Docs2Dads - A Pediatrician’s Field Guide for Fathers

What can we teach our children to help them grow into happy and healthy adolescents and adults? Especially in the aftermath of the pandemic and the response to it, there has been much discussion about the rise in mental health challenges facing young adults and adolescents. Pediatric care providers (and parents) are constantly on the lookout for what can be done to prevent these challenges and sup...

Should I get my kids a toothbrush with a timer? What should I do with a loose tooth? WHAT CAN BE DONE ABOUT TEETHING?!? If there’s one area of the body that most pediatricians will gladly collaborate with a specialist, it’s the teeth. I’m so excited to welcome a board-certified pediatric dentist to the show this week. Dr. Neema Dad (I know, it’s perfect for this show, although it’s pronounced like...

How far can babies see? What's causing all that gunk around her eyes? Is some screen time better than others? There are a lot of things happening in a critical window with your child's vision and it leads to a lot of questions and testing in the first five years of life.  As a pediatrician, most of what I know about the eyes, I learned from my wife, the ophthalmologist. We actually don&a...

Does she have another sinus infection? Should we get his hearing tested? Should her breathing sound like that while she's sleeping? These are questions that we have discussed around our dinner table in the last three months.  I know that you are having similar conversations around your dinner table too. So this week, I've brought in another expert to discuss all of your questions about t...

In our new series, "Ask the Experts," we are taking the questions you have about your child's health that you discuss around the dinner table and bringing you the most up-to-date answers from the experts.  Today, we kick off that series with Dr. Mark Pressprich, a senior urology resident and father of 5.   How can I prevent my child from getting a UTI?  Should I have my baby circumc...

This week, on the Docs2Dads podcast, I am joined by Blake Brewer of the Legacy Letter Challenge.  Blake has an incredible story of how a letter from his dad altered the course of his life forever and now he is on a mission to help one million dads write a letter for their kids to share the encouragement, wisdom, and love that they need. If something were to happen to you, you would be quickly repl...

There are plenty of commentaries to be found in the media and online about parents trying to “have it all.” Parents - moms and dads alike - are frequently trying to have an ambitious career, a fulfilling home life, a fun social calendar, and leave a meaningful impact on our world.  Most discussion in this space revolves around ways to help moms make the most of their professional lives while being...

Valentine's Day is just around the corner and most couples make plans for a fancy dinner or night at the movies.   But my wife and I - we record a podcast. In this episode, we are dishing about the best and worst advice that we've gotten about how to stay invested in your marriage when the kids' needs seem to take up your every waking thought. Avoid living parallel lives Be intentio...

I’ve wanted to make this type of episode for a while now. I hope you like it.  Part of my job as an academic pediatrician is to stay up to date with the latest research being done and published in the biggest research journals. Some of those articles are related to parenting - and are worthy of discussion and analysis in an episode.  Today, we do our first dive into Hot Off the Presses Parenting R...

If your family is anything like mine, then this winter of 2022-2023 has brought you nothing but illness after illness.   If you are living through one of these difficult seasons right now, YOU ARE NOT ALONE!! This winter has been A LOT!! There are so many families in the clinic or in my social circle that have had at least one member sick (and usually more) since Thanksgiving.   In this episode, I...

This is part two of my highlights from the books I read in 2022 that had the biggest impact on me and will guide my personal and professional development in 2023. This year, I am focusing less on setting resolutions and more on building systems for achieving my desired outcomes.  My inspiration for doing that came from excerpts of the books I read last year. In this episode, I'll discuss impa...

One of my new year's resolutions for 2022 was to read more books and find a way to actually capture and review the key insights from the books I read.  I was able to accomplish this using my Kindle and the Readwise app.  Throughout the year, I have been reviewing my highlights from the books I read last year and for the next two weeks, I am going to be sharing some of the highlights that have...

One thing fathers spend a lot of time thinking about is the big picture. Where do I want my kids to end up? How do I teach them what they need to know in order to be successful and happy adults?  This week, we talk about how to be intentional about accomplishing that mission by laying out your core values into a mission statement for your fatherhood.  In business, the mission statement provides cl...

Around the holidays, it is easy for us to get caught up in the busyness of the season, focused on what needs to get done and what we hope to receive when the holidays finally arrive.  How much easier is it for our kids to do the same? Not understanding when people around them are in need or how to think of others when planning for the holidays.  We must teach these skills to our kids and that’s wh...

The modern American Healthcare system has turned many primary care clinics into a place with phone trees, 15-minute appointments, and surprise bills. Today's guest is working to help families and pediatricians reimagine how the patient-doctor relationship can be. Some would say that these practices are getting back to the roots of primary care with a doctor who spent time getting to know you...

This week, we are celebrating ONE YEAR of Dad-focused parenting content in Docs2Dads and we are celebrating some of the best portrayals of dads across fictional media.  I share with you this week my picks for my favorite dad from literature, film, television, and animation!!  I would love to hear your Mount Rushmore of Fictional Dads. Leave your four favorite dads in a five-star review on your fav...

Happy Thanksgiving!! This week, we have a short episode talking about the importance of gratitude and sharing some practical tips for introducing Gratitude as a Core Value for your family. This requires that you develop your own habit of gratitude as well as working opportunities for gratitude into your children's daily lives.  It means expressing gratitude not only when things are going well...

What are the values you want to teach your kids that will help them become the best version of themselves?  Sometimes I think we spend too much time focused on parenting syles, the "HOW" of our parenting interactions, and not enough on the values we are instilling into our kids - the "WHAT" and "WHY" of parenting. This week, we breakdown why you should take time to di...

At some point as a parent, you might start to think about your parenting style. How do you approach raising your kids - teaching them, disciplining them, playing with them, and praying with them? I start the discussion this week by covering the most popular psychology and parenting research done which explores parenting only as how you fall on two primary variables: Strictness and Responsiveness. ...

Each week, at the end of the podcast, I encourage dads to pursue three things. 1) Healthier Dads 2) Happier Kids 3) Strong Communities But how do we build stronger communities around our family?  This week, we discuss one way that we can influence the community around us and that is by voting in local elections. Election Day is next week and while much attention has been given to tight races for t...

I started this journey over a year ago to become a better dad and build a community where other men who wanted to be great dads could find the health information and support they needed to achieve this goal.  Along the way, I have connected with other great men and women who also care about supporting dads, built a community that has taught me a lot, and learned how to show up consistently for my...

We are deep into October and Halloween is just around the corner.   How do you keep your kids safe during trick-or-treating?  How can you avoid sky-high blood sugar from too much candy? How do you ensure your dad-tax on candy is lucrative and equitable? When do you start to give kids a little more independence around Trick-or-Treating? We discuss all of these questions and many more this week as D...

 This week, we are answering your questions about asthma!! I am turning over control of this week's episode to you!! You sent in your questions through email and social media and we are answering all of them today. 1) What symptoms of asthma get missed most often? 2) Could a coughing toddler have asthma? 3) Should I stop my kids from exercising? 4) How do I manage exercise-induced asthma? 5)...

Is your child's asthma well controlled?  You have two or three different medications. When are you supposed to use each one? Do these medications have side effects you need to be looking out for? I get to spend a lot of time talking to parents about the medications they use to control their children's asthma, so I know how confusing it can be sometimes.  This week, I go through the types...

Asthma is the most common chronic disease in childhood and many parents spend days and nights making sure that their child with asthma has the medications they need and doesn't have to miss school or go to the hospital for their asthma.  Fall is a difficult time for many patients with asthma, so I thought it would be a good time to talk about this fall frustration.  In this episode, we answer...