Unlock the secrets to your child's mind with our latest episode, as we journey through the fascinating landscape of brain development . Prepare to have the veil lifted on the brain's extraordinary capacity for change, particularly in the early years, and discover how the experiences we provide for our little ones lay the foundations for their future.
From the crucial first three to five years of life, we unravel the tapestry of the brain's growth, emphasizing the need for genuine alignment between parental responses and the developmental stages of children. Non-traditional families, take note—you'll find pearls of wisdom here that speak directly to the heart of your unique situation. Our conversation spins a thread that connects the essential building blocks of brain development with tangible parenting strategies, underscoring the responsibility we hold in nurturing our children's blossoming minds.
The episode zeroes in on the bedrock of brainstem development and its paramount role in basic body regulation and sleep. Drawing from a well of both personal insights and professional expertise, we offer actionable advice on crafting sleep routines and environmental tweaks to promote a sense of security and regulation in children. We also debate the merits of supplements like GABA and magnesium—always with a nod to professional medical advice—to support the intricate workings of our children's developing nervous systems. Tune in and learn how to navigate the delicate intricacies of your child's brain to enhance their growth, learning, and overall well-being.
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For More Information about Cal Farley's Boys Ranch: https://www.calfarley.org/
Unlock the secrets to your child's mind with our latest episode, as we journey through the fascinating landscape of brain development . Prepare to have the veil lifted on the brain's extraordinary capacity for change, particularly in the early years, and discover how the experiences we provide for our little ones lay the foundations for their future.
From the crucial first three to five years of life, we unravel the tapestry of the brain's growth, emphasizing the need for genuine alignment between parental responses and the developmental stages of children. Non-traditional families, take note—you'll find pearls of wisdom here that speak directly to the heart of your unique situation. Our conversation spins a thread that connects the essential building blocks of brain development with tangible parenting strategies, underscoring the responsibility we hold in nurturing our children's blossoming minds.
The episode zeroes in on the bedrock of brainstem development and its paramount role in basic body regulation and sleep. Drawing from a well of both personal insights and professional expertise, we offer actionable advice on crafting sleep routines and environmental tweaks to promote a sense of security and regulation in children. We also debate the merits of supplements like GABA and magnesium—always with a nod to professional medical advice—to support the intricate workings of our children's developing nervous systems. Tune in and learn how to navigate the delicate intricacies of your child's brain to enhance their growth, learning, and overall well-being.
To Donate: https://secure.calfarley.org/site/Donation2?3358.donation=form1&df_id=3358&mfc_pref=T
To Apply: https://apply.workable.com/cal-farleys-boys-ranch/j/25E1226091/
For More Information about Cal Farley's Boys Ranch: https://www.calfarley.org/
Music: "Shine" -Newsboys CCS License No. 9402
Speaker 1:
Welcome to Brain-Based Parenting, the Boys Ranch podcast for families. We all know how hard being a parent is, and sometimes it feels like there are no good answers to the difficult questions families have when their kids are struggling. Our goal each week will be to try and answer some of those tough questions, utilizing the knowledge, experience and professional training Cal Farley's Boys Ranch has to offer. Now here is your host, cal Farley staff development coordinator, joshua Sprock.
Speaker 2:
Hi, this is Joshua Sprock. When we initially started recording this podcast, it was meant just to be one episode. However, we quickly realized our discussion had more depth to it, so one part just wasn't going to do it justice. So we split this conversation into two parts, ensuring that we do it justice and honor your time. Stay tuned as we introduce brain development and the brainstem and then come back next week when we finish the discussion. Also, in today's episode, we discuss supplements that are occasionally provided at Boys Ranch. If you're interested in exploring Lease Further, it's essential to have a conversation with your pediatrician or counselor for personalized guidance and insights that suit your family's individual needs. Alright, now let's jump into today's episode. Welcome back and thank you for joining us today as we continue talking about brain-based parenting. Today, we're going to begin a new series on brain development. To do that, I'm joined today by Katherine Clay, our clinical supervisor. Hello, chloe Hewitt. Assistant administrator over the residential communities.
