Some updates & Recent news

Another book, some events this week and an OP-ED

Again I’ve neglected my newsletter. Between returning to a full time job as a practicing pediatrician, continuing my media work and navigating the end of the school year as a mom, I’ve had my hands full. But I wanted to share a few things!

Advanced Parenting - A new book!

First, I am so excited to be working on another book! Advanced Parenting is intended to help families when their child has a challenge. So often I have seen families leave a doctor’s appointment feeling overwhelmed by a new diagnosis or a school conference feeling confused about the implications of a developmental or learning concern. I’ve seen that having support for what to do next is crucial for helping promote a family’s confidence and comfort. I’m so excited to have the support of a major publishing house on this project and with Hachette’s Grand Central Publishing Balance imprint Advanced Parenting will be out in 2023.

This summer as part of my research, I’m interviewing a bunch of experts and stakeholders. I am so excited to be speaking with parents who have faced challenges with their children big and small, children whose siblings have chronic health concerns, medical specialists with experience helping families, and educators who specialize in children with learning and developmental differences. If you want to talk to me too or you have a suggestion for someone I should chat with, I’d love it - email me or comment below.

Live speaking events this week

I am excited to be doing two public speaking events this week.

The CDC and the AAP have joined together in a campaign to help promote resilience in children and invited me to participate as an expert. Through research about adverse childhood experiences (ACEs) we know a lot about how toxic stress can damage long term health. Particularly since the pandemic has been a big stress for many families it seems important to be discussing practical and evidence based ways to promote resilience. Join me and Anitra (The Mom on the Move) on her Facebook account for a live discussion Wednesday at 12p EST.

Of all the topics my friends ask me about, safe sleep is one of the most common. While the A-B-Cs of sleep (Alone on your back in a crib) seem simple in the pediatrician’s office, the reality is that many parents bring their children into bed at some point due to sheer exhaustion. I contributed to a resource for babylist tackling many of the most common sleep questions and they invited me to join them to go live on instagram Thursday at 1p EST to discuss.

My friend Hina and I wrote an op-ed

Writing op-eds is not for the faint of heart. You start with an idea and something to say and then your ideas get edited and ideas cut. The paper writes the headline and adds some adjectives like "ludicrous". Many people on both sides tell you all the reasons you are wrong (Masks are 100% necessary and masks are difficult barriers). 

But the bottom line is I believe children need school, in person, unqualified, full time. And what communities need to make that happen safely will depend on their vaccination status and case rates. Papers ran this in Tyler TX, Davenport IA, Chicago, Philadelphia and Sarasota Fl. Undoubtedly each place has its own issues to consider. Even here in NYC half a mile away vaccination rates are less than half what they are in Manhattan.

The bottom line is I’d like us to reframe the focus on "freeing the kids" to vaccinating communities to stop the spread of covid and make masking a moot point. Hopefully the EUA will come through for 5+ in September and provide families with multiple options for protecting their children from covid exposure in schools.

You can read it here and let me know what you think (or not!). And thanks to my friend Dr. Hina Talib and the AAP for their help on this project.

Hope your summer is off to a great start! I’ll send out another newsletter soon.