Reflective Parenting Podcast

Send us Fan Mail Something happened with my 7-year that led me to re-evaluate what I was saying to her with regards to her needs and boundaries. I wanted to share this story with you in a quick podcast episode (it's about 10 min!). Perhaps you will be able to relate to this and readjust how you are approaching these situations. Especially if you have an older child that likes to keep their yo...

Send us Fan Mail As new parents, we have tons of questions! My brother-in-law is expecting his new child and I asked him what his questions were. This podcast episode is dedicated to him and is for all parents expecting or with a child under 2 months old. When do you start tummy time? How often should you do skin-to-skin? What did my own labors look like for all 3 of my kids and what are the signs...

Send us Fan Mail Content warning: death, death of family members and pets, suicide In today’s episode, we are joined by Dr. Elena Lister and Dr. Michael Schwartzman authors of Giving Hope: Conversations with Children About Illness, Death and Loss. During this conversation, we approach many questions from the Curious Neuron community about death, and how to talk to your children about death. Dr. Li...

Send us Fan Mail In today’s episode, we are joined by Dr. Simón Guendelman. We discuss what emotional regulation actually is, how self compassion can change your brain and parenting, and how scientists are studying this. This episode is a bit research heavy - so take out your Curious Neuron notebooks! Simón shares with us some common myths about mindfulness and explains how even if you don’t have...

Send us Fan Mail In today's solo episode, we discuss discipline and parenting styles and compare this to prison in Cyprus. This prison changed from a punitive system to a person-centred approach which brought the re-offending rate from over 50% down to 15%.  I don't want to discuss whether or not this should be the method used in prisons, I am comparing this to our discussion about paren...

Send us Fan Mail In today's solo episode, I share what I saw on my family vacation at Walt Disney World. One child got spanked, one got kicked and one had water tossed onto their face. We need to rethink what discipline is as a society and more importantly, we need to re-learn emotion regulation skills. It is ok to have a moment when you lose control and yell, but physical aggression, verbal...

Send us Fan Mail In today’s episode, we are joined by Jess and Nicole, early childhood educators who focus on the mindset around math. It is a very common problem that children and families struggle with both learning and teaching math. Join us to understand the most important skills you can prepare your child with before sending them to pre-K or kindergarten – hint, it’s not memorizing their numb...

Send us Fan Mail In today’s episode we are joined by Dr. Sarah Bren, clinical psychologist and mom of 2. She gives us a whole new perspective on discipline, attachment and setting boundaries. Dr. Bren shows us the importance of disciplining a child – tune in to better understand what her definition of discipline really is – in order to build a secure attachment. She discusses how YOUR self-regulat...

Send us Fan Mail In today’s episode, we are joined by Dr. Mona Delahooke, Ph. D. child psychologist to discuss reframing how you understand your child’s behavior – with curiosity and compassion. Learn why Dr. Delahooke believes self-compassion and co-regulation is the proper response to a child’s tantrum. We discuss the loneliness of being a mother and how we can be mindful of the feelings, but no...

Send us Fan Mail Transitioning into daycare can be stressful for both the parents and the child. In today's episode (the final episode of season 3!), I discuss the research around daycare transitions also known as the adaptation phase. I discuss how to help a child build a connection with their new caregiver and what I believe should be the procedure in all daycares. If your daycare can'...

Send us Fan Mail Anna Skates is taking over the Curious Neuron podcast! Anna shares her wisdom with us and teaches us 3 important tips that will help make transitions easier for our kids. Transitions are hard! When your child protests transitions, it can make it difficult for parents to see the reason behind it, the why. Zooming out, as we have mentioned before, doesn't seem to work during tr...

Send us Fan Mail The American Academy of Pediatrics recommends NO screen time younger than 18 months and very little screen time (<1hr/day) from 18-24 months unless it’s video-chatting with family members. Have you ever wondered why? The Curious Neuron team decided to dig deep into the research and see if certain claims about screen time in toddlers were true. You might be surprised by the resu...

Send us Fan Mail Today's episode is a solo episode with Cindy Hovington, Ph. D. founder of Curious Neuron. With the new school year approaching, you might be wondering if your child is ready to either start school for the first time or to return. I walk you through 5 important skills you work on with your child (through play or conversation). These 5 skills have been suggested by research to...

