The PedsDocTalk Podcast: Child Health, Development & Parenting—From a Pediatrician Mom

So many moms feel they must always be gentle, patient, and nurturing. When intense irritability, sudden anger, or rage bubbles up during pregnancy or the postpartum period, it’s easy to suffer in silence out of fear of judgment. Dr. Mona and Dr. Ashurina pull back the curtain on why parental rage happens, how to recognize the clinical signs of a flooded nervous system, and why getting help early—before reaching a crisis point—is the best thing you can do for yourself and your family.

Here are the key takeaways from this episode:

Perinatal Rage is Wrapped in Shame: Many mothers suffer in silence because societal expectations dictate that moms should always be gentle, patient, and nurturing, making it incredibly difficult to admit to feeling intense anger or rage.

It Can Start During Pregnancy: Mood shifts and anxiety during the perinatal period are often incorrectly dismissed as "just hormones," but symptoms of depression, anxiety, and rage can actively begin during pregnancy.

Depression Doesn't Always Look Like Sadness: Perinatal and postpartum depression can manifest as extreme irritability, hostility, snapping, and yelling over minor incidents rather than just tearfulness or isolation.

Driven by Overstimulation and Unmet Needs: Rage is rarely a standalone issue; it is typically a combination of extreme sleep deprivation, sensory burnout, and unmet basic needs like adequate nutrition, rest, or feeling seen and validated.

Don't Wait for a Crisis to Get Help: You do not need to be in an absolute crisis to benefit from mental health support; seeking out a therapist early makes navigating care much easier and helps you recover before reaching a breaking point.

Want more? Listen to the full, original episode.

Our podcasts are also now on YouTube. If you prefer a video podcast with closed captioning, check us out there and ⁠subscribe to PedsDocTalk⁠.

Get trusted pediatric advice, relatable parenting insights, and evidence-based tips delivered straight to your inbox—join thousands of parents who rely on the PDT newsletter to stay informed, supported, and confident. ⁠⁠⁠⁠Join the newsletter⁠⁠⁠⁠!

Shop Dr. Mona’s favorite products: https://shopmy.us/shop/pedsdoctalk (paid link)

And don’t forget to follow ⁠⁠⁠⁠@pedsdoctalkpodcast⁠⁠⁠⁠ on Instagram—our new space just for parents looking for real talk and real support.

We love the sponsors that make this show possible! You can always find all the special deals and codes for all our current sponsors on the ⁠PedsDocTalk Podcast Sponsorships⁠ page of the website.
Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

Have you read all the parenting books, followed the expert social media accounts, and known exactly what you want to say to your child—only to find yourself frustrated and yelling in the heat of the moment? You are not alone.

In this episode, I welcome back licensed therapist, author, and crowd-favorite social media follower, Dr. Cassidy Freitas. Together, we take the shame out of "mom rage" and explore the painful gap between knowing what to do and actually doing it when it matters most. Dr. Cassidy dives into the core concepts of her new book, Mom Needs a Moment, explaining how our childhood "rulebooks," sensory overload, and a lack of societal "margins" trigger our nervous systems into survival mode. Tune in to learn how to catch your triggers, build a buffer between stimulus and reaction, and use the ultimate parenting superpower: the power of repair.

In this episode, we cover:


The deep shame mothers face when they know the right parenting techniques but still find themselves yelling in moments of frustration.


How Dr. Cassidy pulled together a decade of clinical themes and personal experiences as a mother of three to write her new book, Mom Needs a Moment.


How childhood survival "rulebooks" and an overstimulated nervous system cause parents to default to reactive habits like fight, flight, or freeze.


The desperate need for modern parents to consciously protect empty "margins" of space on their calendars to regulate their bodies outside of stressful moments.


A powerful look at how breaking generational cycles allows parents to build a lasting emotional legacy for future generations.

Connect with Dr. Cassidy Freitas on Instagram @drcassidy, visit her site https://www.drcassidymft.com/ and buy her new book: https://go.shopmy.us/p-69435027 (paid link)

Check out our earlier episode on EMDR: https://pedsdoctalk.com/podcast/trauma-therapy-why-you-may-need-emdr/ 

00:00 - Introduction & The Parenting Gap

01:54 - EMDR Therapy & Processing Motherhood

03:49 - A Psychic Medium's Prediction & Toxic Perfectionism

06:33 - Impact vs. Notoriety

08:55 - How the Book Got Its Title

11:31 - The Overstimulated Digital Parenting Era

13:40 - Why Do We Snap? (The Survival Rulebook)

19:57 - Dr. Mona’s Instagram Troll Trigger

22:59 - Why Insight Alone Isn't Enough to Change Behavior

24:42 - What Are Margins? (Before, During, & After)

32:50 - The Chocolate Popsicle Story

37:46 - The Power of a Child Expecting Repair

42:20 - ADHD, Hyperfocus, and Managing Interruptions

43:53 - Breaking Generational Cycles Without Blame

49:27 - Reclaiming Your Intuition

52:24 - Building Legacy & Finding Joy

Our podcasts are also now on YouTube. If you prefer a video podcast with closed captioning, check us out there and ⁠subscribe to PedsDocTalk⁠.

