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If you’ve ever had to potty train a toddler, you're familiar with the best-selling children’s book “Everyone Poops.” But what happens when your baby – or older child – suffers from constipation?  

Many families are struggling to keep fit, especially with jobs and schoolwork increasingly taking place on screens at home. Because of physical distancing requirements, there aren’t as many opportunities for school team sports, and kids doing virtual learning aren’t getting PE classes at school. Think about how a brief walk to the school bus stop a few streets over and even walking between classes counts as daily exercise. Going from your bedroom to your computer hardly comes close as a substitute! 

It can be frightening to hear your child coughing or struggling to breathe. Both croup and whooping cough can cause these symptoms, but one of these childhood illnesses is much more serious than the other. Determining the cause can be confusing, and waiting too long to seek medical care can cause additional complications.

Parents often worry whether their child is developing in a normal, healthy manner. Regular pediatric appointments will track physical growth and development, but parents and caregivers should monitor day-to-day progress, too. 

A common question parents have is whether their child needs an annual physical with their pediatrician if they’ve already had a sports clearance exam at school.

As a parent, it’s easy to worry about whether your child is hitting their growth and developmental milestones. One data-based developmental marker, the pediatric growth chart, is the most commonly used indicator but is also the most misunderstood. 

Swimming can be a fun activity for kids, and with Florida’s warm weather, it can be a great way to cool down. But with drowning listed as the top cause of death for children between ages 1 and 4, swimming lessons are key to reducing the risk of tragedy. 

There are many ways that each of us is different from everyone else on the planet. Take all of those bacteria and microorganisms living in your gut, for example. From the moment you’re born, your body begins forming its own unique cocktail of bacteria responsible for dealing with food the instant it enters your body. This microbiome is sometimes called “the last undiscovered human organ,” with scientists still learning about the ways it affects health. One of the things we’re learning, through recent research, is that the makeup of a child’s microbiome may even affect their behavior. 

Seeing your child struggle to breathe can be scary for a parent, and there is no cure for asthma. Understanding and avoiding asthma triggers is key to helping your child have a life without limitations.

Before you chalk up your teen’s vague complaints of pain to an attempt to stay home from school, consider this: As many as 40 percent of children suffer from chronic pain and 7.5 percent have amplified musculoskeletal pain syndrome (AMPS). Cases of AMPS are on the rise, thanks to the pandemic that has left kids more depressed, isolated and sedentary.