Breastfeeding
Children’s Multivitamins: Does your child need a multivitamin?
You know that it is wise to back up your computer's hard drive; I recommend backing up your child's food drive with a daily multivitamin/mineral supplement. This simple habit could improve your child'…
Breastfeeding, Diarrhea, and Pneumonia
In the modern United Kingdom, about 12 percent of all normal, healthy, full-term babies are hospitalized at least once in their first 8 months of life. Many of these hospitalizations are for pneumonia…
Changing Colic Culture
How about a fresh approach? What if simply giving probiotics to babies would dramatically reduce the vexing symptoms of colic? What if the crying and distress of colic were related to the mix of bacte…
Breastfeeding and Epidurals
I think that all women who have had epidurals deserve breastfeeding support during their babies' first week of life. Of course, a lactation consultant can be a great idea for any new mother, but recen…
Raising a Resilient Child
It's natural for parents to wish that they could prevent their children from experiencing heartache. But at some point in life, we will all experience disappointment and loss. We can't stop all painfu…
Bedwetting and Baby Food
Early childhood nutrition is fundamental to how the brain and nervous system develop. Babies' brains are structurally different, depending on what they eat in the first two years of life. Optimal nutr…
A Colic Diet
Imagine for a moment the sound of 3 hours with a peaceful, happy baby. And imagine the opposite! About Ľ of babies will experience colic, defined as at least 3 hours of crying per day on at least 3 da…
Obesity and the First Week of Life
How a baby eats during the first week of life may set lifelong eating patterns that could lead to obesity, according to a fascinating study from the Children's Hospital of Philadelphia, published in t…
Thanks for your feedback
I got a very interesting comment from a reader today, "Dear Dr. Greene. I just read your response to the question about beer and breastfeeding. 30 years ago, I was instructed by my OB/GYN to drink bee…
Having a Beer to Nurse
About a quarter of nursing moms today are told by one of their health professionals to have a glass of beer or wine to help them with nursing, echoing the nursing folklore that has been around for cen…
Breastfeeding and Kids’ Cancer Risk
The various studies looking at the effects of breastfeeding on childhood leukemia have had inconclusive and inconsistent results. Experts, led by Marilyn Kwan at the School of Public Health, Universit…
Dad and Mom Prevent High Blood Pressure Together
High blood pressure, which used to be a disease of middle age, is becoming more common in children. Once a child has high blood pressure, unless there are significant lifestyle changes, the high blood…
Breastfeeding and Asthma
Asthma in children is increasing around the globe. It's not unusual for it to be a country's number one reason for a child to be hospitalized. Researchers from Australia (a continent where asthmais th…
Cabbage Leaves and Engorgement
Painful breasts are the second most common reason that women give up breastfeeding in the first two weeks. Engorged breasts can hurt! And this can happen both at the beginning and ending of the nursin…
Breastfeeding, Bone Density, and Teens
Breastfeeding can help improve mothers' bone density. During the months of nursing, calcium is taken from the bones, and the density decreases - whether or not they are getting plenty of calcium in th…
Early Multivitamins, Asthma, and Food Allergies
We know that the first months of life are a very impressionable time when it comes to the developing immune system. Even brief breastfeeding in the first few months of life, for instance, may give lon…
Lingering Benefits of Nursing
Parents often hear about the powerful short-term benefits of breastfeeding. But the good news doesn't stop when your baby is weaned. We're learning more all the time about the enduring gift you give e…
Breastfeeding and Saving Lives
Many studies have demonstrated a variety of benefits from breastfeeding, including lowering the risk of sudden infant death syndrome (SIDS). The first study linking breastfeeding with overall lower in…
Baby Waking at Night?
A SIDS Silver Lining Breastfed babies have longer sleep cycles than formula-fed babies, according to a study in the January 2004 Archives of Diseases in Childhood, but the breastfed babies are also mo…
Breastfeeding and Protection from Obesity
A huge study by the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention followed a total of 177,304 low-income children at public health clinics from birth to age 5. Breastfeeding for more than 6 months was as…