Our newsletter is an opportunity to put into our own words recent relevant national and sometimes international news and make it specific for our community.  Please contact us with your thoughts and suggestions. One of the best parts of being a small practice is that we can customize our practice to fit the needs of our community, even as that community grows and changes.

It is in the best interest of our patients if we have an accurate record of your child's entire vaccination history. Not only do we want to make sure we give your child the right shots at the right time, we also want to make sure that we have a completed record to give to you or to other providers that provide care for your child.

 

It can be difficult to keep track of your child's immunizations as some records are at Performance Pediatrics, some are with past providers and school nurses and some are in a blue book that you got when your child was an infant. To help patients, the Massachusetts Department of Public Health (DPH) is launching a new statewide system to keep track of immunization records for you and your family.

 

Projected to launch this fall, the Massachusetts DPH will launch a central online database for keeping track of everyone's shot records. This will be especially important for school nurses and doctors to be able to share vaccine records and will only be accessible to the health department and to providers involved in the care of your child. Performance Pediatrics will be participating the registry and will keep you informed of our progress as it unfolds. In the meantime, the following is a link to a website with more information on the Massachusetts Immunization Registry: Massachusetts Immunization Information System.

 

Over the past few months, some of our patients have received a letter from Rebecca Mark, our Medical Home Care Coordinator, which asked for a copy of your child's shot records. It is critical that you bring in any records that you have at home as well as contact past providers to release records to you to ensure that both you and our office have a complete record. 

Your baby's sleep is a precious cycle and it is important to establish healthy habits as early as possible. One of the most important things a parent can do for an infant's sleep is to establish a bedtime routine. While the specifics will be unique for every family, some common steps include:

 

-- Start the routine with a warm bath 

-- Apply lotions to the body like a massage 

-- Read a very short story before tucking into bed and turning out the lights

 

Consistently doing exactly the same actions and motions helps your child's inner clock understand that it is time for bed; this will help his mind and body to relax and be calm.

  

It is important to help your child learn to fall asleep on her own. By 3-4 months of age an infant should be able to sooth himself to sleep. You can rock her until she is relaxed and then put her down when she is quiet and sleepy but not quite asleep.

Allowing your baby to fall asleep on his own without being rocked or held will be very helpful in showing him how to get himself back to sleep during the night when he wakes up. There are many methods which can be used to help a child master this skill and different children may respond to one technique better than another. Find a method that works best for your family and keep to it; consistency is the key to success.  

There are many books and websites with helpful tips for parents going through this difficult time. Here are some that we recommend:

 "Solve Your Child's Sleep Problems" by Richard Ferber (the 2006 version, this is available in our lending library)

"Sleeping Through the Night" by Jodi Mindell

"The No-Cry Sleep Solution: Gentle Ways to Help Your Baby Sleep Through the Night" by Elizabeth Pantley

"What to Expect the First Year" by Heidi Murkoff, et. Al

http://kidshealth.org/Search01.jsp (several articles by age and strategies)

http://www.healthychildren.org/English/ages-stages/baby/sleep/pages/Getting-Your-Baby-to-Sleep.aspx