More than Milestones
Hosted by pediatric physical therapist, wife and mom of three, Dr. KC Rickerd, More Than Milestones is the podcast that goes beyond baby checklists and dives deep into real motherhood, real development, real relationships, and everything in between.
Whether you’re supporting your baby’s motor development, navigating big kid emotions, or navigating a new stage of life & parenting, this show blends expert-backed education with the honest, unfiltered reality of motherhood.
Each week, KC brings you conversations with trusted professionals—pediatricians, therapists, sleep and feeding experts, mental health pros, and more—plus raw, relatable stories from fellow moms and caregivers. No pressure to be perfect. Just honest conversations, support, humor, and community for the journey you’re on.
If you're looking for clarity, connection, and a reminder that while supporting our children’s development is important, so is supporting ourselves - you’re in the right place, because it’s always more than milestones.
More than Milestones
9. Dark Marketing in Motherhood: Emotionally Manipulative Hooks, Expert “Word Salad,” and Simple Steps to Spot Pseudoscience
Welcome back to part two of our conversation with speech-language pathologist and pediatric feeding expert Bri Miluk (@pediatricfeedingslp), we’re diving into one of the most important topics for parents today—misinformation and pseudoscience on social media. If you haven’t listened to part one yet, be sure to go back to hear our discussion on primitive reflexes and why they matter.
In this episode, we talk about how parents can confidently navigate the minefield of social media and spot misleading or pseudoscientific claims. Bri shares practical tools for identifying red flags like unfalsifiable claims, exaggerated proof statements, emotional testimonials, cherry-picked studies, and overly technical “technobabble”.
We also dig into the world of dark marketing tactics—how trauma-based storytelling and hidden pricing strategies can be used to manipulate parents’ emotions and influence their decisions. These methods often prey on fear, guilt, and trust, making it harder to recognize when information is misleading.
Bri introduces a simple but powerful framework created by Dr. Jessica Stokes-Parish called CRABS, which stands for conflicts of interest, references, author, buzzwords, and scope of practice. This quick mental checklist helps you pause and evaluate what you’re seeing online before believing it.
We wrap up by exploring the issue of predatory journals—what they are, how people can pay to get published, and why not all research is created equal. Bri offers examples of how to verify if a study is credible and how to protect yourself from impressive-sounding but unreliable “science.”
Connect with Bri on Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/pediatricfeedingslp
Bri’s Podcast Episode with Dr. Jessica Stokes-Parish on the CRABS Framework: https://open.spotify.com/episode/4eSwFr0tpUPG21Z6UQHjOD?si=k5jzl0DaQ8O8KBiBTexcRA&nd=1&dlsi=9bb41e6995b7466d
Links
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Go deeper with KC on Substack
More Than Milestones: Unfiltered is my subscription channel where I release 2 exclusive bonus episodes every month. Even more raw, unfiltered motherhood chats you won’t hear anywhere else.