Parenting success relies on understanding developmental benchmarks, managing maternal health during and after pregnancy, and implementing effective behavioral strategies for toddlers and teenagers.
Since the heart is a muscle, you may wonder if it will ache like other muscles when you first start to exercise. Unlike other muscles, your heart never gets out of shape from lack of exercise; your heart beats every day, every hour, every minute, no matter what you do.
Read more →
Small children choke easily due to their small airways, decreased cough reflex and unfortunate tendency to put things in their mouth. Every five days, an American child dies from choking, according to the American Academy of Pediatrics.
Read more →
In the eighth month of pregnancy, you've reached the home stretch. Your baby still has some growing to do at this stage and you need to build yourself up for labor and delivery.
Read more →
When you're pregnant, you might look forward to having the baby "drop" as an indication that the end of pregnancy is in sight. This process, medically termed "lightening," generally occurs two to three weeks before labor starts in first pregnancies.
Read more →
If you're nine months pregnant, you may be more than ready for labor to start and pregnancy to end. Exercise in pregnancy may have an effect on pregnancy duration and the length of labor, although there is no proof that lack of exercise will delay labor past the normal time.
Read more →
In some ways, bottle-feeding is easier on new parents than breast-feeding; you can tell how much formula the baby is taking. Still, you may worry that the amount your baby takes in too little or too much. Babies, like adults, vary in the intake from day to day and even meal to meal. A little variation is no problem.
Read more →
If you have an anterior placenta in pregnancy, it means that the placenta, which nourishes the baby throughout pregnancy, has implanted on the side of the uterus closest to your abdominal wall.
Read more →
Arm flapping or hand flapping are classic autistic behaviors, but that doesn't mean your child has autism if she does this occasionally. Normal children may flap their hands or arms when they get excited.
Read more →
If your toddler looks like he's been in a back-alley fight -- with swollen, puffy lips -- he may be experiencing an allergic reaction. Take allergic reactions that cause facial swelling seriously, because they can affect your child's breathing.
Read more →
Babies, like adults, vary considerably in their abilities. No two babies begin crawling, walking or talking at the same age, even if they're in the same family. Each child develops at an individual pace, although most children fall into a certain range for meeting developmental milestones.
Read more →
When you're pregnant, you might become obsessed with eating well for your baby. Once she's born, that preoccupation with your diet might continue if you're breast-feeding, especially if your baby is gassy and fussy, as many are.
Read more →
Bactrim belongs to the class of drugs called sulfa drugs. Bactrim contains sulfamethoxazole, a form of sulfa and trimethoprim, a man-made antibiotic that enhances the effect of sulfamethoxazole. Sulfites in foods, despite the name similarity, have no connection to sulfa drugs.
Read more →
Most toddlers wake up brimming with energy and ready to start jumping on the couch the minute they wake up. If your toddler normally fits that pattern but suddenly wants to lie on the couch all morning instead after what seems to have been a good night's sleep, you may be — and should be — concerned.
Read more →
If your baby starts acting fussier than usual after you change his formula, it's natural to look to the formula as the cause. Infant formulas, while similar in their nutritional value, can differ significantly in composition.
Read more →
Bacteria intestinal infections can cause serious complications in pregnancy. Raw eggs can spread salmonella bacteria as well as listeria or Toxoplasma gondii, the bacteria that causes toxoplasmosis.
Read more →
Pregnancy symptoms don't appear until hormone levels produced by the growing placenta rise. While the occasional woman misses the signs of pregnancy until she's in labor, others know they're pregnant almost immediately.
Read more →
Pregnancy is a time of emotional ups and downs. Many pregnant women find they cry more easily and with less provocation than they did before they became pregnant.
Read more →
As you near the end of your pregnancy, sick of aching back and swollen feet, you might wake up one morning with the strange desire to repaint the bathroom or clean the attic. No, pregnancy hasn't driven you crazy -- this might be the "nesting urge" many pregnant women experience just before they go into labor.
Read more →
Good dental care is an essential part of prenatal care. If you develop a cavity, you might have concerns about undergoing dental work.
Read more →
As you approach your due date, you'll likely experience increased vaginal secretions and possibly even urine leakage from time to time. Unlike the usual increase in vaginal secretions, you may notice a thick, mucus-like discharge -- perhaps with a bit of blood.
Read more →