The Experience Miracles Podcast

Q&A What Can I do at Home to Help Regulate My Child’s Nervous System?

Nov 22, 2024

How to Regulate Your Child’s Nervous System at Home: Dr. Tony’s Top Strategies

Episode 54, Experience Miracles Podcast | Host: Dr. Tony Ebel, DC, CACCP, Pediatric Chiropractor & Founder of PX Docs | Published: November 22, 2024 | Duration: ~42 min

Key Takeaways

  • Outdoor time is the single most powerful tool for nervous system regulation, Dr. Tony Ebel recommends hours outside daily, even in cold weather, because nature provides the vestibular and proprioceptive input that children with sensory processing challenges, ADHD, and anxiety are actively searching for.
  • A regulation-friendly home includes device-free rooms stocked with old-school toys (sensory bins, board games, building blocks), Dr. Tony’s family follows a 90/10 rule: 90% outdoor and non-electronic, 10% screens.
  • Deep pressure activities, bear hugs, wrestling, weighted blankets, and compression clothing, deliver proprioceptive stimulation that is measurably calming to an overstressed nervous system.
  • Routine and structure, especially a protected bedtime wind-down with devices off long before sleep, are non-negotiable for keeping the autonomic nervous system in a regulated state.
  • When home strategies consistently fail to produce results after trying nature, sensory tools, supplements, and therapies, the nervous system likely needs the foundational repair that only Neurologically-Focused Chiropractic Care provides.

What Are the Best Ways to Regulate Your Child’s Nervous System at Home?

Nervous system dysregulation in children shows up across every body system: gut dysfunction, weakened immunity, mood instability, sleep problems, sensory sensitivities, and social-emotional struggles. When a child is stuck in Sympathetic Dominance, the chronic fight-or-flight state, no behavioral intervention reaches the root cause.

Dr. Tony Ebel, DC, CACCP has spent 15 years in clinical practice watching families try every strategy available before finding real answers. In this episode, he walks through a ranked list of the most effective at-home tools for nervous system regulation, designed for families navigating sensory processing disorder, ADHD, anxiety, autism, epilepsy, and PANDAS, as well as for parents whose own nervous systems are equally depleted.

The critical distinction Dr. Tony draws: home strategies are tools for nervous system regulation and promotion, not the same as nervous system healing. For children who have experienced The Perfect Storm (prenatal stress + birth trauma + early toxin exposure), the underlying dysfunction is often too deep for at-home tools alone. Knowing which category your child falls into, needing regulation support versus needing foundational healing, determines which kind of help will actually produce results.

Introduction: What Is a Dysregulated Nervous System? [00:00 – 04:00]

Dr. Tony Ebel, DC, CACCP: This episode was born from two questions that came in 30 minutes apart, both parents asking essentially the same thing: “What can we do at home to help our child’s nervous system?”

The second question went deeper: is it really only chiropractic that can reset a nervous system that’s been broken down, because this listener had already tried everything else?

A dysregulated nervous system, what we technically call dysautonomia, means nothing’s working right. Gut is a mess. Immune system is a mess. Motor system is a mess. Mood, emotions, and socialization are a mess. Hormones are a mess. Those terms apply to little ones, grade school kids, teenagers, and adults.

Before getting into the list, I want to make something clear: these home strategies are awesome. They are powerful. They belong in your toolkit. But they’re the side of the toolkit that’s more for health promotion and proactive nervous system regulation, not the heavy-duty repair work that some nervous systems need.

God’s Design for Healing, and Where Chiropractic Fits In [04:00 – 12:00]

Dr. Tony Ebel: I believe that in 1895, God knew the industrial, chemical, pharmaceutical, iPad, anxious-generation revolution was coming. And in 1895, in a town called What Cheer, Iowa, right outside of Davenport, He sent DD Palmer, and that’s how chiropractic was born.

God is always working for us. Even when other forces seem to be working against us. There’s the obvious list: eat healthy, exercise, manage stress, hydrate, sleep. But sometimes He just knows we’re going to be up against something that list can’t fix. So He sends us providers who step into our life and say, “For this, you need this.”

“If there is a set of practitioners who should answer their phones and their DMs with ‘Welcome to the last resort. Here we are. We’ve been waiting for you and we are ready for you’, it is us as nervous system focused chiropractors.”

The home strategies I’m going through today are incredible. But the word I’ve always used is that they may not be potent enough to pack enough punch for a child whose nervous system has been that dysfunctional, that dysregulated, that sympathetic dominant, and that exhausted for so long.

I see nervous system focused chiropractors as called, crafted, trained, and placed for a time such as this.

Strategy #1, Get Outside Every Single Day [12:00 – 19:00]

Dr. Tony Ebel: Number one, and it’s not even close: get outside. I want you and your children outside for hours, plural, per day.

