The Early Roots Podcast

What’s actually happening when a child melts down—and what are parents supposed to do in the middle of it?

In this episode, I’m joined by child development specialist, speech therapist, parenting coach, and host of the Complicated Kids Podcast, Gabrielle Nicolet. We talk about toddler behavior, emotional regulation, transitions, boundaries, and why kids can know the rules and still be completely unable to follow them when they’re overwhelmed.

We also explore how these ideas apply to neurodivergent and developmentally delayed children, whose “toddler-like” behaviors may last well beyond the toddler years. Gabrielle shares practical ways parents can stay grounded, hold boundaries without escalating the situation, and look underneath difficult behavior to understand what their child may actually be communicating.

If you’ve ever wondered, “Why does my child do this when they KNOW better?”—this conversation is for you.

Interested in hearing more from Gabriele?

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📅Schedule a free intro call
📺Subscribe to Gabriele's YouTube Channel 
👾Grab Tell the Story - my powerful anti-anxiety tool for kids
🌺Grab our free checklist to find out if you're raising an Orchid Kid 

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Learn More or Connect with Me!

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Very excited to have another guest on. Today I get to chat with Dr. Laura Brayton all about women's health. Specifically about how to optimize health BEFORE conception. This not only help boost fertility, but preconception health is the ultimate prevention topic. 

Dr. Laura Brayton is a holistic chiropractor and functional medicine practitioner with more than 20 years of experience helping women optimize fertility, pregnancy, and maternal health through root-cause medicine and holistic lifestyle practices.

She specializes in conscious conception, fertility optimization, healthy pregnancy, empowered birth, and early motherhood wellness. Through a combination of functional medicine, chiropractic care, nutrition, and lifestyle medicine, she helps women address the underlying causes of hormone imbalance, fertility challenges, and pregnancy-related discomfort.

Dr. Brayton is the founder of Hoboken Family Chiropractic + Wellness, where she has supported thousands of women and families throughout pregnancy and postpartum care. She has recently expanded her work through a virtual functional medicine practice.

She is also the host of the Well-Adjusted Mama Podcast, launched in 2014, where she interviews leading experts in holistic health, birth advocacy, and maternal wellness.

Dr. Brayton offers virtual functional medicine services and has a specific preconception program from families interested in optimizing fertility and overall health. 

You can find Dr. Brayton here:

Website - Discovery Call

Instagram - @drlaurabrayton

Facebook - @drlaurabrayton

Today's episode is all about how the stress response develops. I see the phrase (and even use it sometimes) "stuck in fight-or-flight" often! It is a description I see a lot for kids who have a lot of big intense reactions to the world and seem consistently stressed or on edge. 

In this episode we look at how the stress response develops and what it looks like as we age. If children have an immature stress response, they do overreact to the world and physiologically experience more stress than their peers. These are the kids that seem like they are constantly stuck in a state of stress. 

Check out my website to learn more. 

Today is a special episode. I have my very first guest. I am speaking with Andrea Jones. 

Andrea is a Registered Nurse with 20 years of clinical experience. She spent the first 15 years of her career working in inpatient pediatrics,  PICU & NICU before leaving conventional medicine in 2018 to create her Functional Medicine practice. She is an author, speaker, neurofeedback practitioner and mother to 2 brilliant girls. 

Links:

Thriving Together Community 

Strong Start Discovery Call with Andrea

Wrapped in Kindness Book

Connect with Andrea:

Instagram

Today's episode is all about the different ways anxiety can present in children. Anxiety is such a huge broad topic and can look vastly different from child to child. Its also the most common reason parents bring their children in to see me. In today's episode we look at lots of different ways that anxiety can show up. We touch on common ones like nervousness and avoidance, but also less common symptoms like stool withholding and anger. 

If you are interested in learning more or if you have a child who is struggling with any of the anxiety symptoms mentioned in this episode you can visit my website here to learn more. 

Todays episode is all about different types of play and how they impact development. Our brains are wired to learn through play. It is one of the most efficient ways that we learn. Different types of play promote different types of learning. Today's episode dives into lots of different types of play and how they help your child grow. 

Learn more on my website. 

Today's episode is all about parenting styles. Specifically the four original styles developed by Dr. Baumrind: authoritative, authoritarian, permissive and neglectful. 

Most of the different types of parenting styles we hear about in pop psychology today can be traced back to the original research on these four. We look at parenting across two domains: warmth and structure and discuss the long-term results for children that grow up with different parenting styles. 

Hopefully this episode will make it a little easier for parents to understand some of the things that go in to building happy, healthy, well-adjusted children. 

Here are some of the links I mentioned in the episode:

Dr. Siggie - She is a fantastic resource for parenting advice. She has great free tips on her Instagram and website. She also has more in-depth courses you can purchase. 

The Gottman's - The Gottman's are well-known for their expertise and study of relationships. The are often the go-to experts for marital support, but their parenting resources and research is also top-notch. 

You can also visit my website if you want more information on early development and supporting children with developmental delays. 

Today's episode is all about the DSM diagnosis Selective Mutism. This is a condition I have seen many times in the kids in the office. We will cover what it is, what it looks like and some of the underlying physical and neurological systems at play and lastly the different ways of helping children with this diagnosis. 

My website

Today's episode is all about Trichotillomania which is a mental health disorder characterized by recurrent hair pulling. I see a LOT of kids with this symptom. Not necessarily ones who have received an official trichotillomania diagnosis, but certainly many who have pervasive hair pulling.

This disorder falls under the anxiety umbrella and is often associated with a retained Moro reflex and an highly immature and over-sensitive stress response. Check out this episode to learn more about this disorder and how to support children with it!

You can access my website here.

Today's episode is all about the Fear Paralysis Reflex and the theories behind it. We dive into many of the intricate ways that the body responds to stress and threat. Our stress response should mature through some very distinct stages as we age and continues to adapt to our experiences throughout our lifetime.

Problems can arise with both the development and function of these complex systems. This episode focuses on the "freeze" type response that can be observed in other animals and some children and adults with extremely sensitive nervous systems.

Its a very complex topic that we are still learning about. The main thing for parents and professionals is to take away is that an intense "freeze" response is not a normal reaction to stress. It indicates either an extreme threat or an over-reaction. If you suspect your child may have a retained Fear Paralysis Reflex please be very careful when attempting any testing or treatment.

My favorite resource for information on primitive reflexes: Attention Balance and Coordination by Sally Goddard Blythe

My website, I have an in-depth screening questionnaire you can fill out and I offer free phone consults. 

I am in Colorado but work with families all over the world. I also have a lot of good connections with trusted therapists around the U.S. I can try and get you in contact with someone local and will offer remote services to any family who doesn't have a local option.