Barton D. Schmitt - Your Childs Health: The Parents One-Stop Reference Guide to: Symptoms, Emergencies, Common Illnesses, Behavior Problems, and Healthy Development

YOUR CHILDS HEALTH
T HE P ARENTS O NE -S TOP R EFERENCE G UIDE TO: S YMPTOMS , E MERGENCIES , C OMMON I LLNESSES , B EHAVIOR P ROBLEMS, AND H EALTHY D EVELOPMENT , R EVISED E DITION

PUBLISHING HISTORY
A Bantam Book / September 1987
Revised edition published September 1991
Second revision published December 2005

Published by Bantam Dell
A Division of Random House, Inc.
New York, New York

All rights reserved
Copyright 2005 by Barton D. Schmitt

Library of Congress Cataloging in Publication Data is on file with the publisher

eISBN: 978-0-307-82999-3

Bantam Books and the rooster colophon are registered trademarks of Random House, Inc.

Published simultaneously in Canada

www.bantamdell.com

v3.1

Prenatal:

• Breast-feeding,
• Formula-feeding,
• Circumcision decision,
• Newborn equipment,
• Car safety seats,
• Sibling rivalry,

Newborn:

• Normal newborns appearance,
• Newborn rashes and birthmarks,
• Newborn skin care,
• Jaundice, newborn,
• Sleep position for young infants,
• First weeks at home,
• Sick newborn: subtle symptoms,

2 Weeks:

• Crying baby,
• Sleep problems, prevention,
• Pacifiers,
• Spitting up,

2 Months:

• Immunizations,
• Immunization reactions,
• Diaper rash,

4 Months:

• Sick infant: judging the severity,
• Working mother,
• Solid foods,
• Overeating, prevention,

6 Months:

• Developmental stimulation,
• Sleep problems, prevention,
• Fever,
• Temperature, how to measure,

8 Months:

• Life-threatening 911 symptoms,
• Emergency symptoms,
• Teething,
• Baby bottle tooth decay, prevention,

10 Months:

• Infections, prevention of,
• Injury prevention,
• Poisoning,

12 Months:

• Weaning, normal,
• Cough,
• Colds,
• Drug dosage tables,

15 Months:

• Fever: myths and facts,
• Contagious diseases,
• Frequent infections,
• Passive smoking,

18 Months:

• Appetite slump in toddlers,
• Toilet-training basics,
• Antibiotics: overuse,

2 Years:

• Discipline basics,
• Temper tantrums,
• Time-out technique,
• Healthy diet,
• Normal growth,

3 Years:

• Spoiled children, prevention,
• Sunburn,
• Speech problems, normal versus stuttering,
• Toilet-training resistance,

4 Years:

• Sex education,
• Television,
• Sugar and sweets,

6 Years:

• Schoolwork responsibility,
• Video games,

8 Years:

• School: homework problems,
• Movies, fears from,

12 Years:

• Adolescents: normal rebellion,
• Acne,

Dear Parents, Stepparents, Grandparents, and Other Caregivers,

After 40 years of working with families, this is what I know: You want your child to have a better start in life than you did. Youre ready to sacrifice for your child. You want to fill your childs heart with love. You want to teach your child to be self-disciplined, self-reliant, and responsible for his or her actions. You want to teach your child to be thoughtful, kind, honest, generous, and respectful toward you and others. You want your child to know that every life is precious and that the highest moral value is helping the less fortunate among us. If this be so, you are an active member of the universal family of those who care for our children.

While our hopes for our children are similar, family structures have changed and become more diverse in our country, since the first edition of this book was published in 1987. There are foster parents who shelter our abused and abandoned children. There are adoptive parents who reach out to children from faraway shores. There are traditional, biological mom and dad families, but in these times over 60 percent of mothers work outside the home. Finally, there are the single parents who raise over 25 percent of our children while working full-time. Just so you know, the rest of us stand in awe of what you do.

These guidelines were written to help you provide better health care, nurturing, and protection for your child. Ive emphasized the common illnesses, injuries, and behavior problems that befall the majority of children. When possible, Ive stressed the healthy lifestyles and preventive measures you can take to keep your child physically and psychologically healthy. When appropriate, Ive cautioned you about the limitations of surgery and drugs. The table of contents, cross-references in the text, and the index have been organized and interwoven so you can find needed advice quickly. And finally, the topics are covered in depth, so you can find answers to almost all of your questions in one book.

To help you use this book, information relating to each of the topics or diseases is organized in the following way:

• What are the symptoms?
• What does it look like?
• Whats normal?

CausesIs it caused by virus, bacteria, allergy, injury, heredity, stress, or some other factor? Is it contagious?

Expected CourseHow long will it last? How bad will it get? What are the possible complications?

• How can you recognize serious symptoms and emergencies?
• Should you call 911?
• Should you call the doctor immediately?
• Can you safely wait to call during office hours?
• Can your child safely be treated at home without a call?

• What first aid measures can you take for emergencies?
• For nonemergencies, what can you do to make your child comfortable?
• How can you prevent similar infections or injuries in the future?
• How can you speed recovery?
• What are the nuts and bolts of home care?
• How can you improve your childs behavior?

Your desire to be better informed about child rearing and childhood illnesses is universal. These guidelines are meant to supplement the health education provided by your childs physician. Most parents also receive ongoing health advice from friends, relatives, newspapers, magazines, the Internet, radio, and television. Unfortunately, information from the media or nonprofessionals may be confusing, conflicting, or downright alarming. One of the main purposes of this book is to help bridge the information gap with accurate, up-to-date, and straightforward health facts and advice. The guidelines for when to call your childs physician have been tested by thousands of physicians and nurses across the country who use my book