Here’s what you learn over the course of being a doctor: people are busy. If you say “do this three times a day,” you’ll be lucky if they do it once. So I’m pushing to always. If you just got outside one hour every single day, even in winter, because there are things called hats, jackets, and sleds, that alone would transform your family’s nervous system.

My kids are harder to get in from outside than out. We’re on a farm. They sled, build forts, have snowball fights. When we have a week indoors, homework loaded, test studying happening, sports going, my kids lose their composure. I lose my composure.

This morning, before recording this episode, I spent hours outside cleaning the barn, doing physical work with the animals. I know, by literally measuring my HRV on the device I wear, that my nervous system is more regulated, more calm, and more connected for having done it.

“Outside is so much less stimulating than inside. It gives us so many sensory experiences. Get your kids out there to the park, to nature, and let them figure it out.”

Outdoor physical activity creates vestibular (balance) and proprioceptive input directly into the brain. That’s exactly what sensory, anxious, ADHD, and dysregulated kids need more of. That’s why they stim indoors, they’re searching for the input they’re not getting. Outside is, by definition, not inside, where it’s fake light, EMFs, electrical stimulation, and overstimulation.

There’s no such thing as bad weather, only bad preparation.

Inside the House: Creating a Regulation-Friendly Environment [19:00 – 23:00]

Dr. Tony Ebel: Okay, let’s say there’s a blizzard. What do you do inside? First rule: no devices in bedrooms. No TVs, no laptops, no computers. Even for high schoolers, if they need a computer for homework, it stays portable. When it’s time to downregulate and sleep, the devices come out of the room.

You need at least one device-free room in your home. Every house my family has lived in has had a game room or toy room with zero electronics. We’ve never even allowed battery-operated or noise-making toys in there, because whose nervous system hasn’t been fried by a toy that won’t stop making noise?

Our game rooms are loaded with old-school tools: sensory bins with rice, beans, sand, and small items that engage the sense of touch; board games, puzzles, building blocks, books, drawing supplies, and painting. That’s the default when boredom hits. Not the iPad. Not the phone. Not the TV.

We live by the 90/10 rule, 90% of our family life is outside and non-electronic, focused on health, regulation, and creativity. And when we do the 10%, a movie, Nintendo Switch, the nervous system contrast actually makes it enjoyable.

Physical Activities That Calm the Brain [23:00 – 27:00]

Dr. Tony Ebel: Family walks, runs, workouts. But I want to flag something first: this list is for parents first. If your nervous system is fried and overstressed, your child is running on your foundation. You can’t regulate their nervous system without regulating yours.

About 80–90% of the time my wife and I are working out at home, at least one of our kids comes and works out with us. You don’t need a full gym, a little yoga in the basement, some basic equipment, whatever you’ll actually do. Invite your kids in. Their nervous systems benefit from the same movements.

Last thing on physical activities: foam rolling. I describe it as maybe the Walmart Dollar General version of a chiropractic adjustment, and that’s still churching it up too much, because it has nothing close to the neurological benefit. But it’s in the stimulation ballpark. Kids build up tension in the transition zones of their spine, hamstrings, and posterior chain from sitting all day. A two-to-three-minute foam rolling session is genuinely calming to the brain and nervous system. I have foam rollers throughout our house at all times, I treat it like brushing my teeth.

Deep Pressure, Touch, and Sensory Interventions [27:00 – 33:00]

Dr. Tony Ebel: Something God gave us that is ridiculously powerful: the sense of touch. Deep pressure activities are among the most effective regulation tools available.

Give your kids big, squishy bear hugs. Wrestle with them. Play with them. That’s not just fun, it’s proprioceptive sensory stimulation at its best. Weighted blankets are another favorite. We love cozying up under heavy blankets as a family.

Compression clothing is worth thinking about too, the whole athleisure market has exploded because we’re the most overstressed society in history, and there’s genuine sensory calming in light, form-fitting, compression-style clothing. For children who easily get overstressed, the right clothing matters. Make sure it’s chemical-free.

“Nothing is more powerful. Something God gave us that is just ridiculously powerful is the power of touch.”

One more thing: this is also a list of what not to do. Make sure there are no harsh chemicals in your kids’ laundry detergent. Be mindful of mold, HVAC filters, and household air quality. Any of that chemical load makes your child’s nervous system work harder to rest, recharge, and regulate.

For auditory and olfactory support: calming music, white noise, nature sounds, and essential oils all work. Each of my kids has a diffuser in their room. Key calming oils include lavender, chamomile, bergamot, frankincense, sandalwood, and vetiver. If you’re buying for kids or dads, get them labeled by function, sleep, calm, focus, rather than by ingredient.

Routines, Schedules, and Bedtime Protection [33:00 – 37:00]

Dr. Tony Ebel: The last major strategy: routine and structure. More powerful than most people realize.

