Personal Posts

Pacifiers (aka dummies) are fantastic in some irritable infants. They are effective, endorsed by paediatric bodies around the World, and do exactly what they say – pacify. So use them. But they are designed for infants – which is a shame – as we could certanily use a vesion for adults at times. But I […]

‘Had a touch of the flu’ doesn’t seem to get much sympathy. The problem with flu is that, it sounds boring and is used interchangeably with ‘cold’. But true influenza is nothing to be (ahem), sneezed at. Every year several hundred children under 15 are hospitalised with pneumonia, encephalits and other complications from influenza. There […]

Imagine shoving a marshmallow up one nostril, all the way back as far as it goes. Then repeat other side. Now place another in the back of your throat, beside the uvula (dangly bit), and another on the other side. Now try and sleep, eat, and breathe!  The first two marshmallows represent adenoids and the […]

Continuing the theme of oral hygiene, this is a photo of a 3yo girl’s upper incisors I recently saw. Lifting the lip revealed a dental caries disaster. Raising infants and toddlers is a balancing act of making the right choices but keeping things as stress free as possible. But sometimes tough decisions are needed for […]

Two year old Eva, apprehensive, pale,  heart racing, shallow breathing, sat on her Mother’s lap. Having stopped crying, she watched fascinated as the blood seeped into the syringe. Not the rich full bodied merlot, more weak watery, translucent Rose’.  Her well meaning Mother, teary in sympathy, had been feeding her a litre of milk per […]

Last year, Child Health was part of the Tour De Cure. Each day we visited a different school and chatted to students. One question was always asked. Who knows someone with cancer?  Hands shot up every time. However at one school an 8yo girl kept her hand up. “My mum has cancer….She is in hospital. […]

Parenting used to be a string of one liners, for example ‘kids should be seen and not heard’… or..‘If the wind changes your face will stay that way”. Okay, that last one was a bit weird. But one that should be dragged from the archives should be “If you cannot say anything nice, do not […]

Here at the offices of Childhealth we want to become famous. Not in a skimpy outfit Miley Cyrus way, more a Nobel Science kind of way. So we have scattered old petri dishes around accidentally spilling stuff into them. You see this is how Alex Fleming became famous. One Friday morning in 1928 this geeky […]

Aged 4, middle of the night and I was not well. The lights came on, something was stuck under my tongue, and then I was plunged into a cool bath. As a kid this was abduction followed by waterboarding. Childhood memory filed under nightmare. Thanks Mum. Might explain why I was never a good swimmer. […]

Watching an U15 AFL game on a sunny autumnal afternoon a pre pubertal lad who was about 4ft tall captured the attention. Throwing himself into the fray, without regard for his safety, he reminded me of a teddy bear caught in a pillow fight. He was buffeted, disregarded, squashed, and trodden on. But he never […]

Gluten, that poor little nutritious protein found in wheat, barley and rye is the biggest victim of mistaken identity since someone confused Belle Gibson and Pete Evans as credible sources. Yes, I know gluten can induce serious gut damage in those with coeliac disease, but for the rest of the population gluten is not the […]

Here at the frontline, cases of influenza are starting to appear. As well as high fever, sore throat, aches and pains, kids often get gastrointestinal symptoms. The 2015 vaccine has several strain updates. The flu in some people is devastating, and children are one of the most common sources of infection. All children from the […]

March in Melbourne is viral heaven.  All those delicious vulnerable immunological systems that have recently started daycare. Weird names such as rhinovirus, humanmetapneumovirus, coxsackie, Respiratory syncitial virus, etc… etc… are salivating over vulnerable kids. Some cruise through these, some suffer. Think coughs, colds, sore throats, sore ears and of course gastro.  But on the flip side […]

  Does this child look skinny or normal ? The answer is normal. i.e. this is what kids are supposed to look like. Unfortunately up to 30% of children are classified as overweight, yet it is quite ironic I have never ever had a parent come in and say – “My kid eats too much”. […]

Time for school -“….and you see Marcia, that is why it is important to always tell the truth to Dad and Mum…” Cue Brady Bunch end of show music. Everyone sigh.The Brady Bunch, a nauseous show replayed ad nauseam still seems relevant today. Home spun philosophy, with a comedy twist depicting a blended family, dealing […]

Summer holidays parenting used to be simple. We were kicked out after breakfast and don’t show your face till sunset. Fine by us. Spent the days with mates who had similar lockout parenting policies. We taped up one side of a tennis ball and came in swinging Michael Holding style. Cricket held sway. However for […]