Speaker 2:
Hi and Erica Hawkeyes-Barrell, our clinical intervention specialist. Hello, alright, we're gonna start off with our question of the day, and since we're talking about brain development, I thought I would ask you if you were brains when you were in high school, or, if not, what clique did you belong to?
Speaker 4:
I'll say the cool thing about the high school that I went to. I went to high school in Costa Rica and the first thing I noticed was that it wasn't super clicky, so you could be a brain, but you could also like hang out with whoever and be invited to all the parties, and it was nice.
Speaker 5:
I think I was. So I was so shy in high school that I don't. I mean I had a very small group of friends, but I don't think it was like like the big categories of brains or athletes or you know. So I was shy, I was in the shy group. I don't know if that's a clique.
Speaker 3:
Quiet. I was in all honors, but I don't know if that would deem me as brains. It's just I had started honors in eighth grade and stuck with it the whole time. But I was also nominated most friendly. So I would like to say that I was probably involved in most groups, and so I don't know what clique I would have belonged in.
Speaker 5:
Sounds like all of them yeah.
Speaker 2:
Alright, since our podcast is titled brain-based parenting, I thought it's time we should talk about some brain development. So I'd like to start by having y'all tell our listeners, maybe a general overview of how the brain does develop.
Speaker 4:
So the brain develops in like a general sense from the bottom up and from the inside out. When we're looking at brain development we're really looking at critical periods in brain development based on how it develops. So the first thing to develop kind of builds on the next, so they all build on each other.
Speaker 5:
The brain develops sequentially. So, starting with lower brain through midbrain to the cortex, the brain is malleable, but the brain is less plastic, less malleable, in the lower parts of the brain. That's to get a little bit more fixed and then there's more plasticity at the top parts of the brain. So that is important when talking about our experiences that have happened early on in life when those lower parts of the brain are developing and the brain develops in a use dependent way. So meaning the more that part of the brain is used, the more the system grows and changes to reflect that activation. So if there are pieces of the brain that aren't being activated, whether it's intrauterine or after, those brain networks or pieces won't work the same way because they're not activated.
Speaker 3:
Yeah, and I put really like 85% of the brain is developed by age three, and so which is why zero to three is so critical and why and it starts in utero, and so really some of us don't even realize that it starts so early on, and so that's really the critical part, right there.
Speaker 2:
So, erica, you talked a little bit about the critical and sensitive periods in the brain development. Can you guys talk a little bit more about that, why that's so important?
Speaker 4:
Yeah, absolutely so. Like Chloe and Catherine were saying, you know, the majority of brain development takes place within the first three to five years of life, and so those would be a critical period of brain development, including in your in utero. The brain is malleable and you can still support brain development over time, but those have the biggest impact on overall development.
Speaker 5:
When we're looking at critical periods, yeah, and I think another thing that makes that period so critical that zero to three, three to five is because of how rapid the brain is growing at that point and so the rate of change in the brain is greater when you're young versus when you're older, and so as the more active a system is in the brain, the more sensitive it is to experience. So that's why the zero to three, three to five brain stem time and the encephaline time is so sensitive to disruption or any type of insult to that period, whether the mother was stressed or is poverty there was poverty and any medical procedures or violence or anything during that that crucial. Like we said, zero to three, three to five time it just it sticks a lot longer because of that critical period of development.
Speaker 3:
I mean, I think that's why we always say, right, they're just a sponge, so like they are picking up, especially you know the ages that our kids are mine's two and five, catherine has the same age kids, and so we talk about all the time. They just pick up everything. I do, every word I do, good or bad.
Speaker 5:
Yes, the way I react to a situation because they're watching every move.
Speaker 3:
Yeah.
