Baby Health Care: Fever, Rash, and Feeding Advice for Infants

Managing infant health concerns including fever care, teething symptoms, and digestive issues like colic or gas. Information on nursing diets and skin conditions.

baby girl in white woolen scarf crying

What Are the Side Effects of Gripe Water?

Gripe water has had medicinal uses in treating teething and digestion in babies for over 100 years. Because of a lack of any official studies that evaluate it on a large scale, gripe water is generally accepted as an alternative medicine.

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Patient lying down on MRI scanner

Colic & Adults

Most people associate colic with crying, fussy infants, but adults can also suffer from a certain type of colic. Biliary colic is a health condition characterized by extreme pain in your upper abdomen.

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Mom feeds funny baby

What Causes a Rash on a Baby's Face After Eating?

A rash that appears after eating can be related to various conditions, such as an allergic reaction, contact dermatitis or eczema. Each rash is the result of specific foods causing chemical reactions in the baby’s body. If the child is still on an all-liquid diet, she may have a cow’s milk allergy.

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Close-up of a baby boy with his mother

Reasons for an Enlarged Kidney in Babies

Babies can develop enlarged kidneys -- a condition known as hydronephrosis -- while still in the womb, or after birth. This condition is the most frequently discovered problem revealed by ultrasound examinations of babies in the womb.

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Mature man feeding his baby with a bottle

How to Keep Gas Out of Babies Stomach

When your little one has gas, he might have trouble sleeping or he might fuss and cry as the pain and pressure make him uncomfortable. Most babies suck in air as they drink, including breast-fed babies, according to the website Healthy Children.

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Mother feeding her baby boy.

Does a Nursing Mother's Fiber Intake Affect Her Baby?

Fiber is an important part of the diet and can help you maintain digestive health, as well as reduce the risk of heart disease. Although breastfeeding women need to follow a healthy diet, fiber has little effect on the nutrients in breast milk.

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How Do I Know If My Stored Breast Milk Is Bad?

Breast milk offers numerous benefits to your baby, from an enhanced immune system to a higher IQ level. It provides nutrients essential for brain function that enhance cognitive development. Breast milk is easier to digest than formula, which contains cow’s milk proteins that your baby must adjust to.

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Girl showing her teeth in bathroom

Discolored Baby Teeth

You expected your baby’s gummy smile to transform into a toothy toddler grin but were surprised to discover that his baby teeth weren’t exactly pearly whites. While baby teeth are usually off-white or ivory, a variety of factors can cause babies’ teeth to grow in--or eventually become--discolored, says the Mayo Clinic.

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Sweet Newborn Baby Girl Asleep in Crib

Baby & Breathing

Until your baby was born, you would never have understood how such a tiny bundle could cause so much stress. With each of her hiccups, grunts, squeaks and cries you are concerned that she isn’t okay and wonder if you should be doing something more to keep her satiated.

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Cracker and hat

The Right Diet for a10-Month-Old Baby to Gain Weight

Few things are as distressing as worrying about your child's health. If you are concerned that your 10-month-old isn't gaining enough weight, it might be time to examine his diet. Babies go through so many transitions during their first year of life, and it can be hard for parents to keep up with those changes.

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Wood Duck

How to Care for a Baby Wood Duck

Wood ducks are colorful, brightly marked waterfowl that frequent wetlands, swamps, marshes and lakes. They are one of only a handful of North American ducks that build their nests in trees. Soon after hatching, the ducklings jump down from the nest and make their way to the water, guided by the mother duck's calls.

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Mother cleaning mucus of baby with nasal aspirator

How to Use a Mucus Extractor on Kids

A mucus extractor, also called a bulb syringe, clears the nose of a child who has trouble blowing into a tissue. Use one to clear your child's nasal passages, allowing him to breathe easier when sick and preventing mucus from running out his nose.

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Glass of green tea on coaster, close-up

Does Tea Have a Dehydrating Effect?

Tea and other caffeinated beverages purportedly lead to dehydration because they can have a diuretic effect. Some studies show that caffeinated drinks such as tea are just as hydrating as water when consumed in moderate amounts. Caffeine may dehydrate you if you consume 500 mg or more per day.

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Body Cream

The Ingredients in Desitin

Desitin is an over-the-counter, topical medication intended to treat and prevent diaper rash in infants and children. It acts as a moisture barrier to prevent urine and stool from irritating baby's skin and contains several ingredients that promote healing.

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Pediatrics

How to Treat an Infant With a Chest Cold

Chest colds are a miserable experience for everyone, but it is especially difficult for parents when their babies have chest colds. There is little that can be done to help infants with chest colds and parents must wait for the virus to run its course.

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Curious Indian baby girl

Treatment for a Baby's Drool Rash

When your baby is teething, he probably seems to drool constantly. All of that saliva can give him "drool rash" -- a raised, red rash most commonly found on the face but that can also extend onto the neck and chest if your little one is a "super drooler."

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At What Age Can Babies take OTC Cough Syrup?

When your 8-month-old baby has an irritating cough, you may wonder if it is okay to give cough syrup. However, over-the counter cough syrups are strongly discouraged for children before the age of 2 years, according to the American Academy of Pediatrics.

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Mom checks the temperature of ill baby

Can Gas Give an Infant a Fever?

Intestinal gas by itself is not likely to cause your baby to develop a fever. If she has a fever with intestinal symptoms, such as diarrhea or vomiting, she may have a gastrointestinal bug. However, if she appears to be physically uncomfortable and is unusually warm, look for other reasons for the elevated temperature.

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