by Childrens Hospital Boston staff on December 9, 2011
Q: My seven-year-old daughter loves movies, and there are many 3D movies geared toward kids this holiday season—Arthur Christmas, Happy Feet 2, Hugo, Puss in Boots, and The Muppets. But when my friend took her to see Puss in Boots, which opens with snow falling, the 3-D snow really freaked my daughter out, and she refused to put the glasses back on the remainder of the film. Is this something she will grow out of? What should I do?
-Multidimensional in Atlanta, GA
A: Dear Multidimensional,
These movies can be exciting and fun—for some viewers. The 3D effect that is so engaging demands that our eyes and brains combine two artificially created 2D images into a single 3D image. This is much harder for the brain to do than it is to visually process objects that actually have three dimensions, like snow falling in real life. This processing uses parts of the brain that do not fully develop until the mid-20s (although even adults can develop eyestrain, headaches, and even nausea from watching 3D movies). Full story »
by Tripp Underwood on December 8, 2011
Being a parent in a sluggish economy is tough. Raising kids is a demanding job on it’s own and adding money stress to the mix often makes things worse. It’s hard, but like it or not, these are the financial realities many parents are facing today.
To help make ends meet, more and more families are becoming dual-income households. Studies show that 80 percent of children have parents who both work full-time in the first year of life.
But that extra paycheck may come at a price. For every minute mom and dad spends at work, they need someone else to watch the children. For millions of American this involves placing their infant child in childcare, which often stirs up feelings of anxiety and guilt in parents. It’s a hard choice, but what effects does being in childcare really have on the child’s development? For decades, these questions have disturbed and even panicked parents. Fortunately there are experts who can help make that decision less stressful.
“Parents looking for clear information on how childcare affects children are given a bewilderingly diverse set of conclusions,” says Kevin Nugent, PhD, founder and Director of the Brazelton Institute at Children’s, a research and training organization dedicated to studying the development of newborns and young children. “But it’s not all bad news.” Full story »
by Tripp Underwood on December 7, 2011
There have been a rash of infant deaths In Milwaukee, all related to unsafe sleeping environments. The most recent victim was a 1-month-old girl recently found dead after spending the night sleeping in the same bed with an adult.
The girl was at least the 10th child to die in the area because of an unsafe sleeping environment. Most of those deaths involved suffocation and happened when the child shared a bed with an adult or older sibling. Sleeping in bed with an infant can be dangerous for several reasons:
- Risk of rolling over on top of the infant causing suffocation
- Infant suffocating from soft bed clothing (pillows, comforter, loose sheets)
- Infant suffocating when the head gets stuck between the mattress and the wall
- Infant falling off the bed
In response to the deaths, Milwaukee health officials have released a controversial ad campaign, showing a sleeping baby snuggling up to a kitchen knife with these words: Full story »
by Tripp Underwood on December 2, 2011
A warm scarf or turtleneck-style neck-warmer that covers over the nose and mouth keeps the air a child breathes warm enough to ward off cold temperature-related asthma symptoms.
Winter usually ushers in plenty of exciting outdoor activities for kids, like sledding and snowball fights. It’s a lot of fun, but the chilly air can be tough on kids with asthma.
“The cold, dry air of winter can really irritate a child’s asthma,” says Amy Burack, RN, MA, AE-C, program manager of Children’s Hospital Boston’s Community Asthma Programs, a division of the hospital’s Community Asthma Initiative (CAI).
And when asthma symptoms flair, it leads to more than discomfort. For many children, it can lead to a trip to the Emergency Department or worse, hospitalization. Asthma continues to be the leading admitting diagnosis at Children’s Hospital Boston.
To counteract those numbers Burack and her colleagues at the CAI have worked hard with families in local communities to help educate people about how to better manage their kids’ asthma. In five years the Initiative has successfully contributed to cost savings by reducing Emergency Department visits and hospitalizations and improved quality of life through a reduction in lost school days for children and missed work days for caregivers.
Full story »
by Tripp Underwood on December 1, 2011
By Lois Lee, MD, MPH, an emergency medicine physician at Children’s Hospital Boston.
