New Infant Formula Ingredients Boost Babies' Immunity by Feeding Their Gut Bacteria (29 Feb 2012)
A probiotic formula significantly enhanced immunity in formula-fed infants, and babies who consumed a formula containing prebiotic ingredients also benefited.

Simple Recommendations Help Reduce Harmful Environmental Exposure Risks For Women And Their Offspring (7 Mar 2012)
Important tips that women who are pregnant, or about to become pregnant, should be given by their healthcare providers, but often are not.

8 Ways to Tell If Your Child Has Serious Allergies (18 Mar 2012)
A brief guide to establishing whether your child has a cold, or allergies, and, if the latter, whether it's serious or not.
And another, related link here.

Let Them Eat Dirt (22 Mar 2012)
Early exposure to microbes shapes the mammalian immune system by subduing inflammatory T cells.

Vacationing with a Child with Allergies or Asthma (21 May 2012)
With food allergies and asthma killing over 3,000 US children annually, and resulting in more than one million emergency room visits, these allergy travel tips could literally be a life-saver.

Probiotics in pregnancy benefit both mother and baby (3 Jun 2012)
Probiotics might help prevent allergies and obesity in children when taken by their mothers during pregnancy.

How Can You Tell if a Baby has a Peanut Allergy? (5 Jun 2012)
An estimated 3 million US babies under one year of age have some type of food allergy, but babies are not able to communicate if their tummy hurts or if they have a "funny feeling" in their throat. This is why it's very important to introduce foods to infants very slowly and only one at a time, with very few solid foods until they are at least 6 months old.

Paracetamol/Acetaminophen Overdose Can Be Deadly for a Child (8 Jun 2012)
Doctors and pharmacists are urged to educate parents about possible hazards of this drug.

Breast milk kills HIV and blocks its oral transmission in humanised mice (14 Jun 2012)
Although a significant number of HIV infections in infants are attributed to breastfeeding, most breastfed babies are not infected with HIV, despite prolonged and repeated exposure. HIV researchers have been left with a conundrum: does breast milk transmit the virus or protect against it? New research explores this paradox in a humanised mouse model, demonstrating that breast milk has a strong virus killing effect and protects against oral transmission of HIV.

Mom illegally kicked out of library for breastfeeding in public (23 Jun 2012)
A mother was recently ejected from the Minneapolis Central Public Library for discreetly breastfeeding her baby on a bench in an atrium area of the library. Although Minnesota law allows mothers to nurse their babies in public and private areas, library staff were, ironically, unaware of this.

Drug company bribed doctors to give antidepressants to children (2 Jul 2012)
GlaxoSmithKline is to pay $3bn (£1.9bn) in the largest healthcare fraud settlement in US history.
If you feel strongly about GSK's deceitful promotion of its drugs, you can take action by joining the GSK products boycott.

More health groups call for curb on wi-fi in schools (2 July 2012)
More health groups, doctors and scientists are adding their voices to a worldwide call to safeguard children against emissions from wireless technology in schools.

Study Finds Mismatch Between Kids and Vitamins (6 Jul 2012)
A new study finds that U.S. kids may not be getting some of the most needed nutrients from their vitamin pills and the kids taking vitamins may not be the ones who need them the most.

Do kids need more dirt? (11 Jul 2012)
A blog post looks at some of the evidence suggesting that they do.

Treating Insect Stings On Kids (16 Jul 2012)
Doctors say if a child gets stung, it's important to act quickly.

When is a stomacheache more than a stomacheache? (2 Aug 2012)
Could your child be suffering from Allergic GI disease? With symptoms that range from mild food sensitivities to severe allergies, is a widespread problem, striking as many as 8 percent of babies by the time they reach their first birthday.

Corporations sneak synthetic preservatives into organic infant formula (8 Aug 2012)
A US not-for-profit policy research organisation has filed a formal legal complaint with the US Department of Agriculture against several infant formula manufacturers who are adding two synthetic preservatives to certified organic infant formula.

