Some gems picked up from questions put to our panel

Dear Dr. Priscilla,

My daughter who earlier used to throw a major tantrum to go to school (because of a bad experience with her ex-teacher) is now going to school extremely happily & enjoying school life. Sincere thanks for your suggestions, which helped me help her overcome the hatred for school. I keep in regular contact with her new teacher & got a good feedback about my daughter.

Now there is new problem! She is 3 years 8 months of age. Its more than a month since her school reopened & she urinates in her panty every day. The teacher/maid makes every effort to take her to the toilet but she replies "I don't want to go to the toilet, I don't want to make susu".

I have requested the teacher/maid not to be aggressive or shout at her because she is a very sensitive child. I tried explaining to her, even tried talking to her sternly. Nothing seems to work.

Please suggest how I should deal with this situation & convince her to visit the toilet while at school.

Thanks & Regards,
Debbie Zuzarte

Dr Paul

Dr Paul

My daughter is aged 5 years. Even now she is sucking her thumb while sleeping . How can it be stopped since it will cause her teeth coming up.

Kindly advise.

Dr Pradhan

Dear Sir,

My son is 2 yr old. At present we are staying in China, where for us language is a problem, so my son has no friends. He is aggressive by nature so I am unable to train him for toilet and thumb sucking. Can u pl give me some guideline.

Thanks

Sorry for the delay in answering as I discussed the problem with Dr Paul, our Psychologist. This is a challenge for you and your husband. Your husband has to get more involved in his care. He has to be his friend and both of you have to play etc with him so that he does not miss friends. At 2 yrs he does not want others his age, but wants companion. Second important point is you must NOT try too hard to toilet train him. On growingwell we have said that ALL children get toilet trained sooner or later and this does not cause problem. The problem is that mothers want things to happen as and when they want. Also the fact that he is sucking his thumb shows his insecurity. You have to handle this carefully. Read the following pages and then revert.

Fathers Start Mothering
Basic Emotional Needs
Toilet Training

Regards
Dr K N Shah

Dear Ms. Meenal Sharma,

Our 2-year-old son is just refusing any solid foods for the last couple of months or so. He drinks Pediasure once in the morning and milk twice daily...he also drinks fruit juice in the noon. Apart from this, we are having a trying time feeding him rice. He just closes his mouth tight. Please advice me of how to tackle this problem. He weighs around 11 kg.

Regards
Meenal

Dear doctor,

I am 25 year old I have a girl baby. For the past 4 days I have irritation in my anal opening particularly when i pass stools I get more irritation during night only. Please advice if this is a symptom of piles if not please prescribe me some advice.

Yours sincerely
Jayaraj .

Dear Jaya

This looks like worms. Piles would give you pain, bleeding and a grape like mass at the rectum. Ask your doctor for deworming medicine and revert.

Regards
Dr Kiran

My 2 year old has had intermitant fevers for the past two days, his one ear seems a bit tender with slightly swollen glands underneath, and has been having very dark green/black stools. He has not been eating well either. Do you think this could be an ear infection and what of the dark stools?

Regards,
Dr K N Shah

Thanks & Warm regards.

Regards
Dr KN Shah

Dear Debbie
Do not stop it all of a sudden. Reduce the frequency is all successful attempts do not get rewarded and also the prizes can get smaller and then stop. In other words wean her off. In addition you keep giving +ve reinforcement about how nice she is behaving esp in front of relatives and friends. This reinforcement should continue when the sweet one stops.

Dr Paul