11-10-2016

No parent wants to think about the possibility of their teen being sexually active. But the truth is, it’s happening. Kids everywhere are having sex. I practice in a very conservative part of the nation. People are very religious and promote sex after marriage. The problem is that the parental beliefs aren’t always shared by the (...)

09-14-2016

In follow up to my last post, I thought I’d stick with pee problems. If you’ve ever seen blood in your child’s urine, then you know how alarming that can be. The medical term for blood in the urine is hematuria, and it is not normal. While blood goes into the kidney, only urine comes (...)

09-12-2016

Figuring out what pee problems to worry about and what ones aren’t worthy of an office visit can be tricky for a parent. Every day in clinic I’m addressing urinary problems in kids. My own 5 year-old daughter has had two urinary tract infections in the past two years, but I have tested her urine (...)

06-10-2016

Thanks for your FB suggestions to post today about potty training. (I’ll post about anxiety on Monday.  I’ll also take a look at the other suggestions.) Thanks to everyone who put in requests! I am a pediatrician and mother. I am supposed to love all things kids. But I am here to tell you that I (...)

04-22-2016

Do you have a daughter and dread having “the talk” about periods? Are you uncertain when to broach the subject? Are you secretly hoping she’ll learn all she needs to know at “maturation day” in school? (If you aren’t from Utah, “maturation day” is a few hours one day in fifth grade where kids are (...)

04-11-2016

If your child, who is fully potty trained, is starting to have daytime pee accidents, you should be concerned. The medical term is diurnal enuresis. It is not developmentally normal and generally indicates a problem. Now if your child has only been trained for a week, I wouldn’t consider that a consistently trained child. A (...)

03-01-2016

On the heels of yesterday’s post, I thought I’d address the issue of what names you call “private” body parts to your kids. I understand completely that everyone’s background and comfort level is different. It is natural to use nicknames to address body parts that you may not personally be comfortable addressing by the real (...)

01-09-2016

Stages of puberty for girls: Typically girls show signs of puberty 2 years earlier than boys. Thelarche (breast development), adrenarche (pubic hair development), pubarche (growth), menarche (first period/menses) The average age for greatest growth/height velocity in a girl is 12.1 years old (with a range of 10.4-13.9 years). It is normal for a girl to (...)