Spoil Your Baby
Spoil Your Baby
Podcast Description
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.
Podcast Insights
Content Themes
The show focuses on parenting strategies, neurodevelopment, and emotional well-being, with episodes discussing the importance of affection in early childhood and addressing societal criticisms of responsive parenting, ranging from debates on spoiling versus deprivation to exploring the latest research on child mental health.
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.
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, was sparked by her own “mother bear” worries about raising kids in a California region increasingly threatened by intense wildfires. In her therapy practice, she also noticed a deep need to resource parents and young people who were struggling with climate anxiety and a sense of hopelessness. She wanted to find a way to counter the “doomer” narrative that often dominates our news and social media feeds.
Her transformation involved developing the concept of the “anti-doomer”—a way to live a fulfilling life while acknowledging difficult realities. She encourages us to find a “sweet spot of engagement,” where we keep one foot in the muck of reality and the other foot firmly in a place of grounding. Ariella emphasizes that we don’t have to choose between denial and panic; instead, we can use social connection, creativity, and time in nature to stay resilient. By modeling curiosity about the natural world for our children, we can help them feel a sense of belonging and stewardship. She teaches us that parenting with hope is a form of activism that starts at home and ripples out to the rest of the world.
Key Takeaways
● Finding the “sweet spot of engagement” helps us balance an awareness of difficult truths with the grounding needed to stay calm.
● Building a “parent club” or women’s group provides essential social connection and validation, helping us feel less isolated in our concerns.
● Spending time in nature allows us to experience “interbeing,” where our personal problems feel smaller in connection to the vast natural world.
● Modeling curiosity about nature, like watching insects or sunsets, helps children develop a lifelong habit of gratitude and environmental stewardship.
● Small, daily acts of giving back to nature serve as a powerful form of family activism that seeds important values in younger generations.
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Resources
● Ariella’s Book Raising Anti-Doomers https://anti-doomer.com
● Ariella’s Website: https://www.ariellacookshonkoff.com
● Ariella’s LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/ariella-cook-shonkoff-09a7922a
● Ariella’s Instagram: @ariellacookshonkoff https://www.instagram.com/ariellacookshonkoff
Guest Bio: Ariella Cook-Shonkoff is a psychotherapist, writer, and the author of Raising Anti-Doomers. She is affiliated with the Climate Psychology Alliance of North America and holds a deep belief that both art and therapy are transformative. She uses the creative process as a backbone for healing and invites her clients to express themselves authentically with self-compassion.
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