Real Talk with Kid Docs

Febrile seizures are seizures (abnormal electrical activity in the brain) that occur in the setting of a fever. About 2-5% of all children will experience a febrile seizure in their life. They occur between 6months and 6 years with a peak around 12-18 months of age. 

Although common and benign, they can be scary- especially the first time your child has one in front of you. 

What do you do if your child has a seizure? If it was a febrile seizure, will it happen again? Should you pre-medicate for fever?

Join us as we welcome Dr. Carey Wilson, M.D. to the show. Dr. Carey Wilson is a Pediatric Neurologist and Epileptologist as well as the Medical Director for the Comprehensive epilepsy clinic at Intermountain Healthcare Primary Children's hospital in Salt Lake City, Utah. I am lucky to say I knew her when she was an intern and have gotten to watch her become an amazing physician and mother. 

Anxiety is the leading mental health disorder in children. We welcome back by long time friend, Dr. Molly McVoy, M.D. Dr. McVoy is a a child and adolescent psychiatrist and the Training Director for the Child and Adolescent Psychiatry Fellowship at University Hospitals of Cleveland/Case Western Reserve. 

We all have some anxiety and that is helpful evolutionarily. You are afraid you might miss your flight so you get to the airport extra early. You are afraid you didn't lock the door so you check the lock again. That is normal. When does anxiety cross over into a disorder? When impacts the function of other aspects of your life. 

When you are a parent and think your child might have anxiety that is impacting his/her/their life, what do you say? What do you do? 

We are here to have real talk about anxiety and hope we leave you with some tools in your tool box. 

It seems like kids are playing competitive sports younger and younger these days. Is playing one sport year round ok? When is it safe for kids to start running? Lifting weights? How can you tell growing pains from something that needs to be check out?

Join us on this episode with our guest Dr. Julia Rawlings, MD. Dr. Rawlings is trained in Pediatric Emergency Medicine with additional fellowship training in Primary Care Sports Medicine.  She is the team physician for the USA climbing team!

What is sports specialization? How to recognize burnout and overuse injuries. Join us for this intro to sports! 

Here's the real talk...kids can be simultaneously the light and shadows of our lives. Toddlers present an even bigger challenge with their AGE-APPROPRIATE under-developed reasoning and challenges with emotional regulation. 

In comes Sara Whaley, Board Certified Behavior Analyst and Parent Coach. She is the mother or 2 young children and our guest on today's show. We discuss toddler behavior and the important of setting appropriate expectations. We recognize the importance of getting our own needs met to fully be there for our children; and, my favorite, the idea of 'slowing down to speed up. Join us on this information packed episode and later for more episodes with Sara Whaley. 

Learn more about Sara on her website: https://joyfultoddlerparenting.com/

Ankle sprains are a common kid injury. When do you need to bring your kid in to see someone? When are xrays needed? How can you best help your child heal and feel comfortable at home?

Join us on this episode with out guest, Dr. Sarah Turner-Pietruszka. She is a fellowship-trained sports medicine provider. Her clinical interests include the care of athletes and aspiring active individuals with musculoskeletal injuries. 

She is passionate about helping others lead as active a life as possible and hopes to provide high-quality, compassionate care for all her patients. 

Dr. Turner-Pietruszka has three children and a wonderful old dog. Outside work, she enjoys spending time with her family, biking, exercising, camping, listening to music, audiobooks, and crafting.

Pediatricians get a LOT of poop questions. 

In this episode we address common questions for parents of kids of all ages - how long is too long in between poops? This poop is a weird color/consistency/smell. Is that ok? 

A variety of factors can affect your kids poop habits including fluid intake, food intake, stress, age, etc. Listen along as we discuss normal pooping expectations of kids of all ages and when to consider talking to your doctor about it. 

Ah, kids questions for me always come down to toots, poops, burps and other bodily noises! Do you know the answer?

Listen along with your kids for maximal fun on this one!

This comes up a lot. 

Parents wonder about flying with babies/kids for a number of reasons: 
-infectious risk
-changes in air pressure on premature lungs
-what about kids with asthma or lung disease or recent illness and flying?

Flying is about the same as being at 5000-8000 feet so the same questions can be asked about traveling to an location at elevation like Salt Lake City or Denver.

With the holidays coming up, we wanted to talk about this common parent question!

Whooping cough is spreading around the country. This is just the latest epidemic of this highly contagious bacterial illness that has seen a large resurgence over many years now. 

Here are the questions we address:

What is whooping cough? 

What are the symptoms? 

How contagious is it? 

How is it treated? 

What can I do to prevent it?

Kids get cuts and scrapes all the time. Have you ever wondered, should I go to the Emergency Room (ER) for this? Does it need stitches? 

In this episode of Real Talk With Kid Docs we are joined by Dr. Stephanie Spanos, Pediatric Emergency Medicine physician and Associate Professor of Pediatrics at the University of Utah. 

We focus our discussion on wounds and lacerations (the fancy word for cuts). Wounds are all unique and whether or not intervention is required depends on a number of variables including location, size, depth, and mechanism of injury.  

 As with any injury, if you are worried, this is always a reason to seek medical attention. If you have any thought that it might need stitches (the wound is wide open, the edges do not come together well and/or the edges cannot stay together), the sooner you get to medical attention, they better the outcome. Washing it out and addressing it as soon as you can helps prevent infection and increase the likelihood of a good cosmetic outcome. 

 Home care includes cleaning the wound with lots of water and applying pressure while in transit. Be aware that some areas of the body like the mouth and scalp bleed a LOT. Avoid putting anything else in the wound including soap, hydrogen peroxide, rubbing alcohol, etc. If there is a foreign body stuck on the wound, leave it in place. It is holding pressure on the wound. 

We hope you enjoy Dr. Spanos as much as we did and that you take away lots of practical tips.