Do you have a question about children’s health? Ask Dr. Pixie McKenna here and you could win a £150 Love2Shop voucher! ANSWERS NOW BACK

[AnnMumsnet]

Dr. Pixie McKenna is here to answer any questions you may have on children's health, specifically cold and flu, fever, teething and earache. As a mum of one to daughter Darcey, Pixie is more than a medical expert – she's a parent who's had first-hand experience looking after her own child and is here to share her top tips and advice.

Here’s a little bit more about Dr. Pixie:

Dr. Pixie has strong family background of medicine (she is the third generation of doctors in her family!) and has a lifetime of knowledge with over 13 years medical experience since qualifying. She's currently a practising GP at London’s Harley Street.

Post your questions to Dr. Pixie by the 1 February 2016 and we will pick 20 for her to respond to. Everyone who posts a question will be entered into a prize draw where one lucky Mumsnetter will win a £150 Love2Shop voucher. A link to her responses will be posted by 29th February 2016.

Please note, Dr. Pixie is here to give advice but cannot mention, discuss or endorse any brands or products.

This Q&A is sponsored by Nurofen for Children.

Thanks,

MNHQ.

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[amarmai]

Hi Dr Pixie,
my 6 year old grandson has had eczema from birth. His father has it and i do too. I noticed it was painfully bad when he returned from a holiday in Mexico in December. He is rarely bathed as that makes it hurt. Vaseline seems to help sooth it. Do you have any recommendations , warnings, things to look out for or avoid etc. For example i wonder if the nasal congestion he always seems to have is related , as i know there is a connection with asthma, which we want desperately to avoid.
Thanks in advance,
grannie.

[Cambam2010]

My son (6) Doesn't drink any milk. The only dairy that he eats is the occasional yoghurt. He doesn't often eat cheese.

He was EBF as a baby and was diagnosed with cows milk protein allergy when he was about 1. I continued to BF him until he self weaned just before he turned 3. The paediatrician said that he has out grown the CMP allergy but he is just not interested in milk. He only ever drinks water.

Is he missing out nutritionally by not eating diary?

[CordeliaScott]

Can you settle an argument with DH. If DD (1) has a cold but no fever should we be giving her calpol?

[MrWriter]

Hi Dr Pixie,

My son is 2 years and 4 months old and was born with Pectus excavatum, when he was born the drs in the hospital assured us it was perfectly fine and quite common but there seemed to be a steady stream of junior doctors coming into my room to have a nosey!

He doesn't appear to be affected by it in anyway, and my health visitor told me it was a purely cosmetic issue, is this true? Can there be side effects of the condition, and if so what should I look out for?

[Shimmer75]

My 16 month old keeps waking herself up with a cough. I thought it was linked to a cold but that has now gone away. Then I thought her room was too cold at night but once I upped the temperature she still coughed. Is it bronchial? Do we need a humidifier? Should I be concerned?

[3BoysAnd1Girl]

Hi Dr Pixie, I have a 21 week old baby who was born with a CCAM, she always seems to be poorly, she's had three bouts of Bronchiolitis since she was born all from catching common colds from her siblings. While we are doing all we can to stop the spread of germs, she's still catching it. Is there anything more we can do? And also, do you have any tips on how to help her with the congestion? Thank you!

[sassymuffin]

Hi Dr Pixie, bit of a strange question sorry. My son who is 13 constantly has a bunged up nose and says it is never clear he also sneezes a lot in the morning. He has wooden floors in his bedroom and I launder his bedding weekly and wipe down surfaces regularly. Bizarrely the only time he says his nose is ever clear is when we are on holiday and he is in the pool everyday. Could this maybe a dust allergy or similar?

[Hygellig]

Hi Dr Pixie, I'd be grateful for any advice on my five-year-old son's bowel movements. He has suffered on and off from constipation for over a year, sometimes to the extent that it causes anal fissures. His diet could be better, but he does eat fruit and brown bread and drinks plenty and exercises regularly. For about two weeks, he was having two or three episodes of faecal soiling a day (mostly accidents but his teacher said she thought some might have been on purpose). We've just had a run of four accident-free days so things are looking up. He takes two Movicol sachets a day.

[SauvignonPlonker]

I'd like to ask about what to do when your child has a high temperature which isn't coming down. How long should you give it before seeking medical advice?

[MrsJorahMormont]

Hi Dr Pixie, are there any guideline portion sizes of food for toddlers?

[Whatthefreakinwhatnow]

Hi Dr Pixie,

I wonder if you can help me. At 5 months old my daughter stopped drinking milk- flat out refused it no matter what cup/bottle we tried it in 😕

I get calcium into her by using milk to make sauces, custard and rice pudding etc, as well as feeding calcium-rich foods, so I am not too concerned from that point of view, but I do worry about dehydration.

I offer her water or very watered down fresh juice regularly throughout the day, but apart from first thing in the morning when she drinks 3 ounces or so, she barely sips the rest of the day!

I know fruit and veg have lots of water in, but with her barely drinking 6oz of fluid throughout the day, surely this isn't enough?!

Can you tell me if the signs of dehydration in babies is the same as in adults, and at what point I should become worried. I'm worried not drinking enough could effect her kidneys etc.

The HV was no use, said she'll drink when she's ready (she's over 7 months now and no better!) and it's proving impossible to get a GP appointment.

