Sad girl hugging her mother's leg Play

How to Talk to Children About the Conflict in Ukraine

Russia’s attack on Ukraine has not only caused international outrage, but also stress and fear for people – including children. A Stanford Medicine Children’s Health psychiatrist provides advice on how parents can help their kids understand the difficult situation.

Family of four cooking a healthy dinner together, at their home. Play

Healthy New Year’s Resolutions for Kids

Ring in 2017 with healthy New Years Resolutions that the whole family can do together. Tips about healthy eating habits and how to keep them all year long from our Pediatric Weight Control program which is now enrolling patients for January.

Play

Health Care Issues Facing Families Today

How much screen time is OK? How can I help my child build healthy habits? There’s no manual for raising a child, but Jasmin Makar, MD shares tips with Sue Hall of 96.5 KOIT to keep your child healthy.

Play

Kangaroo mother care: Researchers search for biological basis of its effectiveness

My niece just had a son. Despite the 110-degree summer heat, she has been holding him against her bare chest using a special newborn carrier because she knows kangaroo mother care is important. This bare skin, chest-to-chest contact has many demonstrated health benefits, and Stanford neonatologist Vinod Bhutani, MD, is now examining exactly how it works.

Play

Bottle size may help explain extra weight gain in bottle-fed babies

Scientists who study childhood obesity often wonder how excess weight gain in kids can be prevented. Some experts suggest that prevention efforts should start in infancy, since formula-fed infants grow faster than those who are exclusively breast-fed. A study published this month in Pediatrics adds an interesting twist to the debate: The researchers found that babies fed with larger bottles between 2 and 6 months of age gained more weight.

Play

Forget perfection and just cook for your kids, says new book by Stanford author

“Our children are in trouble because we’ve outsourced the job of feeding them,” says Stanford child nutrition expert Maya Adam, MD. To tackle the problem, Adam is spreading a refreshing message: Forget celebrity-chef culture and food fads, and just cook for your kids. Her new book shares stories about how parents around the world find a healthy approach to feeding their children.

Play

Missing out on “normal”: Advice from an expert on how to help kids with serious illnesses

Children and teenagers with all kinds of chronic and serious conditions want normalcy in their lives, says pediatric psychologist Barbara Sourkes, PhD, who directs the palliative care program at Lucile Packard Children’s Hospital Stanford. Sourkes helps our patients and their families navigate the divide between living with a difficult diagnosis and simply being a kid. Here, she offers advice on how to help children who must “commute” back and forth between the medical world and their everyday lives.

Play

New Baby at Home? When to Call the Doctor

A newborn baby sparks loads of happy feelings and smartphone pictures. But when should a parent call the doctor? Luckily, most newborns are perfectly healthy, but there are a few red flags that every parent should watch out for.