Poos and spews. Voms and bombs. We all know the feeling of stress and discomfort when one of your children comes down with gastro. But how can you best look after your child and the whole family when gastro arrives in your home? Tune in for some tips on keeping up the fluids and how to stop the spread. Dr Anthea Rhodes is joined by Emergency Department Specialist at the RCH, Dr Tom Glover, to provide some helpful advice for getting through a bout of gastro in the household. This episode is part ...
May 06, 2025•17 min
How can I identify hand, foot and mouth disease and if my child has it, will I catch it too? Dr Anthea Rhodes is joined by Director of General Medicine at the RCH, Dr Sarah McNab, to explain what hand, foot and mouth disease is and help you to understand how you can stop the spread in your household this winter. This episode is part six of our winter wellness season. Listen to the full season to prepare your family for the cooler months. Each episode contains useful tips about illnesses that spr...
May 06, 2025•8 min
Croup can be scary and serious – can you recognise the signs, and would you know what to do if your child gets croup this winter? Dr Anthea Rhodes is joined by Emergency Department Specialist at the RCH, Dr Tristan Harding, to explain how you can spot the signs of croup in your child and what to do if they develop the distinctive barking-style cough or have difficulty breathing. This episode is part five of our winter wellness season. Listen to the full season to prepare your family for the cool...
May 06, 2025•7 min
Do you know what a ‘whoop’ sounds like? Could you tell if your child had whooping cough? Would you know how to stop it spreading through your household? Dr Anthea Rhodes is joined by Director of General Medicine at the RCH, Dr Sarah McNab to unpack the signs and symptoms of whooping cough in this episode of the Kids Health Info Podcast. This episode is part four of our winter wellness season. Listen to the full season to prepare your family for the cooler months. Each episode contains useful tip...
Apr 08, 2025•10 min
What is RSV and how concerned should you be about this virus? Who can have the new RSV immunisation this winter? In this episode of the Kids Health Info Podcast our host Dr Anthea Rhodes is joined by paediatrician and immunisation expert, Dr Margie Danchin to discuss what RSV is, what it looks like in children of different ages and how you can protect your family this winter. This episode is part three of our winter wellness season. Listen to the full season to prepare your family for the cooler...
Apr 08, 2025•7 min
When the sniffles, cough and fever arrive in your home this winter, rest assured you have the right information on hand to navigate what lies ahead. In this episode of the Kids Health Info podcast Dr Anthea Rhodes is joined by paediatrician, Dr Margie Danchin to explore whether it’s important to know the difference between illnesses and whether COVID is really still around this winter. This episode is part two of our winter wellness season. Listen to the full season to prepare your family for th...
Apr 08, 2025•8 min
Winter can be a tiring time of year and when multiple family members get sick at once, exhaustion levels can peak. While some illness is inevitable, especially when children are young and their immune systems are developing, there are steps you can take to prepare for the season ahead. In this episode of the Kids Health Info Podcast, your host Dr Anthea Rhodes is joined by Infectious Disease Expert Dr Linny Phuong to discuss winter wellness for your family. This episode is part one of our winter...
Apr 08, 2025•8 min
We know that parents want to keep their children as safe as they can at all times. But when it comes to traveling in the car, the law and the safety advice aren’t aligned, making it tough for parents to know what to do. In this bonus episode of the Kids Health Info Podcast, your host Dr Anthea Rhodes is joined by Trauma Specialist, Dr Warwick Teague, to discuss the choices that parents can make to keep their child safe in the car. The National Child Health Poll surveyed more than 1,600 Australia...
Apr 01, 2025•17 min
A healthy night’s sleep is key to a child’s overall health and wellbeing, but what can parents do to help make that happen? In this bonus episode of the Kids Health Info Podcast, your host Dr Anthea Rhodes, paediatrician and Director of the National Child Health Poll chats to Dr Moya Vandeleur, respiratory and sleep paediatrician. Dr Moya offers advice for parents on how to create healthy sleep habits in their homes and delves into some of the findings from the Royal Children’s Hospital National...
Feb 12, 2025•12 min
Finding the cause of pain in children and what to do about it can be one of the trickiest things for parents to manage. In this episode, Anthea is joined by Dr Nadine Sharples from the Emergency Department at The Royal Children's Hospital to share lots of practical advice on pain and pain relief in kids. For more information RCH Kids Health Info fact sheet - pain relief for children Victorian Poisons Information Centre RCH Kids Health Info Podcast - Head injuries RCH Kids Health Info Podcast - V...
Dec 14, 2022•11 min
Hand, foot and mouth disease is one of those things that seems to always be "going around". In fact, it's one of our most asked about topics. In this episode, Lexi speaks with Dr Gabrielle Haeusler, an infectious diseases specialist, to understand the signs of HFMD and discuss some prevention and treatment strategies. Click here to read our RCH Kids Health Info fact sheet on Hand, foot and mouth disease.
