The First Seven Years
"The First Seven Years" is a groundbreaking podcast series designed to empower parents and caregivers with essential knowledge about childhood development during the early, formative years. Rather than focusing solely on developmental milestones, the series emphasizes the pivotal role of nutrition and integrative health in fostering growth and wellbeing. Hosted by Dr. Murray Clarke, a trusted pediatrician and founder of ChildLife Essentials, and co-hosted by Bryce Wylde, a functional medicine expert, this series provides an accessible platform for expert insights and actionable advice. Each episode delivers invaluable resources and guidance often overlooked in traditional parenting spaces, equipping viewers with the...
What Is Leaky Gut, Really? A Pediatrician Explains
Most parents check the nutrition facts label. Almost none check the ingredients list, where things like emulsifiers are quietly disrupting kids' gut health. Dr. Elisa Song breaks down her five-part framework for building a resilient microbiome and exactly what leaky gut is and why it matters.
👍 LIKE this video if you found the conversation helpful.
💬 COMMENT below with the ingredient you're most surprised to learn is a gut disruptor.
🔔 SUBSCRIBE to The First Seven Years for more expert conversations about parenting, childhood development, nutrition and family health.
Follow Dr. Elisa Song: Website...
Should You Still Be Kissing Your Kids? A Pediatrician Weighs In
Should you still be kissing your kids? Dr. Elisa Song explains why human touch does more for your child's nervous system and their gut microbiome than most parents realize.
👍 LIKE this video if you found the conversation helpful.
💬 COMMENT below: Has your relationship with physical affection with your kids changed since the pandemic?
🔔 SUBSCRIBE to The First Seven Years for more expert conversations about parenting, childhood development, nutrition and family health.
Follow Dr. Elisa Song: Website: https://www.healthykidshappykids.com/
Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/healthykids_happykids/
Twitter/X...
Prebiotics vs. Probiotics vs. Postbiotics, Finally Explained Simply
Your gut microbiome makes up to 90% of the serotonin in your body and about half of your dopamine. Dr. Elisa Song breaks down exactly how and why most of us aren't feeding it the way we need to.
👍 LIKE this video if you found the conversation helpful.
💬 COMMENT below: What's your family's favourite fermented food?
🔔 SUBSCRIBE to The First Seven Years for more expert conversations about parenting, childhood development, nutrition and family health.
Follow Dr. Elisa Song: Website: https://www.healthykidshappykids.com/
Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/healthykids_happykids/
Twit...
Why Pets and Dirt Actually Build Your Child's Immune System
Hand sanitizer, over-cleaning and shielding kids from every stressor might be working against their immune systems. Dr. Elisa Song explains the science of hormesis and why controlled stress actually builds resilience in kids' bodies and minds.
👍 LIKE this video if you found the conversation helpful.
💬 COMMENT below: do you have a pet, and have you noticed a difference in your kids' health?
🔔 SUBSCRIBE to The First Seven Years for more expert conversations about parenting, childhood development, nutrition and family health.
Follow Dr. Elisa Song: Website: https://www.healthykidshappykids.com/
Instagram...
This Study Cut Eczema Risk by 83% in C-Section Babies
C-section babies miss out on the microbiome exposure that happens during vaginal birth, and it's linked to a higher risk of eczema and asthma. Dr. Elisa Song breaks down what's actually happening and the study that cut eczema risk by 83%.
👍 LIKE this video if you found the conversation helpful.
💬 COMMENT below: Was your baby born by C-section? What did you do to support their gut health?
🔔 SUBSCRIBE to The First Seven Years for more expert conversations about parenting, childhood development, nutrition and family health.
Follow Dr. Elisa Song:
Website: https://w...
How to Restore Your Child's Gut Microbiome After Antibiotics
A large Finnish study of nearly 1 million births found that antibiotics in early life, even in the womb, were linked to up to a 50% increased risk of anxiety, ADHD, sleep issues and behavioural concerns. Dr. Elisa Song explains why, and more importantly, what parents can actually do about it.
👍 LIKE this video if you found the conversation helpful.
💬 COMMENT below: Did your child receive antibiotics as an infant?
