Spoil Your Baby
by Dr. Greer Kirshenbaum
As a mom, neuroscientist, and a long time expert to parents, almost every expert has it wrong when they say 'don't spoil your baby.' Up until the age of 3, your only job is to spoil your baby with affection, attention, and protection. I promise you it's the best chance for the long term mental health and success of your child. On my podcast, I will interview the leading experts to explain why you need to SPOIL YOUR BABY as well as those that may disagree for a spirited debate. I will also give you the most up to date science-backed tools and tips that will help you to raise your baby for lifelong health and success.
Episodes
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TAKEAWAYS from Finding Hope and Light in Evidence-Based Sleep feat. Linda Fitzgerald | #75
How does embracing neuroscience and genuine community support transform the challenges of early motherhood, especially when navigating conflicting advice on infant sleep? We sit down with Linda, a Nurture Neuroscience practitioner, to discuss her incredible journey into supporting mothers....
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TAKEAWAYS from From Low Nurture to Nurture Revolution feat. The Nurture Duo | #74
How do you turn a childhood of "low nurture" into a passion for helping other parents find confidence and joy in responsive motherhood? Erin and Hayley are twins and the co-founders of The Nurture Duo. They shared their challenging upbringing, having grown up in a single-parent household with two...
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TAKEAWAYS from Raising Anti-Doomers feat. Ariella Cook Shonkoff | #73
How can we stay emotionally grounded and raise hopeful children when the world around us feels so heavy? Ariella Cook-Shonkoff is a psychotherapist and writer who has spent her life finding healing and refuge through the creative process. Her journey toward writing her book, Raising Anti-Doomers,...
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Beyond Mechanics: Feeding Your Baby with Love and Connection feat. Kelly Kendall | #72
How can treating breastfeeding as a relationship rather than a mechanical task transform your feeding journey? Kelly Kendall began her career as a hospital postpartum nurse and lactation consultant before moving into private practice. Throughout her years in the hospital, she watched countless...
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How Early Imprinting Shapes Our Nervous Systems and Parenting feat. APPPAH | #71
How do our earliest experiences in the womb and during birth shape our nervous systems and the way we parent? Ashley Makan and Wendy Bruns both began their careers as doulas, driven by a deep calling to support families during birth. Through their work with the Association for Prenatal &...
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Reclaiming Your Intuition in Motherhood feat. Sydney Blum | #70
How can tapping into your inner intuition transform the way you navigate motherhood and everyday life? Sydney Blum built her career bridging strategy and community impact with intuitive practice, helping people listen inwardly and lead from alignment. Early on, she noticed how much our society...
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Transformed by Birth: Embracing the Unknown in Parenthood ft Dr Britta Bushnell | #69
How can embracing the unknown and trusting our wild instincts transform our journey into parenthood? Dr. Britta Bushnell began her path in childbirth education over twenty-five years ago, rooted in her lifelong passion for storytelling and mythology. After years as a co-owner of Birthing From...
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TAKEAWAYS from Evolutionary Parenting: Beyond the Sleep Training Narrative feat. Tracy Cassel | #68
Why does our society place more value on controlled baby sleep than on maternal support, proper feeding, or comfort? Tracy Cassels began her influential work while pursuing her PhD in developmental psychology, coinciding with her pregnancy. She observed a profound contradiction between the...
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TAKEAWAYS from Why Maternal Love is a Neurobiological Craving feat. Kelly McDaniel | #67
What happens when we spend our adult lives searching for a quality of maternal love we never received as a child? Kelly McDaniel, a licensed professional counselor and author, introduced the concept of "Mother Hunger" in her first book, Ready to Heal. She identified Mother Hunger as an attachment...
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TAKEAWAYS from Self-Mothering: Your Most Important Parenting Job feat. Dr. Gertrude Lyons | #66
What if the most crucial job we have in motherhood is learning to mother ourselves? Dr. Gertrude Lyons, a master coach and thought leader, developed the “Rewriting the Mother Code” framework after conducting an in-depth doctoral thesis. Her purpose is to help women rewrite outdated narratives...
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Beyond the Rules: Responsive Feeding and Support feat. Emma Pickett | #65
Why is breastfeeding often a learned skill that requires a "village" rather than just a natural instinct? Emma Pickett began her professional life as a teacher before the birth of her own children sparked a deep passion for lactation. She quickly realized that breastfeeding is a continuing line...
