Screen Time

There’s a growing concern about the negative effects of screen time and digital device use, particularly in children and young people. I’ll be putting some formal thoughts together on the subject in the near future, but for the time...

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Introducing solids

Introduction As I’ve said elsewhere, the greatest gift you can give your newborn baby is to breastfeed exclusively until the introduction of solids. This is not mumbo jumbo, touchy-feely, tree hugger advice. This is based on plenty of hard...

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Vaccinations

I’m sure many people have seen the recent press coverage of a young girl in Cape Town who developed a neurological condition some months after receiving the Human Papillomavirus (HPV) vaccination.

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Fever

I get lots of stressed calls from moms and dads because their baby or child has a high fever, and Rule Number 1 is treat the fever and don’t panic. Their main worries seem to be that a high fever can in itself be harmful to a child that...

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Neonatal Jaundice

Jaundice is very common in newborn babies in the first week of life. In fact if you measure the jaundice level (bilirubin) in all babies it will rise until day 7-8, then drop to normal levels in the second week. The cause of this physiological...

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