EXPERT
Dr. Derryl Joseph Miller
Pediatrician
Dr. Derryl Miller is a pediatrician practicing in Indianapolis, Indiana. Dr. Miller is a doctor who specializes in the health care of children. As a pedicatrician, Dr. Miller diagnoses and treats infections, injuries, diseases and other disorders in children. Pediatricians typically work with infants, children, teenagers and young adults up to age 21. They practice medical care as well as preventative health care. Dr. Miller can oversee and manage the physical, mental and emotional health of their patients.
Dr. Derryl Joseph Miller
- Indianapolis, Indiana
- Accepting new patients
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My second child is 14 months old and hasn't taken her first steps. Is something wrong?
Well, I have nothing but good news for this question! That's always nice. Your child still has time to take steps independently before we should be worried. Although, there READ MORE
Well, I have nothing but good news for this question! That's always nice. Your child still has time to take steps independently before we should be worried. Although, there are other questions I would have to reassure us further. If your child is meeting other milestones such as having 5-10 words, the ability to pick up small objects with the index finger and thumb, and cruising around the house by pulling up on furniture? These would be other milestones which would be expected, and if they are met, your child is making great progress! There is terrific variability in the age that children meet milestones too. If you're a picture person, you might look at this figure to see how different these ages might be. https://openi.nlm.nih.gov/detailedresult.php?img=PMC2876049_pmed.1000273.g004&req=4
The milestone of "walking unassisted" which is defined as 1-2 steps unassisted is most typically met between 12 months to 16 months, and we tend not to worry about children until they are beyond 16 months and especially if they are missing other milestones or showing little progress toward walking unassisted.
Here is a helpful guide about milestones of all kinds for the various ages too if you are interested in all the things we look for in children of various ages: https://www.cdc.gov/ncbddd/actearly/pdf/checklists/all_checklists.pdf
This also offers helpful suggestions for parents helping their children. If you are concerned that your child is delayed, you may also apply for an assessment through First Steps for a home evaluation by Physical Therapy, Occupational Therapy, and Speech Therapy which will be available until the age of 3. They may also be able to provide additional reassurance or help your child with services if needed. Here is their website: http://www.in.gov/fssa/ddrs/4819.htm
I hope this was helpful. Keep working hard!
The milestone of "walking unassisted" which is defined as 1-2 steps unassisted is most typically met between 12 months to 16 months, and we tend not to worry about children until they are beyond 16 months and especially if they are missing other milestones or showing little progress toward walking unassisted.
Here is a helpful guide about milestones of all kinds for the various ages too if you are interested in all the things we look for in children of various ages: https://www.cdc.gov/ncbddd/actearly/pdf/checklists/all_checklists.pdf
This also offers helpful suggestions for parents helping their children. If you are concerned that your child is delayed, you may also apply for an assessment through First Steps for a home evaluation by Physical Therapy, Occupational Therapy, and Speech Therapy which will be available until the age of 3. They may also be able to provide additional reassurance or help your child with services if needed. Here is their website: http://www.in.gov/fssa/ddrs/4819.htm
I hope this was helpful. Keep working hard!
Can my child give me chickenpox?
Hello! This is a fantastic question. And sorry it took me so long to get back with you!
In short, if you have never had the vaccine (it was licensed in 3-1995), and, even READ MORE
Hello! This is a fantastic question. And sorry it took me so long to get back with you!
In short, if you have never had the vaccine (it was licensed in 3-1995), and, even if you did, precautions to prevent transmission are a good idea. While our vaccines are awesome in preventing disease, not everyone who receives the vaccines develops titers of antibody sufficient for immunity. Additionally, even if you were to receive the vaccine today to boost yourself, it would take a couple weeks for your body to react appropriately and make antibodies, so you could still get sick in that time frame.
The only way to be certain that you have immunity is to draw antibody titers from blood to the Varicella Zoster Virus, and I wouldn’t recommend this necessarily for you, because I would recommend precautions anyway. At minimum, I would recommend contact precautions. This means that you should wash your hands before and after interactions with your child as well as avoid touching lesions that are not crusted over without gloves as the virus is within secretions from these lesions.
Additionally, if you have contracted the virus, you may take upto 2 weeks to show symptoms. Your daughter is likely to remain contagious until all her rash lesions are scabbed over. She was also contagious for a couple days before the rash too, so it is entirely possible that you came into contact before she even became symptomatic. The virus can also be spread via airborne particles too, which would be more likely if your child had a strong cough at the time. Some children are able to aerosolize the virus. This is harder to prevent, but if you are especially worried about transmission, you could get a mask and I would recommend an N95 mask if possible (but any mask would be better than nothing).
The CDC has a great website about the Varicella Zoster Virus which causes chicken pox if you would like to learn more. The link to their website is here: https://www.cdc.gov/chickenpox/about/transmission.html
I hope this is helpful. Fortunately, once someone gets the chickenpox, it is unlikely that they will have a recurrence of the primary disease, but there is always a risk of recurrence with shingles later in life.
In short, if you have never had the vaccine (it was licensed in 3-1995), and, even if you did, precautions to prevent transmission are a good idea. While our vaccines are awesome in preventing disease, not everyone who receives the vaccines develops titers of antibody sufficient for immunity. Additionally, even if you were to receive the vaccine today to boost yourself, it would take a couple weeks for your body to react appropriately and make antibodies, so you could still get sick in that time frame.
The only way to be certain that you have immunity is to draw antibody titers from blood to the Varicella Zoster Virus, and I wouldn’t recommend this necessarily for you, because I would recommend precautions anyway. At minimum, I would recommend contact precautions. This means that you should wash your hands before and after interactions with your child as well as avoid touching lesions that are not crusted over without gloves as the virus is within secretions from these lesions.
Additionally, if you have contracted the virus, you may take upto 2 weeks to show symptoms. Your daughter is likely to remain contagious until all her rash lesions are scabbed over. She was also contagious for a couple days before the rash too, so it is entirely possible that you came into contact before she even became symptomatic. The virus can also be spread via airborne particles too, which would be more likely if your child had a strong cough at the time. Some children are able to aerosolize the virus. This is harder to prevent, but if you are especially worried about transmission, you could get a mask and I would recommend an N95 mask if possible (but any mask would be better than nothing).
The CDC has a great website about the Varicella Zoster Virus which causes chicken pox if you would like to learn more. The link to their website is here: https://www.cdc.gov/chickenpox/about/transmission.html
I hope this is helpful. Fortunately, once someone gets the chickenpox, it is unlikely that they will have a recurrence of the primary disease, but there is always a risk of recurrence with shingles later in life.