Speaker 5:
Another thing that's interesting to me is Dr Bruce Perry talks about about development being the sequential creation of memory and what we're developing in those. That first little bit is the brain learning about its environment, the people who will respond to me, who won't respond to me, all that stress mediated stuff, and the brain is kind of learning what needs to activate and what doesn't need to activate and, like kind of Chloe was saying, if there's a bad experience or a good experience, it's going to grow and develop and have a great template and if it, if the experience is void or it's a bad experience or stressful experience or whatever that will reflect in those, those systems of the brain.
Speaker 2:
So it sounds like what I'm hearing is our brains are very use dependent, like kind of like a muscle the more you use certain areas, the stronger it's going to be. Now the sequential development. It's important when it comes to how we parent our children. Can you guys talk a little bit about sequential development and the impact that has on how we parent our kids?
Speaker 5:
I go back to kind of what Chloe was saying, because I have kids that are young two and five and being aware of sequential development is helpful in that regard, because there are times when I missed that with my kids, because I am trying to rationalize with my two year old and I just don't get why he doesn't get it.
Speaker 5:
And it's not. It's just not landing, like that piece of his brain is not at full capacity and I should be probably being more parallel with him or playful or regulating with him and then maybe we could get to a little bit more cognition. However, still, it's not like I'm I was, I speak to him like I was talking to Chloe or something you know so it's just the missteps I think happen when we don't take into consideration the developmental stuff that comes with the sweet sequencing that we're talking about.
Speaker 3:
And I even think, like when you go, so I'm sure we'll get into this a little bit more, but the crying stage right, so, like as a newborn, that's our only way to communicate. So really that's their form of communication. It's our job to meet that need. But I go back to how I was parented, and you know it was very much cried out, and so as I was beginning my parenting journey, my mom struggled with why, why are you not just letting them cry it out? Why are you responding to that need every time? And so it was kind of educating my mom on this a lot, as as we were growing and in sitting in the floor with them, because truly my parents didn't do that and so they've been having to watch me parents so differently from them, and so that's been a learning curve for all of us to.
Speaker 4:
Yeah, and I'll say I have a 10 year old stepdaughter who came into my life at eight years old and it's been very interesting just having you know a more non traditional family structure and trying to get to know someone at a space in their development where you didn't get to see the steps leading up to that and so that's really interesting to you know, just connect and get to know her at that level and then also think of where she's at developmentally, how to meet that need without the scaffolding that can kind of naturally come when you raise a child from birth to that age.
Speaker 2:
Yeah, so the brain is obviously very, very complicated, right? But for the purpose of our discussion today we're and next week we're going to break down the brain into four basic areas the brainstem, the diancephalon, the limbic system and the cortex. We'll talk about the first two today and then we'll dive into the next two next week. So let's start with the brainstem. When is it formed and why is that important?
Speaker 4:
So the brainstem is formed in utero and in early infancy. So by the time a child is born it's almost to adult, functioning ideally because it's responsible for the basic functions that keep us alive. So, thinking about when it's formed in that intrauterine environment, I think a lot of the times we think of development as soon as the child enters, like the physical earth, and so I think it can be forgotten when we think about all of the things that the child is experiencing in utero as well, greatly impact that brain development when you're born, some of those functions that need to be online for you to survive that's the intrauterine period and that early infancy, like Erica was saying.
Speaker 5:
So your blood pressure, your heart rate, temperature, things like that Ideally you would want those to be working at full capacity when you are born. Otherwise you'd have a lot of complications, and so you don't need the higher functions at birth, because you have a caregiver that meets your needs and navigates the environment and the social situations for you and really what you need to do is breathe your heart to be that kind of thing.
Speaker 2:
So let's talk a little bit more about that. You talked about breathing and heart rate. Are there any other functions that the brainstem mediates and regulates?
Speaker 5:
Blood pressure, body temperature, heart rate.
