Why Anxiety, Meltdowns, Sleep Problems, and Emotional Dysregulation May Have More to Do With Modern Childhood Than We Think

Children today are more anxious, overwhelmed, disconnected, and emotionally exhausted than ever before.

But what if one of the biggest threats to their mental health isn’t something happening online…

It’s what’s missing offline?

In this incredibly powerful and emotional episode of the Child Psych Podcast, Dr. John La Puma joins us to unpack what he calls The Indoor Epidemic — the silent shift away from sunlight, outdoor play, movement, nature, boredom, independence, and real-world connection that is fundamentally changing childhood.

This conversation will likely make you see parenting — and modern life — differently.

We explore why children’s nervous systems are struggling, why so many kids seem emotionally dysregulated and chronically stressed, and how today’s indoor, screen-filled lifestyle may be contributing to rising rates of anxiety, attention difficulties, sleep problems, sensory overwhelm, and disconnection.

But this episode is not about guilt.

It’s about hope.

Dr. La Puma shares practical, science-backed ways families can reconnect with the outdoors, regulate the nervous system naturally, and begin restoring the kinds of experiences children’s brains and bodies desperately need to thrive.

If you’ve ever looked at your child and thought:

“Why do they seem so overwhelmed lately?”

“Why does everything feel harder than it used to?”

“Why can’t screens seem to satisfy them?”

“Why do we all feel so disconnected?”

This episode is going to hit deeply.

In This Episode:

The hidden psychological cost of indoor childhoods

Why nature is one of the most powerful nervous system regulators

The surprising link between sunlight, movement, sleep, and emotional health

What kids lose when free play and independence disappear

How modern life is reshaping children’s brains and stress responses

Simple changes that can dramatically improve family well-being

This is one of those conversations every parent needs to hear.

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In this insightful and practical conversation, we sit down with Katie Kimball, founder of Kids Cook Real Food and author of Kids Cook Real Food: Healthy Kids, Happy Moms, to explore the real story behind picky eating.

If mealtimes in your home feel like a constant battle, this episode offers a refreshing and evidence-informed perspective. Katie challenges the common belief that picky eating is simply about stubbornness or defiance, and instead helps parents understand the developmental, sensory, and relational factors that shape how children engage with food.

We talk about why pressure, bribing, and “just one more bite” often backfire, and what actually helps children build confidence and curiosity around food. Katie shares simple, practical strategies that support autonomy, reduce stress at the table, and create a more positive mealtime experience for the whole family.

This episode is especially helpful for parents who feel stuck, frustrated, or worried about their child’s eating habits, and are looking for a more connected, sustainable approach.

In this episode, we discuss:

• Why picky eating is rarely just about the food

• How pressure and control can make mealtimes harder

• The role of independence and life skills in expanding food choices

• Simple ways to involve kids in cooking and build confidence

• How to create calm, connected, and successful mealtime routines

This is a conversation about shifting the dynamic at the table, moving away from power struggles, and supporting children in developing a healthy, lifelong relationship with food.

Aura

Your kid’s digital life doesn’t come with a playbook.

But that doesn’t mean you have to stay in the dark.

That’s where Aura Parents comes in. It combines traditional parental controls—like content filtering, time limits, and Pause the Internet®—with newer digital wellbeing features that show patterns in sleep opportunity, screentime trends, social engagement, and even AI app usage insights.

So instead of just limiting screen time, you get more context and insight into changes in patterns and can use that information to decide when to check in with your kid.

It’s not about control—it’s about feeling informed and empowered as you navigate an always changing digital world.

Learn more about Aura Parents and start your free trial at auraparents.com/icp

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In this deeply honest and powerful conversation, we sit down with Harry Psaros, author of From Struggle to Strength: A Father’s Journey with Autism, to explore a perspective that is often missing in conversations around autism, the father’s experience.

Harry shares his personal journey from denial to acceptance after his son’s autism diagnosis, opening up about the confusion, resistance, and emotional struggle many parents quietly face. Like many fathers, he initially found it difficult to fully embrace the diagnosis, a reality he now speaks openly about to help other families feel less alone.