Dec 06, 2022•12 min
When a child is diagnosed with Type 1 diabetes, it has a profound impact on their life and family. Diabetes requires strict management every single day. Added to that burden is the confusion and misunderstanding that others might have about the disease and its cause. In this episode, Margie and Lexi are joined by Professor Fergus Cameron, Director of Endocrinology and Diabetes at The Royal Children's Hospital, and Sarah, whose son Finn was diagnosed with Type 1 diabetes at 15 months of age. Toge...
Sep 19, 2022•30 min
Growing up can be tiring work. But what's the difference between general tiredness in children and young people, and relentless fatigue that turns the simplest things into a challenge? Dr Lexi Frydenberg is joined Dr Colette Reveley, a paediatrician in the Department of Adolescent Medicine at The Royal Children's Hospital, Melbourne, to unpack the mysteries of chronic fatigue syndrome. They chat about typical symptoms and how chronic fatigue is diagnosed. They also provide advice about the manag...
Aug 11, 2022•29 min
Ah-choo! It feels like children everywhere are coughing and sneezing their way through this winter. So is it worse than usual? And what is 'RSV'? In this episode, Anthea and Margie are joined by paediatrician Dr Suzanne Boyce to chat about the most common respiratory viruses going around. They talk through the symptoms of COVID-19, RSV and flu, how to know when to seek help and the best ways to stop children from getting sick in the first place. Helpful resources RCH Kids Health Info fact sheet ...
Jul 27, 2022•17 min
Mealtimes can be a stressful experience when you've got a little person who pushes away their plate. Especially when you've put a lot of effort into a wholesome meal or the rest of the family is ready to eat. In this episode, Lexi and Anthea are joined by special guest Dr Kathleen McGrath, a paediatric gastroenterologist with a special interest in child nutrition. Together they pick though the common reasons for fussy eating, whether there's a health risk if your child doesn't seem to be eating ...
Jul 18, 2022•27 min•Season 4Ep. 9
As more children return to fields, courts and ovals around the country, common sports injuries and accidents are on the rise. What is the best first aid for sports injuries and how do you know when to go to emergency? Margie and Anthea are joined by Dr Peter Barnett, an emergency doctor at the RCH with an interest in sports medicine and Greg Cull, a physiotherapist at the RCH, to chat about managing sports injuries and supporting children to get safely back to all-important physical activity. He...
Jun 23, 2022•21 min•Season 4Ep. 8
Sadly, burns are still a common injury in childhood. To coincide with National Burns Safety Awareness Month, hosts Anthea and Lexi are joined by Warwick Teague, surgeon, clinical burns lead and Director of Trauma at The Royal Children's Hospital, Melbourne. Warwick gives us the absolute must-do when it comes to burns first aid (hint: it involves a lot of cool running water) and explains the steps we can all take to prevent burns happening in the first place. For more information: RCH Kids Health...
Jun 13, 2022•30 min•Season 4Ep. 7
Influenza, or the 'flu', has almost disappeared for the last two years. But it's back, and already bringing children to hospital for treatment. In this episode, Dr Anthea Rhodes is joined by Dr Margie Danchin as our expert guest to discuss the flu. As well as being a paediatrician at the RCH, and regular host of the this podcast, Margie is an expert in immunisation and a research leader in vaccine uptake. So, there's no better person to discuss why and how to get the vaccine, and answer those co...
Apr 28, 2022•14 min•Season 4Ep. 6
Good dental health has huge benefits for our general wellbeing and quality of life, and it starts the moment that very first tooth pops through in babies. In this episode we're joined by special guest Dr Mihiri Silva, a paediatric dentist from The Royal Children's Hospital. If you've ever wondered when and how to start brushing teeth, how tooth decay happens, or what to do if a tooth gets knocked out, Mihiri has these answers and plenty more pearls of wisdom! Helpful resources: RCH Kids Health I...
Apr 05, 2022•29 min•Season 4Ep. 5
Witnessing a seizure can be a frightening experience for parents and carers, and raises so many questions. What's going on when a child has a seizure and what could it mean for their ongoing health? Does it mean they have epilepsy? To make sense of seizures, Margie and Lexi are joined by Associate Professor Andrew Kornberg, Neurologist at The Royal Children's Hospital, Melbourne. As well as understanding seizure types, Andrew has some practical first aid tips, and discusses the process of findin...
