infant and child skin

Sharing a smile is a gift itself, especially for your Valentine. But there are people all over the world who cannot share their gift because of a cleft lip or palate. This is a major problem in developing countries. Many of those affected cannot speak or eat properly, and many cannot attend school or work because of their abnormal facial appearance.

My toddler daughter routinely expresses concern over the red birthmark on my left calf. She pats it and says, “Mommy, you have a boo-boo. Let’s put some cream on it.” She wants to “make it better” for me, to make this mark go away.

I thank her for her concern and tell her that it’s OK – it’s just a little mark on my skin called a “birthmark.” She listens as I explain, puzzled, and then looks for her own birthmark, which she doesn’t have – further compounding the mystery. 

September means back to school – the end of a busy summer vacation season and time for Mom and Dad to relax as the kids are occupied with new friends and activities. Sometimes the close contact that kids have with each other can lend itself to the development of some common childhood skin infections. Here we review some of the more common infections seen in this age group:

We’ve slathered them with sunscreen all summer and forced them to wear shirts and hats on the beach. Now, as we send them back to school, our kids may be exposed to common skin infections, more likely to break out in groups where they play, roughhouse, and sometimes share personal items.

With concerns about the H1N1 swine flu and other infectious diseases, many schools are adding hand sanitizer to their list of required supplies this year. But this policy leads to several questions: What should we look for when selecting a hand sanitizer? Do these products really work? If they do work, will using them create drug-resistant organisms?

No doubt some of you have seen concerning e-mail reports of children becoming gravely ill after ingesting hand sanitizer. I have two school-aged children, and I decided to find the answers before I set out to buy our school supplies.