“We’re all so worried about that first fever. What happens if my child gets sick? But the most important thing in newborns, young children, all ages really, is accident prevention. We’re going to go over that at each pediatric well visit. We’re going to go over their development, their health, all your questions, and we’re going to give you those tools to stay perhaps not just one, but two steps ahead of your young ones. When are they going to roll and when are heights scary? Even at that first visit, I’ll go over that heights scare me. I don’t like changing tables. Let’s change them on the floor. We get those calls at one in the morning of the newborn, the sleep-deprived parent, and the baby simply fell out of our arms onto the floor. We get the call of the child who ingested something or put something in their mouth. The nine-month-old who grabs your hot cup of coffee. It’s so scary. So let’s work together. Each visit we’ll go over accident prevention and anticipatory guidance and make sure that our little ones are safe in our home. We’ll safety proof the whole house to the maximum degree from the very beginning and make sure that we can grow up in a safe environment.”
Hugh Gilgoff, MD is a board-certified pediatrician at Mount Sinai Doctors Brooklyn Heights. He has a particular interest in newborn care, asthma, and development issues, incorporating teachings from both Eastern and Western medicine. He is a contributing author on the parenting blog, A Child Grows in Brooklyn, and is very active in the local community, speaking at PS 29, the Dodge YMCA, and several child-birth classes. Dr. Gilgoff is fluent in Spanish. He offers free prenatal consultations every month. Mount Sinai Doctors Brooklyn Heights is a two-floor practice with a walk-in urgent care center and more than 35 specialties. Located at 300 Cadman Plaza West, the practice is situated on the 17th and 18th floors.