Carolina Kids plans to open ON TIME at 8:30 am Monday morning, March 17. There is a small chance of light freezing drizzle forecast overnight, but we don't believe there is a significant chance of hazardous road conditions that would delay our opening at this time. Can anyone believe it's the middle of March and we're still dealing with this weather??

Happy St. Patrick's Day!

Dr. Nechyba

As the weather warms up and the kids are venturing outside more, it's time to pay more attention to outdoor safety. Today I wanted to highlight a link from our website to the Consumer Product Safety Commission website. From our main page, just click "Parent and Patient Education"  under the center "Quick Access" section, then look for "Product Recalls" on the left hand side. From here, you can link to the Consumer Product Safety Commission home page. This site is about more than product recalls, though - you can read current recommendations and guidelines on countless safety topics, including steps to preventing sports-related injuries. A few basic reminders: 

• Helmets aren't just for bikes anymore. Whether it's scooters, skateboards, or contact sports, consistent helmet use can prevent many needless concussions and brain injuries (and knee & elbow pads are a good idea also).
• Trampolines cause over 95,000 injuries a year, and are a common cause of fracture and concussion. Prolonged or frequent trampoline use has many risks, so be careful before you allow young children to bounce too much. Almost 100,000 ER visits in 2012 were attributed to trampoline injuries!
• Children under 16 should not ride adult ATVs, which cause hundreds of deaths and thousands of ER visits per year.
• BB guns are not recommended for children under 16 years of age.

We hope our Carolina kids have a safe spring!

Dr. Nechyba

I know it's difficult to believe when our low is 17 degrees tonight, but the season when yellow dust takes over Raleigh is almost upon us. So, today, a few words about spring allergies in kids. The first question: is that runny nose, sneeze and cough a cold or is it allergy? Remember that spring allergies are not common in kids under 18 months, so if your little one is really little, it may just be a cold. But in older children, red eyes, sneezing, itching, and runny nose as we enter late March and early April may well indicate spring allergies. Watch pollen counts on online weather reports, and remember to wash your child's face and hands, and maybe change their shirt, when they come home sneezing and itching after a high pollen day. The best medicines to try first would be cetirizine, loratadine, or fexofenadine syrups (generic names for Zyrtec, Claritin, and Allegra), because they don't make kids sleepy and last longer than Benadryl. For itchy eyes, we find Zaditor eye drops to be very helpful as well. If that's not enough, come and see us and we'll talk more about the next steps.

Happy spring,

Dr. Nechyba

Carolina Kids will open at 10 am on March 4 due to this (hopefully) last bit of winter precipitation. Because we won't have a sick walk-in hour, please give us a call after 10 am on March 4 if your child needs to be seen. We plan to see all previously scheduled appointments also. Hard to believe we were in short sleeves and sunshine yesterday, isn't it?

Drive carefully!

Dr. Nechyba