The Parent Chat with Dylan Dreyer

How to Handle Your Kid's Meltdowns Without Losing Your Own Mind

Dylan sits down with Kristin and Deena of Big Little Feelings to break down what's actually happening in your kid's brain during a meltdown, why reasoning with them in the moment never works, and what to actually do instead — whether your kid is a hitter, a scratcher, or a full public meltdown machine. Plus: what to do when you're the one about to lose it at 8pm and nobody is brushing their teeth, why forced sharing might be setting your kids up to fail, and the parenting confession neither of them is proud of. Hosted by Simplecast, an AdsWizz company. See https://pcm.adswizz.com for information about our collection and use of personal data for advertising.

Breaking Toxic Parenting Cycles You May Not Know You're Repeating

Clinical psychologist and The Conscious Parent author Dr. Shefali joins Dylan to unpack the childhood patterns most parents are silently passing down to their kids without realizing it. Are you the fixer who does everything so no one suffers? The fighter who learned to blow up from watching your own parents? Or the freezer who shuts down when the overwhelm gets to be too much? Dr. Shefali gets honest about her own cycles too — including the moment her daughter called her out mid-conversation for shaming her instead of just saying no. Plus: why over-apologizing might be doing more harm than good, what pushing music lessons really says about your own unfinished business, and the one question she says every parent should ask their kid today. Hosted by Simplecast, an AdsWizz company. See https://pcm.adswizz.com for information about our collection and use of personal data for advertising.

Picky Eaters, Bed Sharing, and Screen Time Limits: Emily Oster Answers the Questions You're Googling

Ever Googled your child's symptoms at 2 a.m. and ended up more anxious than when you started? You're not alone — and Brown University economist and author Emily Oster has made it her mission to replace parenting panic with actual data. In this episode of The Parent Chat, Dylan Dreyer sits down with Oster to tackle the questions that keep parents up at night: How much screen time is really too much? What do you do about a picky eater? Does it actually matter if your child sleeps in your own bed? And what does the evidence really say about breastfeeding, drinking during pregnancy, and skipping that Sunday morning birthday party? Emily also gets candid about her own parenting fails — including the fact that she knows exactly what consistency does for children’s behavior, and still can't always pull it off. Follow us at @TodayParents and @DylanDreyerNBC for more TODAY parenting content. Hosted by Simplecast, an AdsWizz company. See https://pcm.adswizz.com for information about our collection and use of personal data for advertising.

Tig Notaro on Being the 'Not Favorite' Parent, Coming Out to Her Kids

Tig Notaro, comedian, writer, actress, and mom of twin nine-year-old boys, sits down with Dylan Dreyer to talk about the viral moment her sons discovered she was gay and the decision to cut back on touring so she could be more present at home. She opens up about being the "not favorite" parent for years, how her wife Stephanie quietly transformed the way she disciplines, and why she never read a parenting book before her boys arrived. Plus, the words her stepfather said to her that she's never forgotten, and the field trip story that genuinely made her emotional. Follow us on Instagram: @TodayParents | @DylanDreyerNBC Hosted by Simplecast, an AdsWizz company. See https://pcm.adswizz.com for information about our collection and use of personal data for advertising.

The Fear of Becoming a Mom Nobody Talks About ft. Amanda Hirsch

Dylan Dreyer sits down with Amanda Hirsch — host of the Not Skinny But Not Fat podcast and mom of two boys — for a conversation about the fear nobody warned you about before becoming a mom. Not the diaper fear, the "what if I lose myself entirely and only care about snack schedules forever" fear. Amanda gets honest about how she nearly talked herself out of motherhood, the checklist she made before taking the leap, and what actually happened to her career once she had kids. Plus: parenting confessions, spicy takes, and a deeply spiritual conversation about why kids need water the second you try to leave their room. Hosted by Simplecast, an AdsWizz company. See https://pcm.adswizz.com for information about our collection and use of personal data for advertising.