catherine parrish: and that's because kids aren't at home. they're in day care from six weeks of age. when we were all growing up, we grew up at home and were only exposed to our siblings and cousins, and so we weren't as sick at an early age. now moms go to work at six weeks or eight weeks of age for the child, and so kids get a lot more ear infections, a lot more colds. it may be impossible to avoid runny noses, but experts agree on some easy, yet important ways to give children a good start. catherine parrish: i think i start by telling them to enjoy their baby and love their baby. and then, in the very beginning, like in the first two months of life, to try exposing the baby to as few strangers as possible, to bring as few germs into the house as possible, nurture the baby, feed the baby regularly, not take the baby to the mall... not take the baby to the movies, because i have some very young moms in my practice who want to get back to the mall as soon as possible. and so, you know, i try and limit the baby's exposure to pathogens that m