Parenting is hard, but it doesn’t always have to be heavy.

Earlier this month, we had the great joy of joining the Dumb Dad podcast for a candid talk about family mental health. Created by dads Evan Kyle Berger and Kevin Laferriere, the Dumb Dads podcast is a place to find the funny in real-world, everyday parenting struggles.

Dr. Helen Egger, Little Otter Co-Founder and Chief Medical and Scientific Officer, chatted with Evan and Kevin about the importance of early childhood interventions, when to worry about your little ones, and even her own “dumb mom” moment. 

Tune into this refreshingly honest podcast to learn tips for finding peace of mind as a parent, and clarity about when to worry.

You can download the episode on Apple Podcasts or Stitcher, and we’ve also included the video below! For those who prefer to read, scroll down just a bit to see a few especially great moments we wanted to highlight.

Fact: Kids have mental health challenges at the same rate as adults!

When Dr. Helen was first getting started in early childhood mental health, people would laugh about “putting babies on couches.” 

Thanks to scientific advancements by Dr. Helen and those of her peers, the research showed that kids experience mental health challenges at the same rates as adults. 

The good news is that if you take action to address mental health challenges early on in a kid’s life, you can reduce the impact of those concerns over the course of their life. 

As the saying goes, an ounce of prevention is worth a pound of cure. Make mental health check-ups a part of your family’s overall health journey. 

The reality is, finding mental health care for kids under 14 is hard.

If you’re a parent or caregiver of an elementary or middle school child, you probably already know that it’s tough to find mental health care that’s specifically tailored to them. (The Dumb Dads shared a couple of personal experiences that you can probably relate to in the podcast!)

The thing is, providing mental health care for infants, preschoolers, and toddlers is hard! At these ages, children haven’t yet developed the language skills necessary to communicate about their feelings the way older children can.

That’s why early childhood mental health care is often about observing feelings and behaviors to understand what our little ones are trying to tell us. After all, that persistent tummy ache might be more than just a tummy ache.

Successful child mental health care has to involve the whole family.

Child and adolescent mental health can only succeed when the whole family is involved. That’s not just who attends sessions, but also how we take care of everyone in the family. 

As Dr. Helen says, one of the best ways to help a young child is to help the parents. This “help the helper” mentality is really important. 

As the Dumb Dads say, being a parent isn’t about changing who you are, but about layering on an entirely new perspective. 

There’s an incredible story about Evan being able to recognize anxiety in his little one, because he had personal experiences dealing with anxiety himself. Because of his own mental health awareness, he was able to better support his child. 

An important part of parental peace of mind is just knowing when to worry!

Kevin shared an incredibly vulnerable and authentic worry about his daughter’s behavior in this episode. As Dr. Helen listened, she was able to assure him that this moment of worry was actually a positive signal that his daughter was developing really healthy coping mechanisms.

What a relief! That’s the power of knowing when to worry - and having a trustworthy resource to turn to when you start to notice something interesting.

As a parent, it’s easy to feel alone most of the time and like you don’t have anyone to turn to for answers. Little Otter exists because we believe that personalized, customized guidance for your family on-demand is the solution.

As Dr. Helen says, advice about how to handle tantrums generally is only so valuable. You need advice on how to respond to your 3-year-old daughter who deals with anxiety when she’s screaming in the grocery store aisle. 

That’s why we like to say we “provide support for big and little worries.” It’s all about access to answers, and tailored mental health care support when you need it. 

Here are 3 signs it might be time to worry.

If you’re on the fence about whether to talk to someone, here are 3 signs that it might be time to worry.

It might be time to talk to an expert if the feeling or behavior you’re observing is happening:

• Repeatedly and/or frequently,

• In different situations, and

• With more than one person

Keep in mind that toddlers, preschoolers, and little ones express mental health concerns in different ways. Sometimes physical complaints like aches and pains have roots in things that are happening inside.

Dr. Helen likes to encourage parents and caregivers to approach their children’s mental health with a curious mind, like a detective.

And finally, this is the most important thing for your child’s lifelong mental health.

The best thing you can give your child is the confidence that they have loving parents and caregivers who are there to help them.

Tune into the full episode here!