The Follow-Up: The Science Behind Why Your Child Copies You

The PedsDocTalk Podcast

Dr. Mona Amin

Medicine, Health & Fitness, Kids & Family, Parenting

5 • 1.4K Ratings

🗓️ 7 July 2025

⏱️ 17 minutes

🔗️ Recording | iTunes | RSS

🧾️ Download transcript

Summary

You’ve probably seen it—your toddler pretending to cook after watching you in the kitchen, or mimicking your sighs after a long day. It’s not just cute—it’s neuroscience. In this powerful follow-up episode, Dr. Mona sits down with educator Chris Lake to unpack mirror neurons, the brain’s fascinating mechanism for learning through observation. Together, they explore how these neurons shape everything from crawling and speech to empathy and emotional regulation—and how everyday moments of modeling can support your child’s development more than any app ever could. Whether you’re wondering how screen time affects speech, why your toddler copies your every move, or how to introduce new toys and skills more effectively, this conversation offers both science and simple strategies for parents to put into practice. What You’ll Learn: The surprising research behind mirror neurons and observational learning Why our kids learn best through watching (not just being told) How mouth-gazing helps with speech development—and why screens fall short Why modeling behaviors like sharing and play matters more than we think The link between demonstration, confidence, and child mastery The truth about screen time’s impact on social and language skills Our podcasts are also now on YouTube. If you prefer a video podcast with closed captioning, check us out there and ⁠subscribe to PedsDocTalk⁠. Get trusted pediatric advice, relatable parenting insights, and evidence-based tips delivered straight to your inbox—join thousands of parents who rely on the PDT newsletter to stay informed, supported, and confident. ⁠⁠⁠⁠Join the newsletter⁠⁠⁠⁠! And don’t forget to follow ⁠⁠⁠⁠@pedsdoctalkpodcast⁠⁠⁠⁠ on Instagram—our new space just for parents looking for real talk and real support. We love the sponsors that make this show possible! You can always find all the special deals and codes for all our current sponsors on the ⁠PedsDocTalk Podcast Sponsorships⁠ page of the website. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

Transcript

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0:00.0	Hello, it's Dr. Mona and this is the follow-up.
0:05.3	The only part of your Monday that won't involve someone asking for a snack five seconds after they eat.
0:10.7	This episode is faster than your kiddo copying your dance moves or that curse word you just said when you stub your toe and it's way more informative.
0:19.0	I'm joined by Chris Lake, an early childhood
0:20.8	development expert educator and founder of behavior booster. We're talking about mirror neurons. Yes,
0:26.4	the actual science behind why your kid copies everything you do from brushing your teeth to your
0:31.2	stress face. I wanted to re-release this episode after Vera showed me exactly how fascinating
0:37.1	mirror neurons are. I was working out
0:40.0	outdoors and my husband brought her and Ryan out to play, but she loves watching me, so she
0:44.8	sat and watched me work out. I was doing burpees. After I was done with my workout, we were all
0:50.7	sitting, and she started wandering off on the turf area of the park.
1:00.7	And then we noticed she just dropped to her belly and was doing a burpee with the umph and all and the hand raising. Mirror neurons firing. If you've ever wondered why your child acts like a tiny
1:06.6	version of you, even when you wish they wouldn't, you're going to want to hear this.
1:11.1	And hey, if this little gem gave you something to think about, You're going to want to hear this. And hey,
1:14.7	if this little gem gave you something to think about, send it to a friend, share it to your stories, and make sure you're subscribed and download episodes. It's those downloads that
1:19.9	really help this show grow. Let's get into it. So tell us, what are mirror neurons?
1:30.3	Why you think they're the gateway of parenting and breakthroughs?
1:34.3	So it's incredibly interesting in my line of work.
1:38.3	We have to do a lot of imitation to get children with autism toddlers to actually learn different skills.
1:43.3	And it turns out humans are
1:45.2	very social creatures and we do an incredible amount of observation learning, which is why almost
1:49.5	virtually any job anyone's had, they had to do a follow. They had to just observe someone first and
	...

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