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Baby
With its sleepless nights and frustration, every parent dreads colic. Fortunately, scientists have been hopeful that a specific probiotic, Lactobacillus reuteri may help improve symptoms of colic in babies. The buzz started in 2014 when a study...
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Baby
Heart defects in newborns are among the most common birth defects in the United States. Heart defects occur during fetal development when the structures of the heart don’t develop normally. Alternatively, heart defects can occur after birth when...
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Baby
Group B Strep (GBS) is a normally harmless bacteria commonly found in the human digestive tract. But this little bug has a darker side: in pregnant women, it can migrate to vaginal region where it can cause serious complications in a newborn after...
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Baby
Some parents are concerned when they meet their newborn and see a defect in the front of their child’s ear. These are called ear tags or ear pits (preauricular pits). They are common birth defects. Both conditions are formed in utero, when the ears...
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Baby
Neonatal Abstinence Syndrome (NAS) is the medical term for the set of symptoms experienced by a newborn that is going through drug withdrawal. Exposure to many drugs in utero can lead to NAS, including nicotine, alcohol, cocaine, LSD and opioids....
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Baby
While major congenital heart defects are sometimes diagnosed before birth through imaging studies like a fetal ultrasound, in most cases, doctors only diagnose a congenital defect after the newborn or infant begins to develop symptoms. In many...
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Community
My sister at the age of 40 just had her first and last baby on Tuesday, October 13, 2015. She’s having a lot of problems getting her baby girl, Sophia, to latch on. How often do day’s old babies eat? How long on each breast? And...
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Community
Have you seen the new Fisher-Price iPad apptivity seat? It has some moms’ groups in an uproar, and rightfully so! Marketed from Newborn to Toddler this product flies in the face of the American Academy of Pediatrics recommendation against any...
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Baby
Neonatal hypoglycemia occurs when a newborn has low blood sugar levels in the first few days after birth. It occurs in about 1-3 out of every 1,000 births. A normal blood sugar level, also known as glucose, is crucial for a baby’s energy and brain...
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Baby
Congratulations on the birth of your beautiful baby–but don’t be surprised if you find the newborn “look” a little strange. You may be surprised by the way your baby looks after delivery. You see, newborns may look...
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Baby
Many parents will be surprised to learn that a heart murmur isn’t a disease. Rather, it is a symptom of an underlying condition. If your child has a heart murmur, your pediatrician will hear it while listening to your child’s heartbeat with a...
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Baby
Doctors often diagnose congenital heart defects in the womb or during infancy, when symptoms, the mother’s medical history, or routine tests or physical exams reveal the abnormalities. But not all congenital heart defects are diagnosed so early....
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Baby
Newborn jaundice is a common occurrence in babies. Physiological jaundice—the yellowing of skin and eyes—is usually harmless. Jaundice occurs because a substance called bilirubin builds up in the blood. Bilirubin is a waste product that forms when...
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Baby
One of the most common reasons a newborn is readmitted to the hospital is thanks to high bilirubin levels. Bilirubin is released when red blood cells break down. Once broken down, bilirubin is metabolized in the liver. A newborn’s liver, however,...
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Baby
An Apgar score is a general measure of a baby’s health at birth. It measures things like: Heart rate Breathing Color Reflexes Muscle tone Each category is assigned a score ranging from zero to two. The scores are then added together to give a range...
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Health
How common is it for a baby to be born with HIV and to develop AIDS? Not very. The National Institutes of Health estimates that fewer than 200 babies each year are born with HIV in the United States. Why? Access to prenatal care, medications, and...
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Baby
Fevers in newborns and infants less than 3 months old are a cause of concern. Most fevers are harmless, but they can also be a signal of more serious problems such as infection in the blood, urine, or spinal fluids. Fevers signal that your baby’s...
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Blog
Ask any roomful of new parents what they wish for, and it’s a good bet that many will immediately respond, “Sleep!” Parenting a newborn is exhausting work that happens around the clock. And then, as your baby ages, new sleep issues come up like...
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Baby
Newborn fever is an important health indicator—any temperature 100.4 or higher needs to be discussed with your baby’s doctor right away. A newborn’s immune system is immature and therefore even a low fever of 100.4 can indicate a serious infection....
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Baby
It’s natural for parents to want to know what color eyes their newborn child will have. Unfortunately, nature isn’t quite so accommodating. It’s very common that a baby’s final eye color will end up being something other...