I'm really worried, and advice you can give would be very much appreciated!

Kind Regards,

What x

[ilovewelshrarebit123]

Hi Dr Pixie, my 8 year old DD suffers from what I think may be separation anxiety. Its just the two of us at home and she's very clingy. School isn't a problem but bedtimes/sleepovers are very difficult. She gets so distressed if she can't see me or be near me. She literally shakes all over and can't explain what is wrong and bedtimes can take two and half hours before she settles. This also happens if she has to be left for sometime without me. So, do I need to get tough because she's having me over or could something else be going on which my GP could help with. Thanks

[MummyDuckAndDuckling]

Hello, can you advise on teeth grinding? My 4 year old daughter has become quite bad for grinding her teeth at night whilst sleeping. Should I be concerned about it?

[anonooo]

Is there such a thing as growing pains, or is this a myth?

[Sairelou]

My DS who is two seems to have developed a nighttime cough. Should I be worried about asthma?

[HopeandSoap]

Hi Dr Pixie,

What is cradle cap and is there anything that can get rid of it? My son is 2 years old and still has small patches of it!

[Cheesecakefactory]

We struggle to get my 8 year son to eat more fruit and vegetables and worry he is not getting nutrients from his food. Do you think giving him a multi-vitamin tablet every day would be beneficial to his health.

[PiperIsTerrysChoclateOrange]

Hello Dr Pixie,
What is the best way to avoid a child getting nits. My daughter seems to get them every few weeks.

[BreakingDad77]

What advice can you give to pass on to Grandparents, MIL's/FIL's etc who "back in their day......."

[regularbutpanickingabit]

Hi Dr Pixie
My baby keeps getting conjunctivitis. Should I continue giving prescription drops or is there some thing else I can use as a preventative?

[PurpleThermalsNowItsWinter]

Hello Dr Pixie

Here's some background;

Ds catches everything - sometimes twice. If there's something going around his class he's one if the first to be ill, returns to school and will be off again with the same bug within two weeks. We have only just managed to clear his molluscum up (fingers crossed, 2 spots left) after using molludab for a long time and he's had it for 4 years now. He knows if he picks a spot it gets wrapped in tissue, flushed away, and then he washes his hands. He's also permanently on movicol for constipation and has mild eczema.

We had two amazing consultant visits for his constipation when he was 4yrs (he's now 6yrs). On our second visit I took in a list of all the foods he refused to eat, a recording of him rolling around on the floor crying in pain 4-5 hours after a meal, and she diagnosed some starch/potato, possible nightshade family food intolerance pending further investigations. She asked about his family history and acknowledged a history of lupus and food intolerances in my family. He had also never slept through the night by this point, waking crying and kicking and clutching his tummy.

A follow up visit saw us visit her replacement. Her diagnosis was dismissed as 'no such thing as a potato intolerance' and the replacement consultant stated the the bloods ordered for a basic iron and celiac test were normal. He admitted they were on the low side of normal but struck us from his list.

For almost two years I'm giving him movicol everyday. We're avoiding nightshade foods and keeping his diary intake as low as possible (he adores yoghurts but happily will have almond milk on cereal or porridge for example). He's also finally sleeping through the night without pain.

I don't quite know what I'm asking...are we doing the right thing? Is there another direction to take that I have missed? Do all these little individual things become part of a larger picture somewhere?

He's an avid hand washer by the way, (perhaps too much, his younger sister is rarely ill, she's so different.)

[Glamorousglitter]

Hi dr McKenna

This is about my 8 year old. When he was small 3-5 years old he had an infection at the tip of his penis under the foreskin twice maybe three times - these were treated with antibiotic or anti fungal creams (can't remember which). Since then it get s red every so often, he will complain it s tender. If I pull back the foreskin ther may be some urine underneath, or some discharge/ fluid - often smells strongly. Cleaning it and some gentle nappy crem or sudocreme seems to keep it at bay and he hasn't had an infection proper since he was maybe 5.
However at the time the GP we saw suggested we teach him to pull the foreskin back regularly and to clean it in the shower and they said the foreskin seemed a bit tight but would stretch as he grows. However he does complain every few weeks that it s sore, we then go through reinforcing the routine of cleaning it etc.
Is this normal?
What normal hygiene should we be teaching him for his penis/ foreskin?
Should we take him to the GP again?
Does it sound like he needs circumcision and is it too late for this?

{On another note, dh seems to not really have a foreskin, he doesn't remember being circumcised, but thinks it s possible he is/was. Stupid question but how would we know if dh was ? (His parents aren't around to ask) and if he was would it be likely DS would need this too ?}
Thanks for reading / answering

[clopper]

Hi Dr Pixie, I would like to ask you whether commercial cough mixtures and lozenges actually work or whether it would better to stick with traditional remedies such as honey and lemon or maybe a paracetamol type medicine. The choice is often vast and I'm never sure what to go for. Thanks

[Theimpossiblegirl]

Dr Pixie-what a cool name.
Not a small child problem, but can anything be done to alleviate the heaviness and cramping poor DD (age 13) gets with her periods? She has 2 days a month when she just feels totally wiped out by it and will take to her bed like a Victorian lady. I just feel really sorry for her tbh.

[miljones11]

Can you talk about 'growing pains'? What's the best treatment and when will they end?