Evolutionary Parenting Podcast

One of the more terrifying events for any parent is seeing their child born and rushed off to the NICU. Though we might talk about how it's so much better compared to losing our children - and there's no doubt that's the case - the typical experience for families in the NICU isn't one that we would wish on anyone. Some of the best NICUs in terms of medical care are those least equipped to deal with the psychological and bonding needs of new families. Parents can be left with little time with their baby, no room for them to stay, and advice that counters their instincts to care for the newest member of their family. Sharing a blend of her own experience in this regard, the science around neurological and general development for preterm or low birth weight babies, and an understanding of the needs of families today, Dr. Greer Kirshenbaum joins me to help families who have either already experienced this event and need help processing, are in the midst of this experience, or don't know if it's something they may face. Her compassion and knowledge are unsurpassed in this and I believe this is something that is invaluable for all families to hear.

Dr. Greer Kirshenbaum: https://www.nurtureneuro.com/about

How to Support a NICU baby at home (download): https://evolutionaryparenting.com/wp-content/uploads/2021/10/Nurture-for-the-NICU-.pdf

Hand to Hold: https://handtohold.org/nicu-family-support/

NICU resources from Mt Sinai Hospital (Canada): https://www.mountsinai.on.ca/care/nicu/support-and-resources/resources-for-parents-with-pre-term-babies

Too often we look at parenting practices and our judgment of them in absolute terms. I know I myself have been guilty of this. Sometimes it's warranted, but sometimes the judgments and the repercussions become a way that we disenfranchise and marginalize already marginalized groups in our society. When we think about the experiences of families facing involvement from government systems - many of which are founded on principles that are racist in nature - we can start to understand how the systems mean to support children may end up doing the opposite. This week I am joined by Dr. Paul Adjei, a scholar focusing on social justice, racism, critical race theory, and more, as we discuss the parenting experiences of marginalized families in Canada - and by extension other Western nations - today. This is a conversation that may be uncomfortable for some and I can say it certainly led me to think about things I had held as absolute truths in ways I hadn't before. If nothing else, it should challenge us to think harder about how we think of parenting.

Dr. Paul Adjei: https://www.mun.ca/socialwork/about/people/faculty/pbanaheneadjei.php

Relevant Articles:

https://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/abs/pii/S0190740918303761

https://www.tandfonline.com/doi/full/10.1080/15548732.2017.1401575

Welcome back to Week 2 with Dr. James McKenna as we continue our conversation into SIDS, colic, breathing, and how our closeness to our babies can protect them. Please see below for the summary from Part 1:

I want to mention some things that parents of young babies have to think about. They often think about:

* Where their baby sleeps

* Why their baby cries (or cries so much)

* Worry about SIDS

* How much their baby sleeps

* Their baby's brain development

* How to feed their baby (and how to get support for it)

* Wondering when our babies will speak

Of course there is so much more, but I mention these in particular because they may all be related to something we definitely don't think about: How our babies breathe. If you're confused, don't worry because this week is the first of two episodes covering these topics - and more - with the incredible Dr. James McKenna. Over two weeks, James shares so much wisdom about our babies, parenting, and this both older and newer line of research he's looking at linking so many of these parenting issues to that most basic physiological function of breathing.

Dr. James McKenna: https://cosleeping.nd.edu/mckenna-biography/

The Mother-Infant Sleep Laboratory: https://cosleeping.nd.edu/

Some Relevant Articles:

https://www.proquest.com/docview/1783392943

https://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/abs/pii/S1526054205000230

https://dro.dur.ac.uk/28335/

https://europepmc.org/article/med/26295452

I want to mention some things that parents of young babies have to think about. They often think about:

* Where their baby sleeps

* Why their baby cries (or cries so much)

* Worry about SIDS

* How much their baby sleeps

* Their baby's brain development

* How to feed their baby (and how to get support for it)

* Wondering when our babies will speak

Of course there is so much more, but I mention these in particular because they may all be related to something we definitely don't think about: How our babies breathe. If you're confused, don't worry because this week is the first of two episodes covering these topics - and more - with the incredible Dr. James McKenna. Over two weeks, James shares so much wisdom about our babies, parenting, and this both older and newer line of research he's looking at linking so many of these parenting issues to that most basic physiological function of breathing.

Dr. James McKenna: https://cosleeping.nd.edu/mckenna-biography/

The Mother-Infant Sleep Laboratory: https://cosleeping.nd.edu/

Some Relevant Articles:

https://www.proquest.com/docview/1783392943

https://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/abs/pii/S1526054205000230

https://dro.dur.ac.uk/28335/

https://europepmc.org/article/med/26295452

We all want our kids to be able to regulate themselves, don't we? It feels like one of the main goals of parenting is how we are able to help get our kids to the stage where they can handle big emotions, frustrations, and the minor struggles on their own. Like most things that are developmental in nature, parents can play a key role in how this happens. This week we explore the issue of how parents can help their child's emotion regulation development with renowned researcher Dr. Lisa Gatzke-Kopp. From parenting in infancy to the synchrony between parent and child, the insights she has gleaned from years of research are not to be missed.

