You’ve finally gotten your baby asleep in your arms. Success! Now if you can just put them down. The second you start to move them to their crib or bassinette, their eyes pop open and they start to cry. Back to square one! What to do?
This is such a common struggle. And I want to first assure you that you aren’t doing anything wrong or creating any bad sleep habits.
Read MoreThese questions come up over and over again from parents of newborns through older babies. It’s easy to understand the appeal of getting your baby on a schedule. Schedules promise predictability and control over something that feels very out of control, your babies feeding and sleeping. Strict schedules, however, are generally not the best approach for children of any age, but especially babies.
I often recommend routines rather than schedules. So, what’s the difference between a routine and a schedule?
Read More“Sleep when the baby sleeps.”
“You’ll never sleep again!”
“Newborns sleep a lot.”
“Is baby a good sleeper?”
Are these comments familiar? So many people like to share comments about normal newborn sleep, but it rarely comes with realistic, practical information to help parents understand normal sleep in these intense early months. However, understanding sleep in the early months through a developmental and evolutionary lens can dramatically change your perspective on your baby’s sleep. When your perspective shifts, you can support sleep in a way that works with your baby’s biology and leads to more sleep for the whole family.
Read MoreHolistic sleep coaching is an alternative option that is based on biologically normal sleep, responsive parenting, and gentle, family-centered methods. When you are struggling with your baby or toddler’s sleep, knowing the right path forward for your family can seem daunting. The internet and baby books are full of strict schedules and sleep advice that conflict with parenting instincts. You may feel like you have no other choice except to sleep train to improve your family’s sleep, but sleep training isn’t the only option.
Read MorePut your baby down drowsy but awake is a common piece of sleep advice, but is it really something you need to do? Many parents are warned against soothing their baby to sleep in favor of teaching them to fall asleep independently. The problem is that babies don’t often cooperate, especially very young babies, and many parents’ struggle. Everyone says it’s an essential skill in forming healthy sleep habits, so when baby won’t cooperate, it’s easy to feel like a failure.
Read MoreSo many of my clients have heard comments like these on a regular basis. It makes them feel alone, isolated, and even doubt themselves.
The good news is that you do not need to leave your baby to cry to teach them anything! And in fact, leaving a baby to cry is the exact opposite of how you help them calm down.
Though advice to leave a baby to cry to teach self-soothing is common, It’s incredibly outdated. So much sleep and parenting advice misses the very real neuroscience that disproves this concept as well as the important role of responsiveness in development.
Read MoreThe word gentle is popping up everywhere! So many professionals are using gentle to describe what they do. It’s become a marketing buzz word, and the more it’s used, the less clear it is what gentle actually means.
Read MoreAre you ready for the time change?
I’ll be honest, I completely forgot about it until last week. It snuck up on me. This year it’s November 1st so we get Halloween and a time change all in one weekend!
Read MoreSo many parents start asking “When will my baby sleep through the night” early on in their child’s life. Our culture places a strong emphasis on babies sleeping through the night. This view shapes new parent’s focus and expectations. From friends to family to pediatricians the questions and messages are the same. It is your responsibility to get your baby sleeping through the night as soon as you can. If your baby doesn’t sleep for long stretches, then you are doing something wrong, hurting their development, and undermining their ability to sleep forever!
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