Parenting Translator

As I prepare for my fourth child, I am reflecting on my previous birthing experience, which was traumatic to say the least (tune in to hear what I mean). So it got me wondering, what does the research say about birth trauma and how it affects both parents and children?

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Parenting Translator is hosted by Dr. Cara Goodwin and is produced by Earfluence.

Dr. Cara Goodwin, PhD, is a child psychologist and mother to three children who "translates" research on parenting and child development into information that is accurate, relevant, and useful to parents.

As parents, our short term goal is to get our children to listen to us and follow the rules and limits we set for our family. But our long-term goal is really to raise children who truly understand why we have created these rules and limits, and develop an internal motivation to be kind and to do the right thing.

We want them to follow rules because they care about being a kind moral person, not just because they're scared or they might get in trouble. 

So how do we make sure we are working toward this long-term goal? And could our short-term discipline strategies be interfering with this long-term goal?

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Sign up for the Parenting Translator Substack, and follow along on Instagram.

Parenting Translator is hosted by Dr. Cara Goodwin and is produced by Earfluence.

Dr. Cara Goodwin, PhD, is a child psychologist and mother to three children who "translates" research on parenting and child development into information that is accurate, relevant, and useful to parents.

April is World Autism Month, a month designated to enhance understanding of autism and increase acceptance of autistic individuals.  Today’s episode will help to provide answers for the following questions: 

• What is autism? 
• Why are rates of autism increasing? 
• What causes autism?
• How do you know if your child is autistic? 
• What to do as a parent?

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Sign up for the Parenting Translator Substack, and follow along on Instagram.

Parenting Translator is hosted by Dr. Cara Goodwin and is produced by Earfluence.

Dr. Cara Goodwin, PhD, is a child psychologist and mother to three children who "translates" research on parenting and child development into information that is accurate, relevant, and useful to parents.

We hear so much about the negatives of being a working parent. The reality is that there are so many hours in a day, so it's difficult if not impossible to excel at work AND parenting. Some of us will view this dichotomy and tension as Work Family Conflict.

But Dr. Yael Schonbrun is putting a positive spin on it, preferring to use the term Work Family Enrichment. But what does that mean? And how can a positive spin help us become better parents?

Dr. Yael Schonbrun is the author of the book Work, Parent, Thrive: 12 Science-Backed Strategies to Ditch Guilt, Manage Overwhelm, and Grow Connection (When Everything Feels Like Too Much) and the co-host of the Psychologists Off the Clock Podcast.
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Sign up for the Parenting Translator Substack, and follow along on Instagram.

Parenting Translator is hosted by Dr. Cara Goodwin and is produced by Earfluence.

Dr. Cara Goodwin, PhD, is a child psychologist and mother to three children who "translates" research on parenting and child development into information that is accurate, relevant, and useful to parents.

Today we discuss what the ideal number of kids is according to research. We review studies on how the number of children you have impacts parental happiness, parenting quality, and outcomes for your children.

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Sign up for the Parenting Translator Substack, and follow along on Instagram.

Parenting Translator is hosted by Dr. Cara Goodwin and is produced by Earfluence.

Dr. Cara Goodwin, PhD, is a child psychologist and mother to three children who "translates" research on parenting and child development into information that is accurate, relevant, and useful to parents.

We recently discussed if time-outs are harmful or effective, and today we dig into the best ways to use them, if time-outs are what your family has decided to do.

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Sign up for the Parenting Translator Substack, and follow along on Instagram.

Parenting Translator is hosted by Dr. Cara Goodwin and is produced by Earfluence.

Dr. Cara Goodwin, PhD, is a child psychologist and mother to three children who "translates" research on parenting and child development into information that is accurate, relevant, and useful to parents.

Ms. Rachel has become a household name for nearly every parent with a baby or toddler. Her YouTube channel, Songs for Littles- Toddler Learning Videos, has over 2.6 million subscribers and her videos have hundreds of millions of views. The woman behind the Ms. Rachel is Rachel Griffin Accurso, a preschool teacher and mother living in New York City. Her husband is a Broadway composer who helps to produce her YouTube channel. As she explained in a recent interview on the Today Show, she started the YouTube channel because her son did not speak his first word until nearly 3 years old and she could not find a television show that targeted language development to help him. 

Her website claims that her videos help “children learn to talk, learn letters, numbers, colors, animal sounds and more." On her website, she also states that her team works with speech language pathologists to “provide speech practice techniques on video for toddlers!” and she has a quote from a speech language pathologist saying that she uses “all of the right techniques.” 

Ms. Rachel isn’t alone in creating “educational” shows for babies on YouTube. Little Baby Bum has 40.6 million subscribers and claims to “support cognitive development” in its show description. A similar channel called Super Simple Songs has 37 million subscribers and is described as being “created by a team of educators.” Hey Sensory Bear has 1.48 million subscribers and seems geared towards very young babies, as it features black-and-white and contrasting colors which are known to hold the attention of newborns.

So is the marketing on these shows accurate? Can babies actually learn from a television show?

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Sign up for the Parenting Translator Substack, and follow along on Instagram.

Parenting Translator is hosted by Dr. Cara Goodwin and is produced by Earfluence.

Dr. Cara Goodwin, PhD, is a child psychologist and mother to three children who "translates" research on parenting and child development into information that is accurate, relevant, and useful to parents.

Is time-out an effective discipline strategy, or could it be potentially harmful to children?

Today we dive deep into the research behind whether time-out works and how it impacts emotional development and attachment.

Let's discuss.

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Sign up for the Parenting Translator Substack, and follow along on Instagram.

Parenting Translator is hosted by Dr. Cara Goodwin and is produced by Earfluence.

Dr. Cara Goodwin, PhD, is a child psychologist and mother to three children who "translates" research on parenting and child development into information that is accurate, relevant, and useful to parents.

The COVID 19 pandemic caused widespread disruptions across the world that led to financial strains, social isolation, and decreased support for many. These disruptions in turn led to increased stress in parents and caregivers and a mental health crisis among adults and children. Since the beginning of the pandemic, many parents and experts have raised concerns that the pandemic and all of its terrible side effects would also impact the development of children.

And very slowly, a body of research is coming out that can address these concerns. So what is the research telling us? Did the pandemic cause subtle changes in development that children will eventually compensate? Or did it cause serious developmental delays that may ultimately result in more children meeting criteria for developmental disabilities, meaning conditions that emerge in childhood may result in lifelong impairments and functioning?

Let's discuss.

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Sign up for the Parenting Translator Substack, and follow along on Instagram.

Parenting Translator is hosted by Dr. Cara Goodwin and is produced by Earfluence.

Dr. Cara Goodwin, PhD, is a child psychologist and mother to three children who "translates" research on parenting and child development into information that is accurate, relevant, and useful to parents.

There are several studies that explore white noise (and pink noise, brown noise, and lullabies) and their effectiveness on both falling asleep and getting a good night's sleep overall. What did those studies find? And does white noise contribute to hearing loss?

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Sign up for the Parenting Translator Substack, and follow along on Instagram.

Parenting Translator is hosted by Dr. Cara Goodwin and is produced by Earfluence.

Dr. Cara Goodwin, PhD, is a child psychologist and mother to three children who "translates" research on parenting and child development into information that is accurate, relevant, and useful to parents.