Through vulnerability and reflection, Harry offers insight into what helped him shift his mindset, strengthen his role as a parent, and become a more connected and supportive father. His story is not about perfection or quick fixes, but about growth, resilience, and the power of showing up, even when it is hard.

This episode is especially meaningful for parents navigating a new diagnosis, families experiencing disconnection, or anyone wanting to better understand the emotional journey behind raising a child on the spectrum.

In this episode, we explore:

• The emotional reality of receiving an autism diagnosis as a parent

• Why some fathers struggle with acceptance and how to support them

• The shift from resistance to connection

• Building a united, supportive family approach

• How mindset, hope, and small steps can transform the journey

This is a conversation about honesty, growth, and the kind of parenting that evolves through challenge, connection, and love.

To learn more about Harry, please click here: https://www.harrypsaros.com/

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When your child is melting down, shutting down, or completely overwhelmed… it can feel like nothing works. In this powerful, brain-based conversation, best-selling author Jon Fogel reveals what’s really happening beneath your child’s big emotions—and why those intense feelings so quickly turn into explosive behaviors.

But more importantly, he shows you what to do in the moment.

Drawing from his work with families and the tools behind his upcoming children’s book Set My Feelings Free, Jon explains why talking often fails when kids are dysregulated—and why play, movement, music, and sensory tools can calm a child’s nervous system in seconds.

You’ll walk away with simple, powerful strategies your child can actually use when it matters most—because the best tools aren’t the ones that sound good… they’re the ones that work in real life.

✅ What’s really happening in your child’s brain during meltdowns

✅ Why logic and reasoning don’t work when emotions take over

✅ Fast, play-based tools that help kids regulate in the moment

✅ Why one strategy can work beautifully for one child—and fail for another

✅ How to build regulation skills before the meltdown happens

✅ How to stay calm, confident, and grounded—even in the hardest moments

Jon is the author of the best-selling book Punishment-Free Parenting: The Brain-Based Way to Raise Kids Without Raising Your Voice, where he outlines practical, research-informed strategies for guiding children’s behavior without fear, shame, or harsh discipline and his newest CHILDREN'S BOOK Set My Feelings Free

Jon is also the host of The Whole Parent Podcast, where he shares tools, mindset shifts, and real-life applications to help parents move from reactivity to intentional, grounded leadership. Through his writing, teaching, and podcast, Jon empowers parents to build emotionally healthy homes rooted in both warmth and accountability.

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Challenging behavior isn’t a motivation problem, it’s a skills and problem-solving problem. In this powerful masterclass, Dr. Ross Greene (clinical psychologist, author, and founder of the Collaborative & Proactive Solutions model) and Tammy Schamuhn (child psychologist and co-founder of the Institute of Child Psychology) unpack a compassionate, research-informed shift that has transformed homes and schools: kids do well if they can. 

Instead of relying on sticker charts, punishments, power struggles, or “compliance-first” discipline, Dr. Greene helps adults learn to see behavior as communication: a child is showing us they’re having difficulty meeting an expectation, and there’s an unsolved problem underneath that needs our attention. 

What You’ll Learn:

✅ Why consequences (rewards and punishments) don’t solve the problems that cause challenging behavior 

✅ How to shift from “They won’t” to “They can’t yet,” by identifying lagging skills and unmet expectations 

✅ The 3-step CPS/Plan B process for collaborative problem-solving

✅ How to reduce conflict by solving problems proactively, before kids reach the boiling point 

✅ How this approach supports children across settings (home, classroom, recess, coaching) while strengthening trust and connection 

FREE resources from Dr. Ross Greene can be found here--> https://cpsconnection.com/

His newest book "The Kids Who Aren't Okay", His classic book "The Explosive Child"

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In this powerful and deeply honest conversation, we sit down with attachment therapist and author Eli Harwood to explore the heart of her new book, How to Deal With Your $%$! So Your Kids Don’t Have To: An Encyclopedia for Ditching Your Emotional Baggage—releasing April 14.