Speaker 2:
So if it regulates all those, what might be some warning signs if your child's brainstem isn't fully organized?
Speaker 4:
So that would be anything that we see with those things that were listed. So, like difficulty with body temperature regulation, maybe that child does not want to, doesn't feel like they need to wear a coat when it's super, super cold outside. They might not be able to interpret that physical cue that it's cold outside or integrate that physical cue.
Speaker 2:
See, that's really interesting, Like it's. It's summertime in Texas right here and it is really really hot and I often see like a lot of kids wearing like hoodies and stuff. Is that kind of what you're talking about?
Speaker 4:
I think that could be a big part of it. Yes, I think sometimes some kids just want to wear a hoodie because, maybe they just got it and then it's a cool. It's a cool or it could be a body image thing, but I also think that it's more affected. It could be a brainstem signal when they're not internalizing the cue that it is hot outside or they're not noticing that they're really hot with that hoodie on.
Speaker 5:
I think we also see a lot of kids who have some central nervous system dysregulation and that is often reflected in their heart rates. And so if their heart rate ends up being above 100 or so or below 60, 50, something like that, I think we look at that as kind of an opportunity for us to ask some questions, because sitting still at rest your heart rate shouldn't be pumping as if you're running a marathon. And then you kind of have to ask yourself why is that heart racing at rest and when did that start? When did the heart learn to do that? And then the same with the lower heart rate, like why is this heart rate so low that it's like a the person's frozen or there's low lower rousal or whatever it may be?
Speaker 5:
So we see that a lot come out in our kids here at Boys Ranch and we notice it through behaviors. It's not like you could. Sometimes you can, but a lot of times you can't walk up to it and say, yeah, I think you probably have high heart rates. Sometimes you can, but once we start taking those heart rates and we notice what their system is doing inside, then we're like super interested to figure out why and how to help them regulate that to a normal range so that their functioning will increase or improve. So that's one way that we see it a lot here.
Speaker 3:
Yeah, and I would say that's one of it Bringing the kids awareness to it is pretty neat, you know when you get to work with. So I primarily work with adolescents and my favorite part is when I do a regulation with them, taking it before and after. I'll give them my watch so they can see their heart rate and see the change. But I also know that everybody, like I, regulate very differently. Not everybody likes to work out or run or walk and so I will try different activities. So I learned through him hey, Legos and Hot Wheels only amped him up so I could not. So we tried a variety of activities to see and he got to actually watch his heart rate if it would increase or decrease or where it maintained that time.
Speaker 2:
Yes, so it sounds like it's paying attention, being curious and trial and error. Yeah, I think you guys talked on this a little bit, but can the brainstem be changed if it didn't organize in an ideal way? Yes, yes, I would say Thank goodness.
Speaker 5:
The hard part is is, like we spoke about a minute ago, the brain stem is the least plastic. What happens during that critical time is a little bit harder to change than what maybe a thought or a belief would be. You know that something in the cortex. In our clinical work Eric and I were talking about this earlier, but we've seen a lot of worked with a lot of families who have adopted and adopted a kid, usually internationally, with many, many years of chaos and struggle. And then they get into the home with the caregiver, the new caregiver, the family, and there is. There are things that are occurring benignly, that are just part of a family's rhythm, that we don't always think are like a therapeutic intervention. But dinner time being at the same time wake up, nap and bed time being at the same time, the smells in the home, all these sensory inputs that are regular, consistent, repetitive, patterned, all that stuff Over many, many years, that kind of stuff is going to rebuild these blocks in the brain stem.
Speaker 2:
So what are some interventions that you guys would suggest for a kid who's struggling with brain stem issues?
