Help for a Preschooler Afraid of the Potty

Hi Dr. Heather, I am in desperate need of help. I have an almost-4-year-old son who is afraid of public restrooms. At 2 1/2 years old, his preschool teacher thought he may have a speech delay so we did early intervention with Easter Seals through the State run program. Turns out he just wasn’t ready more »

Aloha, Honolulu Advertiser Readers!

Can I brag for a minute, folks? I’m being featured in today’s Honolulu Advertiser, in the Family Section. Zenaida Serrano was kind enough to use BabyShrink in her story about “Playing with Newborns”. Our good friend and nanny Keri Duke is a professional artist and photographer (and my own professional lifesaver), and took this photo more »

Got a New Baby? How to Survive the Sleep Deprivation

Boy, am I tired. You’d think I’d get used to the lack of sleep by now — this is our fourth child, after all. But the crushing effects of sleep deprivation continue to be the hardest part of parenting, for me. I could change diapers and nurse and even chase toddlers all day long, if more »

New Info on the Autism/Vaccine Issue

In an interesting development in the ongoing saga of the alleged link between vaccines and autism, the medical journal The Lancet is retracting the original study that proposed the idea that the MMR vaccine could cause the disorder. If you’ve been a BabyShrink reader for awhile, you know my stand on vaccines: They’ve saved millions more »

A Toddler’s Strange New Fear, and What To Do About It

I’ve gotten a lot of traffic lately on Strange and Sudden Toddler Fears. I’ve written on this before (and included a link at the end of this post), but this is such a common question that I’ve decided to answer it’s latest incarnation, hopefully with some additional insights. Here goes: Dear Dr. Heather, Just in more »