First Time Mum's Chat

In this week's episode of First Time Mum's Chat, I'm chatting with Sandra Kwesell who has a background working with children, youth and families in settings including day treatment, counselling, education and therapeutic settings.

Sandra's life journey is the result of her brother's mental health issues that ended in his suicide at the age of 18.

Sandra has developed her Pillars for Success parenting program to find solutions for other families that hers could not and in this episode you'll hear Sandra talk about:-

• The 3 core reasons for challenging and defiant behaviour.
• Words that she refers to as the 'C' word which when removed from your vocabulary will remove the possibility of your child responding defensively or aggressively.
• Why she uses outcomes instead of consequences and why this avoids taking you down a path that is likely to lead to negative interactions and negative outcomes.

AND much more.

So go ahead, my dear mum. Click to listen and get started.

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There is a lot of tension and insecurity around being a new parent and this becomes even more of an issue when you are away from your family. Ann-Christin Villegas knows all about this, after relocating from her native Germany to Virginia in the USA and giving birth to two girls, both in the USA!

Ann found the process frustrating and challenging finding information and resources and she kept meeting other moms and expecting women who were in the same situation and frustrated.

Ann was so passionate about the difficulties she and others were facing that it motivated her to write a book titled Becoming A Parent: A Reality Check on Pregnancy, Birth, and Baby's First Year, to help new parents and expecting parents. For Ann, it is also very important that her parents and family in Germany have the opportunity to bond with her little ones, so they visit each year.

You'll hear Ann talk in the interview about:-

• How they plan for and manage their overseas trips and overcome the challenges of flights with young infants.
• Being confident in parenting your own way and not letting self-doubt to creep in or allow others to dictate how to parent.
• The importance of treating each of your children as a unique individual with their own ways and timeframes and not basing decisions on shoulds and have-tos!

AND much more.

So go ahead, my dear mum. Click to listen and get started.

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"I love Helen and First Time Mum's Chat." <-- If that sounds like you, please consider rating and reviewing my show! This helps me support more people -- just like you -- for a smooth journey into the exciting world of parenthood. Click here, scroll to the bottom, tap to rate with five stars, and select "Write a Review." Then be sure to let me know what you loved most about the episode!

Also, if you haven't done so already, subscribe to the podcast.

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As a first time parent coping with infant feeding problems, identifying allergies and finding ways to deal with fussy eaters often feels like a fulltime occupation doesn't it! It's the last thing you need on top of the other stresses you have to deal with daily as a new parent.

I've wanted to chat with someone such as a paediatric dietitian for sometime and was delighted to recently meet Judith Lynn. Judith lives in Northern Ireland and has a background in the British health system and has tons of experience and expertise, including 10 years as a pediatric dietitian.

I really enjoyed chatting with her and she's got a great wealth of knowledge and in this episode you'll hear us talk about:-

• The psychology behind fussy eating and the reasons it may occur.
• Identifying where there is an allergy to cow milk and what are the alternatives.
• How to start introducing them to solids when they are ready.

AND much more.

So go ahead, my dear mum. Click to listen and get started.

Rate, Review, & Follow on Apple Podcasts

"I love Helen and First Time Mum's Chat." <-- If that sounds like you, please consider rating and reviewing my show! This helps me support more people -- just like you -- for a smooth journey into the exciting world of parenthood. Click here, scroll to the bottom, tap to rate with five stars, and select "Write a Review." Then be sure to let me know what you loved most about the episode!

Also, if you haven't done so already, subscribe to the podcast.

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Kinesiology is an area that has always fascinated me and something I did some training in many years ago. For those unfamiliar with kinesiology, briefly it is a system of diffusing stress and energy blocks within the body to help people move out of dis-ease into a place of wellness. It amalgamates Eastern wisdom with Western Science to facilitate energetic shifts that allow your body to heal itself from the inside out.

This week's guest Amanda Kate is a highly trained kinesiologist and transformational coach and it was great chatting with her about how she helps her clients and the tools and techniques she's used in her own healing to turn her life around from being unwell, out of alignment and miserable to happiness, vitality and connection..