Dr. Lisa Gatzke-Kopp: https://hhd.psu.edu/contact/lisa-gatzke-kopp

The Penn State Prevention Science Research Center: https://www.prevention.psu.edu/

The Family Life Project: https://flp.fpg.unc.edu/

Relevant Articles:

https://onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/abs/10.1002/imhj.21913

https://onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/abs/10.1002/dev.21905

https://psycnet.apa.org/record/2021-24186-001

Babywearing is still somewhat fringe in our society, despite being exactly how babies have been kept close to parents for most of human history. I mean, it's not like we had strollers back in the stone age. When people utilize babywearing today, most do so for convenience. After all, if you've tried navigating strollers on public transit, you know the nightmare. But is there more to it? Attachment parenting advocates keeping babies close to build attachment and foster bonds, but does it really do that? This week I had a chance to talk to the one researcher who is bringing babywearing back to the lab to help us answer these very questions. Dr. Lela Rankin Williams of Arizona State University is the first researcher in decades to look at how babywearing may influence the relationship between baby and caregiver. If you've thought it's just a fad, I hope Dr. Williams can help change your mind.

Dr. Lela Rankin Williams: https://cals.arizona.edu/fcs/faculty/affiliate/lela_williams

Relevant Articles:

https://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/abs/pii/S016363831930181X

https://onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/abs/10.1002/icd.2169

https://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/abs/pii/S0190740919311260

https://www.ingentaconnect.com/content/wk/anc/2021/00000021/00000001/art00009

https://www.ingentaconnect.com/content/wk/anc/2020/00000020/00000006/art00010

Center for Babywearing Studies: https://www.cbws.org/

When you think back to your birth, do you recall it fondly? The way they say you're supposed to feel about this momentous moment? Or do you try to block it out? Cry about it? Feel like it was an event you don't even want to remember? For too many families, birth isn't a peaceful event or even a happy one, but something that brings longer lasting traumas for all. Though many tend to think that if baby is healthy, there's no reason for this, unfortunately a healthy baby does not mean there was no trauma. This week I am honoured to have spoken with Dr. Kathy Kendall-Tackett, the leader in research on birth trauma about how it happens, what it can look like, the various effects of it afterwards on the family, but also what others can do to help heal and how we can reduce the frequency of such trauma going forward. It doesn't matter who you are or your own experience, this is an issue that is vital for all of us to understand and work to change.

Dr. Kathy Kendall-Tackett: https://www.kathleenkendall-tackett.com/

Breastfeeding Doesn't Need to Suck: https://lp.constantcontactpages.com/cu/NWqSl5o

Mailing List for Kathy: https://lp.constantcontactpages.com/su/WqxRlCF

Facebook (The Book): https://www.facebook.com/BFdoesntneedtosuck

Relevant Articles from Our Discussion:

https://connect.springerpub.com/content/sgrcl/10/3/101

https://connect.springerpub.com/content/sgrcl/5/2/51.abstract

https://www.proquest.com/docview/1694535127?pq-origsite=gscholar&fromopenview=true

https://connect.springerpub.com/content/sgrcl/5/2/56.abstract

https://link.springer.com/chapter/10.1007/978-3-319-05116-1_10

When we get pregnant and are expecting our first child, most people don't see this as a time to worry that their mental health is going to go downhill. We're supposed to be happy or even thrilled about this new stage in our lives. But for many families, pregnancy is the beginning of what can be some serious mental health struggles. Perinatal depression, anxiety, and more are all common occurrences, yet ones we don't really talk about in our society. We don't warn families and many will struggle without support or even awareness of what is going on. This week I spoke to clinical psychologist and perinatal mental health specialist Dr. Annie Rohr about her own journey through perinatal mental health struggles and this issue more broadly. Whether you have struggled or not, all of us need to be aware of what to look for and how to help.

Show notes:

Dr. Annie Rohr: https://drannierohr.com/

Post Partum International: https://www.postpartum.net/

Mom Genes Research Project: https://www.momgenesfightppd.org/

Dr. Rohr's Books*:

A Promise: A Vow of Love for Baby and a Message of Hope for Mom - https://amzn.to/3iBv7S6

Finding the Warm and Fuzzies - https://amzn.to/3iCrYRU

(*Amazon Affiliate link)

If you've listened here before you will know that the research doesn't support the idea that extinction sleep training methods, like crying it out or controlled crying, actually improve our infant's sleep (or children's for that matter). Despite parents reporting improvements, when we look at objective measures of sleep, the sleep of children pre- and post-sleep training is actually no different. Many of us see this as a bit damning for sleep training, but what cannot be denied is that sleep training may improve parent sleep and in cultures where sleep is hard to come by and expectations for parents are through the roof, this is not something to be overlooked. This week, I was able to chat with Dr. Levita D'Souza about this very tension - how do we balance our infant's needs for proximity and support as well as their biologically normal sleep rhythms with a parent's need for more sleep in an unsupportive culture. We both know that only if we can start to address this issue will we be able to move away from our sleep training culture. I hope our conversation can help move this issue forward.

Dr. Levita D'Souza: www.centreforperinatalpsychology.com.au/psych…ouza/

For those who are interested in an in-depth look at the science on sleep training, you can check out this eLearning Module (available worldwide, continuing education credits for IBCLCs and Australian midwives): https://www.breastfeedingconferences.com.au/conference_details.php?conferenceId=110

When we think about education, most of us think about our experience with what we might call modern-traditional schooling: classes by grade, a teacher at the front, testing, memorization, getting to know a new teacher each year, and maybe some more good like good friendships or more bad, like bullying. But what if school doesn't have to look like this? What alternative paradigms are out there? This week I'm joined by former Montessori Principal and advocate for public Montessori at a national level John Freeman to discuss what the different features of Montessori are and how they can help children thrive. My hope is that after listening to our conversation, families who feel that education could be better for their kids have one more option that they might feel comfortable exploring.

The National Center for Montessori in the Public Sector: https://www.public-montessori.org/about-us/

Elm City Montessori School: https://elmcitymontessori.org/about-us/

Hartford Courant article: https://www.courant.com/news/connecticut/hc-xpm-2008-12-29-school1229-story.html