The start of a new school year is a good time to remind all of us of the importance of reading to the brain development and learning of children of all ages.
The American Academy of Pediatrics (AAP) recently released updated findings on the benefits of reading aloud to children starting at birth or even before. We strongly support the AAP’s recommendations of regularly reading out loud to children from the newborn period at least through kindergarten. Framingham Pediatrics was among the very first private pediatrics practices in the country to participate in the national Reach Out and Read program, and we have been handing out books to children at well visits beginning at birth up through the 5 year visit for 21 years. We now hand out thousands of books each year. What a joy it is to see the smiles on our young patients’ faces when they receive these books!
The AAP notes that shared reading in the earliest stages of childhood improves language, cognitive, and social-emotional development and is associated with higher language skills at school entry and improved child literacy. Books and shared reading build nurturing relationships, which also lead to improved resiliency at an early age. The new recommendations from the AAP continue to recommend limited screen use in early childhood, and place an emphasis on print books for young children because “digital books do not foster equivalent parent-child interactions.”
THANK YOU! To our many, many families who have seen our requests around the office and by email to please complete our questionnaires on MyChart before you come to the office for your appointment! These surveys really do help us to provide better and more efficient care to our patients and families, and they are most helpful when completed prior to your visit. Please reach out to our wonderful team if we can help you in any way with this request.
October is the start of Respiratory Syncytial Virus (RSV) season in the Northeast. RSV is a common respiratory virus that causes runny nose, congestion, fever and cough in people of all ages during the winter cold season. Unfortunately, it also has the ability to settle in the lungs and airways in young children, and can therefore cause serious problems including wheezing, difficulty breathing and low oxygen levels in our youngest patients.
RSV is a common cause of pneumonia and bronchiolitis in children, and is the most common cause of hospitalization in children in the first year of life in the U.S. In our area, RSV is generally seen from October 1 through the end of March.
There is no specific treatment for RSV. Infected children are generally given supportive care focused on hydration, fever control, and comfort measures. Two to three out of every 100 infants in the US with RSV infection may require a hospital stay. These babies continue to have trouble breathing or drinking enough fluid to stay hydrated despite home measures. If it looks like your child is working hard to breathe, is breathing faster than usual, is having trouble drinking enough fluid to stay hydrated, or is unusually lethargic with cold symptoms, call our office and arrange to be seen as soon as possible.
The very exciting news about RSV is that we now have extremely effective ways of preventing it in infants and high risk toddlers! Two new ways of preventing RSV became available last winter. The maternal RSV vaccine (Abrysvo) can be given to pregnant mothers at 32 through 36 weeks of pregnancy if their baby will be born during RSV season. This vaccine reduces the risk of RSV hospitalization for babies by 57% in their first six months of life. For infants up to 8 months of age and some toddlers, an RSV immunization called nirsevimab (Beyfortus) has been shown to be 80-90% effective in preventing hospitalization in infants. This is a one-time injection, given either in the hospital after birth or at our office, and lasts through the RSV season. Babies whose mother received Abrysvo more than two weeks before delivery do not need the Beyfortus shot.
At Framingham Pediatrics, we strongly recommend one of these methods of RSV prevention for all infants under 8 months of age. Please reach out through MyChart or call our office if you would like to arrange for your infant to receive the Beyfortus shot. Please note that distribution of Beyfortus is being prioritized to birth hospitals rather than to pediatric offices. We currently do not have the dosage for newborns in our office. If you are offered this vaccine in the newborn nursery, we encourage you to get if for your baby. We do have doses in our office for babies who weigh more than 11 pounds.
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Halloween is just around the corner! Help your trick-or-treaters stay safe with these tips:
How long have you been at Framingham Pediatrics? 11 years
Favorite ice cream flavor: DQ's S'mores Blizzard - so sad that they are not making it anymore
Favorite children's book: The Junie B. Jones books
Favorite Disney movie: My all time favorite movie is Lion King 2
What is the best part about working at Framingham Pediatrics?: My favorite thing about working at Framingham Pediatrics is the relationships and friends I have made over the years.