🔔 SUBSCRIBE to The First Seven Years for more expert conversations about parenting, childhood development, nutrition and family health.
Follow Dr. Elisa Song:
Websit...
Your Microbiome Before Conception Is Already Shaping Your Child's Health
Your child's health isn't just shaped in the womb. It starts with your microbiome before conception, and that includes fathers. In this clip, Dr. Elisa Song explains why the gut microbiome of both parents, not just the mother, affects fertility, pregnancy outcomes, and a baby's long-term health, sometimes months before conception even happens. She breaks down epigenetics in plain terms: the idea that your environment, not your DNA, determines the majority of your health outcomes, and how those switches get passed down to your kids.
👍 LIKE this video if you found the conversation helpful.
💬 COMMENT below...
Why Nearly 1 in 2 Kids Now Have a Chronic Illness
In this episode, Dr. Murray Clarke and Bryce Wylde sit down with Dr. Elisa Song, MD, a Stanford, NYU and UCSF-trained integrative pediatrician and national bestselling author of Healthy Kids, Happy Kids, to break down why childhood chronic illness has exploded over the past 40 years, and what's actually driving it. They dig into the data: autism up 500%, ADHD up 400%, and a jump from 1 in 50 kids with a chronic medical condition in 2007 to nearly 1 in 2 today.
👍 LIKE this video if you found the conversation helpful.
💬 COMMENT below with your biggest question about your child's gut health.
...
Is Laser Therapy Safe for a 3-Year-Old With Autism?
If your child's therapist says they're making progress, but you can't see it, this might explain why.
In this Q&A clip, Erinn Askin answers real questions from parents, starting with whether laser therapy is safe for young children with autism (she points to a body of research and testimonials supporting safety and efficacy) and moving into a deeper concept: primitive reflexes.
👍 LIKE this video if this reframes how you think about your child's progress.
💬 COMMENT below: Has a therapist ever told you your child was progressing, but you weren't seeing it at...
Why Your Child's Allergies, Anxiety and ADHD Might Start in the Gut | Dr. Elisa Song EP26
Nearly 1 in 2 kids today has a chronic health condition, and the research increasingly points to the same root system: the gut.
This conversation covers how a baby's microbiome is shaped before birth, why antibiotics in the first months of life carry outsized downstream risk, and what parents can actually do about it, whether their child was born by C-section, wasn't breastfed, or already had rounds of antibiotics for ear infections. Dr. Song also unpacks prebiotics vs. probiotics vs. postbiotics, the vagus nerve's role in gut-brain communication, why fermented foods may beat fiber for microbiome diversity, and the...
How Laser Therapy Helped Him Become a Student for the First Time
Harvey had never been to school. At 10 years old, extreme sensory-seeking behaviours, licking, biting, and screaming, made it impossible. Two weeks later, that changed.
👍 LIKE this video if Harvey's story moved you.
💬 COMMENT below: What's the biggest transformation you've seen in your own child?
🔔 SUBSCRIBE to The First Seven Years for more expert conversations on parenting, childhood development, nutrition, and family health.
Follow Erinn Askin:
Website: https://www.oteim.com/
OTEIM Therapy Intensives: https://www.oteim.com/therapyintensives
OTEIM Hometensive™ Program: https://www...
This Laser Therapy Compresses 6 Months of Progress Into 2 Weeks
Erinn explains how her clinic structures treatment through short, high-intensity blocks rather than the typical weekly-session model, and why that concentrated approach can produce faster results for kids with communication delays, motor skill challenges, and developmental delays.
👍 LIKE this video if you found this helpful.
💬 COMMENT below: Would you commit to an intensive like this if it meant faster progress?
🔔 SUBSCRIBE to The First Seven Years for more expert conversations on parenting, childhood development, nutrition, and family health.
Follow Erinn Askin:
Website: https://www.oteim.com/
...What's the Youngest Age for Laser Brain Therapy?
Erinn breaks down exactly who she treats and why she starts so young. Her practice sees children from age 3 to 16, but she also works with infants as young as 0 to 2, including babies diagnosed with HIV at birth and children with cerebral palsy, because the earliest years are when the brain has the most capacity to adapt.
