If you live in Utah, now is the time to get your children vaccinated against the whooping cough – medical name pertussis.  Whooping cough is spreading at an alarming rate throughout Utah, and parents should take action to ensure their children are immunised.
Parents may be worried about the possible side effects of immunisation, but the tiny chance that your child may be affected is totally outweighed by the effects of the disease itself.
So what is whooping cough?  It’s not too serious for adults, but can be fatal for your little ones.  It’s highly contagious and long lasting – if your child gets it then he or she could be ill for weeks.  It’s characterized by continuous spasms of coughing that can result in malnutrition, pneumonia and brain disease. 
What if you don’t live in Utah?  Well you should get your children vaccinated too.  Whooping cough is on the increase.  The initial vaccine also doesn’t give lifelong protection.  Teenagers and adults can – and should – get a booster known as TDaP. 
If you’re in the US, children under 18 who are uninsured or otherwise not covered can get the whooping cough vaccination free of charge from the health department. 

If you have a baby or small children, you may be worried about introducing a dog into the mix – even if you’ve had dogs before and know what to expect.  A recent report suggests that parents should wait until their little ones are of school age before buying a dog, because of the risk of dog bites.
The study, conducted at a trauma center in Austria for ten years, found that children aged one or younger had the biggest risk of being bitten by a dog – although age 1 to 10 still had a larger risk than in adulthood.  The study was published this March in the journal of the American Academy of Pediatrics.
The study suggests that “dogs may regard newborns as well as toddlers as subordinate,” but that “school-aged children can be trained successfully in precautionary behaviour when approaching a dog”. 
But what if you just have to get a dog?  Then choose your breed with care.  The researchers found that German shepherds and Dobermans carried a much greater biting risk than a Labrador or a mixed breed dog. 

If you’re an expectant mother, then eating one or two portions of oily fish a week is a great idea it seems.  Research done on 9,000 mothers and babies suggests that eating the oily fish during pregnancy can boost your child’s brain powers and social skills after birth.
They key is in the fatty acid Omega-3 it seems.  The research team found that the children of mothers with the lowest intake of this essential fatty acid, found in oily fish and some seeds, had verbal IQs that were six points lower on average.  Mums who ate the most food rich in Omega-3 had children with the best fine-motor performance at the age of three and a half, according to the researchers.
The study follows on from an original piece of research done by Professor Jean Golding of Bristol University.  She told BBC journalists: “The baby’s brain needs Omega-3 fatty acids. It doesn’t create its own fatty acids so it needs to be something that the mother will eat.”
So what should expectant mums do?  Eat two portions of oily fish a week.  But some oily fish is better than others.  Farmed large fish tend to contain more pollutants, so it’s best to go for organic salmon, trout or sardines.  Vegetarians can go for seeds such as pumpkin or hemp, but will need to eat them in fairly large quantities to get the same effects. 

In the past, Rh Incompatibility posed a serious threat to pregnancies.  Thanks to advances in modern medicine, it can be tested for and treated.
          When your doctor performs your first blood test, they will test to find out your blood type and rhesus (Rh) factor.  There are four different blood types – A, B, AB, and O – and each blood type has different proteins on the surface of the red blood cells.  Each blood type is also classified depending on the presence of another protein on the surface of the blood cells that indicates the Rh factor.  If you are a carrier of this protein, you are Rh positive.  If the protein is not present, you are Rh negative. 
          About 85% of people are Rh positive.  However, if a woman is Rh negative and is pregnant with the child of a man who is Rh positive, the result may be Rh incompatibility.  The baby could have Rh positive blood, inherited from their father, inside the Rh negative mother.  This is the case in about 50% of children born to Rh negative mothers and Rh negative mothers.

          Why would this present a problem?  Our bodies are programmed to produce antibodies that attack foreign cells in our body.  An Rh negative mother’s body could mistakenly identify a Rh positive baby as an unwanted intruder.  Her antibodies would attack the baby’s red blood cells, causing them to swell and rupture.  This condition is known as hemolytic or Rh disease, and causes dangerously low levels of red blood cells in the baby.
          Rh incompatibility is not an issue during first pregnancies.  However, once the Rh negative mother’s blood has intermingled with Rh positive blood, during a previous delivery, miscarriage, abortion, ectopic pregnancy or blood transfusion, she will start to produce the antibodies that could attack a future pregnancy. 
          Thankfully, medical advances have made Rh incompatibility a treatable condition.  When a woman with the potential for Rh compatibility becomes pregnant, she will be given a series of two Rh immune-globulin shots.  The first shot is given around the 28^th week of pregnancy.  The second shot is given within 72 hours after giving birth.  Rh immune-globulin is like a vaccine that prevents the mother’s body from producing the harmful antibodies that could cause a problem for the baby.
          If the doctor determines that you have already produced these antibodies, there are options depending on the severity of the condition.  The baby will be closely monitored to ensure that their red blood cell count does not reach a dangerous level.  As a last resort, a series of special blood transfusions can be performed either immediately after birth or in utero.  However, the Rh immune-globulin shots are so effective that these transfusions are necessary is less than 1% of Rh disease cases.

