Holistic Pediatricians

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.

Dr. Chheda – A compassionate look at why teens might resist personal care:

Body changes and self-consciousness

Common hygiene resistance patterns

Why forcing habits often backfires

Natural motivation development

Tips for patient parenting

🌱 How do you teach your kid to be conservation minded? Um, my kids are in Scouts and one of the rank requirements is actually to go on a picnic or a trip with your family and take note of how much trash you produce during that trip.

That’s a good one!

That’s a good one. And then similarly, on another trip you wanna talk about, kind of think about ways that you would eliminate that extra trash, that extra baggage.

Oh, that’s nice.

And so things that you hit on are recycling, reducing, reusing.

That’s right, yes.

I like it. So I do challenge you guys – go on a trip, go outside, enjoy this lovely weather, and take note of the trash you produce, and then hopefully minimize it the next time. Bye guys!

Dr. Chheda – After 6 months of age, if your child is running a fever, you want to treat your child, not the number. Doesn’t matter what the number is. Yeah, and we’ll get to that, and the pediatrician will always ask.

But is your child active or are they really lethargic? Are they eating? Are they running around? They’re not eating? Are they not drinking and possibly getting dehydrated?

You want to know what your child’s symptoms are and treat your child’s symptoms with either Tylenol, acetaminophen, ibuprofen, Motrin, Advil.

You want to treat your child, not a specific number.

Dr. Chheda – Let’s talk about a universal truth of adolescence: the “invincibility complex.” Every teenager goes through this phase where they believe nothing bad can happen to them.

You’ll hear thoughts like: “I don’t need a seatbelt” “It won’t happen to me” “I’m not going to get hurt”

For parents, this can be terrifying. But here’s what you can do: Keep repeating safety messages

Consistently model good behavior

Understand that some mistakes are part of growing up

The goal isn’t to prevent every mistake – that’s impossible. Instead, focus on preventing those permanent, life-altering ones. That’s every parent’s real concern.

Dr. Chheda – What do you do when your child tells you “no”? When they don’t like your favorite fruit, or when they prefer the rival sports team? How about when they tell you they don’t like your religion, want to follow a different one, or no religion at all?

Remember, your child is not supposed to be a clone of you. They will grow up and make their own decisions. They take what you give them, what their friends and the world gives them, and they come up with their own identity.

Your child doesn’t want to defy you; they’re just trying to figure out who they are. They might have their own favorite fruit, sports team, or beliefs. This can cause some tension, even lead to divided households.

So how do you handle this? Be supportive and open to questions and answers. Don’t immediately get defensive. Your child may become their own person, and that’s okay.

Remember that they take what you give them, but also what the world gives them, to form their own identity. Be there to guide them, not to force them into a mold.

Hey everyone! Courtney and Dr. Mona here to talk about something fun – twins in movies and TV shows! Remember these classics?

Mary-Kate and Ashley Olsen movies like “It Takes Two”

The Weasley twins in Harry Potter

“Cheaper by the Dozen” with its multiple sets of siblings

“Full House” featuring not only the Olsen twins as Michelle but also Uncle Jesse’s twin boys

More recent shows like “Nicky, Ricky, Dicky & Dawn” (though we’ll pass on having quads!)

These shows and movies give us a fun glimpse into twin life on screen. Whether you’re looking for weekend family entertainment or just love seeing twin representation in media, there are so many great options to choose from!

What are your favorite twin movies or shows? Share in the comments below!

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May 262025Dr. Chheda – What is eczema? Is eczema caused by dry skin? Is it caused by the weather? Is it caused by an imbalance in the skin? Is it caused by foods or allergies?

Yes, all of the above. Eczema can be caused by all of those things, and it’s important to figure out what is the root cause of your child’s eczema. Then you can help them.

It’s not always caused by a food. It’s not always caused by dry skin. But there are many different factors that can cause eczema. Sometimes it’s called allergic dermatitis. Sometimes it’s called contact dermatitis, based on what is actually causing the eczema. There are some people that have atopic dermatitis. Those people have eczema and are prone to having allergies and asthma, so there is an allergic component to it.

If you have atopic dermatitis, it’s a contact dermatitis. It might be something externally that’s touching the skin that’s causing it.

There might be an imbalance in the skin barrier that is causing the dry skin and then eczema patches and flare-ups.

So it’s important to figure out what the root cause is, and then you can treat it appropriately.

One product that I found that works really well is a BioGaia product. It’s a probiotic ointment for eczema. You put it on topically, you put it on the outside, and that actually helps the skin barrier, and then you don’t get as many eczema flare-ups. So this is a great product.

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Dr. Chheda – 👶 When does your baby’s hair fall out? And that can happen anytime between the first couple of months or even until the age of 5, 6 years old. It’s that fine baby hair that I’m talking about, and it will eventually fall out and adult hair will come in.

What you can do to help with that baby hair falling out is making sure they’re getting a full nutritional diet. Nutritional deficiencies such as vitamin D deficiency or zinc deficiency can cause hair issues. So as long as they’re getting a full balanced diet, their hair should be fine.

You can always give them extra vitamin B, especially biotin, to help with hair growth and hair strength.

Sometimes you might have to shave all the baby hair off in order for the adult hair to come in. But if you’re still noticing cradle cap at around the ages of 5 or 6 years of age, they may still have their baby hair, and that’s why they’re still getting the cradle cap and the adult hair just can’t come in yet.

Dr. Chheda – Breast milk has lots of antibodies, maternal antibodies that are passed to the baby during nursing. But exactly which antibodies are present in breast milk?

It’s the antibodies that the mom is actively making at the moment. It’s not past antibodies. So if the mom had an infection or a vaccine years ago, those antibodies don’t go through the breast milk. It’s only the antibodies that the mom is making on that specific day that go through breast milk. So if mom has a cold, an infection, those antibodies are going through the breast milk and will help the child either fight off the infection faster or they don’t get it, which is good.

But they’re not gonna get past antibodies. So pure breastfeeding to try to get your vaccines into your baby? That’s not the way it works.