All In The Mind Tantrums, sleep training and anxiety: Dr Billy Garvey answers your parenting questions
18 snips
Apr 4, 2026 
Dr Billy Garvey, developmental paediatrician and author, offers practical parenting perspective in a mailbag-style chat. He covers sleep training evidence and real-world choices. He explains why ignoring tantrums fails and outlines co-regulation strategies. He talks through responses to suicidality, steps to help anxious kids without therapy, and supporting burnt-out neurodivergent young adults.
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Responsive Approach Over Quick Fix Sleep Training
- Avoid rigid sleep programs promising a quick fix and instead tune into your baby's signals and needs.
- Dr Billy Garvey recommends soothing to teach self-regulation, using short breaks when parents need to protect their own mental health.
Occasional Crying Won't Ruin Attachment
- Short, infrequent periods of leaving a crying baby do not cause lasting harm and can protect parental mental health.
- Attachment is built via ongoing responsive caregiving and is not irreversibly set in the first months.
Billy's Personal Sleep Training Regret
- Billy shares his own parenting regrets about moving his eldest out of the bed quickly despite professional knowledge.
- He reassures listeners that those choices didn't cause permanent harm and reflects on social pressure to sleep-train.
