Holistic Pediatricians

Dr. Chheda – There’s an old wives’ tale that eating or drinking something cold will cause a sore throat. That’s not true, you know. We have cold popsicles that we give, and it actually soothes a sore throat, and it’s one way to get fluid back into somebody who’s not really wanting to eat because your throat hurts so much. So cold foods by themselves do not cause a sore throat.

Dr. Chheda – Your baby’s sleep habits at 6 months become their routine until age 2 – and those patterns can last until age 8! Learn how to establish healthy sleep habits early.

Key questions to consider:

Where should your child sleep?

How long should they sleep?

How should they fall asleep?

Start thinking about these factors around 4 months old, so by 6 months, you’ve established the routines you want them to maintain through their toddler years.

Dr. Chheda – We don’t talk about contentment much. We’re always trying to chase happiness and joy. Well, there is something to say about happiness, but think about your typical day.

90% of your day is contentment. It’s normal. It’s the getting up, going to school, going to work, coming home, eating. It’s normal. It’s contentment.

5% of the time you’re really happy. “Ooh, I hit every green light on the way to work today!”

5% of the time it’s not so happy. “Oh, I got spaghetti sauce on my white blouse.”

That’s how life should be. You know, for the most part, it’s normal, it’s content. You’re gonna have some highs – you got married. You’re gonna have some lows – you had to put your favorite pet to sleep. But contentment is normal. Let’s enjoy it.

Dr. Chheda – 📮 Checking the mail today and all I have are bills. That’s all we get in the mail – no more personal mail anymore. But my kids used to love checking for mail because my cousin, whenever he traveled, would always send them postcards. So they had something to check in the mail.

Just remember, if you’re traveling, just send a postcard either to yourself or to a neighbor, and they will enjoy it.

Dr. Chheda – Does drinking milk really cause a cold or a cough, or cause a cold or a cough to get worse? Medically speaking, no, not really.

Whole milk, just because it’s thick, can make you feel like you’ve got a little bit of extra mucus inside. Now, if you want to stop drinking milk during a cold or a cough, that’s perfectly fine. But realize for infants and young toddlers, milk may be their only source of nutrition and source of hydration.

So I really don’t recommend stopping milk during a cold or a cough because I don’t want them to lose out on any nutrition, nor do I want them to get dehydrated.

So if your child has a cold or a cough and their main source of nutrition is milk, continue the milk. It’s perfectly fine.

Dr. Chheda – Which probiotic do I recommend? On a general basis, almost any probiotic is fine. What I do recommend is switching out the probiotic every month, so you get a different bacteria every month in your system. Your gut needs all the bacteria in order to function properly.

Now there are some probiotics that work a little bit better for certain conditions. So for those conditions, then I would recommend certain probiotics. For instance, an infant does really well with Lactobacillus Reuteri – Lactobacillus Reuteri, R-E-U-T-E-R-I. And there are several manufacturers that make them.

But you do also want to make sure that there are different probiotics going into the gut, and you can get a variety of probiotics by eating fermented foods like yogurt or kefir, sauerkraut, kimchi. All the fermentation actually gives you lots of different kinds of probiotic, and that’s what you want in the gut to maintain a healthy immune system.

Dr. Chheda – 🧠 When we talk about mental health, we also try to say don’t keep your emotions locked inside. Find some way to try to release your emotions.

Some people use action and they exercise. You know, just kicking a ball around your room for 20 minutes and tension that you might be feeling – exercise is a good way to get emotions out.

Being creative, you know, want to write in a journal or paint or even sing – that’s a great way just to get your emotions out. And again, it does not have to be anything organized. It could be just making up silly words while you’re singing, but trying to release that emotion. When you keep all those emotions inside, they’ll actually fester and or mental health. So find some way to release. You’re talking to somebody – that’s why a lot of people go to therapists as well too, because they’re getting their emotions out. It’s not about receiving, but it’s about letting go.

So remember, try to find some way in your daily life to just let go. And it doesn’t have to be anything organized, just releasing that pent-up energy, whether you – that is just not good for your physical.

Dr. Chheda – You want to take your infant to the beach? That’s wonderful! What can you do?

You really can’t put sunscreen on because your skin is too thin, so you want to try to keep your baby in the shade as much as possible. You don’t want them to get sunburn. You are welcome to go to the beach, but keep them in the shade, and so they will be drinking a lot more and come inside for the rest of the day, and that’s okay. As long as they’re provided plenty of shade to stay hydrated, you can take your infant to the beach. After six months of age, and then have them sit outside in the sun, you know, a little bit of time, and they will get hungry and thirsty. Otherwise, have fun at the beach!

Well, for the first six months of life, and the sunscreen will be absorbed, and you definitely don’t want them to get dehydrated. So yes, know that they will be a little bit more thirsty. Maybe spend an hour or two in the early mornings, and making sure that they’re drinking and urinating.

You can start putting sunscreen on your baby for 30 minutes or so. They will get a little bored, so make sure that you pay attention to their cues.

Dr. Chheda – 💊 Which vitamins should you give your child? So just so you know, the FDA doesn’t really regulate vitamins. Centrum can do whatever they want, One A Day can do whatever they want. It’s really up to you to read the vitamin ingredient list and see which one has the most vitamins and minerals for your child.

Now one of the most complete multivitamin, multi-mineral that is great for children is the Flintstones Complete Chewables. So not the gummies, but the actual chewables – the little chalky little men that we all grew up with 30, 50 years ago. Those are still the best.

They are the most complete, and also because they’re not in gummy form, you don’t have to worry about them sitting on the molars and possibly causing cavities. So that is one of the most complete vitamins that you can give to your child: The Flintstones Complete Chewables.

Dr. Chheda – Yay, your child’s first tooth came in! Now what? Well, in the beginning it’s okay to just take a washcloth with a little bit of water and just kind of wipe the tooth. You want to make sure that there’s no food, especially milk, sitting on the teeth all night long. This will help prevent cavities.

As soon as more teeth start coming in, you do want to introduce a soft brush, a toothbrush. You can use a finger toothbrush, you can use a washcloth, you can also use your own finger and put some fluoride on the teeth at nighttime.

The goal is not brushing for two minutes. The goal is to make sure the fluoride is on the tooth. So you can take your finger and just smear a little bit of fluoride, and you want just a little smear. You know, less than the size of a rice grain – that’s how much fluoride you should be using for all the teeth in the mouth until your child is about 2 years old.

After the age of 2, then you want to start using a pea-size amount, so the size of a small green pea, twice a day. Brush the teeth, and that should be enough to help prevent cavities.