Daily Health Tips: Trusted Medical Information, Health Tips and Advices

My daughter's kindergarten class went on a field trip to a dentist's office recently. We go to the dentist regularly, so I admit that at first I thought the trip was a waste of time. However, the trip did end up impressing on me that many children today have little or no regular dental care, and that a refresher on basic dental care is always a good thing. Things You Can Do to Keep Your Child's Teeth Healthy In the first year of life, start brushing baby's teeth as soon as the first ones appear (usually at around 6 to 7 months of age). Make it fun by letting your baby hold the toothbrush, but also establish the pattern early where you always have a turn brushing the teeth too. The idea here to gradually get across is that tooth brushing is a must, not a choice. Don't put your baby to bed with a bottle. If you do, make sure it only has plain water in it, because milk contains sugar that will sit on the teeth overnight and can cause cavities. Limit juices and

Despite a health-care system that outspends those in the rest of the world, infants and mothers fare worse in the U.S. than in many other industrialized nations. The infant mortality rate in Canada is 25 percent lower than it is in the U.S.; the Japanese rate, more than 60 percent lower. According to the World Health Organization, America ranks behind 41 other countries in preventing mothers from dying during childbirth. In fact, the rate of maternal deaths in the U.S. has risen over the past decade, and the number of premature and low-birth-weight babies is higher now than it was in the 1980s and 1990s. Why are we doing so badly? Partly because mothers tend to be less healthy than in the past, “which contributes to a higher-risk pregnancy,” says Diane Ashton, M.D., deputy medical director of the March of Dimes. But another key reason appears to be a health-care system that has developed into a highly profitable labor-and-delivery machine, operating according to its own timetable rath

Rear-Facing Seats Infants - from birth to at least 1 year old and at least 20 pounds For the best possible protection keep infants in the back seat, in rear-facing child safety seats, as long as possible up to the height or weight limit of the particular seat. At a minimum, keep infants rear-facing until a minimum of age 1 and at least 20 pounds. Forward-Facing Seats Toddlers - Age 1 & 20 lbs to Age 4 & 40 lbs When children outgrow their rear-facing seats (at a minimum age 1 and at least 20 pounds) they should ride in forward-facing child safety seats, in the back seat, until they reach the upper weight or height limit of the particular seat (usually around age 4 and 40 pounds). Booster Seats Children - from about age 4 to at least age 8 Once children outgrow their forward-facing seats (usually around age 4 and 40 pounds), they should ride in booster seats, in the back seat, until the vehicle seat belts fit properly. Seat belts fit properly when the lap belt lays