Healthy Parenting Handbook with Katie Kimball

When your child is melting down, refusing to listen, shutting down, or exploding over something small, their nervous system may be overwhelmed—not ready for more words or discipline.
Dr. Roseann Capanna-Hodge, a longtime friend of mine and Raising Healthy Families, explains what happens in the brain when kids become dysregulated and why their ability to think logically can temporarily go offline. She shares how a child’s “stress cup” fills up, why parents and kids can co-regulate or co-dysregulate, and why your own nervous system is one of the most powerful parenting tools you have.
You’ll also learn why the middle of a meltdown is usually the worst time to reason with your child, how to use a simple three-second “love pause,” and why regulation needs to come before teaching, correcting, or problem-solving.
This episode gives parents practical ways to respond with fewer words, more calm, and a better understanding of what their child’s behavior may be communicating.
If this episode hits a nerve, make sure you grab a copy of Dr. Ro’s new book, The Dysregulated Child.
Resources We Mention for Helping Your Dysregulated Child
Dr. Roseann’s book The Dysregulated Child releases 9/22/26! Grab it now.
Preventing nervous system wounds in your child with Ann Odom
Episodes on stress mastery: Can We Help Our Highly Sensitive Kids Handle Their Stress? and Stress Busting for Moms
Try the Stress Mastery Challenge for free
Check out my new book at raisinghealthyfamilies.com/pickybook!
Kitchen Stewardship
Raising Healthy Families 
follow Katie on Instagram or Facebook
Subscribe to the newsletter to get weekly updates
YouTube shorts channel for HPH
Find the Healthy Parenting Handbook at raisinghealthyfamilies.com/podcast
Affiliate links used here. Thanks for supporting the Healthy Parenting Handbook!

In the previous episode, I talked about my first two philosophy shifts when it comes to how I feed my own kids and talk about picky eating. We dealt with the "no thank-you bite" and how/when to serve dessert. I'm truly grateful for the professionals who helped me change my thinking and my ways!
Today, we'll dive into three other mindset changes I've had when it comes to feeding kids. The first has to do with introducing foods to babies, which isn't actually a part of The Picky Eater Playbook—but it's still something to consider and an important first step for parents!
Then we will get into how our food looks (does it matter?) and briefly touch on kids who really WOULD starve themselves if they aren't served certain foods. 
You'll learn:
why I think eczema and food sensitivities might have been caused by Paul and Leah's first foods
what first foods I think work best for babies
why I started rethinking "you don't taste with your eyes" and how cute foods might actually be more appealing to children
what working with 20,000 families taught me about my stance that kids will eat eventually, they won't starve
and why the laid-back way I wrote The Picky Eater Playbook means you will probably be able to adapt it for your family!
I'm outlining all the pre-order bonuses for you, too, so make sure to listen or watch to the end of the episode. I sure hope you'll think it's worthwhile to pre-order a copy of the book and delve into making dinnertime a more peaceful time for your whole family.
You deserve that, Mom, and so do your kids! Get out of the chicken nugget and pizza rut. It CAN be better.
Resources We Mention for Picky Eating Tips
Pre-order The Picky Eater Playbook and get amazing pre-order bonuses!
Nourishing first foods for babies
More about problem feeders in my interview with Dr. Kay Toomey
Get kids in the kitchen! Check out the Kids Cook Real Food eCourse or Teens Cook Real Food if your kids are older
Jensen got help through my Picky Eater Playbook (P.E.P.) Club - learn more about the membership now
Check out my new book at raisinghealthyfamilies.com/pickybook!
Kitchen Stewardship
Raising Healthy Families 
follow Katie on Instagram or Facebook
Subscribe to the newsletter to get weekly updates
YouTube shorts channel for HPH
Find the Healthy Parenting Handbook at raisinghealthyfamilies.com/podcast
Affiliate links used here. Thanks for supporting the Healthy Parenting Handbook!

Have you ever given parenting advice with total confidence…only to learn a few years later that you had it completely wrong?
I have. 🙋‍♀️
After 21 years of feeding kids, 17 years of writing about healthy families, and a whole lot of conversations with picky eating experts, there are a few things I used to teach that I simply don’t anymore.
And I think it’s important to talk about them.
In this episode, I’m sharing some of the biggest changes I’ve made in my picky eating philosophy—and why learning more sometimes means being willing to do a complete 180. We’re digging into two especially common feeding practices: requiring kids to take a “no thank you bite” and making dessert something they have to earn by eating enough dinner.
You’ll hear:
Why I no longer recommend requiring even one bite of a new food
The simple phrase that can take an enormous amount of pressure off picky eaters
Why making dessert a reward may accidentally make it even more desirable
How our family shifted from “eat enough dinner to get dessert” to choice within boundaries
Why there probably isn’t one perfect dessert rule that works for every child and every family
And we’re only halfway through my list!
This is Part 1 of a two-part episode. In Part 2, I’ll share the rest of the major picky eating philosophies I’ve changed my mind about, including a powerful story of one child’s transformation and more of what I’ve learned while writing The Picky Eater Playbook.
If you’ve ever wondered whether the feeding advice you’ve heard (or even followed for years!) is actually helping your child build a healthy relationship with food, this conversation is for you.
Resources We Mention for Pressure-Free Feeding
Find all the places you can pre-order my book, The Picky Eater Playbook (and get those pre-order bonuses!)
Jump start your learning with the No More Picky Eating Challenge
The real cause of picky eating with Dr. Kay Toomey
Why We Should Stop Thinking About Nutrition and Build Our Kids’ Eating Habits Instead with Feeding Expert Dina Rose, PhD
Our real food sweets rules – are they necessary?
Check out my new book at raisinghealthyfamilies.com/pickybook!
Kitchen Stewardship
Raising Healthy Families 
follow Katie on Instagram or Facebook
Subscribe to the newsletter to get weekly updates
YouTube shorts channel for HPH
Find the Healthy Parenting Handbook at raisinghealthyfamilies.com/podcast
Affiliate links used here. Thanks for supporting the Healthy Parenting Handbook!

