To sedate or not to sedate infants for air travel, that is an oft-raised question. Is it truly nobler to spurn sedatives, risk an unruly child, and bravely suffer the heartaches of stares and scorn of outraged fellow passengers?  Or is it more virtuous to sedate infants, perchance they’ll sleep, and endure the thousand humiliations […]

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Tags: Airplane, Infants, Jet lag

Swimming: The source of many illnesses
Most kids’ favorite summer activity is swimming, no matter if it’s splashing in a small backyard pool, or on the beach of a five-star resort. But the reality is that no fun activity is totally safe and healthy. For information on water safety, see TenTips: Waterfront. For avoiding illnesses from […]

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Tags: Diarrhea, Infants, Intestinal illnesses, Respiratory infections, Skin conditions, Sun exposure

The sun does to skin what tobacco smoke does to lungs. Both produce progressive, cumulative, and irreversible tissue damage, often culminating in very serious health issues many decades later.
But it need not happen. There are positive rays of sunshine, too: information on how to neutralize the harmful effects. Here is what you should know:
1. Don’t […]

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Tags: Equator, Infants, Respiratory infections, Skin conditions, Sun exposure, Sunburn, Sunscreen, Toddlers

Visiting Mexico City: 7,550 feet. Viewing the Grand Canyon: 8,000 feet. Skiing in Colorado: 8,000 feet (with some slopes going higher.) Driving up Pike’s Peak: 14,000 feet. At these elevations most children run circles around their huffing and puffing parents. But some children will show symptoms of acute mountain sickness (AMS), and a rare child […]

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Tags: Acetaminophen (Tylenol), Acute Mountain Sickness (AMS), Altitude, Aspirin, Asthma, Coughs, Dehydration, Fatigue, Frostbite, Headache, Hypothermia, Ibuprofen (Advil Motrin), Infants, Intestinal illnesses, Loss of appetite, Nausea, Respiratory infections, Seizure disorders, Sleep, Sore throat, Sun exposure, Toddlers, Vomiting

An incredible 900,000 types of insects are known to exist. Equally incredible is the number of insect repellents available.
Here is what you should know:
1. The most thoroughly studied insect repellent is DEET.
No repellent bears this name; it is the active ingredient in most products. Don’t be alarmed by its chemical formula, N,N-diethyl-m-toluamide Lots of products […]

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Tags: Breast-feeding, DEET, Eczema, Infants, Insect repellents, Picaridin, Skin conditions

A vacation at sea offers families the best of all worlds: seeing foreign countries without the hassle of constant packing; supervised age-appropriate activities, lots of other children and, should you need it, “in-house” medical facilities.
Here’s what you have to know:
1. Bring your children’s medications:
A leading reason for passengers visiting ships’ infirmaries is to obtain medications […]

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Tags: Cruise ships, Infants, Intestinal illnesses, Medical kit, Medications, Seasickness, Sun exposure, Third world, Toddlers, Tropics, Vaccine

The great outdoors would be even greater if the insects didn’t bite and the bees didn’t sting. But they do. They await your family in picnic areas, in apple picking orchards and in the underbrush, the very places children enjoy being. And insects are smart. But there are many ways you can outsmart them.
Here is […]

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Tags: Epinephrine kits, Infants, Insect bites, Insect repellents, Stinging insects (bees wasps hornets)

There is nothing novel about infants traveling by air. They have been doing so since time immemorial, long before adults. Legend has it that they were “delivered” by storks, and were never the worse for their trips. Of course, stork flights skimmed rooftops, eliminating concerns of high altitude and accompanying ear issues, dehydration, and excessive […]

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Tags: Airplane, Allergies, Altitude, Dehydration, Diabetes, Ear infections, Immune problems, Infants, Intestinal illnesses, Newborns, Pregnant, Respiratory infections

10 Tips For Preventing Malaria
Every year thousands of travelers, including many children, return from the tropics with a souvenir they did not bargain for: malaria, a disease that can almost always be prevented.
Here is what you have to know:
1. Understand malaria.
The disease is caused by a microscopic parasite that is transmitted to humans by the […]

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Tags: Breast-feeding, Infants, Malaria, Medications, Newborns, Tropics

If you’ve never been seasick it’s only because you haven’t encountered the right storm, say veteran sailors. Worse than being seasick yourself is dealing with children who are, say parents.
1. Call it motion sickness, not seasickness.
The ancient Geeks named it. The word “nausea” is the Greek word for “sea.” But motion sickness also occurs in […]

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Tags: Dizziness, Driving, Headache, Infants, Intestinal illnesses, Medications, Nausea, Toddlers, Travel, Vomiting