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This episode is going to ruffle some feathers especially within the online motherhood realm, however it's one that needs to be shared. I understand the initial reaction some will have of defensiveness, however I appreciate you letting that initial feeling simmer and continuing to listen with an open mind.

It's never too late to change your mind! I did a few years back.

I sit down with journalist Fortesa Latifi who is the author of "Like, Follow, Subscribe: Influencer Kids and the Cost of a Childhood Online". She reveals what her interviews with famous mom influencers, their children and nannies have described about what actually goes on behind the cameras.

We examine:

• The ramifications of a child's digital footprint through multiple angles and what the future holds 
• Which current events were going on in 2023 that attributed to the trend of hiding children's faces online
• Is it true that AI can unveil a child's face behind an emoji placed over it?
• Which type of child content gets the most engagement from family vloggers? It might surprise you.
• How is being a minor showcased online different from being a minor on a tv show or in a movie?
• How does the law protect children online?
• Why do certain demographics tend to fall into the family vlogging world?

Grab your copy of Fortesa's book here!

Fortesa's Instagram 

Support the show

THANKS TO SPONSORS:

Wild Nutritionist!

Use code MOTR to save 35% off Mama Baby Biome Method AND First Foods Plan

and

TEMPDROP!

use code momsofftherecord at checkout for 10% off your fertility awareness method Basal Body Temperature (BBT) armband here

Stay Connected With Me:

Subscribe to Moms Off The Record on YouTube

JOIN THE MOTR PRIVATE COMMUNITY here 

Book a potty training 1:1 consult with me here

Discount codes & links to my favorite courses and products here

Love Moms off the Record? You can directly support the show here

Thank you for leaving a rating and written review on Apple and Spotify! This is the best, free way to support the podcast.

Follow MOTR on instagram here

Thanks to our sponsors:

Tempdrop!

Use code momsofftherecord to get a 10% discount on your fertility monitor here: https://www.tempdrop.com/

Wild Nutritionist!

Use code MOTR to save 35% off Mama Baby Biome Method AND First Foods Plan

If you are childcare-curious or actively seeking any type of childcare for your babies or toddlers, you need to listen to this solo episode. I leave no stone unturned.

I talk about just about every single variation of childcare from my personal and professional experience both on the receiving and giving end from pre-motherhood and currently as a mom of two toddlers.

In this solo I discuss:

• the challenges of full-time outsourcing childcare to grandparents
• the differences between preschool and daycare
• what exactly is a mother's helper and what is her function?
• why and when might you want a mother's helper vs. a sitter vs. a nanny?
• why might a stay-at-home mom want or need childcare assistance
• the challenges of trying to piecemeal the best care and support when we do not live in a hunter-gatherer society

Looking for a caretaker for your baby or toddler? I've created a guide full of the best questions you can ask your daycare, preschool, nanny, sitter or mother's helper to gauge if they're the right fit. 

Grab your free Caretaker Guide Here

Support the show

THANKS TO SPONSORS:

Wild Nutritionist!

Use code MOTR to save 35% off Mama Baby Biome Method AND First Foods Plan

and

TEMPDROP!

use code momsofftherecord at checkout for 10% off your fertility awareness method Basal Body Temperature (BBT) armband here

Stay Connected With Me:

Subscribe to Moms Off The Record on YouTube

JOIN THE MOTR PRIVATE COMMUNITY here 

Book a potty training 1:1 consult with me here

Discount codes & links to my favorite courses and products here

Love Moms off the Record? You can directly support the show here

Thank you for leaving a rating and written review on Apple and Spotify! This is the best, free way to support the podcast.

Follow MOTR on instagram here

Use code momsofftherecord to get a 10% discount on your fertility monitor here: https://www.tempdrop.com/

Whether your goal is to prevent or plan pregnancy, and better yet you want to avoid non-evidenced based, toxic, and synthetic methods, you NEED to listen to this.

Carly Hartwig (@cleanlivingwithcarly) and I discuss:

• Why is the fertility awareness method an evidence-based, effective way of preventing or planning for pregnancy? How does it differ from the rhythm method? What about Natural Family Planning?
• What's the difference between the Billings, Justisse, and Marquette methods, and why did Carly choose to become certified in Justisse?
• Why are women accidentally becoming pregnant when using the app Natural Cycles? What about when wearing condoms?
• Are vasectomies and "non-hormonal" IUDs really harmless?
• How do we want to introduce FAM to our daughters?
• Is perimenopause real? What are the symptoms?
• Is HRT (hormone-replacement therapy) always bad?)

