Topics / Toddlers & Early Childhood
Toddlers & Early Childhood Podcasts
5 shows and 1,125 episodes sit under Toddlers & Early Childhood.
The best toddler podcasts for behavior, sleep, potty training, and early development. Curated picks for parents of children ages 1–4, updated weekly on PlayNext.
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The guide
Some great Toddlers & Early Childhood podcasts to get to know
Toddlers make ordinary moments feel oddly high-stakes: leaving the playground, sitting on the potty, getting through bedtime without another negotiation. The most useful listening here stays close to those moments. It gives parents language for the next five minutes, while making room for the bigger work of boundaries and connection.
Brisk advice for immediate problems
BratBusters Parenting Podcast is the bluntest, fastest-moving option. Its two-person format runs on objections, corrections and recognizable household scenarios, with a strong preference for concrete action over polished theory. Start with How to Connect With Your Toddler (The Mistake Parents Make), then try When Your Child Hits (Stop Doing This) when the problem is more specific. The tone can be firm, but the point is to make the next move obvious.
Boundaries without the lecture
Respectful Parenting: Janet Lansbury Unruffled is well suited to the parent who already knows the flashpoint. Its titles go straight to Setting Boundaries Without Power Struggles, How to Stop the Screaming and Crying at Separation. There is little mystery about which episode belongs in your queue.
Toddlers Made Easy with Dr Cathryn is similarly practical around recurring transitions. Why Your Toddler Refuses the Potty (And What Helps) offers one entry point; 7 Must-Do's Before Starting Potty Training offers another. For difficult goodbyes, there is No More Drop-Off Tears: 5 Game-Changing Strategies for Separation Anxiety.
Care arrangements and sleep
Toddler Toolkit has a smaller, tightly focused run. Finding a Good Fit Babysitter for your Toddler addresses the care decision itself, while Separation Anxiety in Toddlers: What to Do When Mom Leaves names the emotional complication that can follow.
Sleep sits at the edge of this subject. How Long 'Til Bedtime? | Sleep and Parenting Podcast includes 207. The #1 Mistake Parents Make with Toddler Bedtime Routines (And What to Do Instead). If nights are the whole problem rather than one part of toddler life, move across to Baby & Child Sleep. For a broader philosophy of limits and cooperation, Gentle & Positive Parenting is the better neighbouring route. The parent Parenting page opens the view further.
Where to start
Choose BratBusters Parenting Podcast for brisk household triage. Pick Respectful Parenting: Janet Lansbury Unruffled for boundaries and emotional flashpoints. Begin with Toddlers Made Easy with Dr Cathryn when potty training or separation is dominating the week.
Featured shows below are part of the PlayNext catalog. Updated weekly.
Featured shows
5 shows, described rather than listed
Each has a short write-up and a note on what it does best here.
Toddler-specific behavior framing from a child psychologist — tantrums, listening, and potty without escalation.
Covers boundaries, the "no" phase, and tantrum triggers all in one place — the everyday toddler map.
Bedtime routines shaped around preschool, travel, and the family calendar — practical and schedule-aware.
Direct voice on hitting, biting, screaming, and power struggles — less delicate, more actionable.
Child-led potty learning, tantrum reframes, and separation — grounded in RIE and respectful practice.
Where to start
5 routes in, one per reader
Explains the developmental reasons behind misbehavior and gives calm-response tools without yelling.
Covers crib transitions, daycare nap interference, and bedtime resistance with specific fixes.
Practical potty-training episodes covering timing, boys vs girls, and nighttime readiness.
Short accessible episodes on Montessori materials, color work, and sensory play for early childhood.
Warm expert conversations on how much movement toddlers need and how to choose developmentally useful toys.
Glossary
Words hosts use without explaining
An emotional outburst in toddlers triggered by frustration, transitions, or unmet needs — developmentally normal in ages 1–3 and best addressed with calm connection rather than punishment.
The process of a child gaining bladder and bowel control, typically between ages 2–3; respectful approaches emphasize child readiness and low-pressure practice over fixed timelines.
Moving a toddler from a crib to an open bed, usually between 18 months and 3 years; the timing and preparation affect sleep quality and nighttime independence.
A child-development philosophy that treats infants and toddlers as capable individuals; associated with Janet Lansbury and used widely in respectful-parenting podcast content.
The rapid speech and vocabulary acquisition phase in toddlers roughly between 12 and 36 months, when consistent verbal interaction and reading have an outsized effect on later literacy.
An educational approach developed by Maria Montessori that emphasizes self-directed activity, hands-on learning, and prepared environments scaled to the child's developmental stage.