Your Child is Normal: with Dr Jessica Hochman

Send us Fan Mail In this episode of Ask Dr Jessica, Dr Jessica Hochman talks with Child Psychiatrist, Dr Carl Fleisher about Attention Deficit Hyperactivity Disorder, or ADHD.  In this episode, Dr Hochman and Dr Fleisher discuss common questions that parents have about children and attention.  For example, how can a parent distinguish between normal childhood behavior and a diagnosis of ADHD? When...

Send us Fan Mail In this episode of Ask Dr Jessica, our guest is Naama Cameron, Child Behavior Specialist.  Naama specializes on the topic of withholding stool, which is when a child holds in a bowel movement instead of allowing it to pass out of the body.  If done for long enough, stool withholding removes the “urge” to poo, and the child then feels short term relief that they have avoided their...

Send us Fan Mail Happy New Year!  To start off 2022, this week's episode of Ask Dr Jessica features Dr Nina Shapiro.  As a parent, have you ever struggled explaining to your children why it is important to do healthy things they don't want to do? For example, going to sleep early, or eating fruits and vegetables, or getting vaccinations? Dr. Shapiro recently wrote a book called "The...

Send us Fan Mail In this episode of Ask Dr Jessica, Dr Jessica Hochman talks with Child Psychiatrist, Dr Carl Fleisher about childhood anxiety.  They also discuss questions such as—when should a parent seek help from a child psychiatrist?  If a child sees a child psychiatrist does this mean they will advised to take medication?   What kind of strategies do child psychiatrists use to help children...

Send us Fan Mail In this episode of Ask Dr Jessica, Dr Jessica Hochman continues her conversation with Dr. Nicole Harter and they talk about common contagious skin conditions in childhood: molluscom contagiosum and warts.  Dr Harter will tell you everything you've ever wanted to know about mollusucum--she explains what it looks like, how long to expect it to last, when to treat it and how to...

Send us Fan Mail In this weeks episode of Ask Dr Jessica, Dr Hochman talks with a pediatric dermatologist, Dr Nicole Harter. They discuss eczema, a common skin condition affecting about 20% of all children.  If you are affected by eczema, this episode is for you!  Dr Harter is a fantastic wealth of information, and she explains how to recognize, prevent and treat eczema. Dr Harter is the Division...

Send us Fan Mail In this weeks episode of Ask Dr Jessica, Dr Hochman interviews allergist Dr Katie Marks-Cogan.  They discuss questions such as: how does a parent know if their child has environmental or seasonal allergies? What are some signs to look for?  How can we distinguish between the common cold and seasonal allergies?  How can we best treat seasonal allergies?  Is there such a thing as a...

Send us Fan Mail Episode 12  of Ask Dr Jessica with Dr Michael Johnson or a discussion about common myths in pregnancy.   In this podcast, Dr Johnson reviews common questions during pregnancy---can women safely eat cheese, deli meats or sushi? Why are prenatal vitamins recommended? What do we know about alcohol and caffeine consumption in pregnancy? Are medications, such as Tylenol and Motrin, saf...

Send us Fan Mail In this weeks episode of Ask Dr Jessica,  she is joined by Renee Wasserman, certified Infant and Child Sleep Consultant and Child Behavior Consultant.  We discuss childhood tantrums—why they happen, how parents should think about them, how to handle them and how to best prevent tantrums. We also discuss Renee’s strategy of implementing natural consequences from the tantrum. She pr...

Send us Fan Mail Episode 10  of Ask Dr Jessica with Dr Andrew Freedman, the director of Pediatric Urology at Cedars- Sinai hospital is a discussion of the most common questions about a child's penis.  For example, how common is micro-penis really? How to properly clean a penis?  At what age will the foreskin retract naturally? Is there a medical benefit to circumcision? What are the risks to...

Send us Fan Mail In this episode of Ask Dr Jessica,  Lori Allen, MFT joins Dr. Jessica Hochman to discuss all aspects of childhood anxiety.  Isn't some level of anxiety normal?  How does a parent know when anxiety is a point where a child would benefit from therapy?  If a child is anxious, what are some strategies a parent can use to help?  We also discuss what therapy with a psychologist can...

Send us Fan Mail In this weeks episode of Ask Dr Jessica, she talks to Dr Andrew Freedman, the director of Pediatric Urology at Cedars- Sinai hospital.  First they discuss what a pediatric urologist is exactly, and what conditions they treat most commonly.   Dr Freedman talks about hydronephrosis (@5min), a commonly found condition discovered on prenatal ultrasound. They next discuss about common...

Send us Fan Mail Dr Katie Marks-Cogan joins this weeks episode of Ask Dr. Jessica!  We discuss the most common questions about childhood food allergies, including: why are allergies on the rise? What can parents do to prevent allergies?  Is there a way to treat allergies?  What are the chances a child will outgrow a food allergy? Is there a relationship to eczema and food allergies?  We discuss al...

Send us Fan Mail In this weeks episode of "Ask Dr Jessica", she is joined by Renee Wasserman, certified Infant and Child Sleep Consultant and Child Behavior Consultant.  We discuss the most common questions about infant sleep and the various methods of sleep training.  If you have a young infant, this audio will be a good place to start preparing for sleep training.  We review sleep sche...

Send us Fan Mail  Dr Jessica Hochman and her mother-in-law, Ruth Rothfeld-Hochman, discuss how to think about reading to children.  Ruth is a speech and language pathologist and she an enthusiastic reader and teacher! We talk about how to teach children to read, what to read to children and how to make reading a life-long, joyful experience.  Your Child is Normal is the trusted podcast for parents...

Send us Fan Mail In this weeks episode, Dr Jessica Hochman interviews Dr. Amy Gelfand, accomplished pediatric neurologist and headache specialist about pediatric headaches. We review the most common pediatric headaches: tension headaches, migraine headaches and post traumatic headaches. We discuss how to prevent headaches and how to treat headaches. We also review myths about migraines (like does...

Send us Fan Mail Ep 3 of Ask Dr Jessica with Dr. Amy Gelfand, pediatric neurologist and we discuss the potential benefits and side effects about melatonin and its use with kids.   Many over-the-counter products with melatonin are being marketed as a sleep aid for children, but what do we know about these products? Are they safe for children? Does melatonin help children sleep? Does it help treat p...

Send us Fan Mail In this weeks episode, Dr Jessica Hochman interviews pediatric dentist, Dr Michelle Kelman, DDS.  We answer all of your common pediatric dental questions!  We discuss what are the best practices to brushing teeth (@1:15).  We also discuss cavity prevention, toothpaste (@4:00), pacifiers, bottles, thumb-sucking (@17:18), teeth grinding (@23:45) and more.  And we get into the great...

Send us Fan Mail In this weeks episode Dr Jessica Hochman interviews Elisa Hirsch, certified lactation consultant of over 30 years about how to prepare for breastfeeding.  They discuss common breastfeeding concerns and questions, including when to seek lactation help, when to introduce a pacifier, when to introduce a breast pump, how to treat nipple pain and how to produce a good milk supply.  The...

Send us Fan Mail Ask Dr Jessica is hosted by board-certified pediatrician, Dr Jessica Hochman.  Her weekly podcast discusses common pediatric topics, interviewing various experts.  The podcast is dedicated to educating the listener with up to date, practical information.  Your Child is Normal is the trusted podcast for parents, pediatricians, and child health experts who want smart, nuanced conver...