If you, or someone in your family, smokes and you have children, then it is important to ensure that they are not the recipients of , which is classified as a known human (Group A) carcinogen by the U.S.

Environmental Protection Agency. Secondhand smoke is scientifically correlated with a range of illnesses from asthma to cancer to heart disease, and it is even more damaging to children whose lungs and immune systems are still developing. Given the statistics, the less exposure your kids have, the better. Read the rest of this entry »

US researchers writing in a leading journal concluded that a new form of pelleted tobacco product that in some cases looks like candy could poison children and lure young people into nicotine addiction.

You can read about the study, by researchers from the Harvard School of Public Health (HSPH), the Food and Drug Administration (FDA), the Northern Ohio Poison Control Center and the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC), online in the 19 April ahead of print issue of Pediatrics. Read the rest of this entry »

If more women quit smoking before they became pregnant, it would save infant lives, concludes a new study from the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC).

Despite a decline over the past decade in the number of women who smoke during pregnancy, smoking is still a major cause of newborn deaths, early births and babies born with low birth weight. Read the rest of this entry »

Taking care of a sick toddler isn’t fun. But taking care of two sick children is worse. It means more misery and sleepless nights — and for you, more missed days of work.

So short of ordering everyone into hazmat suits, what are you supposed to do the next time one of your kids comes home from daycare flushed and feverish? How can you protect the rest of the family and prevent germs from spreading? Read the rest of this entry »

Researchers at the University of Michigan looked at how much protection additional birth weight added against developing the disease years later.

They found that every 1.1 pounds of birth weight decreases the risk of developing tuberculosis later by 46 percent among identical twins.

The association between birth weight and developing tuberculosis is much stronger for males than females, Read the rest of this entry »

Once your baby starts sleeping more and has already skipped the middle of the night feeding there is still that inevitable night waking from time to time.

In the middle of the night when your baby wakes up check if the baby has leaked without moving him/her or without lifting baby from the crib. If there is no leak, stroke baby’s head for a minute to soothe them back to sleep or give a pacifier. Then leave the room and go back to bed. Read the rest of this entry »

Before they even enter the world a baby will have begun to form teeth. Very few new borns have visible teeth, but they are still there, hidden by gum.

Most often the first sign of exposed teeth comes 6-9 months into life, though this can vary between babies.

A one year old child is likely to have 8 little chompers – some will have more, some less (hey, it is only an average,it does not mean anything!)

Although these are milk teeth (or deciduous teeth) – which means that at some point they will be substituted by adult teeth, this does not mean that these teeth should not be well cared for. Read the rest of this entry »