Kids and Guns
Guns in the home would be 100 percent safe for kids — if the guns were always unloaded, locked away, and never touched. But as soon as a bullet enters the chamber and a hand nears the trigger, guns become a serious hazard to children. According to th…
Learn MoreChildproofing Your Home
How can I make my home safe for my child?Parents worry endlessly about how to protect their children from everything — from ill-intentioned strangers to random bullets and stray dogs — but many overlook one of the biggest threats to their children’s…
Learn MoreWhooping Cough (Pertussis)
Whooping cough (pertussis) is a disease that should be rare by now. We’ve had an effective vaccine against whooping cough for decades, but the illness continues to thrive. An unusual whooping cough outbreak in California in 2010, for example, sickened…
Learn MoreWhining, Ages 3 to 6
How can I get my child to stop whining? Tell him gently but firmly that his whining must stop, and work with him on better ways to express himself. These techniques can help: Point out your child’s whiny voice as soon as he uses it. You’ll have to be …
Learn MoreFood Safety for Kids
With all the news about contaminated food, is there anything I can do to lower my child’s risk? There’s good reason to wonder. Salmonella, E. coli, Listeria, and other potentially dangerous germs can be transmitted in food, causing illness and, in ver…
Learn MoreDehydration (Child)
What is dehydration? Dehydration means that the body is losing too much fluid or not taking enough in, usually because of fever, overheating, or diarrhea. It’s both preventable and easily treatable, but you need to address the problem right away or it…
Learn MoreConstipation in Children
How can I tell whether my child is constipated? Don’t gauge it by how many trips your child makes to the toilet. Some children need to move their bowels twice a day; others go only once every two or three days. Unless four or more days have passed sin…
Learn MoreVomiting
Why do children vomit? Vomiting is the body’s way of expelling material from the stomach, sometimes to get rid of something poisonous. Whatever the cause, your child’s stomach muscles will contract forcefully, and food will come back up through his es…
Learn MoreTeen Crusaders
Ray Lader used to be an ideal customer for the tobacco companies: He was 12 years old, loyal to his brand, and addicted. But within a few years, he turned into a major thorn in their side. Like thousands of other youth in Florida, Lader became an acti…
Learn MoreNits Aren’t Nice
There are things we just don’t talk about in polite company. There are subjects one doesn’t broach at the dinner table. Take bodily vermin, for example. A few months ago, I couldn’t have pictured myself sipping a post-prandial cup of coffee and Sambuc…
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