Speaker 4:
So, as Catherine was saying, it takes a lot of repetition, it takes a lot of consistency to reorganize that brain stem and it can be done, and it typically is done over many years. But there are so many tools that can help support in that time. So some recommendations that we give to families when we do see some brain stem disorganization is, for example, like if there's difficulty with body temperature regulation. We see that especially at night, which can impact sleep too, and so we might recommend to put a fan in that room. Or the brain stem holds the core regulatory networks and sends those messages essentially to the rest of the brain, and so a lot of the times we can look at supplements to help support that as well.
Speaker 2:
Do you have a recommendation on different types of supplements?
Speaker 4:
Some supplements that we have recommended for kids to look into or families to look into have been GABA to kind of help support with anxiety, magnesium, altheanine. A lot of that has been to help regulate the nervous system as a whole and just kind of bring down that stress level and find some regulation so that the communication can happen to the other parts of the brain.
Speaker 3:
I would also say it's so important because it's like building that solid foundation right, because it's at the bottom of the brain and we want to build that solid foundation so we can build upon it. And I think for sleep too, looking at the consistency and routine that Katherine was talking about is so important, just because they need to know what to expect. And so sometimes, when it was interesting, I was talking to one of my friends this week about hey and he said, hey, we're changing the whole routine. They're back in school, we're not going to do no TV, we're not going to do anything on weeknights, and so he was telling me what they are developing and said, hey, we need to stop. I feel like it's affecting the kids' behavior. So kind of also looking at what your current routine is and then say, hey, this is what we should try and implement and see if we see a difference.
Speaker 5:
Yeah, well, I think. I mean I'm sure we could do a whole episode on sleep, yes, but what occurs during sleep is so pivotal that for us not to have interventions to support it is would be detrimental, and so anything that we can do to support sleep is going to be helpful with every other piece of the brain.
Speaker 3:
And it's so unique to each child. I think that's what I said. This in one of our previous recordings was that I put my two and five year old down differently depending on their needs, because my two year old is a very touch oriented child and my five year old does not want touch, and so his sleep looks like Several books he gets to pick out, he gets to choose. He wants a half a glass of milk. He has like his own routine. He wants to answer his Bible questions and my two-year-old wants to snuggle for 20 minutes Then do her book than her Bible, and so it's very different. I'm just tailoring it to what each child needs.
Speaker 2:
So why is it important that we start with looking at the brainstem when we're looking at Interventions in brain development?
Speaker 5:
you know it would be the foundation right, like even thinking of a foundation of a home. If the foundation of a home is a little wobbly, then the other layers are gonna be Impacted, and so if we can repair and patch the foundation, then we're likely going to be able to reach the other pieces of the brain and help those develop well.
Speaker 3:
Even stronger, yeah, even stronger yeah, and have access to different skills because all of our sensory input first filters through the brain.
Speaker 2:
Some is that correct. Yes, yes and if it's not organized and that sensory input message gets distorted or yeah, so like what you're saying.
Speaker 5:
So say, sensory input comes in and it's a door slamming right, and it comes in through the brainstem. The brainstem decides where to send it and if the brainstem is Impaired in some way, like what we're talking about, then it's probably gonna send it to the wrong place. Yeah, right, so if the door slams and I'm well regulated, my brainstems well regulated, I can say, oh, that door slammed and I don't have this physiological Response, or I don't try to flee, or whatever it may be. But if that, if I have a disorganized brainstem with likely previous history that got would have that evocative hue impact me so much, the slamming door could be something way bigger, right, and I could flee or I could run out of here or whatever it may be. So it does distort that input, is distorted All right.
Speaker 2:
Thank you for spending some time developing your brains with us today. Until next time, remember you might have to loan out your frontal lobes today. Just remember you to make sure and get them back.
Speaker 1:
Thank you for listening to brain-based parenting. We hope you enjoyed this show. If you would like more information about Cal Folly's boys ranch, are Interested in employment, would like information about placing your child or would like to help us help children by donating to our mission, please visit Cal Folly org. You can find us on all social media platforms by searching for Cal Folly's. Thank you for spending your time with us and have a blessed day.