What if one of the best things you could do for an anxious, frustrated, or struggling kid is...do a little less?
I know. Every parenting instinct in us is screaming, “Help them! Fix it! Tell them it’s going to be okay!”
But Dr. Kathryn Hecht says there’s a problem with that last one: We’re not wizards. We actually don’t know that everything is going to be okay, and our kids are smart enough to know it too.
So what can we say instead?
In this episode, Dr. Hecht gives us an incredibly simple formula that combines empathy with confidence, plus a 10-second parenting rule that might be harder to practice than it sounds. We’re talking about how to help kids do hard things, tolerate frustration, become more independent, and build real confidence without throwing them into the proverbial deep end.
And I love this because we’re not talking about manufacturing scary experiences for our kids. We’re talking about the everyday stuff. Buttons. Homework. Birthday parties. Trying something new. All those little moments when we have to decide: Do I swoop in, or do I give my child a chance to discover, “Oh. I can handle this.”
If you want to raise kids who see uncertainty less as a threat and more as something they can navigate, keep listening. This one is practical enough to use today.
Resources We Mention for Raising Brave Kids
See Dr. Kathryn’s books:The Be Brave Activity Book: 100 Exposure-Based Challenges That DARE Kids to Boss Back Their Worry and Anxiety Once and for All (Amazon/Bookshop.org)
Releasing in February 2027 – The Can-Do Activity Book for Kids: Try Things on Your Own, Deal with Big Feelings, and Grow Confident Along the Way (Amazon/Bookshop.org)

Watch Dr. Kathryn’s TEDx Talk, “How to raise kids who can handle hard things”
Get your kids started learning to do hard things with #LifeSkillsNow!
Germ theory vs. terrain theory with Dr. Catherine Clinton
The “Worst Mom in America” on Raising Confident Kids
Have kids anxious about eating? Start the No More Picky Eating Challenge right now and check out my forthcoming book, The Picky Eater Playbook.
Check out my new book at raisinghealthyfamilies.com/pickybook!
Kitchen Stewardship
Raising Healthy Families 
follow Katie on Instagram or Facebook
Subscribe to the newsletter to get weekly updates
YouTube shorts channel for HPH
Find the Healthy Parenting Handbook at raisinghealthyfamilies.com/podcast
Affiliate links used here. Thanks for supporting the Healthy Parenting Handbook!

What if one of our most loving parenting instincts is accidentally making our kids less confident?
Oof.
As parents, we’re wired to help. To reassure. To rescue. To make the crying stop in the grocery store before everyone in aisle seven starts judging us. (You know what I mean?)
But child psychologist Dr. Kathryn Hecht says kids aren’t nearly as fragile as we sometimes treat them.
In fact, they need age-appropriate challenges to build what she calls “handleability”, that deep-down belief that says: This is hard, but I can handle it.
I absolutely loved this conversation because it gets right into the practical question so many of us are wrestling with: How do we raise kids who can actually handle hard things?
We dig into:
Why constantly removing obstacles can undermine a child’s confidence, even when we’re doing it out of love
The fascinating idea that kids are anti-fragile, and why some stress and challenge actually help build emotional resilience
Why “healthy kids = happy kids” is a parenting myth we may need to toss out
How rescuing a child brings short-term relief but can create more distress long-term
Why our kids sometimes interpret our help as evidence that they couldn’t have handled it themselves
What “coping efficacy” or “handleability” looks like in normal family life, without turning your home into a psychology clinic
Why exposure therapy is much less scary than it sounds, and how parents can help kids take small, voluntary steps toward something difficult
The difference between roller-coaster scary and horror-movie scary, and why that distinction might completely change how you help an anxious or hesitant child
Dr. Hecht has this incredible ability to take clinical psychology and turn it into language that makes you think, “Ohhhh. I can actually use this with my kid.”
And I have a feeling you’ll finish this one looking at your child’s next hard moment a little differently.
Resources We Mention for Raising Resilient Kids
See Dr. Kathryn’s books:The Be Brave Activity Book: 100 Exposure-Based Challenges That DARE Kids to Boss Back Their Worry and Anxiety Once and for All (Amazon/Bookshop.org)
Releasing in February 2027 – The Can-Do Activity Book for Kids: Try Things on Your Own, Deal with Big Feelings, and Grow Confident Along the Way (Amazon/Bookshop.org)

Watch Dr. Kathryn’s TEDx Talk, “How to raise kids who can handle hard things”
How to Raise an Adult by Julie Lythcott-Haims and my interview with Julie
Get your kids started learning to do hard things with #LifeSkillsNow!
Check out my new book at raisinghealthyfamilies.com/pickybook!
Kitchen Stewardship
Raising Healthy Families 
follow Katie on Instagram or Facebook
Subscribe to the newsletter to get weekly updates
YouTube shorts channel for HPH
Find the Healthy Parenting Handbook at raisinghealthyfamilies.com/podcast
Affiliate links used here. Thanks for supporting the Healthy Parenting Handbook!