For children the summer holidays should be a happy time of lazy days and swimming. For some children and their parents, however, they are a time of hardship and even tragedy.

he summer holidays are all about winding down from a tough year and fun in the sun.  But accidents involving children can happen in a moment, and sometimes end in tragedy.

Not just drowning

According to Peter Feurstein, Operations Director, Netcare 911, the medical emergency service handles a range of different child related emergencies over the school holidays...

About one in six sudden infant deaths may be linked to their mothers’ heavy alcohol use during or soon after pregnancy, according to a new study from Australia.

Researchers found those deaths may result from babies being exposed to alcohol in the womb and from alcohol-using mothers creating hazardous environments for the babies after birth.

«One of the morals of the story is that parents should be very careful about drinking alcohol, especially if you’re a single parent because there is no other parent to back you up,» said David Phillips, a professor at the University of California, San Diego...

Every parent of a school-age kid knows them all too well: the hours between the end of the school day and kids’ bedtime, when parents have to shuttle children to and from activities and sports, put dinner on the table (or otherwise feed kids), ensure homework is done, prepare for the next day, and get everyone to bed at a decent hour. Then get up and do it all again the next day.

Researchers conducting a recent poll looking at why so many American children are overweight or obese call it “crunch time,” the period starting at about 3 p.m. until a child’s bedtime...

A terrified and weeping child woken by nightmares. It’s the stock late-night wake-up call for parents.

Can you hear that familiar beat of little feet thumping up the long dark hall to the master bedroom? It always comes in the deadest heart of night. When the wind is picking up leaves and blowing them down the sideway and past the window, the urgent rustling sounding like a lost ghoul searching for souls to snatch, for brains to eat.

Can you hear that familiar beat of little feet thumping up the long dark hall to the master bedroom?

What parent doesn’t know the eerie feeling of waking to a s...

Learn how to protect your baby from the unseen dangers of X-rays, cellphones and other high-tech gadgets.

Last spring, as the tsunami-damaged reactors at Japan’s Fukushima Daiichi nuclear power plant began leaking radioactive particles, that nation’s pregnant women ran for the hills — or at least for faraway cities like Osaka. Moms-to-be in the U.S. are safely distant from fallout or food contamination, but what about X-rays and their high-energy ionizing radiation that damages DNA? Or the low-energy microwave radiation from cellphones and Wi-Fi?

If you are concerned about radiation risk...

It can be tempting to overschedule the kids, but it’s time to get serious about goofing off. A conference held last week at Clemson University on the value of play  with sessions like “The Lasting Effects of Play Deprivation” and “Shaping Tomorrow’s Female Leaders Through Play,” formalized the perspective among many childhood development specialists that play isn’t just fun. It’s essential to intellectual, social, and emotional growth.

Research has found that play reduces stress, improves recall, and enhances self-regulation...

A group representing paediatricians saysdisciplining students with out-of-school suspension or expulsion is counter-productive to school goals and should only be used on case by case basis.

The policy statement from the American Academy of Pediatrics (AAP) recommends that paediatricians familiarise themselves with the policies of their local school districts, and advocate for prevention and alternative strategies.

«The adverse effect of out-of-school suspension and expulsion on the student can be profound,» the experts wrote.

«Data suggest that students who are involved in the juvenile justic...

Teen pregnancy rates are highest in New Mexico and lowest in New Hampshire, according to a new report on the most current state-level data on pregnancy, birthrates and abortions among 15- to 19-year-olds.

The data is from 2008, the most current year that comprehensive information is available, according to the reproductive rights agency the Guttmacher Institute. Though 16 states did see an increase in teen pregnancies between 2005 and 2008, the analysis suggests that overall rates are continuing their decades-long decline.

«There are a few key factors driving the long-term declines in teen pre...

For children with autism, trained dogs may offer not only a furry friend, but some therapeutic benefits too, a new research review finds.

There is a «substantial body of evidence» that dogs act as «social catalysts,» even encouraging adults to be a little friendlier to each other, said senior researcher Francesca Cirulli, of the National Institute of Health in Rome, Italy. And the few studies that have focused on kids with autism suggest the same is true for them.

People have long turned to animals as a way to help with health conditions or disabilities — either as part of formal therapy or t...