Perfectionism Is Exhausting Moms — How to Rest Without the Guilt

Working Mom Burnout Is Not Really About Doing Too Much

It is the end of a long day and you are lying awake doing the math on summer camps, school clothes, and a checking account you have not looked at in weeks. The tiredness is not just physical. So much of working-mother burnout comes from financial stress and the invisible labor no one sees or counts. The real shift is learning what you can control and what you cannot. In this episode, Dr. Susan Landers, a neonatologist, and Dr. Tabatha Russell, a financial strategist, break down how mindset and money are at the root of what is burning working moms out — and what actually changes things. CONNECT WITH DR. TABATHA RUSSELL 🌐 Website:⁠ https://iamdrtabatha.com⁠ [https://iamdrtabatha.com] 📸 Instagram: ⁠https://www.instagram.com/iamdrtabatha⁠ [https://www.instagram.com/iamdrtabatha] 💼 LinkedIn: ⁠https://www.linkedin.com/in/tabatharussell⁠ [https://www.linkedin.com/in/tabatharussell] 📘 Facebook: ⁠https://www.facebook.com/IamDrTabatha⁠ [https://www.facebook.com/IamDrTabatha] 📧 Contact: support@drtabathrussell.com Become a supporter of this podcast: https://www.spreaker.com/podcast/moms-matter-from-burned-out-to-balanced--6340642/support [https://www.spreaker.com/podcast/moms-matter-from-burned-out-to-balanced--6340642/support?utm_source=rss&utm_medium=rss&utm_campaign=rss]. Connect with Susan Landers 🔗 Explore more resources + insights on work-life balance: ⁠https://susanlandersmd.com/⁠ [https://susanlandersmd.com/] 📚 Follow Dr. Susan Landers, MD for newborn care + parenting guidance: ⁠https://www.linkedin.com/in/susan-landersmd/⁠ [https://www.linkedin.com/in/susan-landersmd/] 📖 Get Dr. Landers’ book So Many Babies (career + motherhood + resilience): ⁠https://susanlandersmd.com/book/⁠ [https://susanlandersmd.com/book/] 👏 Subscribe to her Substack newsletter (2,000+ subscribers in one month): ⁠https://susanlandersmd819.substack.com/⁠ [https://susanlandersmd819.substack.com/]

What Pediatricians Wish New Moms Knew About Baby Care

There is more baby advice online than any parent could ever sort through. And most of it contradicts itself. So how do you know what is actually true, what is outdated, and what your baby actually needs?  In this episode, Dr. Susan Landers and Dr. Ari Brown, two physicians who between them have guided thousands of families through the earliest and most uncertain months of parenthood, answer the questions new moms are too overwhelmed or embarrassed to ask out loud. They cover why vitamin K and vaccines matter more than the internet debates suggest, how to build sleep routines that actually work, what toddler tantrums are really communicating, and what pediatricians wish parents understood before the first appointment. No conflicting advice, no algorithm-driven fear. Just two doctors telling you what they would tell their own patients. 🔗 Learn more from Dr. Ari Brown: https://www.411pediatrics.com/ [https://www.411pediatrics.com/] Become a supporter of this podcast: https://www.spreaker.com/podcast/moms-matter-from-burned-out-to-balanced--6340642/support [https://www.spreaker.com/podcast/moms-matter-from-burned-out-to-balanced--6340642/support?utm_source=rss&utm_medium=rss&utm_campaign=rss]. Connect with Susan Landers 🔗 Explore more resources + insights on work-life balance: ⁠https://susanlandersmd.com/⁠ [https://susanlandersmd.com/] 📚 Follow Dr. Susan Landers, MD for newborn care + parenting guidance: ⁠https://www.linkedin.com/in/susan-landersmd/⁠ [https://www.linkedin.com/in/susan-landersmd/] 📖 Get Dr. Landers’ book So Many Babies (career + motherhood + resilience): ⁠https://susanlandersmd.com/book/⁠ [https://susanlandersmd.com/book/] 👏 Subscribe to her Substack newsletter (2,000+ subscribers in one month): ⁠https://susanlandersmd819.substack.com/⁠ [https://susanlandersmd819.substack.com/]

