Pediatric Health
Dive into expert articles, insightful blogs, and patient stories to empower your health journey.
-
A Functional Medicine Approach to Autism Spectrum Disorder
avioral, developmental, and educational support, which is necessary work that helps a child build skills and communicate more effectively. But it rarely asks why a child’s nervous system, gut, and immune system are functioning the way they are, or whether supporting those systems could change how a child feels day to day. At The UltraWellness…
-
Infant Feeding – Approaches to Introducing Solid Foods
As a new parent, introducing your baby to solid food can feel scary. The second you nail down your bottle or breastfeeding schedule, things change again. In my first year of parenthood, I learned that the only certainty in raising small humans is rapid change – this is joyful but also overwhelming. In this blog,…
-
Think Gut: Helping Kids Build Strong Minds from the Inside Out
Why the Gut–Brain Connection Matters Did you know your child’s gut health could be directly shaping their mood, focus, and ability to thrive in school? The gut and brain are deeply connected through what’s called the gut–brain axis — a two-way communication system where digestion, nutrient absorption, and the microbiome directly influence learning, behavior, and…
-
A Pediatric Autism Story: How Digging Deep Transformed Our Treatment
When Caden was born, he faced challenges starting in the hospital. His mother had a fever, so he needed antibiotics and spent a few days in the NICU. He struggled with sleep early on and was later diagnosed as mild obstructive sleep apnea. By 15 months of age, he faced more stress at home with…
-
The Functional Medicine Approach To Precocious Puberty
Hormone disruption is a growing concern, especially for children as many are reaching puberty at a younger age than ever before. Just under one in four children are facing some sort of hormonal dysregulation that impacts not only the onset of puberty, but also presents an increased risk for conditions such as obesity, infertility, endometriosis,…
-
Getting to the Root: A Functional Approach to ADHD
All of us know someone struggling with ADHD. This common disorder poses many challenges for the person affected, but the good news is that there are plenty of actions that can be taken to reduce symptoms, increase attention and focus, and support brain health. On this episode of Getting to the Root, Dr. Elizabeth Boham…
-
ADHD and Negative Self-Talk
Last year, I suffered a traumatic brain injury. It wasn’t a typical dramatic accident that led to it, I simply hit my head while I was working out and later realized it was much worse than I thought. The following months were full of difficult symptoms and overwhelming setbacks, including lots of stress, anxiety, and…
-
Why is my teenager so tired?: A personal story
My 14 year old daughter Isabel brings up the rear behind two older brothers, who are 19 and 22. This isn’t my first adolescent rodeo. The boys took my wife and I to the brink of sanity but we survived and recovered just in time for another adolescent siege. When getting Isabel out of bed…
-
A PANDAS Story: What every parent needs to know
Harper was a bright, engaging, humorous 10 year old. She was perfectly healthy and her mom had no concerns. I happened to see them outside the office and she was every bit of the energizer bunny I expected she would be. Several months later, she was the in the office with a sore throat. We…
-
Unleash Your Inner Child
Aahhh, to be a kid again! The great news is that you can be.I absolutely love reminiscing about my childhood. It never gets old talking about my favorite movies, games, vacations and foods from that time in my life. When I have these conversations, I feel lighter. My soul fills with happiness when I take…
-
How to Naturally Support a Child with Anxiety
Millions of people suffer with anxiety, so what do you do when one of them is your own child? My eldest son has suffered with anxiety for most of his life. It showed up as separation anxiety when he was small and escalated into a real issue after his father and I separated when he…
-
How to Support a Selective Eater
To be honest, I’ve never really like the term “picky” when describing a child’s food preferences. It just feels like a negative label, which may actually worsen the problem by becoming a title the child identifies themself with. I prefer to use the terms “limited” or “selective” because they allow room to grow and change.…
-
A Functional Medicine Approach to Autism
As of March 2016, the CDC estimated that 1 in 68 children are diagnosed with autism spectrum disorder (ASD). Key diagnostic criteria for ASD include repetitive patterns of behavior, interest, or activities and deficits in social interaction and language. The recommended early intensive behavioral therapy can be helpful, but many times there is much more…
-
Here’s How I Treat ADHD: A Functional Doctor Explains
“He’s so bright but he’s failing because he won’t turn in homework and tunes teachers out,” one parent began when we first met. Another said during our first consultation: “She would do better if she wasn’t constantly talking and disrupting the class.” These understandably frustrated, worried parents bring their child into my office often because…
-
Improving Autism Spectrum Disorders (ASD): Does a Gluten and Dairy Free Diet Really Make a Difference?
I get this question so often from the patients and families I work with. A gluten and dairy free diet may not be the answer for everyone. Yet over the past 15 years of being a clinical nutritionist, I have seen a variety of symptoms and health conditions improve dramatically after removing gluten and/or dairy…
-
The 5 Top Tips For Feeding Our Children Right From the Start
As parents, we all want to do the best for our children. We advocate getting them into the best schools and making sure the best teachers are teaching them. We keep them physically active by shuttling them from one activity to the next. But sometimes we miss the mark when it comes to what…