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TAKEAWAYS from Why Nasal Breathing is Essential for Early Development with Dr. Shereen Lim | #64
How does optimal breathing and jaw development impact your child's sleep, mood, and ability to thrive? Dr. Shereen Lim, originally a general dentist for 26 years, first delved into the world of sleep apnea due to her husband’s persistent snoring. Her initial focus was on dental devices for…
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Prenatal Bonding: Building a Lifelong Relationship in the Womb feat. Ivana Lombardo | #63
How can building a relationship with your baby during pregnancy transform your experience of birth and early parenthood? Ivana Lombardo’s journey began after moving from Serbia and raising her family without her original community nearby. She faced the isolation many modern parents feel…
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Matrescence: Healing Attachment Wounds and Finding Your New Self feat. Mariya Garnet | #62
How can we bridge the gap between knowing our patterns and actually feeling like ourselves again in early motherhood? Mariya Garnet brings over 18 years of experience in the wellness industry, blending traditionally trained indigenous practices from the Peruvian Amazon with Western psychotherapy...
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Beyond Milestones: Why the Movement Process Matters Most feat. Babies Project | #61
How can the way your baby learns to move today shape the way they learn about the world for the rest of their lives? Amy Matthews and Sarah Barnaby are the co-founders of Babies Project, but their path into this work didn't start with being parents themselves. Amy began her career in dance and...
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TAKEAWAYS from Trust Your Instinct with Amanda Hadfield | #60
Are you feeling conflicted because your mothering instincts feel right, but everyone around you insists you are doing it wrong? Amanda Hadfield, who was previously working as a veterinary nurse, started maternity leave looking for self-discovery and a complete career change. While pregnant, she...
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TAKEAWAYS from Trust Your Instinct with Gabrielle Ferrara | #59
Why is "normal" infant sleep so often labeled as a problem needing medical intervention? Gabrielle Ferrara began her professional life dedicated to mental health counseling and social work, holding a Master’s in Social Work and licensure as a clinical social worker in both New Jersey and Florida....
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TAKEAWAYS from Beyond Perfection with Talia Shapero | #58
Is it possible to improve our sleep and reduce anxiety, even when navigating the exhaustion of new parenthood? Talia Shapero's journey to becoming an adult sleep coach began with her own years-long battle with insomnia. This sleep struggle became significantly worse after the birth of her son.…
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TAKEAWAYS from Conscious Connections with Tracy Gillett | #57
What if "spoiling" your baby with affection, attention, and protection is actually the best path to their long-term mental health and success? Tracy Gillett, a natural parent, felt alone in her early parenting choices like full term breastfeeding and bed-sharing. This led her to create the Raised...
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TAKEAWAYS from Discipline and Development with Dr Vanessa Lapointe | #56
Why is traditional discipline actually causing anxiety and behavioral problems in our children? Dr. Vanessa Lapointe began her career as a practicing psychologist and mother, having been trained in a behaviorist approach that taught her to squash any unwanted behavior to make it stop. She quickly...
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The Roots of Resilience: Healing Birth Trauma feat. Annie Brook | #55
How do the first impressions of birth and early infancy shape our nervous systems and relationships for a lifetime? Annie Brook is a somatic psychotherapist and educator who helps families understand the profound impact that birth and early caregiving have on lifelong wellbeing. Growing up as a...
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The Healing Power of Nurturing Touch and Infant Massage feat. Sylvie Hetu | #54
How can the simple act of infant massage transform your baby's health and your bond forever? Sylvie Hétu has spent over 30 years leading the way for infant massage around the world. Her journey is tied to the story of Vimala McClure, who saw the power of touch in an orphanage in India. Sylvie...
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The Womb as the First Home: Shaping Lifelong Mental Health feat. Dr Catherine Monk | #53
How does a mother’s internal world during pregnancy shape a child’s lifelong mental health? Dr. Catherine Monk began her career as a clinical psychologist driven by a deep interest in development. She wanted to understand how our early backgrounds shape who we become as adults. This curiosity led...
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Pregnancy After Loss: Finding Connection in the Midst of Fear feat. Kristin Mundy | #52
How can we continue to mother our children and find deep connection even after experiencing profound loss? Kristin Mundy was born to be a doula. She started as a "mother's helper" when she was just a kid and spent years working in education and as a nanny. About eight years ago, she felt a "light...
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The Doula’s Guide to Nurturing Birth Instincts and Connection feat. Stefanie Antunes | #51
Why is the way we connect with our babies at birth so vital for our long-term relationship? Stefanie Antunes began her journey as a doula and educator over twenty years ago after the birth of her second son taught her the true value of preparation and support. She is now a visionary in the field,...