Number one here: protect bedtime most. Don’t expect to turn off the devices and immediately fall asleep. That’s not how the nervous system works, not for kids, not for adults. There’s a process. Devices go off well before bed. We’ve been outside during the day. We’ve done the physical activities, the sensory stuff. By the time the bedtime routine starts, circadian rhythms and nervous system regulation are already primed for sleep.

We use a visual calendar system in our house that tracks chores and ties screen time to earning. If kids want time on the Switch or to watch a show, they earn it through their responsibilities. That structure reduces nervous system chaos because kids know what’s coming. The brain regulates better when it can predict.

Visual schedules are one of the most powerful tools for children with sensory challenges, ADHD, and anxiety. And never miss your chiropractic appointments, I’ve already worked that in a few times, but it counts here too.

When Home Strategies Aren’t Enough [37:00 – 42:00]

Dr. Tony Ebel: Sometimes, our nervous systems have just been through too much. The dysfunction, the subluxation, the dysregulation, it’s at a level where nature walks, sensory bins, OT, PT, zinc, magnesium, lavender, bergamot, white noise, music therapy, neurofeedback, sound therapy, and everything else on this list are simply not enough. They’re not potent enough. They don’t have the repair ability that nervous system healing requires.

What separates Neurologically-Focused Chiropractic Care from everything else on this list, and from everything you’ll find on Google or in any AI tool, is specificity. If you ask ChatGPT, Claude, or Perplexity for tips to regulate your nervous system at home, the tip of making a neurologically focused chiropractic adjustment using a light force technique with counterclockwise torque at C1 is not going to show up on that list.

“That is where eight years of training and 130 years of chiropractic history come in. God sent us chiropractors, and he called those in this tribe to be chiropractors for your family.”

If you’ve tried everything and can’t seem to budge, can’t get healing to happen, then it’s about sequencing. The place to start is to get into a PX Docs office.

And for those already in care: in the current environment of The Perfect Storm, toxic load, and nervous system dysregulation, sometimes it takes months. Sometimes it takes years to turn that healing boulder in the right direction. Healing is not overnight. It is not linear. It is very messy, a bumpy, whack-a-mole rollercoaster.

The home strategies we covered today are not separate from chiropractic care, they support it. All of this done regularly at home helps the job of Neurologically-Focused Chiropractic as it works to repair, release, restore, and reorganize health to the nervous system. The more good layers happening at home, the better.

Frequently Asked Questions

What does a dysregulated nervous system look like in children?

A dysregulated nervous system, clinically called dysautonomia, affects every system in the body. Children may show digestive problems, weakened immunity, mood instability, sleep disruption, sensory sensitivities, and social-emotional struggles. According to Dr. Tony Ebel, DC, CACCP, this state of Sympathetic Dominance (chronic fight-or-flight) is the shared root underneath conditions like ADHD, anxiety, sensory processing disorder, autism, and epilepsy.

What is the single best thing I can do at home to regulate my child’s nervous system?

Dr. Tony Ebel ranks outdoor time first, by a wide margin. Daily outdoor activity, ideally hours rather than minutes, provides the vestibular and proprioceptive input that dysregulated children desperately need. Physical movement in nature directly feeds sensory signals to the brainstem, the same input that anxious, sensory, and ADHD children are searching for when they stim indoors.

Do sensory tools, supplements, and therapies actually help nervous system regulation?

Yes, but with an important distinction. Dr. Tony Ebel describes these tools as powerful for nervous system regulation and promotion, not the same as nervous system healing. Sensory bins, weighted blankets, essential oils, foam rolling, and routines all support the nervous system. But for children with deep dysfunction from birth trauma or The Perfect Storm, these tools are often not potent enough without Neurologically-Focused Chiropractic Care as the foundational intervention.

Why are routines and schedules important for nervous system regulation?

The nervous system regulates better when it can predict what’s coming. Consistent daily routines, especially a protected bedtime wind-down that removes screens well before sleep, allow the autonomic nervous system to shift from Sympathetic Dominance toward a parasympathetic (rest-and-repair) state. Dr. Tony Ebel uses visual chore and schedule systems with his four children to create the predictability that supports regulation across the whole family.

When should I look into Neurologically-Focused Chiropractic Care for my child?

If your child has been through The Perfect Storm (prenatal stress, birth trauma, and early toxic exposure) and home strategies, therapies, and supplements aren’t moving the needle, the nervous system dysfunction may be too deep for these tools to address alone. Dr. Tony Ebel sees intensive cases daily, neurologically exhausted children where comprehensive conventional and holistic approaches have failed until the foundational nervous system issue is addressed through chiropractic. Find a provider through the PX Docs directory.

Can a parent’s nervous system affect their child’s?

Yes, and Dr. Tony Ebel is direct about this. Parents are the “foundation nervous system” for their children. If parents are chronically overstressed and never doing anything to regulate themselves, that dysregulation transfers. Dr. Tony recommends parents use all the same tools, outdoor time, physical activity, deep pressure, routines, and model regulation for their children before expecting it from them.

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