👍 LIKE this video if you learned something new about early intervention.
💬 COMMENT below: were you ever told to "wait and see" with your child?
🔔 SUBSCRIBE to The First Seven Years for more expert conversations on parenting...
This 6-Minute Brain Scan Found What No One Else Could
A nonverbal child can't tell you they need glasses. They can't tell you they're anxious. This device can.
In this clip, Erinn Askin demonstrates the dry-cap qEEG helmet used in her clinic, a device that combines brain wave mapping with photobiomodulation and takes just six minutes to run.
👍 LIKE this video if you didn't know brain mapping could catch this much.
💬 COMMENT below: Would you want your child evaluated with something like this?
🔔 SUBSCRIBE to The First Seven Years for more expert conversations on parenting, childhood development, nutrition, and family he...
The Study That Turned Lasers Into Brain Therapy
Sixty years ago, scientists were trying to regrow hair on rats using red and near-infrared light. What they found instead changed the future of brain therapy.
Erinn Askin explains how transcranial photobiomodulation was accidentally discovered when researchers noticed decreased ADHD-like symptoms in the rats they were studying, and how the field has grown from there. She also breaks down BDNF (brain-derived neurotrophic factor).
👍 LIKE this video if you learned something new.
💬 COMMENT below: were you surprised this was discovered by accident?
🔔 SUBSCRIBE to The First Seven Years for more expert co...
The Science of How Light Therapy Rewires a Child's Brain
In this clip, occupational therapist Erinn Askin, a former professor of anatomy and physiology, breaks down exactly what happens when specific wavelengths of light penetrate the skull during transcranial photobiomodulation.
👍 LIKE this video if you learned something new about how the brain heals.
💬 COMMENT below: Would you try photobiomodulation with your child?
🔔 SUBSCRIBE to The First Seven Years for more expert conversations on parenting, childhood development, nutrition, and family health.
Follow Erinn Askin:
Website: https://www.oteim.com/
OTEIM Therapy Intensives: https://www.oteim.com...
The 12-Minute Nightly Routine That Changed Her Daughter's Severe ADHD
What if the fix for your child's behaviours wasn't behavioural at all, but neurological, and treatable with light?
In this episode, occupational therapist and photobiomodulation specialist Erinn Askin shares how she discovered transcranial light therapy after her own daughter's severe ADHD pushed her family to a breaking point.
👍 LIKE this video if this story hit home.
💬 COMMENT: What's the one behaviour in your child you wish you understood the root cause of?
🔔 SUBSCRIBE to The First Seven Years for more expert conversations on parenting, childhood development, nutrition, and family health.<...
Why 1 in 31 Kids Now Have Autism (The Root Cause No One's Fixing)
In this conversation, Dr. Murray Clarke breaks down what's actually driving the surge in pediatric brain disorders, from ADHD and anxiety to autism spectrum symptoms.
👍 LIKE this video if this connected some dots for you.
💬 COMMENT below: what's one environmental factor you've changed for your kids since learning about this?
🔔 SUBSCRIBE to The First Seven Years for more expert conversations on parenting, childhood development, nutrition, and family health.
Follow Erinn Askin:
Website: https://www.oteim.com/
OTEIM Therapy Intensives: https://www.oteim.com/therapyintensives
OTEIM H...
How This Light Therapy is Helping Kids With Autism, ADHD and MORE | Erinn Askin EP24
Could shining light on a child's head help rewire a struggling brain?
That's the question at the center of today's conversation. Erinn Askin, MA, OTR/L, is a pediatric occupational therapist, the creator of NeuroAdaptive Therapy™, and founder of OTEIM (Occupational Therapy Empowering Individual Minds). Erinn joins Dr. Murray Clarke and Bryce Wylde to break down photobiomodulation, the use of specific light wavelengths to energize brain cells at the mitochondrial level, and why she believes it's changing outcomes for kids with autism, ADHD, developmental delay, and sensory processing challenges.
This conversation goes beyond behavioural labels in...
