Awesome Parent

Sibling Rivalry After a New Baby

If you are living in the strange new world where your toddler is suddenly hitting, whining, “You love the baby more,” or insisting they cannot possibly use the potty anymore, take a breath. This is one of the most common “after the baby arrives” plot twists, and it is usually a sign of...

Signs of Hearing Loss in Toddlers and Preschoolers

If your toddler seems to ignore you, asks “what?” a hundred times a day, or turns the TV up loud enough to rattle the windows, it is easy to wonder: Are they being a toddler, or are they not hearing well? As a pediatric nurse and a mom who has personally misread more than one “selective...

Baby Walkers, Jumpers, and Activity Centers: Safety Risks and Safer Play

At about the same time your baby discovers that legs are useful, the internet starts whispering: “Get the walker.” I get it. You want a safe place to set your baby down. You want them happy. And you would love, just once, to drink your coffee while it is still warm. But here is my calm, nurse-y...

Chigger Bites in Kids

If your child comes in from playing in grass and suddenly cannot stop scratching, chiggers jump to the top of the suspect list. The good news is that chigger bites are miserable but usually manageable at home. The tricky part is that they can look like other rashes, and mixing up chiggers with...

Sucking Blisters on Baby Lips

If you’ve spotted a little bubble or peeled spot on your baby’s lip, take a breath. In clinic, this was one of the most common “Is this normal?” questions I heard from brand-new parents. Most of the time, what you’re seeing is a sucking blister , a small friction blister from enthusiastic...

Toddler Pocketing Food and Not Chewing

If your toddler is stuffing food into their cheeks like a tiny chipmunk and then just… holding it there, you are not overreacting to feel uneasy. In pediatric triage, “pocketing food” was one of those phrases that made my ears perk up because it can be a choking risk, and it can also be a...

Lochia After Birth: What’s Normal and When to Get Help

If you’re reading this in the dim glow of your phone while feeding a newborn, hear this first: postpartum bleeding can look intense, and most of the time it’s completely normal. It’s also one of those topics nobody explains well until you’re standing in your bathroom thinking, “Is this...

Iron Drops and Supplements for Babies and Toddlers

If you have ever opened a bottle of infant iron drops at 2 AM and thought, this is going to stain everything I love , you are not alone. Iron supplements can be incredibly helpful when a clinician recommends them, but they also come with practical questions: Which type is best for my child’s age?...

Raynaud’s of the Nipple While Breastfeeding

If your nipple pain feels like a deep, burning, pins-and-needles zing that hits after a feed, and your nipple turns white , then blue/purple , then red , you are not being dramatic. You might be dealing with Raynaud’s of the nipple , also called nipple vasospasm . In triage, this is one of those...

Natal Teeth: Baby Born With Teeth

If your newborn opens wide and you spot a tiny tooth, you are not imagining things. Some babies really are born with teeth. As a pediatric nurse and a mom, I can tell you this is one of those “rare but usually okay” surprises that can make an already emotional first week feel extra intense. The...

Diastasis Recti After Pregnancy

If you have looked down postpartum and thought, “Why does my belly still look pregnant?” you are in very good company. One common reason is diastasis recti , which is a separation of the abdominal muscles that can happen during pregnancy. The internet can make it sound scary or permanent. In...

Postpartum Night Sweats: How Long They Last and Warning Signs

If you are waking up drenched, you are not alone. Postpartum night sweats are one of those “why did nobody mention this?” symptoms. As a pediatric nurse, I spent years talking families through baby concerns, but after I had my own kids I learned quickly that moms’ bodies do some truly wild...

Baby’s First Cold: Home Care, Fever Guidance, and Red Flags

If you are reading this with one hand while holding a stuffy, cranky baby with the other, I see you. A first cold can feel bigger than it is because your baby is little, their nose is tiny, and their opinion about saline drops is loud. The good news: most colds are annoying, not dangerous. The key...

Newborn Sneezing: Normal vs Sick

If your newborn sneezes like they are trying to set a world record, take a breath. In the clinic, I reassured parents about this all the time. Most newborn sneezing is normal and surprisingly useful. It is one of the ways babies clear their small, easily irritated nasal passages. That said,...

Labial Adhesions in Young Girls

If you are reading this late at night after noticing that your little girl’s vaginal opening looks different than usual, take a breath. Labial adhesions are a common childhood finding, and in many cases they are painless, harmless, and treatable. They also tend to sound much scarier than they...

Epstein Pearls vs Thrush in Newborns

Finding white spots in your newborn’s mouth can send even the calmest parent into late-night flashlight mode. The good news is that a very common cause is completely harmless: Epstein pearls (and their close cousins, Bohn’s nodules , also called gingival cysts or dental lamina cysts ). Another...

Phimosis in Young Boys: What’s Normal and What’s Not

If you have a little boy with an uncircumcised penis, you will almost certainly wonder at some point: Should the foreskin pull back yet? And if it does not, is something wrong? Take a breath. In most babies and young boys, a tight foreskin that does not retract (or only retracts a little) is...

Mumps in Kids: Cheek Swelling, Contagious Period, and When to Return to School

If your child wakes up with a suddenly puffy face and says it hurts to chew, your brain will do what every parent brain does: sprint to worst-case scenarios. Take a breath. Mumps is uncommon in many places thanks to the MMR vaccine, but it still pops up, especially during outbreaks in schools,...

Alcohol and Breastfeeding

It is 9:47 PM. The baby finally latched. You are staring at a small, half-finished glass of wine like it is both a reward and a moral dilemma. Let’s take the fear out of this. Most breastfeeding parents can enjoy an occasional drink and still breastfeed safely with a little planning. The goal is...

Secondhand Smoke and Young Kids

If you are reading this at an odd hour with a kid who cannot breathe through their nose or is clutching their ear, I want you to hear this first: you are not being “dramatic” for worrying about smoke exposure. In pediatric triage, I saw the pattern over and over. Little kids with repeat ear...