Eat, Sleep, Play, Love

With special guest:

• Dr Preeya Alexander
  … in conversation with Bill Kable

Eat, Sleep, Play, Love sounds pretty good to all of us. But sometimes our very young children do not stick to the recipe and can distress both themselves and those caring for them.

Today we go on a journey with our celebrity guest Dr Preeya Alexander who distils for us in her new book what we should be doing to have an easier life. We are happy to say that Preeya’s book does not start out with rigid rules on parenting accompanied by a prescription for lots of guilt if we do not follow precisely.

Some parents get strong advice from their relatives, neighbours, influencers and even well-wishers but sometimes this amounts to what used to be called old wives’ tales. Preeya examines some of these familiar stories such as how you can expect a baby to cry when teething. Is that true?

Preeya is a wonderful communicator as she demonstrates in her television appearances and in her surgery. People feel free to ask her questions on a wide range of topics knowing there will be no judgment. For us it is like we are sitting in the surgery as she provides her professional advice.

Fathers will come to the surgery and tell Preeya they are suffering depression after their wife has delivered a new member of the family. In fact the organisation PANDA (Perinatal Anxiety & Depression Australia) estimates that the percentage of new fathers suffering in this way is as high as 10%. In this situation Preeya will come up with strategies to help and this is one of so many topics covered in her book.

When mothers come for a 6 week checkup one of the big topics is breast feeding. In this area Preeya has not only her medical knowledge but her personal lived experience to draw on.

But for those looking for guidance on toilet training we will have to wait for volume 2. Until then it is fun and informative to hear what Dr Alexander has to say about the 0-2 year olds and the parents and grandparents who have them.

Dr Preeya Alexander

Dr Preeya Alexander is a practising GP based in Melbourne. She specialises in preventative health, general medicine, mental health, paediatrics, women’s medicine and sexual health.

Preeya has been featured as an expert on Channel 7’s Sunrise, hosted two Catalyst episodes on the ABC and continues to appear regularly on The Drum. She is also a regular contributor to online publications such as Mamamia and other lifestyle websites. She has built a loyal and engaged following and is the co-host of the popular cooking show, Good Chef Bad Chef.

As both a doctor and mum of two, Preeya is passionate about sharing accurate health information and empowering people to make informed decisions around their health. She uses her social media platform and blog to combat health misinformation and deconstruct complex medical topics to make them more digestible.

Song selection by our guest: Everywhere by Fleetwood Mac

Podcast (mp3)