Does Your Child’s Eczema Starts in the Gut? | Joy McCarty EP24
Could your child’s eczema be a sign of something deeper going on inside the body? In this episode of The First Seven Years, Joy McCarthy joins Dr. Murray and Bryce Wylde to unpack the powerful connection between gut health, skin health, and early childhood development. Joy McCarthy is a certified holistic nutritionist, bestselling author, founder of Joyous Health, and author of The Eczema Healing Guide.
In this conversation, she explains why eczema is often more than a surface-level skin issue, how the gut microbiome influences inflammation and immune balance, and what parents can do to support he...
The Real Reason Your Child's Eczema Keeps Getting Worse After Every Antibiotic
Joy McCarthy, holistic nutritionist and founder of Hello Joyous, and Dr. Murray Clarke answer real parent questions about navigating clean baby products on a budget, what "fragrance free" and "paraben free" labels actually mean, and what to do when a child's eczema keeps cycling back after every antibiotic prescription.
We cover the greenwashing terms, why phthalates in fragrance disrupt hormones and fertility, how to use free tools like EWG and the INCI list checker to vet any product instantly, why antibiotics trigger a microbiome reset that parents need to act on immediately, and how picky eating and...
The Exact Supplements and Foods That Can Help Clear Eczema in Babies and Toddlers
We cover exactly where to start when conventional treatment isn't working, how to run a practical elimination diet for the most common food allergens, which probiotic strains and CFU counts actually matter for infants and toddlers and why vitamin D and omega-3s are the supplements most parents overlook.
LIKE this video if you found it helpful.
COMMENT with your child's age and what you've already tried for their eczema.
SUBSCRIBE for more expert parenting and child wellness insights.
Follow Joy McCarthy:
Website: https://www...
Still Have Eczema After Trying Everything? These Are the Tests Your Doctor Isn't Running
Joy McCarthy, holistic nutritionist and author of The Joyous Cookbook, walks through the next level of eczema investigation for families who have done everything right and still aren't seeing results.
We cover the specific lab tests that can identify gut dysfunction, mineral imbalances, food sensitivities, heavy metals, and chemical exposures in children, why dairy and gluten rotation matters more than full elimination, how a disrupted gut microbiome increases a child's propensity for food allergies, and how Joy built a family cookbook around single-ingredient whole foods that kids actually want to eat.
LIKE this...
Why Cortisone Cream Backfires and What to Use on Your Baby's Skin Instead
Joy McCarthy, holistic nutritionist and founder of Joyous Health, breaks down why less is more when it comes to your baby's skincare routine and what common baby products are actually doing to your child's developing skin.
We cover why cortisone cream pushes inflammation deeper into the body, how over-bathing strips your baby's moisture barrier, which ingredients to avoid in every baby wash and lotion, why "fragrance-free" and "natural" labels can still be misleading, and how to use free tools like the EWG Skin Deep database to vet any product in seconds.
LIKE this video if...
800 Studies Confirm It: Your Child's Eczema Is a Gut Problem, Not a Skin Problem
Joy McCarthy, holistic nutritionist and founder of Joyous Health, Dr. Murray Clarke and Bryce Wylde break down the science behind the gut-skin-brain connection and what it means for your child's long-term health.
We cover what 800-plus peer-reviewed studies now confirm about eczema and the gut microbiome, the difference between prebiotics, probiotics, and postbiotics and why all three matter, what leaky gut actually is and how it triggers skin inflammation, why babies can develop leaky skin from over-washing, and how a leaky blood-brain barrier connects to autism, ADHD, and neurological development in children.
LIKE...
How to Raise Kids Who Choose Whole Foods Without Being Strict About It
Joy McCarthy, a holistic nutritionist and mother, shares practical strategies for building lifelong healthy eating habits in children through variety, colour, and early exposure to food.
We cover why prebiotics matter as much as probiotics, how polyphenol variety feeds different gut bacteria, why peeling fruit for your kids is actually working against them, and a simple fridge audit strategy that gets even toddlers excited about eating the rainbow.
LIKE this video if you found it helpful.
COMMENT with your child's favourite fruit or vegetable.
SUBSCRIBE for more expert parenting and child...
