There is no question that today's parents expect and, in some cases, demand information from their pediatrician about health and illness in their children. The Parent's Pediatric Companion deals with one aspect of parental questions—those normal but often troubling variations on perfection, which range from such minor things as mongolian spots to potentially serious problems such as lumps in the neck.
Unfortunately, because the book focuses only on what is normal, it provides only partial answers to parental questions. The authors do not always address the problem of what to do when there is an abnormal finding, nor do they deal with the issue of when to call the doctor. The book's thesis is: "Don't worry about this normal finding," which is an important message for parents. But this focus can also be troublesome. For example, under "Hiccups," the parent is told not to worry about them: "I don't know