Get trusted pediatric advice, relatable parenting insights, and evidence-based tips delivered straight to your inbox—join thousands of parents who rely on the PDT newsletter to stay informed, supported, and confident. ⁠⁠⁠⁠Join the newsletter⁠⁠⁠⁠!

And don’t forget to follow ⁠⁠⁠⁠@pedsdoctalkpodcast⁠⁠⁠⁠ on Instagram—our new space just for parents looking for real talk and real support.

We love the sponsors that make this show possible! You can always find all the special deals and codes for all our current sponsors on the ⁠PedsDocTalk Podcast Sponsorships⁠ page of the website. 
Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

I'll be honest with you - this episode hit differently for me as a mom. My son is six and learning Spanish in school, and my parents speak our native language with him, but listening back to this conversation with Alicia made me wish we had been more intentional from the start. No guilt though... just real talk about what the research actually says.

Alicia Gandhi is a bilingual speech language pathologist and clinical assistant professor at NYU, and she is the person you want in your corner when it comes to separating fact from fiction on raising kids with multiple languages. There are so many myths floating around out there, from pediatricians, from teachers, from well-meaning family members, and we break them all down.

In this episode we cover:

The real cognitive benefits of raising bilingual and multilingual kids (hint: it goes way beyond language)

Why code switching and mixing languages is not confusion - it is actually a sign your child is doing exactly what they should be

The milestone myth: bilingual kids are not on a different developmental timeline

Why you should speak your strongest language at home, even if it is not English

The harmful practice of "forced monolingualism" and who it hurts most

Whether kids with language delays or disabilities can still be raised multilingual (spoiler: yes)

What happens when kids enter a new language environment like daycare or school

Want more? Listen to the full, original episode.

Our podcasts are also now on YouTube. If you prefer a video podcast with closed captioning, check us out there and ⁠subscribe to PedsDocTalk⁠.

Get trusted pediatric advice, relatable parenting insights, and evidence-based tips delivered straight to your inbox—join thousands of parents who rely on the PDT newsletter to stay informed, supported, and confident. ⁠⁠⁠⁠Join the newsletter⁠⁠⁠⁠!

Shop Dr. Mona's favorite products: ⁠https://shopmy.us/shop/pedsdoctalk⁠ (paid link)

And don’t forget to follow ⁠⁠⁠⁠@pedsdoctalkpodcast⁠⁠⁠⁠ on Instagram—our new space just for parents looking for real talk and real support.

We love the sponsors that make this show possible! You can always find all the special deals and codes for all our current sponsors on the ⁠PedsDocTalk Podcast Sponsorships⁠ page of the website. 
Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

BED SHARING DISCUSSIONS SHOULD BE CLEARED WITH YOUR CHILD’S CLINICIAN. This episode is not personal advice.

If there is one topic that makes parents go quiet in my exam room, it is this one. Where is your baby actually sleeping? Not where you planned for them to sleep. Not what you told your mother-in-law. Where are they really sleeping at 2am when you are exhausted and just need everyone to rest? I brought Dr. Michael Milobsky on the show because he is one of the few pediatricians willing to have this conversation out loud. Twenty-seven years in practice, father of seven, grandfather of five, and someone who has been in every corner of pediatric medicine. We sat down and got honest about bedsharing in a way that I wish every parent could hear from their own doctor.

Here is what I want you to know before you hit play. I used to be the doctor who said independent sleep space and moved on. No room for nuance, no real conversation. And what I have come to understand over the last several years is that when parents feel judged, they stop telling us the truth. And when that happens, we lose the chance to actually keep babies safe. This episode is not about telling you what to do. It is about giving you the information you deserve so you can make the most informed choice for your family.