Maternal Burnout Is Real — How to Recognize It Before It Gets Worse

You are not failing. You are burned out. And those are not the same thing — but when you are in the middle of it, it can be almost impossible to tell the difference. In this episode, Dr. Susan Landers, a neonatologist and author who has spent decades caring for mothers and newborns, walks through the real signs of maternal burnout — the emotional and physical symptoms that most moms dismiss, minimize, or push through until the bottom drops out. She explains why burnout is not a character flaw or a sign you are not cut out for this, and what actual recovery looks like when life does not slow down just because you need it to. This covers the boundaries, the rest, the support, and the self-compassion that are not luxuries — they are the only way back. If you have been running on empty and telling yourself you are fine, this is the episode that will finally give you permission to stop pretending. Become a supporter of this podcast: https://www.spreaker.com/podcast/moms-matter-from-burned-out-to-balanced--6340642/support [https://www.spreaker.com/podcast/moms-matter-from-burned-out-to-balanced--6340642/support?utm_source=rss&utm_medium=rss&utm_campaign=rss]. Connect with Susan Landers 🔗 Explore more resources + insights on work-life balance: ⁠https://susanlandersmd.com/⁠ [https://susanlandersmd.com/] 📚 Follow Dr. Susan Landers, MD for newborn care + parenting guidance: ⁠https://www.linkedin.com/in/susan-landersmd/⁠ [https://www.linkedin.com/in/susan-landersmd/] 📖 Get Dr. Landers’ book So Many Babies (career + motherhood + resilience): ⁠https://susanlandersmd.com/book/⁠ [https://susanlandersmd.com/book/] 👏 Subscribe to her Substack newsletter (2,000+ subscribers in one month): ⁠https://susanlandersmd819.substack.com/⁠ [https://susanlandersmd819.substack.com/]

Perfectionism Is Exhausting Moms — How to Rest Without the Guilt

You are not a perfectionist because you have high standards. You are a perfectionist because somewhere along the way you learned that your worth depended on getting everything right. And that belief is the most exhausting thing you carry. In this episode, Dr. Susan Landers breaks down what perfectionism is actually doing to burned-out moms — why it keeps joy out of reach even when everything looks fine on the outside, how to recognize your inner critic before it runs the day, and what real rest looks like when scrolling and television leave you just as depleted as you started. She also covers how to set boundaries without spiraling into overexplanation, and why learning to say no without a reason attached is one of the most powerful things a mother can do for her own health. This is not about lowering your standards. It is about stopping the belief that your value is something you have to keep proving. ** The FREE Kindle version of Susan's book Good Enough is Your Superpower [https://susanlandersmd.com/good-enough-is-your-superpower/]will be available on February 10 and 11, 2026.  ** Become a supporter of this podcast: https://www.spreaker.com/podcast/moms-matter-from-burned-out-to-balanced--6340642/support [https://www.spreaker.com/podcast/moms-matter-from-burned-out-to-balanced--6340642/support?utm_source=rss&utm_medium=rss&utm_campaign=rss]. Connect with Susan Landers 🔗 Explore more resources + insights on work-life balance: ⁠https://susanlandersmd.com/⁠ [https://susanlandersmd.com/] 📚 Follow Dr. Susan Landers, MD for newborn care + parenting guidance: ⁠https://www.linkedin.com/in/susan-landersmd/⁠ [https://www.linkedin.com/in/susan-landersmd/] 📖 Get Dr. Landers’ book So Many Babies (career + motherhood + resilience): ⁠https://susanlandersmd.com/book/⁠ [https://susanlandersmd.com/book/] 👏 Subscribe to her Substack newsletter (2,000+ subscribers in one month): ⁠https://susanlandersmd819.substack.com/⁠ [https://susanlandersmd819.substack.com/]

Why Moms Snap at Their Kids and How to Actually Stop It

You are a good mom. You know that. And you still lost it this morning over something small, and now the guilt is sitting on top of the exhaustion on top of everything else you are already carrying. In this episode, Dr. Susan Landers and Dr. Melanie Gray, a registered nurse and PhD researcher specializing in trauma-informed parenting, get to the real reason loving parents keep snapping, yelling, and shutting down — and it is not because something is wrong with you. It is because stress patterns get passed down through behavior, triggers activate something much older than the moment in front of you, and nobody ever taught you how to regulate before you react. They walk through the STOP IT framework for catching yourself before you explode, why repairing after a rupture builds more emotional safety than never losing it in the first place, and how protecting intentional family time changes the entire dynamic at home. Become a supporter of this podcast: https://www.spreaker.com/podcast/moms-matter-from-burned-out-to-balanced--6340642/support [https://www.spreaker.com/podcast/moms-matter-from-burned-out-to-balanced--6340642/support?utm_source=rss&utm_medium=rss&utm_campaign=rss]. Connect with Susan Landers 🔗 Explore more resources + insights on work-life balance: ⁠https://susanlandersmd.com/⁠ [https://susanlandersmd.com/] 📚 Follow Dr. Susan Landers, MD for newborn care + parenting guidance: ⁠https://www.linkedin.com/in/susan-landersmd/⁠ [https://www.linkedin.com/in/susan-landersmd/] 📖 Get Dr. Landers’ book So Many Babies (career + motherhood + resilience): ⁠https://susanlandersmd.com/book/⁠ [https://susanlandersmd.com/book/] 👏 Subscribe to her Substack newsletter (2,000+ subscribers in one month): ⁠https://susanlandersmd819.substack.com/⁠ [https://susanlandersmd819.substack.com/]