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Baby
Babies are famous for their toothless, gummy grins, but some newborns can actually flash their pearly whites! Teeth that are present at birth, or natal teeth, happen in one out of every 2,000–3,000 births. Natal teeth have been documented over...
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Baby
Have you noticed that your baby tilts her head while at rest? Does your little one have a hard time turning his head fully from one side to the other? If so, perhaps your baby has torticollis. Torticollis occurs when pressure is put on the large...
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Health
Infantile hemangiomas are a type of mark found on the skin of approximately 5 percent of infants. Unlike some other types of skin markings, infantile hemangiomas are not present at birth but rather they typically begin growing in the days and weeks...
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Baby
Children born with cleft lip and/or palate can face a variety of challenges. For their parents, that includes how and when to treat the cleft. Depending on the severity of the cleft, complications can include difficulty feeding and/or swallowing,...
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Baby
The foramen ovale has an important role in the health of the fetal circulatory system. During fetal development, this hole in the wall between the heart’s upper chambers allows blood to bypass the lungs, which aren’t yet needed. After birth,...
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Baby
Chlamydia is the most common sexually transmitted disease—and in many cases, women who have chlamydia don’t suffer from any symptoms. If symptoms are present, they can include vaginal discharge, bleeding after sex, or itching and burning during...
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Baby
Hearing loss is the most common birth defect in the United States. Approximately 3-4 out of every 1,000 babies are born either deaf or hard of hearing. Screening newborns for hearing loss is an important step in ensuring a baby’s normal...
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Baby
Cryptorchidism, or an undescended testicle, is usually diagnosed by the pediatrician before your newborn leaves the hospital. Cryptorchidism describes a condition in which the child’s testicles have not descended from the abdomen, where they...
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Baby
Many sleep-deprived parents will say their baby has colic, but just because your baby is fussy each night does not automatically mean colic. True colic is generally defined as inconsolable crying lasting several to many hours occurring several...
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Baby
A new baby’s heart begins to develop as early as week five of pregnancy (3 weeks after conception) when the tube of muscle forms that will someday be the baby’s heart. This first primitive structure doesn’t have any of the...
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Baby
You’ve probably heard of “flat feet” and maybe even worried about it after looking at your baby’s feet, which probably look suspiciously flat. First, don’t worry. All babies are born with naturally “flat”...
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Baby
Are you pregnant and already looking forward to that first family vacation? Maybe you have a new little one, and you’re anxious to show him off to your far-away friends and family in another part of the country. Before you book that plane...
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Baby
Cleft lip and palate is one of the most common birth defects in the United States. Parents of infants who have a cleft defect at birth may face uncertainty and confusion. What is cleft lip and palate? What caused them? Can they be fixed? The...
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Baby
Many new parents are surprised to learn that not every member of their household is thrilled with the arrival of a new baby—including your cat. Your pet is probably used to thinking of “your” house as their house. Taking a few simple steps before...
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Baby
Your new baby will have many firsts: bath, feeding, and of course, dirty diaper. But what happens if a day or two goes by and your newborn doesn’t have that first bowel movement? If this happens, physicians might consider your baby for...
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Baby
The ductus arteriosus is a naturally occurring blood vessel in the fetal heart. Before a baby is born, the ductus arteriosus connects the aorta and pulmonary artery, allowing blood to be pumped from the right side of the heart into the aorta and...
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Baby
A hernia occurs when there is a defect in muscle or tissue of the abdominal wall that allows abdominal contents, usually bowel to push through. They are covered by skin and can be small and subtle or large and obvious. Hernias are fairly common...
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Baby
Coarctation of the aorta describes a narrowing of the aorta, which is the major artery carrying blood from the heart to the body. The congenital condition constricts blood flow from the heart to the lower part of the body. About four out of every...
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Baby
Your baby’s umbilical cord is cut after birth. The stump that remains may look daunting at first—it will likely look gooey and yellowish—but caring for it is simpler than it looks. First, it’s important to keep the stump and the surrounding skin...
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Baby
Sometimes it can seem like no sooner do you finish a feeding that your baby is spitting up—on you, baby’s burp cloth, the crib sheets—anything nearby. This is normal, but when is baby spit up a cause for alarm? Babies usually spit up because a...
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Baby
Your 10-week-old baby has come a long way since you first brought him or her home from the hospital! While it’s impossible to generalize, a 10-week-old baby will have packed on weight and muscle since birth — and it’s starting to show. While it’s...
