more evidence mounts for the value of exercise in school. It’s something any grade school teacher can tell you: going outside and running around allows kids to come back in and focus better. Scientists have shown this now to be the case in older kids too. Physically active children of … Continue Reading →
Over the last 13 years so much has changed. Back in 2000, the AAP recommended that children not start milk or dairy until age 1, eggs until 2, and things like peanut butter and fish shouldn’t be started until age 3 or later in the hopes of decreasing food allergy. Boy how times have changed. … Continue Reading →
Recently we’ve had a couple of cases in the office that made me realize that parents don’t know that they can anonymously report concerns they have about child abuse or neglect just like I do. Here are some examples of situations that might warrant a parent calling the state to report a concern: Neighbor children … Continue Reading →
Allergies and asthma have been on the rise in the US for quite a while and figuring out which factors play a role has been a major push in research. The hygiene theory has been on the table for several years now and goes something like this: because our society has become so clean and … Continue Reading →
Preschoolers love to pretend. They play dress up or imagine they’re pirates or “cook” for you. They “fly” and “drive” and even are able to become “invisible. “Their powers are endless. Often they find it difficult to differentiate what is real from what is not, but by early grade school, most children have a pretty … Continue Reading →
I know it’s obvious and yet I feel I needed to do a blog about it with Spring Break and prom approaching. Every year I seen teenagers in the office who are unnaturally tan before for this time of year and the only way that can happen around here is if they are visiting a … Continue Reading →
Kids throw up a lot and most of the time it’s due to a stomach bug or reflux or something they ate. Sometimes, though, vomiting is a red flag that something more serious is going on and warrants attention. Recently I had a 5 year old come in who had awoken in the middle of … Continue Reading →