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Youth Suicide is 100% Preventable: 4 Things Parents Need to Know By Steven Rogers, MD: Not too long ago, an 11-year-old girl in Connecticut Children’s Emergency Department was asked questions by her doctor, including one that seemed unrelated to why she was there: In the past few weeks, had she thought about killing herself? To her mother’s shock, the child said

8 Ways to Celebrate Women’s History Month With Kids March is Women’s History Month. The month honors the achievements and contributions of women in the United States throughout our country’s history. It provides a great opportunity to teach children about the role women have played, and continue to play, in advancing art, science

Why Talking Openly About Cancer is Important By Kelly Muccino, Connecticut Children’s Certified Child Life Specialist When a family faces a cancer diagnosis, life changes. What does today look like? What about tomorrow? This begs another question for many parents and caregivers: how do you talk to kids about cancer? We

Thriving Beyond a Swallowing Disorder: Amila’s Story Like many medical stories, Amila Watt’s begins with a mystery. For the first few years of her life, she struggled with one illness after another — usually, infections in her lungs or ears. Ear tube surgeries stopped the ear infections, but the respiratory illnesses kept coming

RSV and Flu: What’s the Difference and When Should I Seek Care? By Juan C. Salazar, MD, MPH, FAAP: What is RSV? How is it different from the flu? When should I call my pediatrician or seek emergency care? Connecticut Children’s pediatric experts have the answers you need to get through respiratory season. What is RSV and how serious can it get? RSV is a virus that causes just

Experts You’ll Meet if You Have a High-Risk Pregnancy By David Sink, MD: Early in your pregnancy, your doctor will ask lots of questions about your health, and perform routine tests to check for risks to you or your developing baby. If they think your pregnancy could be at a higher-than-usual risk for complications, they’ll connect you with

Formula Recalls: What to Know Right Now By James E. Moore, MD, PhD: Updated October 17, 2022 for additional recall of certain lots of Abbott 2 fluid ounce/59 milliliter bottles of Ready-to-Feed liquid products for infants and children. (Originally published on February 22, 2022 and updated on March 1, 2022 and again on August 16, 2022) October 17

Is Your Child Scared to Get Their Vaccine? 13 Tips to Prevent Fear of Needles While vaccines keep us healthy, they’re linked to a genuine fear for one out of five people: “needlephobia.” And that can present some unique challenges when it’s time for annual immunizations. To help your child overcome any fear of needles — or better yet, prevent them from

How to Keep Kids Safe from Cyberbullying By Preeti Sandhu, PsyD: Social media, message boards, instant messaging, texting, blogging and video—all of these are here to stay. While they can be beneficial, they also carry the risk of cyberbullying. Anyone who regularly uses digital platform opens the door for the possibility of cyberbullying

Is Your Teen Stressed, Sad or Angry? They May Be Feeling Grief By Kelly Ann Maynes, PsyD: By Kelly Maynes, PsyD , and Lauren K. Ayr-Volta, PhD Pediatric psychologists Kelly Maynes, PsyD, and Lauren K. Ayr-Volta, PhD, join the blog to help parents support teens who are going through grief and loss.

Support Beyond Imagination: JJ’s Story Connecticut Children’s new Westport Specialty Care Center already has a happy family. John B. Jr. — “JJ” to his family — is a giggly, boisterous 16-month-old from Stratford. Every couple months, he’ll visit the Neurosurgery team at the new Westport center, which opened its doors

Make Social Media Work: Safety Features for Instagram, Facebook, Snapchat and TikTok By Jeanie Naja, Digital and Social Media Expert, Connecticut Children’s Have you ever looked up from your phone and noticed everyone (your spouse, your kids, yourself, that stranger sitting across from you) is doing the exact same thing- on their phone scrolling through social

Beyond Imagination: This NICU Grad Is Defying Expectations When 7-year-old Kendrick Saylor runs, he does what his parents call “the Superman lean.” He puts his head down, squares his shoulders, and takes off. Due to a complication at birth, his vision is impaired. Bending forward helps him avoid objects on the ground. But he’s also

Beyond Trust: Kali’s Story Krystin Sylva always says her twins came into the world like a storm. Kali and Jada were 28-week preemies born during an actual ice storm in January – at 3:33 am, three seconds apart. They started life in the NICU at Danbury Hospital, receiving care from Connecticut Children's

How to Talk to Kids About Scary or Tragic Events in the News By Robert D. Keder, MD: In the wake of the mass shooting on September 4, 2024 at Apalachee High School in Barrow County, Georgia, children will likely have many questions. In addition to seeing disturbing footage on the news and on social media, they are also likely picking up on the stress and sadness