Health & Safety
Colds, coughs and what to give
Most over-the-counter remedies are not recommended for young children, and the things that help are unglamorous.
Dr Nina Castellanos
30 articles by Castellanos
Health & Safety
Rashes and what they mean
Most childhood rashes are harmless, a small number are urgent, and the distinguishing features are learnable.
Newborn Care
The six-to-eight week review
A structured check with a specific list of things being looked for, and the only appointment many parents get for themselves.
Health & Safety
Hygiene, germs and how much to worry
Some hygiene practices matter substantially for infants and others are theatre, and the difference is well characterised.
Development
Autism, ADHD and early signs
Some features can be recognised in the second year, assessment routes vary, and early support does not require a diagnosis.
Sleep
When sleep problems are medical
A minority of persistent sleep difficulty has a physical cause, and behavioural approaches will not fix any of them.
Newborn Care
Constipation and gut problems in babies
Straining is usually not constipation, real constipation is common and treatable, and a few presentations are emergencies.
Newborn Care
Newborn reflexes and what they mean
Babies arrive with a set of automatic responses that are checked deliberately, because their presence and their disappearance both matter.
Health & Safety
Immunisation reactions and what is normal
The common reactions have a predictable timing, and the rare serious ones have a very different pattern.
Health & Safety
Ears, eyes and the checks that catch things early
Hearing and vision problems in infancy are treatable and are missed when nobody looks, which is why the screening exists.
Development
Reading, singing and books before one
Shared reading in infancy has some of the strongest evidence of any activity, and it does not require sitting still.
Health & Safety
The emergencies worth recognising
A short list of presentations where minutes matter, and what to do before help arrives.
Health & Safety
Diarrhoea, vomiting and dehydration
Gastroenteritis is common and the management is mostly about fluid, with a specific list of signs that change the picture.
Development
Screens, and the guidance for the youngest children
The recommendations for under-twos are more specific than for older children, and the mechanism is displacement.
Newborn Care
Premature babies and the neonatal unit
The equipment is frightening, the terminology is opaque, and parents are part of the care rather than visitors to it.
Health & Safety
Teething, honestly
It causes real discomfort for a few days per tooth, and it is blamed for a great many things it does not cause.
Health & Safety
Coughs, colds and how many is too many
Young children get a remarkable number of infections, most need nothing, and the warning signs are specific.
Development
Crawling, cruising and walking
The route to walking varies more than the charts suggest, and several common worries turn out not to be worries.
Feeding
Growth charts and what centiles mean
A centile is a position in a distribution rather than a grade, and the pattern over time matters far more than any single point.
Newborn Care
Nappies, changing and the rash nobody avoids
Nappy contents are a diagnostic tool in the early weeks, and the rash has a small number of distinct causes.
Health & Safety
Vaccinations, and the questions people actually have
The schedule has reasons behind its timing, the side effects are predictable, and the common concerns have specific answers.
Development
Talking, babbling and first words
Language development begins long before the first word, and what adults do with it has a measurable effect.
Newborn Care
Crying, colic and what the evidence supports
Crying follows a predictable curve, most remedies do not work, and the safety information is the part that matters most.
Newborn Care
Jaundice in newborns
Most of it is normal and resolves, and the specific circumstances that make it urgent are worth knowing precisely.
Parents
Recovery after birth, physically
The postnatal body needs weeks to months rather than the fortnight the discharge letter implies, and several symptoms are urgent.
Health & Safety
Fever in a baby, and when it matters
Age changes everything: in the youngest babies fever is an emergency, and in older ones the temperature matters less than the child.
Development
Tummy time, rolling and flat heads
The back-to-sleep advice saved many lives and produced a predictable side effect with a straightforward answer.
Development
Milestones, and what the ranges really mean
Development is a range rather than a schedule, and the useful information is about the limits rather than the averages.
Newborn Care
The cord, the skin and the first bath
Newborn skin needs less intervention than the shelves suggest, and the cord needs almost nothing at all.
Newborn Care
The first forty-eight hours
What happens medically, what the checks are for, and what is normal in a baby who has just arrived.