Your son used to tell you everything. Now he’s 12 or 13 (twelve, thirteen) and you get one-word answers, an AirPod that never comes out, and a closed bedroom door. Pediatrician and bestselling author Dr. Cara Natterson (Decoding Boys, The Care and Keeping of You) joins Dr. Sheryl Ziegler to explain what’s happening for boys in the tween and teen years, ages eight to eighteen. A lot of it starts before puberty shows up anywhere you can see it. They talk about why boys were left out of puberty research for decades, the “going quiet” phase many parents of boys know well, and why boys develop eating disorders and disordered eating at rates comparable to girls. Cara explains what actually gets a quiet boy talking: open-ended questions, sitting in the silence, talking side by side instead of face to face, and a three-minute timer for the conversations that can’t wait, like fentanyl and consent. They also cover new research on why 12-year-olds seem to stop hearing their mom’s voice, why one close friend can matter more than a big group, and how to lay the groundwork years ahead for the choices boys make in rooms we’re not in. That groundwork includes teaching consent in preschool and being the person your son calls when he messes up. 🎥 More episodes of The In-Between Years: https://www.youtube.com/playlist?list=PL5PQdZxg7tKt8h6QP9G8kRWdNs4XHK-ky Looking for more support in the in-between years of parenting? Good Inside Teen gives you practical tools, scripts, and expert guidance for the moments that can feel most overwhelming with tweens and teens: https://www.goodinside.com/lp/teen-parenting/?utm_source=youtube&utm_medium=social&utm_campaign=traffic%20_teen&utm_content=description_20260717_expert_sheryl Thank you to our partners for making this episode possible: Frida: Shop Frida for Kids at Walmart and Amazon today Good Inside’s Dr. Becky and Dr. Sheryl have a new show on YouTube - Teens & Screens, a bi-weekly video series helping parents navigate today’s biggest technology questions. Watch the first episode on youtube.com/@goodinside. #goodinside #drsheryl #raisingboys #puberty #tweenparenting #teenparenting #parenting