Byte-Sized Brain

Today we have Dr. Erin Olufs with us.  She is a clinical assistant professor in the department of Psychiatry at the University of Iowa Hospitals & Clinics. We are excited to have her thoughts regarding social development.

Dr. Todd Kopelman joins us to discuss social communication and development in kids. He is a Board-Certified Analyst and Clinical Associate Professor of Psychiatry and Pediatrics at University of Iowa Hospitals & Clinics. He obtained a Bachelors degree in psychology from Grinnell College then went on to obtain a Masters degree in Social Work and a PhD in Psychology, both at the University of Iowa.

Sometimes we get so focused on what to do after bad behavior happens that we forget about what we can do before it happens: that is; what we can do to make it more likely that a child will be able to tell others what they need without acting out, and also to follow directions when they need to. Today Kelly Pelzel, PhD, will be talking about three things that you can use to stack the deck in your favor -- and in your child’s favor -- when it comes to your child’s behavior.  The three things she will talk about are: using child-led play, setting things up so it’s easier for your child to do what they are told, and giving directions effectively.

If you have tried everything to get to sleep, but nothing is working, you may have to sign up for a sleep study.After you have listened to this episode, please take our survey.

The American Academy of Sleep Medicine (AASM) and the American Academy of Pediatrics (AAP) have guidelines about the daily sleep needs of children within a given age group. Sleep varies from child-to-child, but there is an acceptable range needed for each stage of development.

Hi everyone, I’m Dr. Greenfield, one the child psychiatry doctors here at the University of Iowa Hospitals and Clinics and today I have the pleasure of having Yoda in my clinic. Despite being a Jedi master and one of the most powerful members of the Jedi order, poor Yoda is having some trouble sleeping. Another word for trouble sleeping is insomnia.

This is Dr. Christensen. I have Brittany with me. 3 months ago, it was hard for her to fall asleep and she would wake up at least 2 times per night. We started  by having Brittany take melatonin, an over the counter sleep medicine, at night while she worked on improving her bedtime routine along with the basics of sleep hygiene. Brittany chose to focus on maintaining a consistent bedtime schedule. Let’s see how Brittany is sleeping now.

We never have enough time during our appointments to talk about everything.  We wanted to give our patients' families some resources for common questions.  Our dream is that you will listen to this perhaps in the waiting room or in the car.  We’re aiming for episodes lasting about 5 minutes each, but we’ll see. Our first topic is sleep and sleep hygiene!Before you listen, please take our survey!

To be honest, we all have likely been guilty of some of these at least once. And to compile this list all I had to do was take a stroll down memory lane and recall all of the things I did over the years. Unintentionally or because, I thought “just this one time won’t hurt.” But who are we really hurting when we don’t get enough sleep?