Tamalpais Pediatrics

For all of our breastfeeding moms – in addition to lactation support from Brenda Evans, PNP, we are happy to announce that we are starting a monthly breastfeeding support group.  The group will be facilitated by Julia Giammona, LPN.  This is an opportunity to connect with other breastfeeding moms, discuss breastfeeding in a comfortable and informal setting, and learn new tricks to help make breastfeeding a little easier.  The group will meet in the waiting room of our Novato office on the first Wednesday of every month at 12:15.  Come on down on June 5th for the next meeting.

Once again, the news is filled with reports of a tragic event.  The bombing at the Boston Marathon yesterday affects all of us in some way.  Our hearts go out to the families and community that was affected by this event.

Like so many other news stories of the past few years, the latest news is something we want to protect our kids from. Children are naturally curious, and even when they appear to be ignoring what the grown-ups are talking about and listening to, they are tuned in and paying attention on some level.  It’s important that we realize this and help kids make sense of what they are hearing and seeing.

Often this is not easy, since even adults have trouble understanding these difficult and scary events.  It’s important to be aware that your kids are exposed to images, sounds and stories that may scare them, and they are going to wonder how these events may affect them.  Be open to talking about it, answer their questions and reassure them that you will always protect them as best you can.

We’ve collected a few resources about how to talk to kids about events like the Boston Marathon bombing.  Take a look at the links below:

The American Academy of Pediatrics website has a page dedicated to Children and Disasters which covers many aspects of this important topic, including Talking to Children About Disasters.

The American Academy of Child and Adolescent Psychiatry website has many resources for parents, families and those of us who work with children.  There are articles like “How to Talk With Children about Boston Marathon Bombs,” and “Helping Children After a Disaster.”

The Common Sense Media website also has a video on “Explaining the News to Our Kids“  along with other links, resources, information and advice.

Please remember that if your child seems to be excessively worried or frightened about the possibility of something bad happening to them, you should call us to discuss it – we can help.

Sarah Middleton, an infant sleep consultant and parent coach, will be returning to our Greenbrae office on Wednesday, May 8th at 12:15PM.  Sarah will be doing a lecture on Sleep from 0 to 12 months, discussing babies’ sleep needs and how best to help your baby learn good sleep habits.  Feel free to join us and bring your questions!

We are busy putting the finishing touches on our new website, which will still be located at www.tamalpaispediatrics.com, and should be ready for launch in the next week or two.  We will post an update here before it goes live.  Unfortunately, you will not automatically be subscribed to the news updates on the new site, but there will be a blog that we will update periodically as well as a Facebook page and Twitter feed that you can follow.  Stay tuned….

Last week all of our patients should have received a letter about our new affiliation with the UCSF School of Medicine.  We are proud to announce that Tamalpais Pediatrics has become a Clinical Associate of UCSF.   For more details on this relationship, click here to read a copy of the letter that was sent to our patients.

As stated in the letter, we will remain a local, independent practice and in many ways things will be just the same.   We are always looking for ways to improve and provide you and your children with the best possible health care.  We’re going to use this relationship to do just that.  Feel free to contact us if you have any questions or feedback about this, or anything else having to do with our practice.

We are happy to say that Dr. Maisel is back from her injury and working her regular schedule.  If your child had an appointment that was cancelled during her absence, please call now to reschedule.

As promised, Kathy Morgan, PNP has set up a blog so that we can all follow along with her international work.  Take a look at KMO Globe Room to read about her current trip to India as well as future travels and adventures.

There are many amazing stories among our Tamalpais Pediatrics patients and their families.  Recently, one of the families in our practice became involved in a cutting-edge study at Stanford in an attempt to cure their children of life threatening nut allergies.  It’s an amazing story – and it isn’t over yet.  Lucky for us, they have chosen to share their story on their blog – click here to read about their journey.  (click here if you want to go to the first post and start at the beginning).

Some families in our practice have received a letter this week about a new policy here at Tamalpais Pediatrics.  Starting this month, we are requiring that all patients in our practice receive the MMR vaccine by age 2, or they will be asked to leave our practice.

This decision was made with much thought and careful consideration, and is based on our knowlege of the safety of vaccines and the danger to our patients and our community of a Measles outbreak.  Our goal is to protect our patients to the best of our ability.  Vaccines, and especially the MMR, are an important part of this effort.

For more details on this policy and the reasons why we felt it was necessary, please click here for a Survivor: Pediatrics post about it.  As always, we welcome your feedback – if you have any questions about this, please bring them up with your doctor.