Kids have the flu?
What to do, what to do?

It crowds doctor-office waiting rooms, causes school absences and can frustrate parents who just want their children to feel better. It’s the flu — and we’re in the middle of its peak season.

There are several things you can do to help your child feel better:

• Give plenty of fluids. Ice pops and soft fruits can also help keep your kids well hydrated.
• Persuade your child to rest. A good book, quiet music, maybe a favorite movie?
• Offer acetaminophen or ibuprofen for aches and pains (not aspirin, unless your doctor tells you).

If you see your pediatrician within 48 hours of when symptoms start, the doctor may prescribe a medicine that can shorten the duration of the illness, but usually only by a day or two, according to Medical City Children’s Hospital pediatrician Gary Morchower’s book 1001 Healthy Baby Answers.

Be sure to keep yourself healthy! Wash your hands thoroughly and often when you’re offering comfort and care. For more tips, visit the Medical City Children’s Hospital health library.

Kid-approved
healthy snack

We asked the culinary students at the Frisco ISD CTE Center to develop healthy, flavorful snacks that fifth graders could prepare themselves at home. The students at Shawnee Trail Elementary School helped us pick the winners, including this recipe from Amanda Schneider, Teresa Medrano and Nataly Mora.

Moon pie

Ingredients:

• 1 Tbsp crunchy peanut butter
• 1 oz marshmallow créme
• 1/4 extra small banana
• 2 very thin slices white bread

Spread enough crunchy peanut butter just to cover bread.

Spread enough marshmallow créme to cover the other slice of bread. Cut up banana into little circles and place over marshmallow créme.

Put the piece of bread with peanut butter on top of the bread with marshmallow and banana.

Nutritional information:
241 calories, 6 gm protein, 37 gm carbohydrates, 9 gm fat, 0 mg cholesterol, 125 mg sodium, 2.6 gm dietary fibers

Important advice for expectant parents — and their friends

The time after you find out that you’re having a baby can be unbelievably exciting. But if your baby is diagnosed with a congenital anomaly that will require surgery after birth, anxiety replaces the excitement.

If this happens to you or someone you care about, keep this in mind: better outcomes happen when the mom can deliver at the hospital where the baby will have surgery. It’s safer to transport the baby while still inside the mother, rather than in an ambulance or helicopter.

Medical City and Medical City Children’s Hospital offer the only such facility in North Texas. Click to learn more about our Fetal Anomaly Care & Treatment (FACT) Program.

Hey kids! Quick quiz: What’s the best way to keep germs from spreading? If you said, “washing your hands,” you’re right! It keeps the germs on the things you touch from ending up in your mouth when you eat with your hands.

Okay, now, what’s a fun way to stop germs in their tracks? Try our online Germ Zapper game at Fun City! And for tips about the best way to wash your hands, see our health library.

Meet Tiffany Morrow, RN

Tiffany is a Pediatric Intensive Care Unit nurse at Medical City Children’s Hospital. We asked her about her approach to caring for children and their families. She said, “I try to be open, honest and always willing to listen. Families and patients always appreciate someone who will listen without judgment. I try to take care of the children as I would take care of my own.” You can meet more of our specialists at our website, SpecialistsInChildren.com.