The Modern Mommy Doc Podcast

There’s so much parenting advice out there, and most of it doesn’t matter nearly as much as the internet wants you to think. (Seed oils? We have bigger fish to fry.) In this solo episode, Dr. Whitney is getting back to basics and sharing the six evidence-based parenting principles she focuses on as a pediatrician, the ones she dug into with a leading child development researcher. She's also sharin...

Everyone focuses on the teen during the college admissions years. But moms are carrying the household, the emotions, the logistics, and the quiet fear of watching their kid leave. This week Dr. Whitney is joined by Danny Ruderman, Stanford grad, and a coach with 20+ years and 40,000 hours spent with teenagers. His new book, Harvard Doesn't Care About You, Mom , is written for the mothers. He and D...

Two and a half weeks after dropping her daughter off at college, psychologist Dr. Sheryl Ziegler joins Whitney to talk about the messy, unfiltered reality of watching a kid leave the nest — including the fight at breakfast, the tissues in her purse, and the psychological reason her daughter picked their last morning together to be completely impossible. In this episode, we get into: "Soiling the n...

In this candid, unscripted episode, Dr. Whitney reminds parents that there's no such thing as "winning" back-to-school season. Drawing on a genuinely chaotic 24 hours in her own life — a burst water pipe during a kitchen remodel, a big corporate consulting meeting, an anxious child struggling at school, and a stomach-medication mishap — she walks through what it actually looks like to choose "good...

Every great sports team has a culture. Every great company has one too. So why don't we ever talk about our families that way? This week, Dr. Whitney sits down with siblings Nancy Shapiro and Steven Shapiro — combined, 68 years in public education as a middle school counselor and a high school teacher/program director — who co-founded Our Family Culture after watching, year after year, which kids...

Does becoming a mom have to mean giving up your ambition? Dr. Anne Welsh — psychologist, Fair Play facilitator, and author of Ambitious Mother: From Surviving to Thriving in Your Career and at Home — joins Dr. Whitney Casares to make the case that motherhood doesn't kill ambition, it clarifies it. Learn more . Mentioned in this episode: New Book! Raising Body-Confident Kids You want your kids to l...

Summer's relaxed, grab-and-go eating is about to collide with the structure of a new school year. For a lot of parents, that transition brings a fresh wave of food-related stress. In this episode, Dr. Whitney Casares sits down with registered dietitian and mom of three Shira Sussi (founder of Shira Sussi Nutrition ) to talk about how families can move into the school year without the mealtime anxi...

In this episode, I'm pulling back the curtain on my journey from aspiring writer to published author (five books now!) to sought-after media expert...and sharing the real financial and strategic lessons I've learned along the way. I break down how my early blog posts for Modern Mommy Doc evolved into my first two books, The Newborn Baby Blueprint and The Working Mom Blueprint , which I wrote as a...

Vacation sounds dreamy...until you're the parent of a neurodivergent child navigating airports, new hotels, unfamiliar foods, and a completely blown-up routine. I see this in my practice all the time, and I've lived it myself. In this episode, I'm breaking down exactly how to make family travel not just survivable, but genuinely good for your child and for you. I'm walking you through seven practi...

I have a confession. My 12-year-old's face broke out and I panicked. Not in a calm, clinical, pediatrician way. In a this-is-somehow-about-me way. And I had to stop and ask myself: what is actually happening right now? In this episode, I'm getting honest about one of the most under-addressed parts of raising kids through puberty: what happens inside us when our kids' bodies start changing in ways...

I was at the grocery store with my nine-year-old. She'd had a hard day (the class bully had gone after her) and she wanted everything. Cinnamon Toast Crunch. Brioche with Nutella. Red velvet cupcakes. Whipped cream straight from the aerosol can. And I said no to most of it. In today's episode, I'm talking about why. I'm also talking about why I think the "let kids eat whatever they want, whenever...

When we become doctors, lawyers, or teachers, there are exams, certifications, and years of preparation. But when we become parents, we’re handed a newborn and sent home. Dr. Debbie Raphael—a child, adolescent, and adult psychiatrist—became a mother at the same time she began her child psychiatry fellowship. That unusual overlap gave her a rare opportunity: she was learning the science of child de...

Potty training can feel like one of the most stressful milestones in early parenting. There’s pressure from preschool deadlines, advice from every corner of the internet, and the nagging feeling that your child is the only one who hasn’t figured it out yet. But what if potty training struggles aren’t really about behavior at all? In this episode, Dr. Whitney talks with Dr. Quiara Smith , a pediatr...