Send us Fan Mail Trigger warning: pregnancy loss   In today’s episode we meet with parents Bret Shuford and Stephen Hanna, Broadway husbands, who started a family by choosing surrogacy. We start with learning a bit about the couple and how they decided to use surrogacy over other methods of conceiving. We talk about building a connection with the surrogate and the newborn. We also chat about the p...

Send us Fan Mail In today’s episode, we chat with Susie Allison, M. Ed., a former teacher and creator of Busy Toddler (1.8 million followers!). We discuss boredom, what it is, why it’s important for our children’s development and how to respond to a bored child. We discuss how to introduce boredom to a child that is currently constantly engaged in a realistic way. Susie explains what child-led pla...

Send us Fan Mail In today’s episode Dr. Rani Banik is here to discuss everything about the visual system and the brain. First, we focus on the development of the visual system, then speak about our children’s screen time and how to best initiate their visual development. We touch upon the types of light, whether blue light blockers are necessary and the dangers and/or benefits of sun gazing. Liste...

Send us Fan Mail In today’s episode Dr. Vanessa Lapointe, registered psychologist, joins us to discuss aggressive behavior in children and how to mediate it. We discuss how to be curious about your child’s behavior – zooming out can be informative about why your child is being aggressive. Dr. Lapointe answers important questions like: How do parents play a part in their child’s aggressive behavior...

Send us Fan Mail In today's episode, I unpack a viral post on social media stating that Cocomelon is addictive. I know I am covering screen time for a second week in a row but when I posted about screen time on Instagram and used Cocomelon as an example of a TV that fit the criteria for quality TV shows, my DMs blew up! I address screen time for children under the age of 2 and answer these qu...

Send us Fan Mail In today’s episode, we chat with Cheryl Gotthelf, educator by trade and TV child development consultant. Cheryl shares her years of experience in terms of deciding whether a show is developmentally appropriate for a child. We discuss the criteria television channels evaluate to decide what age category to place a show. Take out your Curious Neuron notebooks because Cheryl gives us...

Send us Fan Mail 3 tips or conversations I wish someone would have told me when I was expecting my first child. In today's episode, our host, Dr. Cindy Hovington, discusses some tips she wishes she would have received when she was expecting her first child. We often get advice as new parents. How should we hold our baby? How should we feed them? Where should they sleep? However, in today&apos...

Send us Fan Mail Trigger warning: physical and sexual abuse In today’s episode, we speak with two dads and men's mental health advocates Emmanuel Flores and therapist Travis Goodman, LMFT. We cover so many important topics, I think this is one of my favorite episodes. We talk about how men are often told to push their emotions under the carpet and be strong, while also being told they need to...

Send us Fan Mail In today’s episode we chat with two experts about burnout. Dr. Jaclyn Margolis, PhD explains how to manage and prevent burnout in the workplace. Meanwhile Shelley Kemmerer, PA-C, sheds light on parental burnout and how to maintain wellbeing at home when demand is higher than your resources. We learn about the main symptoms of this syndrome and how to recognize when your stress has...

Send us Fan Mail I think that being a parent is similar to being a CEO of a company. You need to be a great leader, you need to understand the members of your team and communicate goals and strategies you want them to execute. Listen to today's episode to get 3 tips that will change how you feel and think as a parent. Take out your Curious Neuron notebooks! Thank you to our supporter the Tane...

Send us Fan Mail Trigger warning: early life stress, child abuse, spousal abuse. In today’s episode, we speak to Dr. Erin Dunn, social and psychiatric epidemiologist at Harvard University. We discuss the difference between stress, early life adversity, and childhood trauma. We learn about the long-term effects of adversity and what parents can do to mediate or buffer them. Dr. Dunn answers questio...

Send us Fan Mail In today’s episode, we are joined by Julie Bogart, author of Raising Critical Thinkers and The Brave Learner. We all know the story of the three little pigs, but have you heard it from the wolf’s perspective? Every story has two sides, Julie explains how we can use simple storytelling and poems to introduce the concept of critical thinking to our young children. She urges parents...