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Community Corner

Two Peds in a Pod

Local pediatricians Julie Kardos and Naline Lai offer online advice through their blog and podcasts.

If you’re a parent, you’ve probably wondered whether to trust online sources for information about potty training or your child’s illness.

Chances are, you’ve thought of another question for the pediatrician within seconds of leaving the office, or purchased a book about parenting that’s sitting on your night table right now collecting dust.

Enter Two Peds in a Pod, a blog by Dr. Julie Kardos and Dr. Naline Lai, two local pediatricians who also double as moms themselves. On their site, they offer short, pragmatic postings and podcasts centered around “the essentials of life” for newborns through teenagers.

“A lot of resources out there are organized by age, but we focus on things that are essential at any age,” said Kardos, a physician at Children's Hospital of Philadelphia Care Network Newtown Pediatrics. “For example, you might be concerned about constipation with a newborn, and constipation can also be a sign of drug abuse in a teenager. And loss of sleep may point to different causes in a toddler than a teenager.”

Some of their most popular postings have included “The Scoop on Poop,” “Bye Bye Binkie,” and the sobering “Erasing: An Unsafe Teen Game.”

“We try to focus on the basics that many people, particularly parents of newborns, have the same questions about -- eat, sleep, poop, love, and guidance,” said Lai, who practices at Buckingham Pediatrics. “There are also a lot of psychological issues that we try to address because the art of medicine goes beyond the body, it is also about the mind and building character.”  

Kardos and Lai are uniquely qualified to educate parents about children’s health issues. They are both Board Certified pediatricians who have been practicing for 13 years, and each of them has three children of their own.

“We get it. We’re parents ourselves, so we know exactly what you go through,” said Lai. “Time is precious. We write this blog for busy people like us. Parents don’t have time to sit down and luxuriously read and ponder their kids. We try to keep it short and quick.”

They also understand how hard it can be to hear or remember the information provided by your child’s doctor.

“When you’re in the office with a tired, sick kid, it can be difficult to listen,” said Kardos. “And if a parent forgets what we tell them, this way it’s all written down for them when they get home.”

The pair met on the first day of their residency at The Children’s Hospital of Philadelphia, and quickly discovered their shared passion for educating.

“We always joked that we’d write a book someday to reach more people,” Kardos said. “But nowadays, parents go to the Internet for information instead of books, and there’s a lot of information out there that’s wrong, so it can be hard to figure out what to believe. We wanted to have a site that people could rely on, that‘s easy, interesting to read, and addresses what parents really want to know.” 

In addition to written posts, Two Peds offers podcasts recorded at their kitchen tables (aka their recording studio) or at one of their “house calls.”

“We’ve gone into people’s living rooms and done ‘pod cast parties’ for mom’s groups, where we did a Q and A and recorded it. The commentary that follows the Q and A is amusing, we really get a good dialogue going,” said Lai.

“It’s neat because it’s moms we're helping educate other moms all over the world,” added Kardos.

Readers can rest assured that the information on Two Peds in a Pod is trustworthy; but it does not replace the advice of your child’s doctor.

“We are doctors, but in our role with Two Peds in a Pod, we are educators and teachers,” Kardos pointed out. “On the site, we are not your child’s doctor, we’re just giving general advice. It’s the same as reading a child care book -- it’s not a doctor-patient relationship. Doctors need to understand the child and the family in order to answer specific questions.”

Ultimately, their dream is to help one million families. Since starting the blog nearly two years ago, Kardos and Lai have already garnered readership in the tens of thousands, with Facebook and e-mail subscribers.

Their readers come from the U.S. and abroad, with many hits from the U.K. and India. They’ve received national coverage, including a radio interview with Robin Young on NPR and an article in Real Simple magazine. They’ve even acquired new patients who found them through the site.

“We became doctors to help people, and we can reach more people this way,” said Lai. “Hands down, the biggest compliment is when someone says we read it on your blog and it helped us.”

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