C-Section vs. Natural Birth: What It Actually Does to Your Baby's Microbiome
Joy McCarthy, holistic nutritionist and mother, breaks down how the gut microbiome is seeded before birth and why the decisions made during pregnancy, delivery, and early feeding have lifelong implications for your child's skin, immune system, and overall health.
We cover how vaginal birth versus C-section delivery affects microbiome colonization, what to eat and avoid during pregnancy to support your baby's gut, why fragrance and laundry detergent matter more than most parents realize, and what actually happens when a child raised on whole foods is exposed to refined sugar.
LIKE this video if you found...
The Real Reason Your Child Has Eczema (It's Not a Skin Problem)
Joy McCarthy joins Dr. Murray and Bryce Wylde to break down what's actually happening when a child develops eczema, cradle cap, or chronic skin conditions. We cover how the gut microbiome directly controls skin health, why topical treatments fail to address root causes, what "gentle" and "natural" baby product labels are hiding, and how what a mother puts on her skin during pregnancy affects her unborn child.
LIKE this video if you found it helpful.
COMMENT with your biggest takeaway about the gut-skin connection.
SUBSCRIBE for more expert parenting and child wellness insights. <...
Your Kid Eats 3x More Than You — So What's in Their Food Matters 3x More | Liana Werner-Gray
Your four-year-old's meltdowns, your seven-year-old's anxiety before tests, your own brain fog every morning. What if the common thread is sitting in your pantry right now?
Liana breaks down why hidden seed oils in dressings, sauces, and packaged snacks are likely causing far more damage than parents realize, why children absorb three times as much per pound of body weight as adults, and why you don't have to overhaul everything overnight to start seeing results. The staged approach she outlines is practical, momentum-building, and designed for real family life. Start with what your kids eat most. Swap...
The 30-Day Seed Oil Reset Your Whole Family Can Do | Podcast Clip - Liana Werner-Gray
Every cell in your body is only as healthy as the fat surrounding it. Are you feeding it the right kind?
Your cell membranes are the gatekeepers of everything that enters and exits each cell in your body. Get the fat wrong, and the membrane breaks down, mitochondria get compromised, and inflammation takes hold. Get it right, and every system in the body runs the way it was designed to.
LIKE this video if you're ready to do your own 30-day seed oil reset.
COMMENT below with the meal swap you're committing to...
Why Your Kid Can't Stop Craving Junk Food | Podcast Clip - Liana Werner-Gray
What if your child's anxiety, ADHD, or behavioural outbursts aren't a diagnosis problem, they're a nutrition problem?
In this episode, Dr. Murray Clarke, Bryce Wylde and Liana Werner-Gray make the case that neuroinflammation driven by the wrong dietary fats is one of the most underexplored contributors to the rise in childhood anxiety, spectrum disorders, and neuroatypical conditions. And the fix is more straightforward than the pharmaceutical industry wants you to believe. If your child is struggling with anxiety, focus, or behaviour, and you haven't looked at what they're eating, this episode is where you start.
<...
The Exact Oils to Keep in Your Kitchen | Podcast Clip - Liana Werner-Gray
You're reading the label. But do you actually know what it means?
In this episode, we get practical, walking parents through exactly what to feed kids from the first bite of solid food to school-age snacking, and how to spot the seed oils hiding behind "organic," "natural," and "plant-based" labels.
LIKE this video if this finally made food labels make sense.
COMMENT below with the seed oil you had no idea was in your pantry.
SUBSCRIBE for more expert parenting and child wellness insights every week.
Follow...
Every Baby Formula Contains Seed Oils — Here's What to Do Instead | Podcast Clip - Liana Werner-Gray
What's actually in your baby's formula, and is it doing more harm than good?
In this episode, Dr. Murray Clarke, Bryce Wylde and Liana Werner-Gray tackle one of the most overlooked crises in infant nutrition: seed oils in baby formula. Every major formula on the market contains them, and most parents have no idea. This conversation breaks down what low DHA levels during pregnancy and early infancy actually cost your child, from postpartum depression risk for mom to compromised brain development for baby, and what you can do about it right now.
