Ellenton Pediatrics

12/24/2025

❤️

TODAY'S POSTS will be a series of quotes.

Christmas can quietly pile pressure onto parents.
To create magic. To hold it all together. To make it joyful, meaningful, memorable — while staying calm, grateful, and regulated.

But that pressure doesn’t come from children.
It comes from expectations, comparison, and the belief that we have to be everything for everyone.

These quotes are a reminder to pause.
To soften the standards.
To care for yourself as much as you care for your child.

Because a calmer, supported adult is far more important than a perfect Christmas.

12/24/2025

🤒 The Flu in Kids: What Parents Should Know
Flu season is here, and many parents are asking about treatment options. Here’s a simple breakdown.
💊 Antiviral medicines
• Antivirals (like Tamiflu) can help shorten flu symptoms, but they’re not a magic cure
• They work best when started within the first 48 hours of illness
• Benefits are usually modest, and some pharmacies may have limited supply
• Xofluza is a single-dose option, but it’s only approved for kids over age 5, often not covered by insurance, and can be expensive
🧃 Supportive care still matters most
Rest, fluids, fever control, and early medical evaluation—especially for younger kids or those with medical conditions—remain key.
⚠️ A note on safety
While most children recover well, the flu can rarely cause serious complications, especially in:
• Infants and young children
• Kids with asthma, heart disease, diabetes, or weakened immune systems
Call your pediatrician or seek care if symptoms worsen or don’t improve.
About Tamiflu side effects;
Tamiflu sometimes gets a bad rap, but here’s what we see in real life:
• Nausea or vomiting are the most talked-about side effects
• In practice, these are usually uncommon, mild, and short-lived
• Taking the medicine with food often helps
You may have heard concerns about neuropsychiatric symptoms (like confusion or unusual behavior). These have been reported rarely—mostly in older children and teens—but large studies have not shown a clear link to the medication itself. Importantly, influenza infection alone can cause similar symptoms.
👉 Overall, when used appropriately, Tamiflu is generally well tolerated in children.
Bottom line: Antivirals can help some kids, supportive care is essential, and staying alert for complications is important. When in doubt, reach out to your pediatrician—we’re here to help.
Wishing your family a Merry (flu-less) Christmas and a healthy holiday season!
📚 Evidence behind this guidance (for interested parents)
• FDA & CDC clinical trial data: vomiting is the most common side effect; serious adverse events are rare
• Pediatric meta-analyses: increased vomiting vs placebo, but usually mild and self-limited
• Large observational studies & systematic reviews: no increased risk of neuropsychiatric events with oseltamivir; flu itself is a likely cause
• FDA & European Medicines Agency: overall favorable safety profile in children

12/23/2025

Wishing our wonderful patients, their families, and our amazing team a joyful and healthy holiday season! ❤️🎄
We’re so grateful to be part of your children’s health journey—their bravery, joy, and bright smiles light up our days all year long. And a huge thank you to our incredible staff, whose kindness and care make those smiles possible every day.
Holiday hours:
Tomorrow we’re open in the morning only, until 12:15 PM.
We’ll be closed on Christmas Day and will reopen Friday with our usual schedule.
Sending love and holiday cheer from all of us! ✨
Merry Christmas!

12/23/2025

A complete guide on Iron-Rich Foods for Babies, Toddlers and Kids - covers everything you need to know. Plus over 50 easy recipes!

12/23/2025

Learn the signs that your baby is ready for solid foods, get suggestions for great first baby foods, and find out how to make sure your baby is getting enough…

