Teaching Toddlers to Read

September 30, 2009 By Diane Constantine Leave a Comment

The mom of a 22 month old asked me recently what she should be doing to teach her child to read. Her daughter reads words that she has never been taught. She was saying, “Moot,” while pointing to an apple juice bottle. Her mom had never referred to it as anything other than apple juice, but the brand name was Mott. Is she reading and what should this mom do to teach her daughter?

Recently an infomercial aired in the US for Your Baby Can Read. It sounds like a great idea, but is it worth the money and time?

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Different Immunization Schedules

September 30, 2009 By Diane Constantine Leave a Comment

By Elizabeth Cohen
CNN Medical Correspondent

ATLANTA, Georgia (CNN) — Five years ago, Kathye Petters-Armitage’s first child received the exact vaccinations on the exact schedule recommended by her pediatrician.

Hannah Polling’s autism was found to be “significantly aggravated” by her childhood vaccines.

But when she gave birth to her second child, Petters-Armitage had a change of heart.

In the intervening two years, she’d read a lot about concerns that vaccines cause autism and decided to ask her pediatrician to give her new baby fewer shots spread out over a longer period of time.

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Dr. Sears’ Alternate Schedule

September 11, 2009 By Diane Constantine Leave a Comment

2 months	DTaP, Rotavirus
3 months	Pc, HIB
4 months	DTaP, Rotavirus
5 months	Pc, HIB
6 months	DTaP, Rotavirus
7 months	Pc, HIB
9 months	Polio (IPV)
12 months	Mumps, Polio (IPV)
15 months	Pc, HIB
18 months	DTaP, Chickenpox
2 years	Rubella, Polio (IPV)
2 1/2 years	Hep B, Hep A (start Hep B at birth if any close relatives or charegivers have Hep B)
3 years	Hep B, Measles
3 1/2 years	Hep B, Hep A
4 years	DTaP, Polio (IPV)
5 years	MMR
6 years	Chickenpox
12 years	Tdap, HPV
13 years	HPV, Meningococcal

Ask Dr. Sears

September 11, 2009 By Diane Constantine Leave a Comment

Wednesday, June 10, 2009

For over a decade now most doctors, researchers, and government officials have denied that there could be any link between vaccines and autism. They’ve denied it so vehemently that they’ve refused to adequately study the very idea. Until now. The federal government’s vaccine advisory panel (the National Vaccine Advisory Committee or NVAC) just voted to recommend to the US Dept of Health and Human Services that they and the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention conduct large-scale prospective research trials in groups of vaccinated versus unvaccinated children to determine various theoretical risk factors and possible severe reactions to vaccines, including autism.

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MMR and Autism Controversy

September 11, 2009 By Diane Constantine Leave a Comment

Is there a link between MMR vaccinations and the rise in Autism? The rule of thumb used to be that babies should begin the MMR vaccinations at one year. Much controversy has been stirred about these vaccinations. Autism often begins to be recognized about the time the toddlers are vaccinated for Measles, Mumps, and Rubella, so is this vaccination the cause of the epidemic of autism?

Today, many parents and some doctors are recommending delaying the beginning of the series until children are 18 months or more. Some feel it is best to give the inoculations individually.

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