Mar 25, 2022•27 min•Season 4Ep. 4
A restful sleep is so important for children’s health. But sometimes, a stuffy nose or blocked passages get in the way of a good sleep. In this episode we’re joined by Ear, Nose and Throat Surgeon, Dr Eric Levi, to find out why snooze turns to snoring, and what can be done to get children back on the path to sleep success. For more information, check out these helpful resources: RCH Kids Health Info fact sheet - Childhood obstructive sleep apnoea RCH Kids Health Info fact sheet - Hay fever Raisi...
Mar 09, 2022•28 min•Season 4Ep. 3
**a quick correction: During the conversation Margie says the twice-weekly rapid antigen testing will be for the first week of term. What Margie meant to say was that it will be for the first four weeks and then reassessed. We apologise for the confusion. As schools return to in-classroom learning next week, we know that students, families, and teachers are busy preparing for the term ahead and may have some questions about how to keep safe this school year. In this episode, our hosts Dr Lexi Fr...
Jan 28, 2022•20 min•Season 4Ep. 2
For many of us, the new year has not started as we had hoped. With the Omicron variant so prevalent in the community and the start to the school year just around the corner, many parents may be wondering what the latest news is with COVID-19 and children. In this podcast episode, host Dr Anthea Rhodes is joined by Dr Sarah McNab, Director of General Medicine at The Royal Children’s Hospital to unpack the current situation with COVID-19 infections and hospitalisations in Victoria, how the Omicron...
Jan 21, 2022•19 min•Season 4Ep. 1
Do you have questions about the COVID-19 vaccine for five to 11 year olds? Our latest RCH National Child Health Poll found that 30% of Australian parents of children aged five to 11 years were undecided about COVID vaccination for their child, with questions around the safety and efficacy of the vaccine. Following the Government’s approval of the COVID-19 Pfizer vaccine for children aged five years and above, join RCH paediatricians Dr Anthea Rhodes and Dr Margie Danchin as they answer your ques...
Jan 04, 2022•59 min
Have you had the experience of holding a baby and they just won’t stop crying? Soothing an unsettled baby can be a trying task for anyone, particularly new parents. Crying is a baby’s way of communicating with us, but when the crying doesn’t stop, how do we know when to seek help? In this episode we’re joined by expert paediatrician, Dr Valerie Sung, who works in the RCH unsettled babies clinic, to go through the common experiences for parents with unsettled babies and when and where to find hel...
Dec 19, 2021•35 min•Season 3Ep. 9
Many families have questions about Autism Spectrum Disorder (ASD) but may not know where to start. It can be a complex topic, and because it is a spectrum, there is huge variation. In this episode we’re joined by expert Paediatrician Dr Deb Marks, who sees patients with Autism every day, to go through common questions about what Autism is, what signs parents can look out for, how to seek a diagnosis and where to go for help. Useful links RCH Kids Health Info Fact Sheet - Autism Spectrum Disorder...
Dec 09, 2021•35 min•Season 3Ep. 8
Toddlers and preschoolers bring so much joy and fun to family life. But there are also those times when their behaviour causes a lot of stress for everyone, whether it's in the supermarket aisle or at the dinner table! In this episode we unpack what's behind toddler tantrums, fussy eating and more, with Dr Billy Garvey, a developmental and behavioural paediatrician from The Royal Children's Hospital Centre for Community Child Health. Billy, along with hosts and paediatricians Dr Anthea Rhodes an...
Nov 08, 2021•38 min•Season 3Ep. 7
Whether it's for a vaccine or for medical care, nobody especially likes having needles. But for some children and teens, it can be a big hurdle to overcome. And now, with the COVID-19 vaccine being rolled out to more and more Australians, having an injection is something we're all too familiar with. In this episode, we're joined by two special guests - Sonja Elia, an Immunisation Nurse Practitioner and head of the RCH Immunisation Drop-In Centre, and Dr Amanda Stock, a Paediatrician and Emergenc...
Oct 28, 2021•42 min•Season 3Ep. 6
In this episode, hosted by Dr Lexi Frydenberg, we bring you the latest on what's happening with children and COVID-19 in Victoria. Our special guest is Dr Sarah McNab, Director of General Medicine at The Royal Children's Hospital, Melbourne. Lexi and Sarah cover: the current situation with COVID-19 infections and hospitalisations how COVID-19 is affecting children and teenagers COVID-19 and children with asthma how best to care for your child if they test positive to COVID-19 booster doses of CO...
Oct 15, 2021•8 min
It seems like allergies affect so many children these days. In fact, our home town of Melbourne is sometimes called the allergy capital of the world. So what really is an allergy, how does it show up, and what is anaphylaxis? And what does it all mean for children with an allergy? To answer these questions and more, we're joined by Dr Joanne Smart, Director of Allergy and Immunology at The Royal Children's Hospital, Melbourne. Looking for more information? We've collected some online resources h...
Oct 13, 2021•30 min•Season 3Ep. 5