In this episode you'll hear Amanda talk about:-

• The importance of teaching your children through example how to look after themselves and the importance of putting yourself first.
• The importance of filling yourself with reserves of nourishing energy to help build more tolerance to stress.
• The importance of trusting your internal compass and following your intuition.

AND much more.

So go ahead, my dear mum. Click to listen and get started.

Rate, Review, & Follow on Apple Podcasts

"I love Helen and First Time Mum's Chat." <-- If that sounds like you, please consider rating and reviewing my show! This helps me support more people -- just like you -- for a smooth journey into the exciting world of parenthood. Click here, scroll to the bottom, tap to rate with five stars, and select "Write a Review." Then be sure to let me know what you loved most about the episode!

Also, if you haven't done so already, subscribe to the podcast.

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Having spent many years looking after babies and toddlers during my career as a child care educator and more recently as a baby massage instructor, I'm not surprisingly very much used to interpreting their often non-verbal communication.

Many parents question me when I talk about this a lot when I'm teaching them how to massage their baby using the baby massage techniques.

One of the important aspects of baby massages is that you always ask your baby's permission before getting started, and many parents have no idea how to do this or interpret their baby's body language. Just because they cannot communicate with you in words doesn't mean there is no avenue of communication.

So in this episode, I'm going to talk about ways to help you communicate with your baby and understand those non-verbal cues.

So go ahead, my dear mum. Click to listen and get started.

Rate, Review, & Follow on Apple Podcasts

"I love Helen and First Time Mum's Chat." <-- If that sounds like you, please consider rating and reviewing my show! This helps me support more people -- just like you -- for a smooth journey into the exciting world of parenthood. Click here, scroll to the bottom, tap to rate with five stars, and select "Write a Review." Then be sure to let me know what you loved most about the episode!

Also, if you haven't done so already, subscribe to the podcast.

Subscribe now!

The transition into motherhood is a challenging time for many moms and there's never a more important time to ensure you look after and nurture yourself.

A recurring theme on First Time Mum's Chat has been the lack of information available to moms to help them with their own health and wellbeing during the postpartum period. Yes, it's important to always ensure that your little one is well looked after, but please don't forget to take care of you also! After all, you're not going to be at your best and give your all otherwise!

I've had a number of guests who have shared their postpartum journeys and how they have struggled with various aspects and felt alone. This week's guest Allison Lieberman owns a marriage and family therapy practice in California and focuses her energies on helping new moms and new parents transition into motherhood and parenthood. Allison's inspiration to help parents led her to start her New Mama Mentor podcast which I highly recommend listening and subscribing to.

So go ahead, my dear mum. Click to listen and get started.

Rate, Review, & Follow on Apple Podcasts

"I love Helen and First Time Mum's Chat." <-- If that sounds like you, please consider rating and reviewing my show! This helps me support more people -- just like you -- for a smooth journey into the exciting world of parenthood. Click here, scroll to the bottom, tap to rate with five stars, and select "Write a Review." Then be sure to let me know what you loved most about the episode!

Also, if you haven't done so already, subscribe to the podcast.

Subscribe now!

This week's guest Dr. Ravi Rajaratnam, is a management consultant. So what does a management consultant have to offer someone commencing their parenting journey you ask?

Well, Dr. Ravi is an accomplished mentor, coach, and speaker, and specializes in mind and brain wellness and has spent decades teaching business leaders to reach their full potential. He realized that there is a common theme that kept popping up, their belief systems, which always led back to their childhood.

This led Dr. Ravi to write his book, Hardwiring vs. Rewiring, in which he reveals how to strategies to hardwire the right skills in your little one, during their early childhood development stages.

All new parents, anyone involved in the role of caregiving will learn a lot from Dr. Ravi in this episode.

So go ahead, my dear mum. Click to listen and get started.

Rate, Review, & Follow on Apple Podcasts

"I love Helen and First Time Mum's Chat." <-- If that sounds like you, please consider rating and reviewing my show! This helps me support more people -- just like you -- for a smooth journey into the exciting world of parenthood. Click here, scroll to the bottom, tap to rate with five stars, and select "Write a Review." Then be sure to let me know what you loved most about the episode!

Also, if you haven't done so already, subscribe to the podcast.