Naptime can be fraught with problems, from misreading your baby’s sleep cues to misinformation about “making up” for lost naps.  There are several common naptime problems and solutions.

If you are having naptime battles, one culprit might be waiting to long to put your baby down, which leaves you with a cranky and over stimulated child.  Get to know your little one’s sleep prompts – like eye rubbing and getting frustrated with toys.  Then respond accordingly.

Don’t presume that if a baby misses her nap that she’ll “sleep better” at night.  This misconception is a total myth.  If a baby misses her nap, she’ll more likely be cranky and irritable which makes it harder to get her sleep at night.

Many parents start rocking or feeding their baby to sleep as a way to soothe their infant.  However, they are soon stuck doing the same actions every night.  But stopping these practices is easier said than done.  Fortunately, you don’t have to stop cold turkey.  You can still nurse or rock your baby to sleep at naptime or bedtime.  Just make sure to put him down when he is drowsy but awake.  If you find this hard, do it only at night initially when your baby is sleepiest.  Then try the same technique at naptime.

Another common mistake is counting car seat sleep as an official naptime.  No one sleeps as deeply sitting up as they do lying down.  Car seat naps are rarely as long or as peaceful as a snooze at home.  Try to maneuver your schedule so you’re home at naptime.

From 1980 to 1996, asthma prevalence among children increased by an average of 4.3% per year, from 3.6% to 6.2%.  It accounts for 14 million lost days of school missed annually and is the third-ranking cause of hospitalization among those younger than 15 years of age. The estimated cost of treating asthma in children under 18 is and estimated $3.2 billion per year.  The most troubling part about this epidemic is that there seem to be no cure for asthma.

However, new research is bringing hope to the epidemic and may prevent future asthma cases.  Feeding fruit and vegetables every day to your baby who is on solids may protect his respiratory system later in life.  Norweigan researchers studied the diets of 502 children with asthma and without asthma.  They discovered that a daily intake of fresh fruit or vegetables during infancy decreased the kid’s risk of developing asthma by 43 percent as compared with those babies who were not fed this produce.

The researchers speculated that the antioxidants (compounds that protect cells from damage) in the fruit and vegetables helped reduce inflammation in the airways of the child.  The recent research provides yet another reason that fresh fruits and vegetables should be incorporated into your child’s diet.

Vitamin D is needed for calcium absorption and the proper development and maintenance of bones. This vitamin is produced by many foods, and also, by the exposure to sunlight. It only takes 15 minutes of sun exposure per week on the face, arms, hands or back to stimulate the body to produce enough of the vitamin.

However, many children (and adults as well) become a bit Vitamin D deficient during the winter months and sun exposure is down. Vitamin D may also be in short supply during other months because of the use of sunscreen. Your family should incorporate more Vitamin D into their diet year round and especially during the winter months.

To boost Vitamin D in your family’s diet by eating eggs and milk fortified with the vitamin. One cup of fortified milk provides about one quarter of the estimated daily need of the vitamin. Fatty fish, such as salmon and mackerel, also contain high levels of vitamin D. But these may be more difficult to incorporate into your child’s mealtimes. Instead of getting Vitamin D through food, you can also boost the vitamin through a supplement. It is recommended that you use a supplement with at least 5 micrograms (200 IUs) of Vitamin D.

Did you know that gum disease is one of the most common oral diseases in kids?  Well according to the Children’s Hospital of Philadelphia, that’s the case.  It can be painful and unpleasant for your child, so the best thing to do is to prevent the problem in the first place.  If your child has red and inflamed gums then you should take them to see a doctor.  But if your child’s gums are fine at the moment, follow these tips to ensure that gum disease isn’t a problem

Gum disease is caused by plaque build up in the teeth primarily, so the best way to prevent it is to prevent plaque.  Obviously the main thing to do is to ensure that your child brushes his or her teeth regularly, and doesn’t skip parts of his or her mouth.  Encourage your child to floss also – if they’re too young to do it for themselves, then do if for them.  Try and make sure also that your child doesn’t suck his or her thumb – this doesn’t cause plaque, but it does make it harder to reach with a toothbrush as it displaces the teeth.  If your child eats something very sweet, get him or her to brush right after.  That way the plaque never has a chance.