Halloween is just around the corner, and kids of all ages are gearing up for the festivities. Before your children go trick or treating, here are some tips from the American Academy of Pediatrics (AAP) to help ensure they have a safe holiday. Plan costumes that are bright and reflective. Make sure that shoes fit well and that costumes are short enough to prevent tripping, entanglement or contact with flame.Consider adding...
It seems like new (and often-times conflicting) information comes out each day about what’s healthy to eat and what’s best to limit or avoid. In the last several years, one theme has been pretty constant: Study after study indicates that eating less red meat is better for your health. But just last week, the news was full of reports about studies in the Annals of Internal Medicine by an international group of researchers that...
Wondering how to establish and maintain healthy sleep habits for your baby or older child? Here are a few tips from Certified Pediatric Sleep Consultant Corey Wilbur, M.S., founder of Let There Be Sleep! LLC. Stick to a regular daytime and bedtime sleep schedule as much as possible, even on the weekends. Studies indicate that a regular sleep schedule maintains the timing of the body’s internal clock and can help your...
During the early months of each year, North Shore Child & Family Guidance Center conducts an informal study in an attempt to understand who is calling us for help and what needs they’re calling us about. In recent years, the trend has been that most of the children and teens we see are experiencing depression, often coupled with anxiety. Approximately 1 in 5 teens experience major depression, but about 60% do...
By Nicole Nagy I was a prisoner inside my own body. Like many people, I struggle with anxiety and depression, which started when I was a teenager. Somehow I had the will power to document my journey from hospitalizations, suicide attempts, brain surgery and just navigating life. The rest is history inside a book I wrote called Creative Mind: Diary of Teenage Mental Illness. One of the issues I chronicle in my book...
At North Shore Child & Family Guidance Center, we not only provide counseling, but we also offer some very innovative programs targeted at specific needs and sectors of our local communities. One of those programs is the Latina Girls Project, which was created to respond to the alarming rate of depression, school refusal, self-harm, sexual abuse, suicidal ideation and attempted suicides by Hispanic girls, ages 12-17. In addition to bilingual individual,...
Recent headlines have revealed an alarming rash of suicides among police officers and veterans. But adults are not the only ones at risk. According to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC), suicide is the third leading cause of death among individuals between the ages of 10 and 14, and the second leading cause of death among individuals between the ages of 15 and 34. One in 12 high school students...
Do your kids tell you that vaping is safe? They couldn’t be more wrong. Not only is it dangerous, it turns out it is potentially deadly. The New York Times reported the following on August 23, 2019: “A patient in Illinois is the first to die of a mysterious lung illness linked to vaping, public health officials announced on Friday.The death occurred as doctors and hospitals nationwide report an increasing number of vaping-related...
By guest blogger Sydney Spilko With the support of same sex marriage becoming more and more popular in the United States, more confusion about these topics may hinder acceptance. If you’re the parent of a gay, bisexual or queer child and are confused about the terminology, this blog post is for you. Here is a listing of various terms to help you understand the state of language usage when it comes to...
By guest blogger Sydney Spilko “Non-Binary.” “Transgender.” “Gender non-conforming.” If you’re a parent, and you’ve heard these terms before, you may be confused about what they mean. As a larger understanding of gender among young people has increased over the past few years, topics, terms and ideas have emerged, and you can be sure that your kids are talking about it. In next week’s blog, we will be talking about sexuality; that is, the...