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Being pregnant and giving birth is a dramatic time for women and taking the time to help your physical postpartum recovery is extremely important. I've interviewed a number of guests on First Time Mum's Chat who've shared their expertise and tips on dealing with such issues as pelvic floor problems, postpartum back problems and diastasis recti.

This week's guest Peter Lap has worked as a personal trainer over many years and found himself with many female clients in their 20's. Some years ago he made the decision to specialise as a post-natal exercise expert so he could help women with issues such as diastasis recti, post-natal back-neck pain and posture issues.

In this episode you'll hear Peter talk about:-

1. The causes of problems such as diastasis recti and how you can help relieve them.
2. The importance of breathing correctly and tips to improve your breathing.
3. Why exercising during your pregnancy can help reduce your postpartum recovery time.

AND much more.

So go ahead, my dear mum. Click to listen and get started.

Rate, Review, & Follow on Apple Podcasts

"I love Helen and First Time Mum's Chat." <-- If that sounds like you, please consider rating and reviewing my show! This helps me support more people -- just like you -- for a smooth journey into the exciting world of parenthood. Click here, scroll to the bottom, tap to rate with five stars, and select "Write a Review." Then be sure to let me know what you loved most about the episode!

Also, if you haven't done so already, subscribe to the podcast.

Subscribe now!

During my many years as a childcare educator, I've always tried to encourage the infants I've worked with to develop their own imagination and create their own fun and activities. Over the years, this has become increasingly challenging. There is so much competing for our kids' attention spans today isn't there! Whether it's advertising or television or the internet or social media, the list goes on and on and on.

It has been my observation that with so much content on offer, many infants and parents are losing the ability to stimulate and build their own imagination. This is hardly surprising when smartphones are so accessible and easily available to infants at an early age. During my years as a child care educator. I've always been fascinated by the Montessori approach and how it differs from mainstream childcare.

In this episode, I'm exploring the world of Montessori, since I feel it has so much to offer your little one, whether they be an infant, toddler or older child. You'll hear me talk about:-

• The Montessori Method and philosophy and why I think it's great for infant development.
• Montessori toys and ideas that are designed to promote natural learning and independence.
• How Montessori can encourage your infant to be more environmentally conscious and aware, and

AND much more.

So go ahead, my dear mum. Click to listen and get started.

Rate, Review, & Follow on Apple Podcasts

"I love Helen and First Time Mum's Chat." <-- If that sounds like you, please consider rating and reviewing my show! This helps me support more people -- just like you -- for a smooth journey into the exciting world of parenthood. Click here, scroll to the bottom, tap to rate with five stars, and select "Write a Review." Then be sure to let me know what you loved most about the episode!

Also, if you haven't done so already, subscribe to the podcast.

Subscribe now!

When it comes to the growth and development of your little one, I think it's safe to say that most mums have a tendency to be oversensitive. We all have stories to relate of parents we know or have seen being hugely over protective.

However, no one knows your little one like you do, so it's important to seek professional help if you feel something is amiss with their natural development. Always trust that gut feeling!

The earlier conditions such as ADHD and autism are diagnosed, the better, so if in doubt get on to it!

This week's guest Theresa Inman knows all about this because she works with children from birth to three years of age to help identify whether they have issues. She then provides strategies and help, in conjunction with an occupational therapist which can help prevent things from escalating.

Theresa is a Board Certified Behavior Analyst and Infant Toddler Developmental Specialist and author of the book How Can I Help My Child Communicate.

In this episode you'll hear Theresa and I talk about:-

• Why it's so important for early intervention and to get them diagnosed early during the crucial birth to aged three window and not to delay this.
• What moms can look for that could indicate issues such as speech delays or sensory issues.
• Possible signs that could point to autism.

AND much more.

So go ahead, my dear mum. Click to listen and get started.

Rate, Review, & Follow on Apple Podcasts

"I love Helen and First Time Mum's Chat." <-- If that sounds like you, please consider rating and reviewing my show! This helps me support more people -- just like you -- for a smooth journey into the exciting world of parenthood. Click here, scroll to the bottom, tap to rate with five stars, and select "Write a Review." Then be sure to let me know what you loved most about the episode!

Also, if you haven't done so already, subscribe to the podcast.

Subscribe now!