Connecticut Children's Blog

Connecticut Children’s Sleep Center works with many families each year to improve their child’s insomnia. Insomnia refers to trouble falling asleep or trouble staying asleep. Here are three quick facts about childhood insomnia that may help improve your child’s ability to fall and stay asleep. 1.) Not every child with insomnia requires a sleep study […]

Olivia Belfonti wasn’t even born yet when her parents, Tricia and Arnold, knew there was trouble—serious trouble—with their baby. Tricia was 19 weeks pregnant when an ultrasound showed that Olivia’s heart had only one ventricle. Instead of the normal arrangement, where one side of the heart pumps oxygen-rich blood from the lungs to the rest […]

By Kathleen Mayko and Tony Sabonis, Maeve’s and Rowan’s parents Our daughters, Maeve and Rowan, are typical precocious little girls. Maeve, 4, started preschool in fall 2018. She’s bubbly and vivacious, and she likes reading, dancing and animals. She lights up a room with her energy. She loves being outside, loves going to the library, […]

Staying well-hydrated is very important for your kidneys. Proper hydration helps your kidneys balance all of the electrolytes in your body, such as sodium and potassium, and helps your kidneys get rid of all the waste products from food you consume that your body does not use. Furthermore, your body is made up of 70% […]

Orthopedic surgeon Dr. Sonia Chaudhry is the only pediatric hand surgeon in Connecticut and she’s here at Connecticut Children’s.  Ashley Denison remembers the worry that washed over her when doctors told her that her son had no thumb on his left hand just moments after he was delivered in April 2017. How would he hold […]

David Alvarez III, 18, is a typical college freshman. He’s concerned about his classes at the University of Bridgeport, where he’s pursuing a bachelor’s degree in business management; studying for tests; getting his homework done; and spending time with friends. But on top of those concerns, David makes time for regular appointments at Connecticut Children’s […]

When Rose Robison first glanced at her daughter Brianna’s Christmas list, she was expecting to find all the trappings of a 15-year-old’s desires: clothes, jewelry, accessories, and so on. What she didn’t anticipate, however, was a written request to meet the Connecticut Children’s Medical Center’s NICU staff at UConn Health in Farmington that saved her […]

By Lizzie Drake, Amelia’s mom My daughter Amelia is 3 years old. She has curly blonde hair and blue eyes. She’s feisty and spunky. She’s always happy, loves life, and loves to play and sing songs. She loves to read and be outside, and she loves going to preschool. Amelia also has cystic fibrosis (CF), […]

It was October 21, 1996, and Shari Cantor had just given birth to her fourth son, Jacob, at Hartford Hospital. At first Jacob seemed to be perfectly healthy. “I was sitting there with this beautiful baby with a perfect Apgar score,” Shari says. “But then one of the nurses came to look at him and […]