At the core of this conversation is a simple but profound truth: your kids can feel what you don’t heal.

Together, we unpack how unprocessed anger, experiences of rejection, and lingering shame can quietly shape the way we show up as parents. These patterns often surface in our hardest moments—during conflict, disconnection, or discipline—and can unintentionally be passed on to the very children we’re trying to support.

Eli offers practical, no-nonsense guidance to help parents recognize their emotional triggers, work through their own internal experiences, and respond with greater intention and connection. This is not about perfection—it’s about awareness, repair, and doing the kind of work that changes family patterns over time.

In this episode, we explore:

*How anger, rejection, and shame show up in parenting

*Why children carry what parents don’t process

*Tools to begin healing your own emotional patterns

*Strategies to handle big emotions in the moment

*How to break generational cycles and build secure, connected relationships

✨ Her new book, How to Deal With Your _________! So Your Kids Don’t Have To, releases April 14—your roadmap to shedding emotional baggage and raising children who feel safe, seen, and secure. Order HERE : https://www.attachmentnerd.com/books/how-to-deal-with-your-so-your-kids-dont-have-to

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How do we raise children who not only feel a deep sense of belonging — but actively create it for others?

In this powerful and deeply important episode of The Child Psych Podcast, we sit down with Dr. Gaiathry Jeyarajan — clinical psychologist, educator, advocate, and author of Ella’s Choice — to explore what it truly means to raise inclusive, compassionate, and socially aware children in today’s world.

Grounded in developmental science, attachment, and real-life parenting, this conversation unpacks how belonging begins in the earliest relationships — through emotional safety, secure attachment, and children feeling genuinely seen, heard, and valued at home. From there, we explore how children develop empathy, identity, moral courage, and the confidence to speak up when something feels unfair.

Dr. Jeyarajan explains why children are naturally curious rather than judgmental, how bias is learned through environment and silence, and why avoiding conversations about race and difference can unintentionally leave children vulnerable to harmful narratives. Together, we discuss how honest, developmentally appropriate conversations build emotional safety, critical thinking, and compassion.

This episode also highlights one of the most important truths in parenting: children learn far more from what we model than what we say.

How we respond to exclusion, discomfort, injustice, and everyday moments teaches children how to move through the world.

Most importantly, this conversation reminds us that raising anti-racist and inclusive children is not about perfection. It is about presence, openness, repair, and being willing to grow alongside our children.

• How belonging and inclusion begin in early childhood
• Why children are naturally curious—not inherently biased
• How bias is learned through silence, environment, and messaging
• The importance of talking openly about race and difference
• How emotional safety supports empathy and compassion
• Raising children who speak up against unfairness and exclusion
• Why modeling matters more than lectures
• Helping children develop identity, courage, and social awareness
• Practical ways parents can nurture inclusion and belonging at home

This episode is a compassionate and hopeful guide for parents, educators, and professionals who want to raise children capable of creating safer, kinder, and more inclusive spaces for everyone around them.

Click here to find out more about " I Love You More Than Rice and Curry" : https://a.co/d/0bBWYpxK

Dr Gaiathry's Instagram is also fantastic: https://www.instagram.com/lifeofashrink/

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In this insightful and deeply validating episode of The Child Psych Podcast, we sit down with Mike Goldstein — education leader and co-author of I’ll Do It Later: Surviving School (and Renewing the Love) with Your ADHD Son.

Together, we unpack a refreshing and realistic perspective on ADHD — one that moves beyond blame, labels, and quick-fix parenting strategies.

Through powerful real-life stories and case studies of boys navigating school, motivation, homework, and everyday life, Mike challenges one of the biggest misconceptions about ADHD: that children simply “aren’t trying hard enough.”

Instead, this conversation reveals a much deeper truth.

Many children with ADHD genuinely want to succeed, want to please the adults around them, and want to follow through — but struggle with executive functioning skills like task initiation, organization, sustained attention, planning, and follow-through, especially outside highly structured environments like school.