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_Motherhood Expanded: Coming Home to Yourself Through Storytelling feat. Kim Marshall | #50
How can we use the challenges of motherhood as a powerful medicine for our own healing and growth? Kim Marshall spent nearly 25 years working with children and families as a teacher before realizing the best way to support kids was to help the people raising them. Six years ago, she left her...
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Generational Love and the Power of Poetry feat. Hannah Rosenberg | #49
How can writing and community help us navigate the beautiful, scary, and opposing feelings of motherhood? Hannah Rosenberg is a poet and mother who uses writing as a vital tool to process the intense emotions of parenthood. Her journey into public writing began as a way to capture the duality of...
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Raising Anti-Doomers: Hope and Grounding in a Heavy World feat. Ariella Cook-Shonkoff | #48
How can we stay emotionally grounded and raise hopeful children when the world around us feels so heavy? Ariella Cook-Shonkoff is a psychotherapist and writer who has spent her life finding healing and refuge through the creative process. Her journey toward writing her book, Raising Anti-Doomers,...
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Trust Your Instinct: Quieting the Sleep Training Noise feat. Gabrielle Ferrara | #47
Why is "normal" infant sleep so often labeled as a problem needing medical intervention? Gabrielle Ferrara began her professional life dedicated to mental health counseling and social work, holding a Master's in Social Work and licensure as a clinical social worker in both New Jersey and Florida....
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Discipline and Development: The Zero to Three Guide feat. Dr. Vanessa Lapointe | #46
Why is traditional discipline actually causing anxiety and behavioral problems in our children? Dr. Vanessa Lapointe began her career as a practicing psychologist and mother, having been trained in a behaviorist approach that taught her to squash any unwanted behavior to make it stop. She quickly...
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Why Nasal Breathing is Essential for Early Development feat. Dr. Shereen Lim | #45
How does optimal breathing and jaw development impact your child's sleep, mood, and ability to thrive? Dr. Shereen Lim, originally a general dentist for 26 years, first delved into the world of sleep apnea due to her husband's persistent snoring. Her initial focus was on dental devices for…
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I'm Right, You're Stupid: Healing Adult Sibling Wounds feat. Jessica Marriot and Dr. Bluma Sapir | #44
Why is healing the complex relationships between adult siblings a universally overlooked area in mental health? Jessica Marriot and Dr. Bluma Sapir, who are sisters, were estranged and hated each other for their entire lives until the pandemic prompted a change. Their relationship healing began...
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Evolutionary Parenting: Beyond the Sleep Training Narrative feat. Tracy Cassels | #43
Why does our society place more value on controlled baby sleep than on maternal support, proper feeding, or comfort? Tracy Cassels began her influential work while pursuing her PhD in developmental psychology, coinciding with her pregnancy. She observed a profound contradiction between the...
-
Why Maternal Love is a Neurobiological Craving feat. Kelly McDaniel | #42
What happens when we spend our adult lives searching for a quality of maternal love we never received as a child? Kelly McDaniel, a licensed professional counselor and author, introduced the concept of "Mother Hunger" in her first book, Ready to Heal. She identified Mother Hunger as an attachment...
-
Self-Mothering: Your Most Important Parenting Job feat. Dr. Gertrude Lyons | #41
What if the most crucial job we have in motherhood is learning to mother ourselves? Dr. Gertrude Lyons, a master coach and thought leader, developed the "Rewriting the Mother Code" framework after conducting an in-depth doctoral thesis. Her purpose is to help women rewrite outdated narratives...
-
Beyond Perfection: Getting "Good Enough" Sleep feat. Talia Shapero | #40
Is it possible to improve our sleep and reduce anxiety, even when navigating the exhaustion of new parenthood? Talia Shapero's journey to becoming an adult sleep coach began with her own years-long battle with insomnia. This sleep struggle became significantly worse after the birth of her son.…
more -
From Low Nurture to Nurture Revolution feat. The Nurture Duo | #39
How do you turn a childhood of "low nurture" into a passion for helping other parents find confidence and joy in responsive motherhood? Erin and Hayley are twins and the co-founders of The Nurture Duo. They shared their challenging upbringing, having grown up in a single-parent household with two...
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Boosting Confidence Through Nurtured Presence feat. Amanda Hadfield | #38
Are you feeling conflicted because your mothering instincts feel right, but everyone around you insists you are doing it wrong? Amanda Hadfield, who was previously working as a veterinary nurse, started maternity leave looking for self-discovery and a complete career change. While pregnant, she...
-
Finding Hope and Light in Evidence-Based Sleep feat. Linda Fitzgerald | #37
How does embracing neuroscience and genuine community support transform the challenges of early motherhood, especially when navigating conflicting advice on infant sleep? We sit down with Linda, a Nurture Neuroscience practitioner, to discuss her incredible journey into supporting mothers....
