Paediatric and child health news, views, guidance and support for parents and families.
Aimee (Lenny's mum): When I found out I was pregnant my partner Darren and I were thrilled. We had been trying for 12 months so the pregnancy felt particularly precious.
Like all young parents we were amazed and full of love to see our baby’s heart beat at the 12 week scan. The obstetrician saw something else too, what he called “Rocker bottom feet”. A later scan showed a problem with the kidneys too.
If you think you’ve been hearing more about measles lately you’re right - last year Queensland has had three times the number of cases than the year before. Here’s what you need to know.
Nothing strikes fear into the hearts of parents like the rumour of a gastro outbreak. Dr Carla Morley writes about ways to try to avoid gastro and how to manage a family outbreak once it happens.
Friend of Leading Steps Alana Gardini (Specialists Paediatric Physiotherapist) says there are five things new parents need to know to give their baby the best and strongest start for their physical development.
What happens when a mother has a vaccine preventable disease that may be transmitted to her baby, but won’t vaccinate to protect the child?
How do you console parents who chose not to vaccinate when their child is left brain damaged from a vaccine preventable illness?
Professor David Isaacs is friend of Leading Steps Paediatric Clinic, consultant paediatrician at the Children’s Hospital at Westmead, Sydney, and Clinical Professor in Paediatric Infectious Diseases at the University of Sydney has written about the fascinating history of immunization and what it means to be a paediatrician in the modern era of vaccines and life long immunity from some of humanity’s worst diseases.
This is an edited extract from his book Defeating the Ministers of Death by David Isaacs (HarperCollins Australia, $34.99)
Dr Amy Whittaker’s oldest child recently started school for the first time. It’s been an exciting experience all round, but one thing took Dr Whittaker by surprise and she began to wonder if there was a healthier and happier way start the school day.
A great addition to our rooms - the Super Power Baby Project Book is available for parents and children to read
Leading Steps Paediatric Clinic is thrilled to welcome our newest team member Dr Carla Morley.
Appointments available from 20th March 2019
Follow our fearless paediatricians as they train for the notoriously difficult Kokoda Challenge
Playdates are fun for kids and good for their social development, but sometimes it’s hard to broach the subject of care and supervision, especially if you don’t know the host family very well. Dr Annelise Wan discusses the issues that concern her when her boys go on playdates locally, and compare that to what worries paediatricians elsewhere.
Kathy Lette’s son was diagnosed with the autism by the time he was three. While finding his path to his personal success hasn’t been easy - it has certainly been worth it, with an outcome that surprised many.
Our paediatricians love to read Roald Dahl books to their own children. In 1986 Roald Dahl wrote something different - an open letter about his daughter’s death from measles.
As a paediatrician and Emergency Medicine Specialist I know that many parents worry about high fevers. What warning signs do paediatricians look for that show a child is seriously unwell?
There has been an increase in parents swaddling their babies in the first months of life. Different cultural traditions have different methods to swaddle babies, but no matter what there are some things you need to know to swaddle your baby safely.
It’s important to get the most out of your appointment with a paediatrician. Here are our tips for preparing for your appointment.
With the long summer holidays approaching we starting to thinking about which books we had loved and debating the "books children shouldn't leave childhood without reading".
With so many good book around we kept the list to the books we'd enjoyed as children and loved revisiting with our own children.
Many parents have happy memories of Christmas from their own childhoods. Beach shacks and icy poles, warm mornings dawning with the prospect of untold adventure, bike riding, swimming in the sea, playing outdoors late into the evening before drifting to sleep to the tap of a sprinkler and the grit of sand in the sheets.
It's a good time of year to reflect on what memories our children might have from their own childhood Christmases.
Is it time for an alternative “facetime” intervention?
Q and A with dual specialist Dr Victoria Matheson - what drives a lifetime of achievement?
Dr Annelise Wan approaches childhood weight gain from a different angle - looking at behaviours that families can more easily change.