12/23/2025

Writing this while some of us are battling a cold ourselves—noses completely blocked, heads heavy, energy gone, feeling blah—and it’s giving us even more empathy for the families we see every day. 😔
Children get a lot of colds, often referred to as upper respiratory infections (URIs). Truly a lot. Eight to ten per year is completely normal, especially in the early school years. Each one can come with miserable symptoms: congestion that won’t quit, coughing that disrupts sleep, sore throats, low energy, and big feelings. And the hardest part? These are viral illnesses—antibiotics don’t help, no matter how much we wish they could. And for younger children, cough suppressants are often best avoided, even when everyone is desperate for rest.
Often, yes—it’s not the flu, COVID, or RSV, but one of the many other viruses we don’t routinely test for. Not because they aren’t real or uncomfortable, but because naming the virus doesn’t change what we can do. Treatment remains the same: supportive care, comfort, and time.
When we say, “This is a cold,” it does not mean we’re minimizing what your child is going through—or what you’re going through as a parent. A URI can be exhausting, uncomfortable, and disruptive for the whole household. Sick kids suffer. Tired parents worry. Sleep is lost. School and work are missed. That matters.
Sometimes the most honest answer medicine has is support, patience, and reassurance—and that can feel deeply unsatisfying when your child feels awful right now. Please know that when we name it a cold, it comes with understanding, not dismissal. We see the discomfort. We respect the struggle. And we’re right there with you—congested, run-down, and counting tissues too. ❤️

In their first two years alone, most children have about eight to ten colds. Learn how colds spread and when to call the pediatrician.

12/23/2025

Close follow-up for children with ADHD who start medication is essential to ensure safe and effective treatment. After beginning a new medication, children should be seen around 1 month later to assess how they’re responding, adjust the dose if needed, and watch for side effects such as changes in appetite, sleep, mood, growth, heart rate and blood pressure. Early follow-up allows clinicians to optimize symptom control while minimizing adverse effects. Once a stable and effective regimen has been established, regular visits every 3 months help maintain optimal symptom management, monitor ongoing growth and development, ensure continued adherence, and identify any emerging concerns or comorbidities. This schedule aligns with pediatric practice standards recommending a follow-up soon after initiation and then quarterly visits for management and safety monitoring.

It's More Than You Might Think

12/23/2025

Every birth has a story, and sometimes it begins with an emergency call and a steady voice offering reassurance in the middle of the night. We’re incredibly grateful for the 911 telecommunicators who guide families through unexpected, high-stress moments with calm, skill, and compassion. This is one of those unforgettable stories—one that reminds us how many hands and hearts help bring a baby safely into the world.

12/23/2025

Sleep training for infants is a caring and flexible journey, not a strict rulebook. Every baby is different, and it’s okay to take things slowly and trust your instincts. Rather than stressing over schedules or methods, the focus is on listening to your baby’s cues—their tired signs, comfort needs, and natural rhythms. With patience, gentle routines, and plenty of reassurance, healthy sleep habits can grow over time. Remember, there’s no “perfect” way to do this—what matters most is creating a calm, loving environment where both baby and caregiver feel supported.

You can’t take the sleepless nights anymore, and you’re thinking it might be time to sleep train your baby. But are they old enough? What techniques work best? And how long will it take? We’ve got answers.

12/22/2025

Flu activity is high this year, especially in kids. The main flu strain circulating this year is a slight variation of the strain in the vaccine, subclade K H3N2, but we hope the shot still helps prevent severe illness. Please stay home if sick—even for the holidays. What someone may recover from easily could be deadly for a vulnerable or elderly family member. It’s not "just the flu."

Influenza activity in the United States has spiked across the country, with 17 jurisdictions (14 states and Puerto Rico; Washington, DC; and New York City) reporting high or very high influenza-like illness (ILI) and other key indicators rising markedly, signaling the start of the flu season in earn...

12/22/2025

Girls with ADD (Attention Deficit Disorder) are often different from the stereotypical image of ADHD. They may be quiet, thoughtful, socially aware, and kind, which can make their struggles less obvious. Because their symptoms are often overlooked, many go undiagnosed, leading to feelings of frustration, anxiety, and depression as they try to keep up with school, relationships, and expectations.
"Girls internalize these negative experiences and do their best to cope, compensate, and hide, which can make identifying their ADHD even more difficult.
The awareness that they are working much harder than their non-ADHD peers just to stay afloat means that girls with ADHD often view themselves as stupid or broken. “Girls with undiagnosed ADHD often attribute their symptoms to uncontrollable character flaws, ”

Are we neglecting our distracted daughters? Studies show that ADHD symptoms are not only commonly missed in girls, they are too often called laziness or ditziness, and may lead to a lifetime of self-esteem problems and missed treatment opportunities. Here is why so many girls with ADHD are not prope...

12/22/2025

!!!