In part 1 of my Dopamine Kids review, I said that Michaeleen Doucleff’s five-step plan is very easy to implement. She walks through each step and gradually builds the plan with each chapter. Just like a textbook, you read the material in the first section and do the direct application right after.
So for part 2, I’m sharing my family plan and how I’ve adapted the steps for A&Z.
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I was very excited to receive my pre-ordered audiobook of Dopamine Kids by Michaeleen Doucleff. Yes, the same Michaeleen Doucleff from Hunt, Gather, Parent. It has been 5 years since I reviewed that book, and I love how Dopamine Kids fits in so perfectly with all of our Brain-Body posts this month.
Dopamine Kids: A Science-Based Plan to Rewire Your Child’s Brain and Take Back Your Family in the Age of Screens and Ultraprocessed Foods by Michaeleen Doucleff.
Blurb: For the first time in history, we are inundated with “dopamine surges” inside our brains, pulling us to technology and ultraprocessed foods like magnets—every day, many times a day. Over the past decade, neuroscientists have finally begun to figure out how these surges alter our choices, our habits, and even our moods. We’ve learned how dopamine can drive adults and kids to engage in activities that we don’t actually enjoy—activities that can make us feel sad, lonely, anxious, and depressed.
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“Eat dinner as a family”, they said.
“It’ll help boost morale and connection with your kids,” they said.
“It’ll be a great time had by all,” they said.
Then why do we feel like we’re banging our heads up against the wall when our kid’s behavior and manners at the table are like a scene out of Gremlins? Well, no one said it was going to be easy (and if they did, they are liars).
Family dinners have been a cultural norm in the US for decades. But all those wholesome Norman Rockwell scenes of sitting together and politely eating a meal are not the realities of what we ACTUALLY experience on a daily basis right now. In fact, it’s quite the opposite (kids getting in and out of chairs, refusing to eat their food, spills/messes on the floor, you and your spouse trying to talk over the calamity, etc).
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We all seek autonomy, including toddlers.
Around 10 months of age, infants begin to realize that they have free will and can refuse parental requests and demands, and that includes food. Thus, we give you the rise of the picky eater.
Pick Your Eater
It’s worth noting that picky eating behavior is normal for toddlers since they are beginning to learn their likes/dislikes and how to advocate for themselves. These new eating habits can be stressful, especially if you’re worried that your child isn’t eating enough as they grow. Typically, a toddler can tolerate at least 20 different food items across the different food groups.
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Child(ish) Advice 