LIKE this video...
Seed Oils Trigger Anxiety | Podcast Clip - Liana Werner-Gray
What if anxiety, ADHD, and chronic inflammation all share one common dietary root?
In this episode, Dr. Murray Clarke and Bryce Wylde continue their conversation with Australian author and wellness advocate Liana Werner-Gray, diving into the science behind seed oils, the myth that fat causes heart disease, and what every pregnant mom needs to know before her baby is even born.
LIKE this video if it made you rethink what "heart healthy" actually means.
COMMENT below with your biggest challenge avoiding seed oils as a parent.
SUBSCRIBE for more expert parenting...
She Healed Cancer Naturally - Here's Exactly What She Did | Podcast Clip - Liana Werner-Gray
What if the oils you're cooking with every day were never meant to be eaten by humans?
In this episode, Dr. Murray Clarke and Bryce Wylde sit down with Australian author and wellness advocate Liana Werner-Gray to trace the origins of seed oils, the corruption of the food pyramid, and why the modern Western diet is producing sicker children at a rate never seen before.
LIKE this video if it made you look at your cooking oils differently.
COMMENT below with the one oil swap you're making after watching this.
SUBSCRIBE...
The Seed Oil Lie Nobody's Talking About
Are seed oils slowly damaging your child's brain, and has no one told you yet?
In this episode, Dr. Murray Clarke and Bryce Wylde sit down with author Liana Werner-Gray to unpack one of the most misunderstood topics in children's health: seed oils, inflammation, and the silent rise of chronic illness in kids. This isn't fear-mongering. It's data, patterns, and a roadmap for parents who want to get ahead of it.
LIKE this video if it opened your eyes to something you hadn't considered before.
COMMENT with your biggest challenge when it comes...
Are Seed Oils Affecting Your Child's Brain Development? (What Parents Need to Know) | Liana Werner-Gray EP23
In this episode, we break down how seed oils and processed fats affect child development at a biological level.
Liana Werner-Gray, bestselling author and whole foods advocate, explains what happens when children consume seed oils and ultra-processed fats during critical developmental windows. We cover how industrial seed oils influence neuroinflammation, disrupt gut microbiome colonization, interfere with neurotransmitter development, and affect immune system programming in the first seven years.
LIKE this video if you found it helpful. COMMENT with your biggest takeaway about seed oils. SUBSCRIBE for more expert parenting and health...
The One Thing Every Parent Can Do This Week to Set Their Kids Up for a Lifetime of Health
What does it actually take to raise a child who stays healthy, strong, and active for life? According to fitness expert Brent Bishop, it comes down to one word: modelling.
Brent's practical takeaways for parents who want to start today: pick one movement ritual this week, a morning stretch together, a post-dinner walk around the neighbourhood, and stack it onto something you already do. Do five squats while you make breakfast. Do push-ups against the counter after you brush your teeth.
This is the episode that ties it all together and sends every parent away...
The "5 Colors a Day" Rule That Makes Picky Eaters Actually Want to Eat Healthy
You don't brush your teeth for five hours once and expect healthy teeth. So why do we treat our children's nutrition any differently?
Fitness expert Brent Bishop brings the same principle that drives his fitness philosophy: consistency over intensity, directly into the conversation about what kids eat, drink, and supplement every single day.
From sneaking spinach into smoothies to making grocery shopping a family activity. Brent breaks down practical, immediately usable strategies for building healthy eating habits in kids who are picky, resistant, or just not interested.
Build the habits now, in the...
The 5-Minute Fix for ADHD, Anxiety, and Poor Sleep That Every Parent Needs to Know
What if your child's focus problems, anxiety, and sleep struggles all have the same root cause and the fix takes less than five minutes?
Fitness expert Brent Bishop breaks down the science of how exercise actually affects a child's brain: increased oxygen and blood flow, and a flood of neurotransmitters that simultaneously improve focus and decompress the nervous system. Even just ten minutes of movement before a math test has been shown to increase attention and decrease anxiety.
This episode is the practical playbook every parent needs for calmer, more focused, better-sleeping kids.
<...
