Your baby’s sleep is not a reflection of your parenting. Sleep is involuntary and not in anyone’s conscious control. A parent’s role isn’t to force or micro-manage a child’s sleep, but to set up conditions that support sleep. The goal is to create an environment where your child is tired, relaxed, and feels safe and secure in order to sleep well. And well for a baby includes some amount of waking.
Read MoreFor many parents I talk to, this first month of 2022 has felt like a whole year of stress and overwhelm all on its own. To be truthful, we’ve been feeling that way in our house as well. When life is hard, when sleep is hard, when our children’s behavior is hard, the most important thing we can do is focus on self-regulation. That’s you, the parent, regulating your own emotions so you can show up in a calm, well-regulated state to support your baby or toddler.
Read MoreBeing a responsive parent is parenting against the mainstream. It’s easy to feel isolated and as though you are the only one parenting this way when all your friends and family parent from a different philosophy. While they mean well, being the only responsive parent in your support system often means lots of unwanted advice, pressure, and even criticism. Here are three things to do when you’re feeling alone as a parent.
Read MoreSo many parents reach out to me with concerns about contact naps. Sometimes they are worried about long-term sleep independence. Sometimes it’s more about sustainability. Sometimes is just an overwhelming need to start moving away from all contact sleep. Both my kids have been huge contact sleepers, so I know the struggle!
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