Now that the turkey and pumpkin pie are long gone, children have turned their holiday attention to what they think matters most—toys. But as you glance over those ever- growing wish lists, how can you be sure which toys are safest for your family? Fortunately for the safety conscious gift-giver in all of us, the Massachusetts Public Interest Research Group (MASSPIRG) recently released Trouble in Toyland, their annual report on toy safety. This is the non-profit consumer organization’s 26th report, which for years has provided safety guidelines for consumers, as well as highlight toys currently on store shelves that could be potentially dangerous. It’s a great guide for parents, but by no means a rulebook; when shopping for your family, keep in mind that a little common sense goes a long way. Full story »
by Tripp Underwood on November 11, 2011
How big a role does sun light paly in strengthening young eyes?
As a kid, my mother was always shooing my brother and me outside to play. ‘Get outdoors and get some fresh air’ was more than a suggestion in the Underwood household—it was a parental mandate. The forced backyard time didn’t do much for my budding videogame skills, but it’s possible that it did wonders for my eyes.
Studies recently presented at a American Academy of Ophthalmology meeting suggests that kids who spend more time outdoors are less likely to suffer from myopia, also known as nearsightedness. Could playing outside really improve eyesight in kids?
For years outdoor play has been celebrated as a free and effective weapon in the war against childhood obesity, but it rarely gets much press as an eyesight enhancer. But according to a new analysis of eight eye health studies, which pools data on more than 10,400 children, there is a correlation between people who spend less time in the sun and nearsightedness. Full story »
by Claire McCarthy on November 1, 2011
Dr. Claire McCarthy is a primary care physician and the Medical Communications Editor at Boston Children’s Hospital. Along with her blogs here on Thriving, you can find her at the Huffington Post and Boston.com. Follow her on Twitter @drClaire.
Have you heard about Thylane Blondeau, the 10-year-old model who caused such a stir this summer with her pictures in French Vogue?
In the pictures, she is made up to the hilt, in provocative poses, vamping for the camera. It caused outrage in the media and blogosphere, with people saying that it is wrong for a child to be so sexualized.
I showed the video to my 10-year-old daughter to get her reaction. “That’s horrible,” she said. When I asked her why, she said it was because Thylane was dressed like a grown-up. The clothing and the makeup she was wearing in the pictures were not okay, according to Natasha. “She’s only ten!” she said.
(Click here to see an ABC News clip on the shoot.)
Well, okay then. This is so wrong that even a 10-year-old sees it immediately. Full story »
by Childrens Hospital Boston staff on October 27, 2011
We recently received the following comment on a Thriving post about bullying:
“My daughter is 7 years old. Yesterday she was accused of bullying another girl on her soccer team by a parent who said that my daughter is the reason this girl scared to come to practice. She used an incident of the girl taking my daughter’s “pink” soccer ball and my daughter wanting it back (and arguing with her to give it back) from as my daughter being a bully.
I know my daughter is not perfect, but this seems extreme.
Every time the girl shows up she does cartwheels, runs around and plays with her friends from school on the team. I’ve never seen anything to indicate this girl is unhappy there. Three parents have come forward, including the coach, who have said that they have never seen my daughter bully this girl or any other child on the team and that the incident was not as the parent described. The coach suggested the parent is looking for an excuse as to why she never brought her daughter or practice or games.
I know bullying is awful, but now bullying is used for everything when it is also not the case. It seems to me that as much as there is horrible bullying, people also use it against others when it is not true. This person is hurting my daughter. How do I handle this?”
This stuck me as a very valid concern. To learn more I reached out to Peter Raffalli, MD, FAAP, director of Children’s Hospital Boston’s BACPAC (Bullying and Cyberbullying Prevention and Advocacy Collaborative). In the following blog post he addresses this mother’s issue. Full story »
Q: My seven-year-old daughter loves movies, and there are many 3D movies geared toward kids this holiday season—Arthur Christmas, Happy Feet 2, Hugo, Puss in Boots, and The Muppets. But when my friend took her to see Puss in Boots, which opens with snow falling, the 3-D snow really freaked my daughter out, and she refused to put the glasses back on the remainder of the film. Is this something she will grow out of? What should I do?