What We Talk About


Why so many parents are not being honest with their pediatrician about where their baby sleeps, and why that silence is the bigger safety problem


What the AAP guidelines are actually designed to do, and where they fall short in a real clinical conversation


The specific risk factors that make bedsharing significantly more dangerous, including smoking, alcohol, sedating medications, soft bedding, prematurity, and very young infants


The Safe Sleep Seven, what it covers, what its limitations are, and why it is still a useful harm reduction tool


How bedsharing is practiced in other countries and why the surface and setup matter as much as the decision itself


Why breastfeeding changes the biology of bedsharing and shifts the risk picture in meaningful ways


What both of us did with our own kids, because real talk requires real transparency


Room sharing versus bedsharing, and what the updated AAP recommendations actually say


Why most pediatricians default to the hard line, and why it is usually about time in the system, not ignorance of the nuance


What to do if your pediatrician will not have this conversation with you

Connect with Dr. Michael Milobsky on Instagram @drmichaelmilobsky and visit his site linktr.ee/milobsky .

00:00 - Pediatric Sleep Guidance: The Nuance of Bed Sharing
04:15 - Meet Dr. Michael Milobsky: From the ER to Raising 7 Kids
08:30 - Why Strict AAP Safe Sleep Guidelines Fail Exhausted Parents
13:10 - Co-Sleeping Around the World vs. Mainstream US Pediatrics
17:45 - Understanding Risk Stratification in the Marriage Bed
21:20 - Navigating Survival Mode and Chronic Sleep Deprivation
25:55 - Infant Temperaments: Evaluating Your Baby's "Cuddle Quota"
30:15 - High-Risk Factors: Alcohol, Sedating Medications, and Sobriety
34:40 - The Biology of Breastfeeding Proximity vs. Formula Feeding
38:10 - Breaking Down the Safe Sleep Seven Framework
42:50 - The Hidden Dangers of Couches, Armchairs, and Recliners
46:15 - Systemic Issues: Why Pediatricians Lack Time for Nuanced Advice
50:30 - How to Safely Discuss Your Sleep Choices with Your Doctor
53:20 - Outro: Shifting to Supportive, Non-Judgmental Pediatric Guidance

Our podcasts are also now on YouTube. If you prefer a video podcast with closed captioning, check us out there and ⁠subscribe to PedsDocTalk⁠.

Get trusted pediatric advice, relatable parenting insights, and evidence-based tips delivered straight to your inbox—join thousands of parents who rely on the PDT newsletter to stay informed, supported, and confident. ⁠⁠⁠⁠Join the newsletter⁠⁠⁠⁠!

Shop Dr. Mona's favorite products: ⁠https://shopmy.us/shop/pedsdoctalk⁠ (paid link)

And don’t forget to follow ⁠⁠⁠⁠@pedsdoctalkpodcast⁠⁠⁠⁠ on Instagram—our new space just for parents looking for real talk and real support.

We love the sponsors that make this show possible! You can always find all the special deals and codes for all our current sponsors on the ⁠PedsDocTalk Podcast Sponsorships⁠ page of the website. 
Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

Both my husband and I have anxiety. So yeah, we are two anxious people raising kids and watching closely for signs of anxiety in them. The irony is very real. But it also means I am deeply invested in understanding where childhood anxiety comes from, and how much of it we as parents are actually influencing.

In this Follow Up episode, I brought back child psychiatrist Dr. Helen Egger to break down the nature vs. nurture of anxiety, what it actually looks like in kids and parents, and how we can interrupt the cycle without losing our minds trying.

In this episode we cover:

Why having anxiety as a parent puts your child at 4-6 times higher risk for anxiety, and what that actually means

The difference between normal anxiety and anxiety that needs support

How fear can be "contagious" in a family environment, even without realizing it

The genetic component of anxiety explained as risk, not destiny

Why anxious kids often also have heightened empathy and sensitivity (the strengths side of the coin)

How to address your child's anxiety while managing your own

The different types of anxiety: generalized, social, separation, and phobias

Why getting mental health support as a parent is one of the most powerful things you can do for your child

How modeling help-seeking behavior actually breaks the anxiety cycle

Want more? Listen to the full, original episode.

Our podcasts are also now on YouTube. If you prefer a video podcast with closed captioning, check us out there and ⁠subscribe to PedsDocTalk⁠.

Get trusted pediatric advice, relatable parenting insights, and evidence-based tips delivered straight to your inbox—join thousands of parents who rely on the PDT newsletter to stay informed, supported, and confident. ⁠⁠⁠⁠Join the newsletter⁠⁠⁠⁠!

Shop Dr. Mona's favorite products: ⁠https://shopmy.us/shop/pedsdoctalk⁠ (paid link)

And don’t forget to follow ⁠⁠⁠⁠@pedsdoctalkpodcast⁠⁠⁠⁠ on Instagram—our new space just for parents looking for real talk and real support.

We love the sponsors that make this show possible! You can always find all the special deals and codes for all our current sponsors on the ⁠PedsDocTalk Podcast Sponsorships⁠ page of the website.
Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices