The pandemic has put many children behind on swim lessons. The AAP (American Academy of Pediatrics) is alerting parents that swim lessons for children over 1 year are an important part of the layers of protection that can help prevent drownings. So, schedule those swim lessons for your kids and use all these layers of protection to help prevent drownings: Water Watcher There should always be an adult water watcher while children are in and around a pool. For young children and beginner swimmers, the water watcher should be within arm’s length. For older children who can swim, the water watcher should have their eyes on the children at all times. The water watcher should not be using a cellphone, socializing, drinking alcohol, or doing anything else that might be distracting. At a party, have adults take turns as water watcher. Even if a lifeguard is on duty, a water […]

Many parents are breathing a sigh of relief that they can finally get their babies, toddlers, and preschoolers vaccinated against COVID-19. Two brands of the vaccine have now been authorized for children as young as 6 months old, so the little ones can now join the ranks of people ages 5 and up who have helped protect themselves. So does your young child really need a COVID-19 vaccine? After all, younger children often have milder illness when they get infected. The answer is a resounding “yes,” since many young children have had serious symptoms requiring hospitalization, and some have even died. Small children can even develop long COVID, with symptoms that bother them for a long time. Parents might also wonder why it took so long for the vaccines to be authorized for this age group. It took a long time to get the vaccines authorized for young children because […]

Contributed by Alexis. At the age of twelve when I hit puberty, my back started bothering me a lot. I made an appointment with my pediatrician, where I learned I was developing scoliosis. She referred me to Nemours Children’s Hospital, Delaware, where I met with pediatric orthopedic surgeon, Dr. Suken Shah for further examination. After an x-ray, we found that I had two curves measuring 22 and 23 degrees. A few months later, I received a brace to prevent my spine from getting worse. My scoliosis made my hips so off-balance that it affected my legs. I was also given a lift to wear in my shoe because my left leg was about an inch shorter than my right leg. I was supposed to wear the brace at least 18 hours a day, but I usually wore it for about 23 hours a day. I ended up wearing the brace […]

Nemours Children’s Health is proud to participate in the 2022 Children’s Hospital Association’s (CHA) Speak Now for Kids’ Family Advocacy Day. This annual event brings together pediatric patients, their families and the children’s hospitals that care for them to speak with our Congressional leaders about the unique needs of children and how children’s hospitals play a critical role in providing coordinated, specialized care for our youngest generation. This year, we are excited to bring two young champions and their families to meet virtually with our Delaware and Florida Congressional delegation members to share their inspiring stories.   David Smith*, 12 years old, Wilmington DE David started exhibiting challenging behavior at age 5. These behavioral issues became more intense over time. While he was excelling academically, he experienced strong emotional outbursts at school, which led to many trips to the principal’s office. In the beginning, school administrators believed he would outgrow […]

If resilience had a name, it would be that of 12-year-old Emilee. She was born with a complex heart defect called single ventricle that required heart surgery when she was just 2 days old. Her fighting spirit endured through three more heart surgeries and several heart catheterizations. Her heart surgeon, Dr. Christian Pizarro, assisted by cardiac anesthesiologist, Dr. Ellen Spurrier, and their highly specialized team—cared for her–watching over Emilee day and night. It was a scary and unsettling time for her family, who stayed right by her side. Through it all, Emilee thrived. But her health challenges continued.  Emilee was diagnosed with scoliosis that progressed to the point that surgery was needed.  In January 2022, she underwent a spinal fusion, a major surgery for anyone, but especially risky for someone with a single ventricle heart defect. Pediatric spine surgeon, Dr. Peter Gabos, performed the complicated operation with Dr. Spurrier again […]

This article first appeared on Philly.com Diarrhea. Abdominal pain. Bloating. Ugh!!! These annoying symptoms can occur in many gastrointestinal problems that teenagers experience. On social media, on the bleachers a school sports events, at doctors’ appointments, it seems like everywhere people are talking about gluten. So what exactly is gluten? Gluten is a group of proteins commonly found in wheat, barley, oats, and rye. It affects the dough quality of breads and is added to processed foods to improve texture, moisture, and flavor. When should a teenager go gluten-free?  When they are diagnosed with a problem caused by gluten. Celiac disease, wheat allergy, and gluten intolerance involve gluten, but are not one and the same. Celiac disease is an autoimmune disease where gluten triggers the body’s immune system, which normally makes antibodies to fight off harmful invaders like viruses or bacteria, to make antibodies against itself. These “autoantibodies” damage villi, […]