The Child Repair Guide with Dr. Steve Silvestro

People seem to think that sleep problems are only for babies. The moment you bring your newborn home, people start asking "How much sleep are you getting?"—and the question is more annoying than the lack of sleep!

No one asks you that once you have a toddler or your kid's in school—and yet kids at these ages are often just as difficult to get to bed when they're supposed to.

Enter: My 6 tips for getting kids to bed on time.

This is...

As part of the huge response to the last episode (thank you!) in which I broke down the new CDC guidelines on how vaccinated and unvaccinated people can mix, I received dozens of emails and Instgram messages from people asking questions about how the PB&J Method applies to their family's particular situation.

Many of those questions had common themes—and I bet those themes are questions you might have, as well.

In this episode, I p...

Now that the COVID vaccine rollout is well under way around the world—and the light at the end of the tunnel is within grasp!—we're still left with one wrinkle:

How to handle gathering with family & friends when some people have gotten the vaccine and some haven't?

This is especially important for families, as kids aren't likely to be able to get the vaccine until this fall or even this winter.

I break down the CDC's guidelines, PL...

I can't believe it, but The Child Repair Guide is celebrating a HUGE milestone!

And to celebrate, I've dug deep into the archives to share a topic that I know impacts almost every family. I've said before that my job as a pediatrician & host of this podcast is to not just make all the parenting missteps myself, but to research the solutions & share what I find with you.

Well, this one is a prime example!

If this episode strikes a c...

With many areas approaching the dates and metrics they've set for reopening school—or back at school already—the question of schools' role in COVID spread has weighed heavily on many parents' minds.

Well, it turns out that 50% of kids in the U.S. have been at school in-person, in one form or another, since the fall—and the data is in.

I take a look at what we currently know, trying to tackle what has become an emotional topic for m...

It goes without saying that the ability to manage stress and recover from trauma would certainly come in handy these days.

For parents, these skills of mental resilience are important even in “normal times,” as our kids learn how to handle challenges and stress by watching what we do in front of them. And yet the very act of being a parent—dealing with tantrums, poor sleep, questions about behavior and big decisions to make—is st...

We are finally here—the end of 2020 & the start of 2021!

But the truth is, we can’t walk into 2021 hoping to reset the clock back to what life was like in 2019. This year changed us—and we need to let its lessons sink in and choose how we want to use them to direct us as we move forward.

This episode explores how you can honestly assess what was good and bad, positive and painful for your family this year—and how to sort out new pr...

This is a super-special & super-exciting episode!

At long last, vaccines against COVID-19 are being rolled out and administered. Parents have been asking me a host of questions, and I'm answering as many as I can right here.

This episode goes over everything we currently know about how this vaccine's new approach works, its effectiveness and safety, plus the little we know about it for kids and pregnant or breastfeeding moms.

Take ...

Perhaps the greatest challenge we all face as we grow up is finding our identity—figuring out who we are and who we want to become.

It’s no easy task—some of us adults (maybe even most of us?) are still trying to figure this out. But the challenge is even greater for cross-cultural kids & teens. Whether they’ve lived in several cultural environments, have parents whose cultures are different from that of where they live, or have ...

This holiday season, everyone is asking the same questions:

“Can we find a way to get together with family? What if we all get tested first? Do we risk it?”

COVID is destined to throw a massive wrench in what is often a time of gathering together.

In this episode, I break down the risks + lay out some points to consider if you aim to make your family events safer.

Think of this episode as the “sex ed” of COVID holidays—I’d rather y...

It goes without saying that COVID has turned everything we know on its head.

This is equally true for almost all things parenting. Things we used to take for granted—like scheduling a playdate in a park or seeing family—now take on extra layers of awkwardness and caution. Is the other family on the same page precaution-wise as you? How to handle the requests from Grandma to come visit when you know Grandma thinks differently about ...

Hey, we’re all trying to do our best when feeding our kids healthy food.

And what might be your best effort right now may not be your best effort at some other time, or the same as someone else’s best effort—and that’s okay.

But what isn’t fair is when the cards are stacked against you—when things that have been marketed to us as “food” are really causing harm to us and to our kids.

The biggest, most prolific culprit? Sugar. It’s e...

When a pediatric dietician has over 1 Million followers on Instagram, you know she's got amazing tips.

Jennifer Anderson is the brilliant mind behind @kids.eat.in.color, the wildly successful Instagram through which she helps families around the world develop healthy eating habits in their kids without battles.

And as you'll see in this interview, she's the real deal. We cover everything from picky eating and "one-bite rules," to k...

We’re about nine months into this pandemic—do you feel like you have a handle on how to tell if it’s getting better or worse? Do you have a sense of how to know when it’s OK for your family to “open up“ and start doing some things you’ve been holding back on?

If your answer either of those questions is “no,” you’re not alone. Absolutely. Not. Alone.

A huge part of the problem for the average person trying to tease out useful inform...

One of the biggest questions I’ve been asked lately is how to help young kids develop social skills—whether it’s because their preschools are currently closed, or their parents just want to make sure their kids thrive.

It's a valid concern—but also one that you can learn to address right at home.

I sat down with the wonderful Monica Silvestro—yup, the Monica Silvestro of 10-Minute Preschool fame & my favorite person of all...

There's been a great debate these past few months about whether and how to send kids back to school.

But something's been missing from the conversation—the fact that most kids will experience online learning at some point this fall/winter no matter what, whether for a semester, a month, or just a few weeks.

In this episode, I lay out why that's the case—PLUS tips from online learning expert Zoie Hoffman to help you make online lear...

If you’ve felt like these past few months have both dragged on and flown past at the same time, you’re not alone.

We’re all waiting with bated breath...

“I can’t wait until this is over.”

But what does it do to us—as individuals? as a society?—when we “can’t wait” for a whole year to go by?

What happens to life in the meantime?

This episode tackles this question & presents a philosophy I've been trying to live by—and have been tryi...

We all have multiple roles to play—but none of us expected to have to play them all at the same time, all day long.

These last several months, many parents have had to fill the roles of parent, educator, and teleworker with few, if any, clear boundaries between them.

The result? The nagging feeling that you're failing at every single one of those jobs.

If this sounds like you, you're not alone—and as Dr. Andrea Bonior disc...

The most common answer pediatricians have been asked by parents of young kids is: "Is it safe to send my child to daycare right now?"

The best, most honest answer we currently have?

Probably. Maybe. We think.

In this episode, I outline everything we currently know so you can make the best decision for your family.

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*Find all '10-Miute Preschool' videos PLUS  m...