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Baby
One of the wonders of parenting is watching your baby gradually become aware of the world he or she lives in. By 9 weeks old, your baby is likely responding to all sorts of external stimulus. He or she might have a preference for certain songs...
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Baby
At 2 months old, your baby is turning into Superbaby — at least that might seem how it looks from the outside, now that your baby can hold his or her head up at a 45-degree angle for extended periods of time and may seem to be attempting pushups...
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Baby
Right around now is when many parents start to really appreciate all the intense brain development their babies have experienced since birth. By 7 weeks old, your baby’s brain has grown several centimeters in size — and you can easily see the...
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Baby
The health risks of smoking are well established, both for smokers and the people who are routinely exposed to their secondhand smoke, including infants. Secondhand smoke contains more than 4,000 chemicals, many of which are extremely toxic and can...
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Baby
Once they become familiar with it, most parents are interested in skin-to-skin contact with their babies shortly after birth—even if they don’t know exactly why it’s so good for them and their baby. But rest assured: there is real science behind...
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Pregnancy
At some point after your baby is born, your doctor or midwife will place two clamps on the umbilical cord. He or she (or your partner, if they want to) will then use scissors to cut between the clamps and separate your baby from the placenta. If...
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Baby
Congratulations! If you’re like most new parents, you’re in the middle of a whirlwind of new experiences and emotions right now, just days after the arrival of your new baby. It’s not uncommon for new parents to be simultaneously flooded with love...
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Baby
Parents on both sides of the “great diaper debate” often have strong feelings about their choice of diapering. A cloth diaper parent may discuss sustainability and environmental awareness. Meanwhile, a disposable diaper parent might mention the...
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Baby
Tetralogy of Fallot is a complex congenital heart defect (e.g., present at birth) characterized by the presence of four heart problems. Babies born with this heart defect have: A large hole in the muscular wall that separates the heart’s lower...
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Baby
A ventricular septal defect (VSD) is a congenital heart defect that occurs during fetal development. Babies born with a VSD have a hole in the septum (wall) that separates the heart’s lower chambers, or the right and left ventricles. An intact...
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Baby
Baby boxes — sturdy cardboard boxes that are designed as a sleep environment for newborns — have been around for decades, first appearing in Finland as part of a campaign to decrease infant mortality. Now they’re beginning to show up in the United...
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Baby
A normal heart has a muscular wall known as the atrial septum that separates the organ’s upper chambers, or the left and right atria. If there is a defect in this wall, it’s known as an atrial septal defect. In a normal newborn’s heart, the heart’s...
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Baby
As soon as your newborn starts feeding, he or she will start making gas. Experts estimate that a normal baby could pass gas up to 20 times a day. Gas is formed as a natural byproduct of digestion and may also result from inhaling air while feeding,...
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Baby
Congenital heart defects are the most common types of birth defect, affecting nearly 40,000 infants in the US each year. These conditions—which form in the baby’s heart while it’s still developing in utero—range from mild to severe life-threatening...
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Baby
Do your newborn’s eyes look watery or crusty, even when they aren’t actually crying? Excessive tearing or the presence of mucous in your baby’s eyes may indicate a blocked tear duct, medically known as nasolacrimal duct obstruction. More than 5...
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Baby
During the first few weeks of her life, your baby will sleep a lot, usually about 16 to 17 hours a day. This sleep is needed for his quickly developing brain. But newborns sleep lightly and need to be fed often, so they don’t stay asleep for more...
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Baby
When your baby took up residence in your uterus, you probably felt a rhythmic twitch or pulse from time to time. In most cases, you were probably feeling your baby’s hiccups! Baby hiccups are common after birth, sometimes occurring several...
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Baby
Bathing your newborn can be a great time to bond and have fun with your newborn. While your newborn will not need a bath every day, make sure to wash your baby’s face, hands and neck, especially in the folds, with a washcloth daily and after...
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Baby
From the calming safety of your arms, your baby will begin life feeling secure and protected. As a new parent, you will do all you can to continue to protect your newborn as she grows and develops. One of the best ways to protect her, now and...
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Baby
Diapering and dressing your baby can be a fun way for both mom and dad to bond with a new baby. Whether you decide to use disposable or cloth diapers, you will go through many during your baby’s first weeks of life. If you choose disposable...
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Baby
A baby with brachycephaly typically has a flat spot on the back of the skull, and the head appears to be widened. It is similar to plagiocephaly, which occurs when only one side of the baby’s head is flattened. There are several common causes of...