Parenting Unpacked

Trigger Warning: We discuss about Birth Trauma and PTSD

We recorded this episode way back in January 2024 and here it is for your ears all the way at the other end of the year in November 2024. We had the best of intentions getting episodes to your ears many many months ago but alas, life gets in the way. However, we did manage to record a few episodes back then and here is the first of the (non)Lost Episodes. We hope you enjoy! Siobhan & Kristyn F...

We are BACK! It's been a minute since we've shared an episode with you and since we were last in your ears, two new babies have joined our respective families! But now we are back, and we can't wait to catch you up on everything. After having tried (and failed) to record and share several episodes this year due to very little spare time, several children underfoot and also managing our outside of...

This week we tackle your burning questions which include why toddlers are assholes (hint: it’s not just your kid & it’s not your fault). This is our second last episode for season 2! To find out what your little one’s temperament is, check out this link: scienceminded.org/temperament

Re-live the trauma of the baby days with Siobhan and Kristyn as they recount just how many baby “must-haves” turned out to be “must-have-NOTs”, from carseats, prams to mamaroos and owlets. Get the full low down as we dive in to all things baby.

In this episode, Siobhan and Kristyn discuss their planning for their respective postpartum periods, the second time around! In particular, Siobhan shares her experience of working with Kathryn Millhouse from @‌_motherup to prepare a postpartum plan and she shares some of the great ideas and prompts that she's included. This is an episode packed full of practical and flexible ideas for postpar...

Description: In this episode Kristyn and Siobhan talk all things toilet training - pee, poo and potty! Kristyn also shares about a research project she has going on all about making therapy better for autistic people. Find out more here -  https://www151.griffith.edu.au/redcap/surveys/?s=YY8LXD3XT9ATPJCE Resources discussed in this episode: The Incredible Poo Party by Zoe Panto:  https://www.amazo...

In this episode, Siobhan and Kristyn interview with Sarah R. Moore from @dandelionseedpositiveliving on Instagram. She has a book “Peaceful discipline”. She was trained by Dr Bessel van der Kolk (author of The Body Keeps the Score) and Dr Dan Siegel (author of The Whole Brain Child). We tackle all the tricky stuff including whether timeout is ever okay?

Kristyn and Siobhan catch up and talk about Social Media, maternal mental health, and influencers - do social media influencers have a responsibility to account for how their content affects their followers' mental wellbeing?

This episode is all about birth, birth trauma and physiological vs natural vs vaginal births. B from @‌coreandfloorrestore (who has a background in midwifery and personal training) joined us to talk all things birth, pelvic floor health and everything in between. In the episode Kristyn and Siobhan talk about jumping to the outro - if you want to do this, jump to around 1hr 25 minutes in (it's a lo...

In this episode Kristyn and Siobhan chat with Dr Bec Thornton, the National Health Promotion Manager for Red Nose. Red Nose is Australia’s leading authority on safe sleep and Siobhan and Kristyn ask Dr Bec lots of curly questions about the application of safe sleep practices in real life.  Red Nose have a great range of resources to support parents available on their website - https://rednose...

In today’s episode, Siobhan has a chat with Tiffany from @simplifyingchildhood. They talk about all things play-based and child-led learning and discuss the problems associated with the current push for formalised education in the early years, including the focus on attainment and success over relationship.  They also have an interesting discussion about the place of ‘self-care’ in motherhood...

In this episode, we talk about Australia's stolen generation and the impact this has had on Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander peoples' attachment to community and country. The following link is to a testimony from a woman who was stolen - https://www.stolengenerationstestimonies.com/donna-meehan.html   We also discuss Jacinta Ardern's decision to step aside as the New Zealand Prime Minist...

In this episode, we chat with two amazing women - Bec and Krista. Krista has a medical condition that means she  is unable to fall pregnant, and when she shared this information with her friend Bec, Bec offered to act as her surrogate.  As a result, Krista is now mum to a beautiful 8-month-old baby girl! Bec and Krista very generously share with us the highs and lows of their journey and...

We start this year the way we left the last, with chaos! In this episode, we chat about how we celebrated Christmas and the gifts we gave our toddlers (some were immediate winners, others have taken time). We also talk about the whining phase, the onslaught of “why's” from our toddlers, what is happening with daytime naps and what we’re planning to do in 2023 (apart from Siobhan giving birth and K...

Buckle in because Siobhan and Kristyn are exhausted and burnt out after of long year of researching, social media-ing, podcasting, parenting, working in child cares and so on. The effects of this show in the pure chaos that is this episode. Kristyn talks about her horror experiences in academia as a woman and a mother. The girls chat about casual, systemic and culturally ingrained sexual assault a...

Journal club is back for its final 2022 installment! This week we are talking about a new sleep training study that's been making A LOT of (unfounded) headlines. So, to help you parse fact from fiction, to give you an insight into the strengths and weaknesses of this research AND to help you figure out what the research ACTUALLY says (hint it is definitely not what the media is saying) tune in and...

In this episode of parenting unpacked we chat with Dr. Jess Stokes Parish.  Jess is an ICU nurse, researcher, and science communicator.  She has created a really useful template called CRABS which helps you interpret the reliability of the information you see on social media. Also, Siobhan is back and healthy (and hiding in a cupboard in an effort to improve our audio quality)!

Welcome back to journal club! This week we're all about the new article on mothers' tendency to apologize to their children and how it impacts their behavior. Watch along to hear about the findings and what we think! On today's journal club we have Jess Guy @infantsleepscientist, Laura Gainche @scienceforallwomen and Cara Goodwin @parentingtranslator. Check out the full article here: https://tinyu...

In this episode, Kristyn has a chat with Lopamudra Goswami. Lopa is an Indian research scholar currently pursuing her doctoral studies at Griffith University in Australia. Her research since 2014 has revolved around Indian surrogate mothers in Gujarat (once known to be the surrogacy capital of the world) and Karnataka, which has lent itself towards her Ph. D. thesis. She is invested in gaining a d...

Welcome back to journal club! This week we're talking all about the new article on the effects of long daycare hours on children. Watch along to hear about the findings and what we think!    Find the article here: https://tinyurl.com/h4c4psku

In this episode of Parenting Unpacked we talk with baby & toddler holistic sleep coach, and fellow scientist, Dr. Laura Gainche @scienceforallwomen.  We talk about the variation in infant sleep, why wake windows, pitch-black rooms, and white noise might not work for your child, and how tiny changes can have a huge impact. We also dive into a little bit of the science behind Santa with muc...

Helloooooo parenting unpacked crew! We're dropping something a little bit different into the feed this week, it's called journal club. I know I know, you're probably asking "WTF is journal club!?" Journal club is something we do in universities where we all read the same academic paper and then we meet to talk about it. It gives us a chance to stretch our critical insight muscles, helps the junior...

In this episode, we are joined by Dr Lisa (@drlisa.researcher) to talk about science communication in the parent and child space.  We also chat about her own personal journey with having a second baby after postpartum depression and '2 under 2'.  Partway through the episode, Kristyn starts to have a panic attack during what seems to be a beautiful and healing conversation for Lisa and Si...

Trigger warning: we talk about postpartum anxiety and depression, suicidal ideation, and thoughts of harm to self and baby in this episode. If you aren’t ready to hear this one yet, that is okay! If this episode brings up challenging feelings for you please seek out some support - the PANDA helpline (1300 726 306) is one option for support in Australia. We have exciting news, Siobhan is having a b...