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Brain benefits of Skin-to-Skin and how to do it at any age feat. Hayley Mullins | #36
What if the key to maximizing bonding time with your newborn was created out of a moment of terrifying crisis? Hayley Mullins, the founder of the Joey Band, shares the deeply personal and frightening experience that led to the development of her innovative product. When her newborn daughter, just...
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A Successful Daycare Transition Story feat. Kelly Yefet | #35
What happens when the thought of transitioning your baby to daycare brings anxiety and tears, but the reality turns out to be a surprising success story? We sit down with Kelly as she shares her candid journey through the daunting process of transitioning her 10-month-old baby, Noa, into daycare....
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Navigating Sleep with a Newborn & Toddler feat. Rachael Shepard-Ohta | #34
Feeling overwhelmed by the thought of adding another baby to your family and wondering how everyone will ever sleep? We've got you covered! In this episode of the Spoil Your Baby podcast, we connect with Rachel Shepard-Ota, the founder of Hey Sleepy Baby. Rachel shares her personal journey into…
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Conscious Connections: Holistic Baby Care & Family Bonds, with Tracy Gillett | #33
What if "spoiling" your baby with affection, attention, and protection is actually the best path to their long-term mental health and success? Tracy Gillett, a natural parent, felt alone in her early parenting choices like full term breastfeeding and bed-sharing. This led her to create the Raised...
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Beyond 6 Weeks: The Real Postpartum Journey, with Maranda Bower | #32
Are we truly supporting mothers postpartum, or are we perpetuating a cycle of misunderstanding and neglect? Maranda Bower, a biological researcher, bestselling author, and the visionary behind Postpartum University, embarked on her journey into postpartum health driven by her own profound and...
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Dance Movement Therapy for Moms: A New Language of Connection | #31
Your baby speaks in movement—do you? In this episode of Spoil Your Baby, Dr. Greer Kirshenbaum is joined by Erica Hornthal, a licensed movement therapist, professional counselor, and author of Body Aware and Body Talk. Known as "the therapist who moves you," Erica offers a powerful reframe on how...
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Physical & Emotional Connection through Baby Carrying: with Busi Musiiwa | #30
Carrying your baby is about more than comfort… It's about fostering a deep connection through proximity. On today's episode of the Spoil Your Baby podcast, Dr. Greer Kirshenbaum sits down with Busi Musiiwa: an Occupational Therapist, mom, and founder of BabueBaby, whose baby carriers are...
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Trusting Your Own Intuition (feat. Kelly Yefet) | #29
Your intuition as a mother is to care for your child… and it's OK to trust it. On today's episode of the Spoil Your Baby podcast, Dr. Greer Kirshenbaum sits down with Kelly Yefet, a mother, keynote speaker, brand and growth advisor, entrepreneur, and Greer's sister-in-law. Greer and Kelly have...
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Herbs Aren't Scary, They're a Lifeline with Sara Chana Silverstein | #28
On today's episode of the Spoil Your Baby podcast, Dr. Greer Kirshenbaum is joined by master herbalist, certified lactation consultant, doula, and mother of seven, Sara Chana Silverstein. With over 45,000 mothers and babies supported through lactation, Sara Chana brings a wealth of clinical…
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Feeding Your Baby's Brain (feat. Dr. Marion Van Horn) | #27
Brain health matters… and it's worth prioritizing with your children. On today's episode of the Spoil Your Baby podcast, Dr. Greer Kirshenbaum sits down with Marion Van Horn, PhD. Marion is a neuroscientist and a mom whose work took on a whole new meaning when it started to overlap with her...
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Your Baby's Growth through Stress: w/ Dr. Rocio Zunini | #26
The world will be stressful for your child. That's why they need you as a safe haven. On today's episode of the Spoil Your Baby podcast, Dr. Greer Kirshenbaum is joined once again by co-host Rocio Zunini, Ph.D., a neuroscientist, parental brain educator, and expert on the connection between your...
About this show
As a mom, neuroscientist, and a long time expert to parents, almost every expert has it wrong when they say 'don't spoil your baby.' Up until the age of 3, your only job is to spoil your baby with affection, attention, and protection. I promise you it's the best chance for the long term mental health and success of your child. On my podcast, I will interview the leading experts to explain why you need to SPOIL YOUR BABY as well as those that may disagree for a spirited debate. I will also give you the most up to date science-backed tools and tips that will help you to raise your baby for lifelong health and success.
Hosted by
Dr. Greer Kirshenbaum