Pediatrics

Kids today hear lots of stories about their parents and grandparents exploring their neighborhoods, trying to build treehouses in the summer, and spending hours practicing make-believe in the backyard. In other words, kids today hear about unstructured play, but they don’t experience it as commonly as today’s adults did during their childhoods. Although parents have […]

Infants begin life with a liquid diet of breast milk or infant formula. At around six months (no earlier than four months), babies are usually ready for their parents to begin gradually introducing solid foods. However, parents should be sure that their infant is ready to tackle this developmental milestone and that they understand how

Why is the sky blue? Why do dogs bark? Why do your feet smell bad? Why do I have to wear my coat? Why can’t we have ice cream? Why do we have to go to the store? Why can’t I have a new toy? Why, why, why!  If this string of questions sounds familiar

For new parents, one of the biggest challenges is learning, working with, and improving their new baby’s sleep patterns. Infant sleep cycles, however, are much different than those of adults, so understanding the infant sleep cycle can help you understand and work to improve how your baby sleeps.  What Is a Sleep Cycle? Everyone who

Parenting toddlers and preschool-aged children can sometimes feel like riding a rollercoaster, with your child oscillating between demanding that they can “do it themself” and clinging to you. Your child has an instinct for developing independence, but they also like to flex their independence muscles while knowing you’re nearby, just in case they need to

Sweet blinking, cute head turning, grasping, and other movements all make new parents fall even deeper in love with their babies. What many parents don’t realize about their baby’s movements is that they are mostly involuntary. Up until about a year after birth, many of an infant’s movements are actually newborn reflexes.  What Are Newborn

Brain development begins in the womb and doesn’t stop until about age 25. However, children undergo a critical period of brain development through their infancy and early childhood years. In fact, about 90% of a child’s brain development will be completed by age 5. Throughout this critical period, a child’s experiences and interactions directly shape

Children and teens can glean a myriad of academic, social, and personal benefits from extracurricular activities. Also called enrichment activities, extracurriculars can include activities such as sports, before-and-after-school programs, educational clubs, student government, private lessons, tutoring, and community service.  The Benefits of Extracurricular Activities On the personal and social front, extracurriculars enrich the lives of

Every parent knows that having a baby changes just about every aspect of life, and this is true for traveling, too. Having a baby transforms all kinds of transportation logistics, from quick trips to the grocery store to cross-country vacations. Whether you travel by plane, train, bus, or automobile, traveling with a baby can be

Working to build resilience in children is important from the very beginning. As soon as your child is old enough to try, they’ll need resilience to maintain a positive outlook, adapt to change, cope with stress, maintain good mental health, and have the drive to learn, grow, and improve.  Winston Churchill famously said, “Success consists