A Parent's Guide to Child Development

About A Parent's Guide to Child Development

Let's face it—nobody ever went to college to learn how to raise a baby. Everyone is just making it up as they go along. "A Parent's Guide to Child Development" is your lifeline to expert wisdom. Learn about the most important information that you didn't know existed. Hosted by Annamarie von Firley from Fledglings' Flight, this podcast gathers insights from experts in child development such as pediatric OTs, speech language pathologists, child psychologists, lactation consultants, & more, delivering practical tips & actionable advice to help optimize your child's development.

Publisher

Annamarie von Firley

Category

kids & family

Language

en

Explicit

No

First episode

18 Mar 2025

Latest episode

16 Oct 2026

Latest episodes

113 episodes in the feed.

1. 

   16 Oct 2026

   The Addiction Your Toddler Doesn’t Know They Have

   Screens are addictive — and it’s by design.In this clip, pediatric occupational therapist Melanie Batista pulls back the curtain on what’s actually happening in your toddler’s brain when you take the screen away and the meltdown starts. It’s not random, and it’s not “bad behavior.” It’s a learned pattern.Every time a tantrum results in the screen being handed back, that outcome gets reinforced. The child’s brain registers: this worked. A neural pathway gets laid down — I want this, this is what I need to do to get it — and the more that pathway fires, the stronger and more automatic it becomes. What might start as a 3- or 5-minute tantrum at age one can turn into hours-long battles by the time a child is older, simply because the behavior has been rewarded again and again.Melanie compares the pull of screens to other addictive substances — not to be dramatic, but because the underlying brain chemistry is genuinely similar. Screens are engineered to release the same reward chemicals that keep us coming back, and children have even less capacity than adults to regulate that pull on their own. That’s why she’s such a strong advocate for setting firm boundaries early, before the pattern has a chance to take hold — because the longer a family waits to get a handle on screen time, the harder (and longer) those battles tend to get.Timestamps: 0:18 How screen time for children can be like crack0:50 Are children demanding technology and causing addictive behavior?1:54 How getting older can have parents lose control of screen time use🎥 Watch the full conversation, "What Screens Are Actually Doing to Your Toddler's Brain," with Melanie Batista:▶️ https://youtu.be/uk9pKL_LrSYMelanie has over 25 years of experience as a pediatric OT and is the founder of Growing Little Brains, where she helps parents and caregivers build healthy, connected childhoods in a screen-saturated world.🌐 growinglittlebrains.com📸 @GrowingLittleBrains on Instagram & Facebook#screentime #toddlertantrums #braindevelopment #screentimeforkids #earlychildhooddevelopment #childdevelopment #parentingadvice #toddlerparenting About Annamarie von Firley:After 20 years running her fashion house, reVamp, Annamarie returned to her toy design roots and founded Adventuretown Toy Emporium in 2016. In 2022, she launched Fledglings’ Flight as an extension of that work. She now hosts A Parent’s Guide to Child Development, bringing parents conversations with experts in child development and psychology.About Fledglings’ Flight:Launched in 2022 by Adventuretown Toy Emporium, Fledglings’ Flight offers play-based exercises for children birth to age 3, supporting cognitive, motor, and social-emotional development, with a monthly exercise library and milestone tracking in our app.Follow us: FledglingsFlight.com app.FledglingsFlight.comInstagram & Facebook: @fledglingsflight Tiktok: @fledglings.flight LinkedIn: fledglings-flight

2. 

   15 Oct 2026

   Can Too Little Touch Cause Anxiety Later?

   Can a baby’s early experience of being touched, held, and moved affect whether the Moro and Fear Paralysis Reflexes integrate? Annamarie von Firley shares a personal story about her husband, who had an allergic reaction to a shot as a baby that left his skin too raw to be handled. Moro integration is often helped along by the repetitive picking up and putting down that happens during diaper changes and feedings, and he missed out on much of that.Emily Roper, Neuro-Developmental Delay Therapist and founder of Early Roots, explains why the brain develops through movement, experience, and use. When a baby isn’t handled or doesn’t move much, early brain function can be affected. Emily also describes the children she has worked with who were adopted from overseas after spending long stretches in orphanages, often confined to cribs. These children need a lot of support to go back and fill in what they missed. Timestamps0:22 How the amount of time that a baby is handled can cause a lifetime of anxiety? 1:00 How can adoption can affect children and their Moro reflexes? 🎧 Full episode on the Fear Paralysis and Moro Reflexeshttps://youtu.be/dhCaBJ59bBA#MoroReflex #FearParalysisReflex #PrimitiveReflexes #RetainedReflexes #ChildDevelopment #ParentingTips #BabyDevelopment #FledglingsFlight #EarlyRootsAbout Annamarie von Firley: After 20 years running her fashion house, reVamp, Annamarie returned to her toy design roots and founded Adventuretown Toy Emporium in 2016. In 2022, she launched Fledglings’ Flight as an extension of that work. She now hosts A Parent’s Guide to Child Development, bringing parents conversations with experts in child development and psychology. About Fledglings’ Flight: Launched in 2022 by Adventuretown Toy Emporium, Fledglings’ Flight offers play-based exercises for children birth to age 3, supporting cognitive, motor, and social-emotional development, with a monthly exercise library and milestone tracking in our app. Follow us: FledglingsFlight.com app.FledglingsFlight.com Instagram & Facebook: @fledglingsflight Tiktok: @fledglings.flight LinkedIn: fledglings-flight

