Tell them what you said and put it in the syllabus with a positive spin:

"I realized I wasn't creating resilient students - I was enabling them and taking on the stress myself. I should not be working harder than them to get them to get them to a place of understanding."

Make sure they have the curriculum plan/calendar (I put mine on the walls, in the syllabus, and in the welcome email). This way, you can remind them that missing a class isn't an excuse to not know what's going on.

Reduce your office hours for students. Mine are twice a week and students have to ask the day before. Each session is no more than 15 minutes, so they have to be well prepared if they want success.

Post a list of external resources that show the curriculum. I link to YouTube videos and let them use that to replace my lectures.