Pediatric Clinic

We advise and strongly encourage all families to receive all recommended vaccinations for your children.

Learn more about vaccines by clicking here.

We accept traditional forms of insurance, Medicaid, and patients with no insurance.

To learn more, click here to read what you need for your first appointment.

Your child’s amount of sleep is a major influence on their ability to do well in school! Sleep is one of the body’s natural ways to support its growth in all phases. It recharges the mind and allows the body to rest without stress.

Irregular, or not enough, sleep directly impacts a child’s ability to learn. They remember more information for tests, retain more information during class, and have greater focus on tasks.

“Poor sleep was among the most unexpected and definitive causes of poor academic achievement,” Howard Taras, M.D. said in this UC San Diego Health article.

“Most children need at least nine hours of restful sleep each night.”

Consider some of what happens when you sleep, as the National Sleep Foundation details:

• Deeper sleep allows the body to repair tissue and muscles, and hormones (such as those that allow growth) are released
• Immune system is boosted
• Encourages healthier eating by creating more regular appetite
• Lower blood pressure

So, what can you do at home to help?

Enforce a regular nighttime routine that teaches your child cues for when it’s time to sleep. A simple routine, such as a bath and bedtime story, can do wonders!

The alarm goes off. Everyone hits snooze, rolls over, and then … you realize everyone needs to be out the door in 20 minutes. Get the kids to school, somehow get to work or other responsibilities, and skipping breakfast seems easy, right?

Simply put, there is plenty of research indicating that breakfast helps children do better in school. For example, from the Centers for Disease Control:

“Students with higher grades are more likely to eat breakfast on all 7 days, eat vegetables one or more times per day, and drink one or more glasses per day of milk.”

You know eating healthy helps. But specifically, breakfast has a massively important role in the lives of children. Everyone’s brain needs energy – specifically, glucose – to function at its best.

And as they grow, children need even more energy from nutrients to sustain their ever-changing bodies and support healthy brain function while they continue to learn.

The Frontiers for Human Neuroscience, in an article summarizing a lot of research in children, said this about breakfast: “…breakfast is a very important meal to provide fuel to the brain in the morning.”

Make breakfast a strong part of your child’s morning routine, and contact us with any questions you may have!

Unhealthy habits form early in your child’s life, and what they drink is no exception. For young children, milk and water should be most – if not all – of what they drink.

The American Academy of Pediatrics (AAP) tells us “Young children who are introduced to sweet drinks at a young age develop a strong preference for them – making water and plain milk harder to sell.”

Water provides all the hydration we need to live. Milk is a powerhouse drink that rounds out your child’s beverage choices with vitamins A and D, protein, calcium and zinc!

What, exactly, are the negative effects of offering other drinks too soon?

The AAP has some facts:

• 100% juice. It’s very sweet and lacks fiber, which is an important nutrient found in whole fruit. Once children are exposed to juice, it may be difficult to limit portions or get them to prefer plain water.
• Flavored milk. Chocolate, strawberry, and other flavored milks contain added sugars, which should be avoided for children under the age of two.
• Plant-based “milk”. Dairy allergies and milk intolerance make it difficult for some children to drink cow’s milk. But it’s important to remember that most plant-based milks are not nutritionally-equivalent to cow’s milk, and may lack important nutrients such as protein, vitamin D, and calcium.
• Stevia-or artificially-sweetened drinks. The health risks of stevia or other artificial sweeteners to children are not well understood. For this reason, it is best to avoid them, even if they are calorie-free.
• “Toddler milk”. Often marketed by formula companies as a “transitional” milk to wean from breastfeeding and formula, they are unnecessary and potentially harmful to young children. They typically include added sugars.
• Sugary drinks. Sodas, sports drinks, fruit drinks, lemonade, sweetened water, etc. contain added sugars that are harmful to your child’ health. They increase the risk of weight gain, dental cavities, heart disease, diabetes, and fatty liver disease.
• Caffeinated drinks. Caffeine in young children increases the risk of poor sleep, irritability, nervousness, headaches, and difficulty concentrating. It’s best to avoid all caffeinated drinks.

For more details on healthy drinking habits for your child, talk to our pediatric care team at Christ Community, or read more here.

You can also view the joint statement from the AAP and the American Heart Association on reducing sugary drink consumption here.