"Doctor Mom" Podcast | Practical Tips to Be a Proactive Parent · Stephanie Greunke, RD and Dr. Elana Roumell, ND

Parenting Ages 5-12 with Confidence with Alyssa Campbell, M.Ed

·1 hr 5 min·4 clips

Alyssa says neuroceptive-sensitive kids often become perfectionist because they track how other people feel about performance.

Steph and Dr. Ilana open with their usual warm, practical tone. They bring a guest into a conversation about what it looks like to parent with more steadiness when a child’s behavior is really a body or nervous-system story. The talk moves quickly into sensory language. The guest explains neuroception as the way a child notices the energy, body language, and feel of a room, and then describes how that internal response can be felt very strongly from the inside. The focus then widens. She walks through vestibular input, describing the inner-ear system that handles movement and balance, and gives familiar examples of children who love spinny rides, swiveled chairs, yoga inversions, or constant motion. Some kids are seekers. Others are sensitive, and the episode uses those differences to show why one child may crave movement while another gets motion sickness and why seating, classroom tools, and movement breaks matter so much at school. Proprioception comes next. That sense helps a person know where the body ends and something else begins, and the guest connects it to the kids who bump into furniture, cut corners too sharply, or lean hard into touch and closeness. She calls out the touch-hungry kids. Those are the little ones who want to sit on a lap, press into a parent on the couch, or climb back into the middle of connection when the day feels too big. The episode keeps returning to real life. Instead of treating sensory processing as an abstract theory, the conversation keeps asking how these patterns show up in classrooms, at dinner, during sibling conflict, and in the middle of an ordinary hard day. Sportscasting is the standout tool. A parent names what they see, acknowledges the child’s loss of control, offers space or connection, and avoids turning the moment into a lecture when the real need is regulation. The adults stay in the frame too. The guest and the hosts also model doing your own sportscasting, noticing raised shoulders, clenched hands, and the urge to scream so the parent can step away and return with more kindness. The tone stays reassuring. It is full of warm, practical language, real-life examples, and a steady belief that confidence grows when parents learn to read the body beneath the behavior.

As heard by us

A practical, sensory-aware guide to reading kids' behavior with more calm and less guesswork.

This conversation treats parenting as a sensory puzzle, tracing why some children look for motion, why others reach for touch, and how a parent can respond without making the moment harder.

Read the full review in PlayNext →

Why you'd press play

You want a calmer read on what your school-age kid's body is asking for.

Read the full recommendation in PlayNext →

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