Being mums and trying to make a podcast means that sometimes, things don't always go to plan! This episode, that means that we have a full house and not a little bit of chaos. Kim and Stella, and Leila and Felix take a look back at the last few months since the launch of The Science Baby Podcast, read your comments and answer your questions. Expect terrible audio, questionable continuity, and lots of real life tangents!

In this episode:

• Welcome to my Codpast! Felix and Kim chat about what it's like to be 2, and we catch up on life and milestones
• We look back at the last few episodes and respond to your comments and questions:
  • Poop
  • Breastfeeding
  • Pregnancy Loss
  • Hair Loss
  • Weaning
  • Healing
• We answer your questions in a quick fire Q&A, and get some ideas for future podcast episodes!

How soon can you know whether your baby is going to be right or left handed, and what can that tell you about how their brains are developing? Kim and Leila dive into the surprising science that links dominant hand with language, emotion, genes, and the environment. And since Science Baby himself is a leftie, we consider his experience growing up in a right-handed world.

In this episode:

• We introduce the idea of handedness being potentially linked to language, noting that left lateralisation of language in the brain could be linked to the predominance of right-handers within humans.
• We talk about the genetic basis for handedness preference
• We discuss when a hand preference is likely to emerge in our babies and toddlers
• We examine how much the external environement can affect dominant hand use
• We use brian lateralisation again to explain why mothers tend to cradle their babies on the left, regardless of which is their dominant hand
• We discuss a study that found that kids who show an early preference for their right hand tend to be more advanced with language - noting its strengths and weaknesses, as well as the opposite pattern seen in Science Baby
• We talk about the experience of our young left-handers in a right-hand world.

Okay, maybe not everyone's relationship with their loved one is in the pan after having a child, but anecdotally and statistically, many parents find themselves facing relationship challenges with a little one in the mix.

Leila and Kim are no exceptions, and we share a very cathartic chat about how and why our marriages have changed, and what we can do about it.

In this episode:

• We set the scene by describing our relationship foundations before having kids
• We compare notes on how our relationships have changed since having kids
• We take a look at the statistics of relationship degeneration after having children, including results from the Science Baby Parenting Survey
• We examine the reasons behind the changes, including a loss of protective relationship behaviours, an unequal division of the mental load, and the snowballing effect of maternal gatekeeping
• We describe how our loss of personal identities contributes to our dissatisfaction at this stage of life
• We discuss a study that suggests that marital unhappiness could just be a product of western society
• Finally, we talk about some of the tools and techniques for dealing with relationship issues.

I'm a big fan of Philippa Perry's book "The Book You Wish Your Parents Had Read (And Your Children Will Be Glad You Did)", which you can buy here.