dear parents

A mom brought her 6-month-old in for his checkup… 3rd baby, so it came as no surprise that we spent 90% of the visit talking about older brother (which is fine in direct primary care where kids don’t have to be present, nor do we have to charge a copay to talk about a sibling)…and the mom said, “He just can’t remember, Dr. B.” This morning he was in the car ready for school…shoeless and backpack nowhere to be found.

I got to see a 14-year-old recently who was still struggling with very big emotional swings (something her parents assumed would have diminished by this age). Her emotional moments manifested on the tennis court and at home with her parents and siblings. She held it together all day at school. A+ student.

Recent episode from Dear Parents Podcast where I talk through a parent question on croup. Listen to the Podcast I talk through what croup is, what to do at home, and how to avoid going into urgent care or the ER for croup. I also share, at the end, the trick to avoid having to have a steroid injection when it comes to getting croup managed (which we typically do with a one-time dose of steroid that can actually be given orally). If you have a question, ask here: Ask Your Burning Question

Talking on today’s podcast about a new study I came across JAMA Pediatrics, called “Screen Use and Children’s Language Development From Ages 5 to 7 Years.” Researchers followed 747 children and measured screens on both sides of the couch (kids and their parents!) The kid half went how you’d expect. Children who owned a digital device at ages 4 to 5 scored 5.13 points lower in receptive vocabulary and 4.56 points lower in grammar than children who didn’t. More hours, more of a problem.

Acid blockers and food allergy, SPACE with Robyn Isman, and a wild three-year-old New format this week: one study, one conversation, one listener question. Tell me in the comments if it works. Sponsor: Novaferrum. Use code NFIG10 for 10% off Comment On This Episode Is my baby’s reflux medicine a problem?

As someone who uses A.I. every single day, I have three main worries around AI & kids right now. I talk to parents & kids about screens at every checkup. I say screens are a tool. We don’t use the same tool all the time and in every case. A chainsaw is helpful for a downed tree, but we don’t carry it around the house all day because it might cut slice our leg off or drip oil on the couch… nor do we use it to slice a tomato.

She found this on our tomato plants, named it Helen, and it’s sleeping in a jar in her room now We’ve been watching the OG Little House on the Prairie show this summer. It came out in the 70s, but the stories are entertaining, slow-paced, and fodder for lots of good conversations
we have only one TV in our house (and don’t use iPads for videos or games other than on long road trips) so this has been a show we can all watch and enjoy.

dear parents, Today I get to talk about the history of homeschooling and how it has exploded in the past decade…super interesting conversation around the history of homeschooling and what it looks like nowadays.

Note: I’ve been nervous to share this opinion. Honestly, I rewrote my Instagram carousel and this post so many times to get the words just right….and then i had all these messages come in that told me on I’m on the right track despite going against the DSM dogma…. Let me be blunt, because I think parents deserve bluntness from their doctors. In my honest professional opinion, oppositional defiant disorder is a useless diagnosis.

This week’s episode is an Ask Me Anything from a mom named Emily, and it’s one so many of you are living right now: Hi, Phil. My name is Emily, and our daughter Remy turns three in about three weeks, and recently has really regressed with her sleeping over the last two weeks.