Blog | Page 2 of 5 | Alison Escalante MD

Why This Pediatrician Stopped All Playdates.

The pandemic of novel coronavirus is here and I canceled all my kids’ playdates and sleepovers. They don’t like it, but they understand why.

Hey Parents! It’s Going to Be Okay.

The first time I spoke an editor at Psychology Today, and she offered me the chance to blog for them. I was really excited to start writing about what’s going on with parenting these days. How could we parent effectively with all the anxiety in our culture?

But then she said something that surprised me. “This is going to be great,” she said. “We need a pediatrician to be telling parents it’s going to be okay so they can stop worrying so much.”

How To Burnout By Age 10.

The emotional cost of youth sports.

When you think of youth sports what feelings come up for you as a parent? For me, as a parent and a pediatrician, it makes me feel tired. Don’t get me wrong, being active every day is important for kids with growing bodies. Yet for so many kids, youth sports is more a life absorbing career than the one hour a day of play pediatricians recommend.

What Is the ShouldStorm and Why Should You Care?

Parents face a culture of criticism and anxiety, and so do their kids.

Parents can’t avoid the culture of criticism that pushes perfectionistic parenting. They are told everything they do matters, and that one little mistake could mess up their child for life. Then, they are told that parents are too anxious these days. They are pelted with advice on how to worry less because anxious over-parenting is… messing up their children.

Why Does My 3-year-old Hurt the Dog?

This question comes from a concerned mother. She writes, “Our current challenge is that we adopted a dog, and my 3-year-old son seems to be acting out because maybe he is jealous? He’s normally very kind and gentle, but has been acting out in a general and has been a bit aggressive or overzealous to the dog. He’s not responding to our respectful interference.”

The Cult of the Early Start

Have you ever worried that your kids are behind? I have. Other people’s kids seem to have accomplished so much already in elementary school. They are on the robotics team, a competition that takes up hours each weekend, while my kids play with legos. They play travel or competition level sports, while my kids seem to keep tripping over their own feet.

Screen Time Roundup: What the Lastest Research Says

Every day in my pediatric practice parents ask me advice about screen time and social media. How much is okay? Is screen time bad for kids? Should parents try to control it when kids get older, or are the teenagers old enough that they should be managing it themselves?

Teaching Kids Self-Control with Popsicles

Our family really needed a fitness reboot. The past school year had been challenging; we’d had a sequence of wonderful college students to watch our kids, but their class schedules kept changing. The turnover led to a situation where we could not sign the kids up for sports… and we needed a little nutritional and fitness tune-up.

My Child Interrupts All The Time

“Recently (in the last 2-3 months) my 3 year old son has become very vocal and insistent on being heard. Particularly when I’m in the room. If I’m trying to talk to anyone he starts holding a separate conversation and then shouts ‘I’m trying to talk!’ How can I honor him but still be able to have conversations with other adults???” This question came from one of the moms in our Should-Free Parenting facebook group, and it echoed something I hear a lot.

Flight Cancelled with Kids: Let’s Make the Best of It.

We were supposed to be going to Hawaii. It had all been planned months ahead of time. Of course it had. This was going to be my first time and I was excited. We wanted to make the best of it and maximize our time, so I worked through Thursday, and our flight was early Friday morning.