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  • Are you concerned about bedwetting?

    It makes me sad as a pediatrician to see families who stress over children who wet the bed. This is usually a normal, natural issue that goes away in time, yet it can really hurt children who are treated like it is their fault.

  • Do you know the difference between a cold and the flu?

    Have your kids been sick lately?

  • Follow up on Emma: A few years later

    You might remember Emma from a few years ago when we of courageously battling congenital heart disease from the moment she was born. Yet, despite the many challenges that Emma’s family had faced in her early childhood years, they remained strong, and a true inspiration to the many other families in similar situations. Their goal was to touch as many families as they could, and to give back to Arnold Palmer Hospital, largely through their involvement with Children’s Miracle Network Hospitals. These are both goals that they continue to exceed, even now as Emma is a thriving and healthy young lady.

  • Toddlers are taking selfies?!

    The Oxford English Dictionary actually declared “selfie” the “word of the year” in 2013! That is hard to imagine for parents like me; my first cell phone weighed three pounds! Now smart phones are everywhere and our children are connected to the rest of the world with the tap of a screen.

  • Savoring the little (and oftentimes unglamorous) moments with my kids

    It’s been a rough couple of weeks at our house. First, it was a round of colds for everyone. The snotty noses and coughs still haven’t ended. Then, it was the stomach virus. I’ll spare you the details, but I’ll just say that it wasn’t pretty. And anyone with kids knows that sleepless nights come with the territory when they’re sick.

  • Preparing your child for surgery

    Hearing that your child needs surgery is difficult for many families to digest, and can often result in increased stress and anxiety leading up to surgery day. For many parents and children, the fear of the unknown leaves them with many questions relating to the preparation for surgery, the surgery procedure, and recovery after surgery. Sometimes for children, the unknown is their best coping tool in preparation for surgery as they think, “If I don’t know the details of the surgery, then I don’t have to think about it and therefore it won’t happen.” For many children and parents alike, denial and avoidance is a common stress relief tactic. However, the child is probably thinking about surgery day as he/she overhears conversations between adults about the surgery, and is likely picking up on their parent’s stress. The child has also been going to doctors’ appointments that are necessary before surgery, making it that much more real to the child. Knowing what to expect on surgery day can actually help ease those feelings of stress and anxiety, and help to eliminate misconceptions that the child may be envisioning.

    How do we help ease a child’s fears of surgery at Arnold Palmer Hospital?

    At Arnold Palmer Hospital, we offer a free, educational program called Project P.L.A.Y., which is designed to help your child understand what to expect before surgery and during their hospital stay. The program is led by a child life specialist who will walk your child, siblings, and you through what to expect leading up to surgery, as well as what to expect after surgery.

    What does the program entail?

    For younger children, our child life specialists use a teaching doll to explain what’s going to happen before and after surgery – all on an age-appropriate level. This can include things such as: IVs, catheter, and any other tubes or medical items they may see on their bodies before or after the procedure. They also show the child what an anesthesia mask looks like and explains that “sleepy medicine” helps them so they won’t feel anything during surgery.

  • What do you do when your child hurts your feelings?

    One of my favorite times with my daughter is the car ride home from school. It’s one of the rare moments that she and I have that’s just the two of us, now that she has a little brother at home, too. One day last week, I was particularly excited to pick her up from preschool. I couldn’t wait to hear what letter she’d learned, what art projects she had made and who she played with on the playground. Usually she tells funny anecdotes from her day, and it makes me smile.

  • How to have a safe and spooktastic Halloween

    Halloween may not be the most anticipated time of year among adults, but for kids, it’s a different story. The anticipation of dressing up in their favorite costume and collecting candy until their trick-or-treat bucket is too heavy to carry can be overwhelming. For some kids, it seems almost torturous to make them wait until it’s time to go trick-or-treating to show off their costumes to their friends and family. Dressing up in a favorite costume, going door-to-door screaming “trick-or-treat!”, and coming home to a pile of candy is the highlight of the fall season for many kids.

  • How to talk to your children about Ebola

    Ebola is a scary topic; there’s no doubt about that. With the onslaught of media coverage that has no end in sight, it’s likely that older children have already heard of the Ebola outbreak or will hear about it in the near future. The question is, what can we do to help our kids work through the confusing and frightening messages they see on television?

  • One mom’s advice to other NICU families

    Written by Heather Shields