I often think that I have the best job in the world -- I'm a pediatrician. Join me as I share some ideas, experiences, worries, and insights about children's health and behavior. http://health.yahoo.com/experts/ Fri, 27 Jun 2008 20:58:45 -0800 Yahoo! http://health.yahoo.com/experts/childhealth/5430/a-few-last-words/ The first of my blogs on parenting and children went up a little over two and a half years ago. I learned a lot from writing them, and I hope some of you found some of them helpful, too. It is one thing to be a pediatrician seeing one child at a time, and another thing to connect with a wide audience. Fri, 27 Jun 2008 20:58:45 -0800 Robert Needlman, M.D. http://health.yahoo.com/experts/childhealth/5403/get-your-children-to-eat-vegetables/ These days, I see lots of obese children in my clinic. Many of them are addicted to TV and video games, to chips and pop and sugary breakfast cereals. And most of them eat two or three meals a day which have meat as the main dish. Lunch is hot dogs or bologna.* Dinner is a slab of beef or half a chicken. It's rare for the portions to be as small as a deck of playing cards - the serving size recommended by most experts. My young patients eat two or three times that much at a sitting. And many of their parents approve. Tue, 24 Jun 2008 00:14:15 -0800 Robert Needlman, M.D. http://health.yahoo.com/experts/childhealth/5397/dads-are-lucky/ We dads are so lucky these days. The feminist battles of last century - and they're still going on - freed us not only to express our feelings (and even to feel our feelings), but also to do simple things like give bottles and wipe bottoms. Sun, 15 Jun 2008 23:39:02 -0800 Robert Needlman, M.D. http://health.yahoo.com/experts/childhealth/5373/is-your-child-lactose-intolerant/ People often think of lactose intolerance as an allergy, but it isn't. In food allergies, even a tiny bit of the problem food can set off a bad reaction. In lactose intolerance, the body simply has lost the ability to digest the sugar in cow's milk. The sugar sits in the intestine, where bacteria take it up. The bacteria grow and make gas. Thu, 12 Jun 2008 18:41:48 -0800 Robert Needlman, M.D. http://health.yahoo.com/experts/childhealth/5311/not-talking-a-sign-of-autism/ People are also more aware of related diagnoses on the autism spectrum, including Asperger syndrome and Pervasive Developmental Disorder, Not Otherwise Specified (PDD-NOS). As the "not otherwise specified" part of its name implies, PDD-NOS does not have a very clear cut definition. Children often qualify for PDD-NOS, even though they don't meet the full definition for autism itself. All of this awareness -- which is a good thing -- and the open-ended nature of the PDD diagnosis makes more parents feel even more insecure. If something is not quite right with their child developmentally, the possibility of autism looms large. Fri, 23 May 2008 20:20:30 -0800 Robert Needlman, M.D. http://health.yahoo.com/experts/childhealth/5245/the-best-way-to-potty-train/ I am talking with a publisher about writing a book on toilet training. And even though there are already a million toilet training books out there, mine will be different, because I really believe that there is no one right way to do it. There is, however, a right way to toilet train your child, and you know best what it is. Thu, 08 May 2008 22:59:10 -0800 Robert Needlman, M.D. http://health.yahoo.com/experts/childhealth/5148/vaccines-and-autismerrors-and-news/ I know I shouldn't write any more about vaccines and autism, because I could do it forever and probably not change a single mind. But I have to. First, I have to apologize for an error. I was wrong when I stated that the three vaccines in MMR are not sold separately. The vaccines are indeed sold as Attenuvax, Mumpsvax, and Meruvax, although most pediatricians don't stock these products. Thu, 24 Apr 2008 20:10:55 -0800 Robert Needlman, M.D. http://health.yahoo.com/experts/childhealth/5061/vaccines-and-autism-facts-and-fears/ When I wrote "Should You Refuse Vaccines?", I was not trying to stir things up. I just wanted to say publicly what I say privately to any of my patients who ask. I had the idea that the debate about vaccines and autism was over, and it is over, at least among mainstream pediatricians and related scientists. But, as I learned from your comments, there are still many questions out there. Let me try to answer some of them. Mon, 14 Apr 2008 22:08:35 -0800 Robert Needlman, M.D. http://health.yahoo.com/experts/childhealth/5025/are-you-ready-for-pandemic-flu/ Unlike nuclear war, pandemic flu is one of those disasters where it really does pay to prepare. Getting ready for a disaster means admitting that it might truly happen. With pandemic flu, most experts don't say if, they say when. Wed, 09 Apr 2008 21:34:50 -0800 Robert Needlman, M.D. http://health.yahoo.com/experts/childhealth/4911/should-you-refuse-vaccines/ A few days ago, the front page of the New York Times carried a sad story. More and more parents are refusing to give their children vaccines. They believe that vaccines can cause autism or other developmental problems. They feel that they need to protect their children from these dangers, even if it means exposing them to the risk of infections such as measles or meningitis. Wed, 02 Apr 2008 18:29:39 -0800 Robert Needlman, M.D.