Podcasts

Helen and Imran start at the beginning: your baby's senses are open long before language. When you hold your baby skin-to-skin in dim light, cortisol drops, oxytocin rises, and the parasympathetic nervous system shifts the baby from alert to calm. Your baby can't do it alone yet - it's borrowing yours. The episode ends with three little things you can do tonight.

A newborn wakes because it's built to. Helen lifts the weight of expectation and shows how the same calm rhythm, night after night, becomes a signal the baby can trust. Imran explains the biochemistry of the transition into sleep - and why your own calm is the key ingredient.

Crying is a baby's first language. Helen talks about meeting the sound rather than the clock, and how your own calm breath passes to the baby. Imran explains why a baby's stress system is still maturing - and why being held is what builds the foundation.

Attachment isn't built in grand gestures, but in a thousand small answers. Helen and Imran talk about eye contact, repairing after hard moments, and why being seen is a biological necessity, not a luxury.

Imran draws on his work in digital wellbeing: a screen is designed to capture your attention, and the baby feels it when your gaze is gone. Helen translates it into daily life - one screen-free hour, the phone face-down at feeds - without a wagging finger.

Imran Rashid and health visitor Helen Lyng Hansen talk about play and language as something that emerges in the interaction between child and adult. Language is not just about words. It is about looks, pauses, sounds, faces and being greeted. We talk about turn-taking, joint attention and why you don't need advanced toys to support your child's development. You also hear why screens cannot replace the vivid response that a child gets when someone follows their curiosity and puts words to the world with them. The episode ends with three concrete tips you can take home.

When sleep is scarce, the body speaks before the mind. Helen and Imran talk openly about the patterns that arise between two tired parents, and the small repairs - one honest sentence at night - that keep the connection alive.

Imran Rashid and health visitor Helen Lyng Hansen talk about the meal as a sensory experience, a ritual and a community. When the child closes his mouth, pushes the plate away or rejects something new, it is not necessarily defiance. It can be a nervous system that is speaking out. We talk about food courage, picky eating and the natural skepticism towards new food. You will hear why calm works better than pressure, why the child needs to explore the food with his hands, nose and mouth, and how you can make the meal a place where the child feels like being curious. The episode ends with three concrete tips that you can take home.

Imran Rashid and health visitor Helen Lyng Hansen talk about worries, Google searches at night and the constant feeling that you may have overlooked something. Worry is not a sign that you are weak. It is often a sign that you love and are trying to take care. We talk about the difference between worry that helps you take action and worry that turns into a spiral of anxiety, control and catastrophic thoughts. You also hear why social media and algorithms can make the alarm system more sensitive, and why it is important to share what is filling up.

Imran Rashid and health visitor Helen Lyng Hansen conclude the series with parenting. Not as a question of getting the child to do right, but as the art of understanding what is happening before the behavior explodes. We talk about why regulation precedes learning, and why a child in alarm cannot accept a long explanation. You hear how clear frameworks can be warm, how transitions can be made easier, and why it often works better to show the child what to do than just tell them what not to do.