As mothers and physicians, we really believe in the intangible gut instinct that comes with parenting, and while it is unfortunate that sometimes it falls upon us as parents to be persistent and advocate for our children, this is sometimes the case.

Nasal irrigation, or using a neti-pot, has been around for centuries as a remedy for blocked noses. The idea is that you use a sterile solution, like saline, and flush out the mucus. If you’re going to try it, please do it safely.

Cold after cold, fever after fever. Non stop, without any real break for a parent to recover. It feels endless, and its easy to worry about whether or not things will always be this way.

We are at the start of respiratory season, but are seeing have unseasonably high numbers of RSV, Rhinovirus, and many other respiratory viruses - and in many parts of the country, flu season has also begun.

Most children have been infected with RSV by the age of 2 years and recover just fine. We worry most about those children who are very young (under 6 months) or have underlying medical issues, such as prematurity, lung or heart disease, or immunosuppression.

A fever is a normal body response to infection. If your child is handling it well, most of the time you can keep take a holistic approach and focus on closely monitoring them (barring a few specific situations, such as when your child is very young or has underlying medical conditions).

Fever is a normal body response to infection or inflammation. Increasing core temperature makes it easier to kill off invading pathogens (bacteria, viruses, etc). Children are more likely to develop fever than adults when they encounter the same illness.

In the vast majority of cases, lymph node enlargement is just a signal of a healthy immune response, rather than something sinister. The goal of this post is to help provide some reassurance and information so you don’t have to Google.

Immunization is the most effective way to mitigate the severity of flu infection, but there are many misconceptions about the flu vaccine.

Polio is a virus that can cause a range of symptoms, from very mild to extremely severe. When severe, it can lead to paralysis. Since immunization against polio, the disease has been eradicated in the US (in 1979)… until now. There are two different vaccines that protect against polio.

Parechovirus is a virus that most often causes symptoms of the common cold. Parechovirus is a known entity that causes illness in children and vulnerable populations. Most often, it causes common cold symptoms, but in more vulnerable populations, such as newborn babies.

Monkeypox is a zoonotic disease caused by the monkeypox virus (which is endemic in certain parts of Africa). It is related to smallpox (which has been eradicated).

In general, because the symptoms of ear infections are so non-specific and infants and toddlers cannot tell you their ear hurts, the only way to know definitively is to have the ear examined.

About 25 percent of infants have at least one ear infection in the first year of life. They are painful, and they are frustrating.

Parents often think about strep when their child complains of a sore throat, but most of the time, the cause is something else. Viruses, allergies, reflux and even mouth breathing or dryness can also cause a sore throat.