Our daughter has logged more than 10 round-trip flights since she was born 3 years ago. Two of them were international flights. Flying with a food-allergic child is still nerve-wracking, (really, is flying with any child stress-free? LOL!) but we have gotten more prepared and less frantic over the years.
Here are some of the tips that work for flying with food-allergic children.
1. Notify the airline ahead of your children’s food allergies. Most airlines now do not serve peanuts because it is one of the most allergenic and fatal food when inhaled. Those that do serve peanuts may have …read more

Premature babies, or infants admitted in the neonatal intensive care unit, most often go through as many as 62 painful procedures each day. Anyone seeing these children being pricked, stubbed, and poked would likely cry “Ouch! STOP!”. Since an infant can’t say anything yet, one would at least expect some form of reaction – the eyebrows bulging, eyes squeezing or other facial expression indicating pain.
However a recent study has revealed heartbreaking news: Because a premature baby still has immature and uncoordinated facial muscles, the facial expressions may not accurately show the level of discomfort the infant is actually …read more

Thanks to everyone who joined the give-away for Protect-a-bub swimsuit-hat set at here Kids Health Notes! Aren’t the swimsuits just so cute! Hope you’re ready for summer coz we have the three winners!
13 Shirley Younger
60 kris hickey
45 Kari Follett
Congratulations! I’ll email you the instructions for receiving your prize!

Tomorrow, my son is going for his sixth month wellness check, and routine to that visit is immunization. Ugh. I know these are necessary for him, but there could be anywhere from 3-4 shots depending on what vaccines he needs to receive.
Well, now the FDA has approved a vaccine (Pantacel) against diphtheria, tetanus, pertussis, poliomyelitis, and Haemophilus influenzae type b.

The vaccine was approved for four-dose administration at two, four, six, and 15-18 months, but the initial dose may be given as early as six weeks. Full administration should be completed before the child’s fifth birthday.

It’s well tolerated in …read more

Some children who are exposed to cats in their first year of life may have an increased risk for eczema, a new study reveals.
What’s responsible for the increased risk?
Mutation in the gene for filaggrin, a protein on the skin that helps reduce water loss and protects against harsh environment.
As reported in Medpage Today, scientists from the Copenhagen Study on Asthma in Childhood found that eczema was likely to develop among children who have the mutation and who have a cat in their home at birth. Only those children with the mutation have the increased risk. Likewise, …read more

From The Food Allergy and Anaphylaxis Network –
MILK ALLERGY ALERT
June 25, 2008
Bay Valley Foods is recalling “Kroger Chicken Noodle Soup” due toundeclared milk.
The recalled soup was distributed through Dillon stores in Kansas,Missouri, and Nebraska.
The product comes in 10.5-oz. cans, is marked with lot code 52104098, and has a “best before” date code of 40910 that can be found on the bottom of the can.
Consumers may return the product to the place of purchase for a fullrefund. Consumers with questions may call (800) 983-0823.

I Stumbled Upon this page and I thought it’s worth passing on. This is something I’d like my daughter to remember, especially as she grows into the tween/teen years. My son could use this nugget of wisdom too, before he gets interested in girls. 
Girls are likeapples on trees. The bestones are at the top of the tree.The boys don’t want to reach forthe good ones because they are afraidof falling and getting hurt. Instead, theyjust get the rotten apples from the groundthat aren’t as good, but easy. So the applesat the top think something is wrong withthem, when in …read more

There has been quite an uproar over this news rumor the last couple of weeks, that a group of teenage girls in Gloucester, Massachusetts made a pact among themselves to get pregnant. Seventeen girls in one high school were reportedly pregnant and Time Magazine broke the story about a pact among the girls.
Now, however, one of the teens who got pregnant spoke out and denied that a pact ever existed.

The Mayor of Gloucester also denied these rumors. So instead, the pregnant girls simply wanted to help each other out. This should bring a big sigh of relief …read more

Two new cellular telephone laws in California will affect even drivers who have out-of-state licenses driving within California. And the law is more detailed for drivers under 18.
As of July 1, 2008, the use of cellular phones while driving at the same time will have new restrictions. Drivers under the age of 18 are strictly prohibited from driving while using a telephone or other types of mobile devices – pagers, texting device, laptops, broadband communicators or specialized mobile radio. And there is no exception, not even parent’s special permission slips.
Statistics show that teen drivers are more likely than …read more

When Alicia of Mental Health Notes showed me this video of a 6-year old saving a drowning friend, I realized how important it really is to teach our children water survival techniques. The American Red Cross wrote a comprehensive list of water safety tips for children, from pools, lakes and rivers, ocean, water parks, scuba diving and many other venues and activities. I’ll summarize some of them here.
Keeping Children Safe In, On, and Around the Water
Maintain constant supervision. Watch children around any water environment (pool, stream, lake, tub, toilet, bucket of water), no matter what skills your child …read more