In this episode of the Modern Mommy Doc Podcast , Dr. Whitney sits down with obesity medicine specialist Dr. Matthea Rentea to unpack the complicated, often controversial topic of weight, metabolism, and health. They discuss why muscle and sleep play critical roles in metabolic health, and why many people struggle with food “noise.” They also talk openly about GLP-1 medications, diet culture, and...

Parenting can bring enormous joy but it can also put significant strain on relationships. In this episode, Dr. Whitney sits down with registered clinical counselor Martina Nova , author of Same Page Parenting , to talk about one of the most common challenges couples face after having children: getting on the same page. They discuss the invisible mental load that many parents (especially mothers!)...

In this episode of The Modern Mommy Doc Podcast, Dr. Whitney Casares sits down with professional organizer MaryJo Monroe, founder of ReSPACEd , to talk about realistic home organization strategies that actually work for busy families, especially those navigating ADHD, autism, and neurodiversity. Together, they explore how organization can reduce overwhelm, save time, and support emotional regulati...

What happens when a child grows up feeling “different” without the language to understand why? In this episode of The Modern Mommy Doc Podcast, Dr. Whitney Casares sits down with author Nancy Lasater to discuss her novel Farmer’s Son , a powerful story exploring dyslexia, identity, family dynamics, and the lifelong impact of being misunderstood as a child. Together, they explore how learning diffe...

What does it really mean to be a good daughter... and why does it feel so exhausting for so many women? In this episode, Dr. Whitney Casares is joined by Dr. Allison Alford , communication scholar and author of Good Daughtering , to explore the invisible emotional labor daughters carry across generations. They unpack how caregiving, obligation, gender expectations, and the “sandwich generation” co...

In this episode of the Modern Mommy Doc Podcast , Dr. Whitney Casares sits down with Alyssa Campbell, parenting educator, school consultant, and bestselling author of Big Kids, Bigger Feelings , to talk about why the elementary and middle school years can feel surprisingly hard for kids and parents. They unpack what’s really going on beneath meltdowns, shutdowns, and “they’re old enough to know be...

In this episode, Dr. Whitney Casares sits down with Dr. Jay Gargus and Dave Justus from NeuroQure to discuss the power of early clarity when it comes to autism detection and why earlier intervention can fundamentally change outcomes for children and families. Dr. Gargus explains the science behind early behavioral therapies and why their impact goes far beyond short-term skill-building. Research s...

What if the stories we struggle to share are the very ones that could help someone else feel less alone? In this deeply moving episode of the Modern Mommy Doc Podcast , Dr. Whitney sits down with physician and author Dr. Rebecca Thompson to talk about her powerful collaborative memoir, Held Together: A Shared Memoir of Motherhood, Medicine, and Imperfect Love . The book weaves together the real-li...

In this episode of The Modern Mommy Doc Podcast , Dr. Whitney sits down with Kishshana Palmer, speaker, coach, and author of Busy Is a Four-Letter Word: A Guide to Achieving More by Doing Less . Together, they dive into what happens when moms finally decide to step off the hamster wheel of over-functioning and start living with more intention, joy, and rest. You’ll hear: 💡 Why busyness has become...

In this episode of The Modern Mommy Doc Podcast , Dr. Whitney sits down with Jordyn Kovaleski Gorman, a licensed pediatric feeding specialist, speech-language pathologist, and founder of Eat Play Say , a global parenting resource reaching families in over 100 countries. Together, they unpack one of the most stressful parts of early parenthood: feeding babies and toddlers — and how to do it with le...

In this episode of the Modern Mommy Doc Podcast , Dr. Whitney is joined by Kahlila Robinson and Sarah Gertzenzang , co-authors of The Self-Regulation Workbook for Children Ages 5–8 . Together, they dive into the critical role self-regulation plays in kids’ emotional well-being—and how parents can support it at home. Dr. Robinson and Sarah share why they created a resource that’s accessible, practi...

In this episode of the Modern Mommy Doc podcast, Dr. Whitney Casares sits down with pediatric psychologist, author, and parent coach Dr. Ann-Louise Lockhart to talk about how to actually love the teen you have , not the one you imagined, hoped for, or thought you’d get. Together, they unpack how to stay connected to your teen through the chaos, what to do when your kid calls you “bruh,” and how to...