We explore why so many traditional parenting and school approaches fail to create lasting change, how technology and shrinking attention spans may be complicating ADHD symptoms, and what actually helps children build motivation, confidence, and independence over time.

Most importantly, this episode offers parents a compassionate reframe: ADHD is not a character flaw or motivation problem — it is an execution challenge rooted in how the brain manages attention, regulation, and action.

• Why ADHD is often misunderstood as laziness or lack of motivation
• The difference between wanting to do something and being able to initiate it
• How executive functioning impacts homework, routines, and follow-through
• Why many ADHD strategies fail over time
• The impact of technology and attention fragmentation on kids today
• How relationships and environment shape ADHD success
• Practical ways parents can reduce power struggles and frustration
• Supporting children with ADHD through coaching, understanding, and realistic expectations

This episode is a powerful reminder that behind many unfinished tasks, forgotten homework assignments, and frustrating routines is a child who is often trying much harder than we realize.

To find out more about Mike, click here

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We’re airing a re-run today of one of our most popular podcast episodes with Dr. Laura Markham.

Most parents think that if our child would just "behave," we could maintain our composure as parents. The truth is that managing our own emotions and actions is what allows us to feel peaceful as parents. Ultimately we can’t control our children or the hand life deals them—but we can always control our own actions. Parenting isn’t about what our child does, but about how we respond."

In this podcast we interview one of our FAVOURITE parenting experts Dr. Laura Markham, Clinical Psychologist, best-selling author of the book "Peaceful Parent, Happy Kids" and "Peaceful Parents, Happy Siblings" and founder of AHA!Parenting where we talk about how to keep our cool as parents! Want more of Dr. Markham?! Use code ICPSAVE30 to TAKE 30% OFF her courses: Peaceful Parents, Happy Siblings: https://instituteofchildpsychology.com/product/peaceful-parent-happy-siblings-how-to-stop-the-fighting-raise-friends-for-life/ How to Raise an Emotionally Healthy Child: https://instituteofchildpsychology.com/product/how-to-raise-an-emotionally-intelligent-child/

Interested in more from the Institute?

 The Parenting Handbook: Your Guide to Raising Resilient Children is the ultimate guide to nurturing emotional regulation, resiliency, connection, and well-being in children. Find out more here

Our  parenting membership comes with over 90 Parenting & Mental Health Courses and more!. Click here

Our professional membership offers affordable, accessible training all in one spot for mental health professionals! Find out more  here

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Childhood anxiety is more common than many parents realize — and it often shows up in ways that leave families feeling confused, overwhelmed, and unsure how to help.

In this compassionate and practical episode of The Child Psych Podcast, we explore how worries take shape in a child’s mind, why anxiety can feel so overwhelming in the body, and what parents can do to help children build confidence, resilience, and bravery in the face of fear.

Inspired by the ideas behind Shrink Your Worries, this conversation focuses on practical, child-friendly strategies that help children understand anxious thoughts, calm their nervous systems, and slowly face the situations that feel scary instead of avoiding them.

Together, we unpack one of the most important truths about anxiety: the goal is not to eliminate fear completely, but to help children learn they are capable of moving through fear with support, courage, and connection.

We discuss why anxious thoughts often grow bigger when children avoid difficult situations, how reassurance can sometimes accidentally reinforce anxiety, and why small steps toward bravery can create powerful long-term change. Parents will also learn how to respond to anxious moments in ways that help children feel safe, capable, and emotionally supported.

This episode is filled with gentle encouragement and practical tools for parents, educators, and professionals supporting anxious children.

• Why childhood anxiety can feel so overwhelming for kids
• How anxious thoughts grow and take hold
• Why avoidance unintentionally strengthens anxiety over time
• Helping children calm their bodies during anxious moments
• Practical strategies to build bravery and resilience
• How parents can respond without reinforcing fear
• Supporting children through worries with calm, connection, and encouragement
• Why confidence grows when children face fears in small, manageable steps

To find out more about Poppy, click here , more here too on Poppy's instagram: https://www.instagram.com/poppyoneillbooks/

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