The Child Repair Guide with Dr. Steve Silvestro

If you grew up watching family sitcoms at any point from the ‘60s through the ‘90s, then you probably expected that parenting would be filled with grand “teachable moments.”

At the end of every episode—whether it was The Brady Bunch, Growing Pains, Family Ties, or Full House—cheesy music would play, the parent would sit on the edge of the bed with a kid who’d made a hilariously big mistake, they’d have a touching moment in which the parent imparts some life-changing wisdom, and then the scene would end with a hug followed by a joke.

It turns out that real-life parenting isn’t quite like that.

In fact, many of the biggest opportunities for teachable moments with our kids are unexpected or even go by unnoticed. If only someone could cue the cheesy music and clue us in on what to do!

Well, there is something you can do to create an opportunity to connect with your children each and every day.

I call these “The Dinner Questions.” They are a way to avoid asking the question that every child on the planet finds boring: “How was school?” and getting the unhelpful answer of “fine” or “I don’t know.”

What’s special about these questions is that they do more than just entice your kids to talk about their day. They let you in on how your kids think. They help your kids learn to appreciate their experiences and the people in their lives. And they help to shape a positive mindset about the future.

In short, they create built-in “teachable moments.”

Take a listen to this short episode to hear the questions and see how.

This episode first appeared at www.drstevesilvestro.com

Music

• Akashic Records – Motivation
• Adam Hinden & cinnafinn — sea you soon
• Ampyx & Ron Curtis – Shoot for the Stars

Yuck. Vomiting and diarrhea. Blech!

As much as you might hate it, you're likely going to deal with the stomach bug many times once you have kids. 

I've fully revamped and updated all my tips and insights for you, including:

• When to call the doctor right away
• When to call during business hours
• How to tell the difference between spit-up and vomiting, diarrhea and normal baby poop
• How to tell if your child is dehydrated
• What's actually going on when your child has a stomach virus
• How to help your child when she's vomiting
• What to do for diarrhea
• Foods & drinks to avoid
• Why you should expect that your child might vomit again 2 days after he seemingly stopped, plus why constipation comes after diarrhea
• Whether or not probiotics will help with a stomach virus
• The one tip that might keep you from getting sick, too!

This is EVERYTHING I tell my patients' parents when their kids have a stomach virus -- and more! 

You can view (and SHARE!) this episode as an ARTICLE by sharing the link www.drstevesilvestro.com/107

If you've never had swimmer's ear, let me tell you---IT HURTS.

We pediatricians diagnose it in seconds, and now you can learn the simple trick we use and diagnose it at home.

This episode is a more in-depth form of a video I’m releasing to Facebook, Instagram’s IGTV, and YouTube later this week. I’m going to be going heavy into video over the next few months, and the content there is likely to be slightly different than what’s coming through here in long form on the podcast. So depending on how you like to consume content, I’ve got every possible outlet for you—you can find me on Facebook at Dr. Steve Silvestro & The Child Repair Guide, Instagram @zendocsteve, and YouTube by searching Dr. Steve Silvestro. For the readers in your life, this episode is also available as an article at drstevesilvestro.com/94

Just trying to hit any which way you need because I’m truly dedicated to sharing everything I know with you so that you can feel more confident in keeping your kids healthy and happy.

So as always, I appreciate your attention and any and all feedback you leave on all of those channels.

In this episode, I partner up with Bébé Voyage to answer one of the biggest questions I get asked:

Can a sick child fly on airplane?

In this short, but insightful episode, you'll learn:

• The 3 questions you need to ask yourself before you fly with a sick child
• What happens to the ears when you fly—and how that can impact an ear infection
• Whether an ear infection should make you cancel your flight
• What to do if your child has a cold before a flight
• Is flying with a stomach bug worth it?
• How to handle strep throat, pinkeye, and more on a flight

Take a listen & get to your adventure!