3. 

   10 Oct 2026

   Is Mouth Breathing Causing Your Child's Tantrums? - Guest: Dr. Hana Khan

   Is your child prone to tantrums? Do they wet the bed, struggle to focus, or get frequent ear infections? These may not be a random collection of problems. They can share a root cause: how your child breathes, especially while they sleep. Host Annamarie von Firley sits down with airway-centered dentist and myofunctional therapy provider Dr. Hana Khan to explain how mouth breathing develops, how to spot it, and why she believes it is so often overlooked. Dr. Khan also shares what she would ask before agreeing to antibiotics, ear tubes, or tonsil and adenoid removal, and what a thorough airway assessment should include. Topics Discussed: - Why the nose is built for breathing, and what nasal breathing does for the air, lungs, and blood vessels - Why Dr. Khan believes crowded, crooked teeth can signal a small mouth and a breathing problem - How to tell mouth breathing apart from allergies or a passing cold - Signs to look for: tooth spacing in baby pictures, swallowing, speech, posture, and restless sleep - How poor breathing can keep a child in “fight or flight” at night Why airway problems can look like ADHD, and why Dr. Khan says airway should be ruled out first - How deep sleep supports growth hormone and the brain’s overnight “clean-up” - The link between poor breathing and bedwetting - How mouth breathing may contribute to recurrent ear infections - What adenoids and tonsils do, why they can regrow, and the one question to ask before agreeing to removal - Deviated septum's and the in-office test Dr. Khan uses to decide whether surgery is needed - What a full airway assessment and treatment plan can look like - What parents may notice first after treatment, and how to coach kids through old behavior patterns - Why Dr. Khan recommends baby -led weaning for infants and toddlers Timestamps:1:34 Why is breathing through the nose instead of by mouth so Important? 6:33 How can parents tell the difference between mouth breathing and allergies or a passing cold that force a kid to breathe through their mouth? 8:23 How does mouth breathing affect a child’s sleep? 11:40 For a child who's been labeled as having ADHD, what would it look like if the real driver turns out to be their airway? 22:37 How does mouth breathing affect the ear? 28:07 Should Parents be asking before getting ear tubes? 31:30 What tests are used to determine if tonsils or a deviated septum need to be treated?33:50 Do tonsils grow back? 34:26 If tonsils need removing, what are some questions parents should ask? About Dr. Hana Khan: Dr. Hana Khan – A UCLA School of Dentistry graduate, Dr. Khan's clinical focus is holistic, whole-body health—with particular emphasis on airway-centered dentistry and the connection between breathing and oral development to the overall health. Dr. Khan completed the Mini Airway Residency and further completed orofacial myology training, providing structured myofunctional therapy programs tailored to each patient. Contact Dr. Khan: website: drhanakhan.com Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/dr._hana_khan_dds/ TikTok: https://www.tiktok.com/@drhanakhandds About Annamarie von Firley: After 20 years running her fashion house, reVamp, Annamarie von Firley returned to her toy design roots. With a BA in Wooden Toy Design and a BFA in Furniture Design, she founded Adventuretown Toy Emporium in 2016.About Fledglings' Flight: Fledglings' Flight offers play-based exercises for children birth to age 3, designed to support cognitive, motor, and social-emotional development. Our app gives parents a monthly exercise library, milestone tracking, and — for Premium Members — a personalized developmental profile. Follow us: FledglingsFlight.com app.FledglingsFlight.com Instagram/TikTok/Facebook: @fledglingsflight LinkedIn: fledglings-flight Pinterest: @FledglingsFlight Music: Purple Planet Music

Who has been a guest on A Parent's Guide to Child Development

Names identified in recent episode analyses. Showing up to five guests.

• Susan Barrett Finnazo
• Lois Heyman
• Celina Moore
• Luba Patlakh Kaplun
• Lynn Ingram McFarland

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Apple Podcasts (US)

5.0 / 5

1 ratings

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