US FDA warns of deaths with post-op codeine in children (15 Aug 2012)
The FDA has issued a warning of a potentially fatal risk associated with the use of codeine in children following tonsillectomy and adenoidectomy.

Echinacea remedy not for children under 12, says MHRA (20 Aug 2012)
The UK's Medicines and Healthcare products Regulatory Agency (MHRA), the UK's drugs watchdog, has said there is a small risk of severe allergic reactions with the herbal remedy, echinacea, and that this outweighed any perceived benefits for children under 12.
But also see this.

Early exposure to antibiotics may impact development, obesity (22 Aug 2012)
"The rise of obesity around the world is coincident with widespread antibiotic use, and our studies provide an experimental linkage. It is possible that early exposure to antibiotics primes children for obesity later in life."

A daily bath could cause allergies in infants (23 Aug 2012)
Experts say daily bathing of infants is contributing to the unprecedented increase in allergy by stripping the skin of natural oils that help protect against this condition.

Phthalates in school supplies (8 Sept 2012)
The plastic ballpoint pen your child chews on while in school probably contains phthalates, as do many other products made from PVC.

'Back to school' with allergies (Sept 2012)
Mel Fenson tackles the double round of duties of the parent of an allergic child.

Freefrom treats to keep allergic children safe at school (Sept 2012)
Several great recipes from chef Kathie Auton.

Toxic clothing (Sept 2012)
Frances Dale does a roundup of information on the web – including what you might wish to avoid while purchasing school uniforms.

Too much tuna may cause mercury poisoning In children (21 Sept 2012)
Children should be consuming considerably less canned tuna, otherwise their risk of serious mercury poisoning could become a public health issue in years to come.

Paediatricians warn families against trampolines (24 Sept 2012)
In spite of the addition of various safety features, trampolines can still inflict serious injuries on their users.

Gel balls new threat to toddlers, doctors say (25 Sept 2012)
After surgically removing a large gel ball blocking the intestines of a baby girl, Texas doctors are warning parents about a new kind of water-absorbing balls often sold as playthings.

Is your child's school prepared? (video) (accessed 29 Sept 2012)
If you're the parent of an anaphylactic youngster, or you're a teacher or carer, you should watch this video!

Mothers now trading much-needed breast milk via Facebook groups (21 Oct 2012)
Though the practice is receiving considerable scorn from the medical establishment, many mothers are safely using breast milk from other women without issue, which is far better than having to resort to feeding their babies powdered infant formulas.

Breastfeeding summit highlights ongoing disparities in breastfeeding (22 Oct 2012)
Breastfeeding is a cost-effective, easily accessible, low-tech solution to reducing infant mortality rates and improving long-term health outcomes for both infants and mothers. There is also a 14-fold difference in survival rates in the first 6 months between children who have been breastfed exclusively and non-breastfed children, but authorities are still struggling to increase breastfeeding in developing countries.

Leading children's medic backs national vitamin D drive (31 Oct 2012)
One of the UK's leading experts in the problems of vitamin D deficiency says more needs to be done to prevent the recent resurgence of childhood rickets, ahead of a major awareness campaign.

Babies in the UK to get new 'gut bug vaccine' (10 Nov 2012)
Experts hail the latest Rotavirus vaccine for its anticipated ability to reduce hospital visits and cut costs. But research from Belgium suggests that grape seed extract may provide an effective alternative treatment for such bacteria.

Breastfeeding up, but few persist (20 Nov 2012)
A poll of more than 10,000 women shows 81 in every 100 start breastfeeding, up from 76 in 2005. But, after one week, less than half of all new mothers are still exclusively breastfeeding. And only one in every 100 manages the full recommended six months.

Natural cold and flu remedies for children (4 Dec 2012)
Homeopathic medicine has shown to have an 82.6 percent success rate versus 67.3 percent for conventional medicine in regards to respiratory tract infections. This article shares some natural alternatives to over-the-counter medicines.