Use code momsofftherecord to get a 10% discount on your fertility monitor here: https://www.tempdrop.com/

Support the show

THANKS TO SPONSORS:

Wild Nutritionist!

Use code MOTR to save 35% off Mama Baby Biome Method AND First Foods Plan

and

TEMPDROP!

use code momsofftherecord at checkout for 10% off your fertility awareness method Basal Body Temperature (BBT) armband here

Stay Connected With Me:

Subscribe to Moms Off The Record on YouTube

JOIN THE MOTR PRIVATE COMMUNITY here 

Book a potty training 1:1 consult with me here

Discount codes & links to my favorite courses and products here

Love Moms off the Record? You can directly support the show here

Thank you for leaving a rating and written review on Apple and Spotify! This is the best, free way to support the podcast.

Follow MOTR on instagram here

Thanks to sponsor Wild Nutritionist!

Use code MOTR to save 35% off Mama Baby Biome Method AND First Foods Plan

I sat down with Aaron Siri, Managing Partner of the NYC-based law-firm Siri & Glimstad specializing in vaccine injury, RFK Jr.s attorney during his presidential campaign, and the author of Vaccines, Amen the Religion of Vaccines.

We discuss

• the conflicts of interest between the nation's leading vaccinologists, vaccine manufacturers, and the United States government.
• how vaccine manufacturers were able to get away with administering medical products that have never been proven to be safe
• what is fundamentally wrong with the clinical trials performed for vaccines
• myths and lies we've been fed about how vaccines are responsible for saving lives
• the legal process that occurs when a parent sues for a vaccine injury

Follow Aaron Siri on instagram 

Use code MOTR to save 35% off Mama Baby Biome Method AND First Foods Plan

Support the show

THANKS TO SPONSORS:

Wild Nutritionist!

Use code MOTR to save 35% off Mama Baby Biome Method AND First Foods Plan

and

TEMPDROP!

use code momsofftherecord at checkout for 10% off your fertility awareness method Basal Body Temperature (BBT) armband here

Stay Connected With Me:

Subscribe to Moms Off The Record on YouTube

JOIN THE MOTR PRIVATE COMMUNITY here 

Book a potty training 1:1 consult with me here

Discount codes & links to my favorite courses and products here

Love Moms off the Record? You can directly support the show here

Thank you for leaving a rating and written review on Apple and Spotify! This is the best, free way to support the podcast.

Follow MOTR on instagram here

Today I chat with my second-cousin Megan who is a younger yet ever so wise Millennial toddler mom and Renaissance woman. Our moms are first cousins. Megan has worked as a doula and now runs a doula placement agency in Southern California. She’s also a mom to a three-and-a-half-year-old daughter, an IBCLC, and a Nurse Practitioner. 

Have you heard of the company Carrot? Women who are not even adequately trained to be postpartum doulas are able to bypass the necessary time and in-person training it takes in order to become one in order to get their piece of the pie. Why is this problematic? When families hire a postpartum doula, the expectation is that the entire family unit will be cared for including the home. There is an expectation that breastfeeding support will be offered and that the postpartum doula is actually knowledgeable about breastfeeding. Instead, women are able to claim the title of postpartum doula while actually stepping into the misleading role of overnight nanny or newborn care specialist.

During this episode, I also ask Megan for her nuanced opinions on bottle and pacifier usage (it’s not so black-and-white!). We discuss what is really attributing to textbook low supply.

We delve into a breastfeeding technique I had never heard of before called “reverse cycling” and why we think it’s so seldom discussed. It’s typically used as a strategy for moms who must return to work and don’t want to affect their supply or offer formula, so they hold off on nursing all day and then nurse truly on-demand all throughout the night. It does require bedsharing in order to be successful.

I ask her what is the worst breastfeeding advice she’s ever heard as someone who is trained as an IBCLC, a Nurse Practitioner, a former doula and a toddler mom who is still nursing.

Despite having to return to work outside the home (part-time for 12 hour shifts!), Megan is still successfully nursing her 3.5 year old.

Connect/book a consult with Megan here.

Grab your FREE guide:

Questions To Ask A Prospective Birth Attendant or Midwife

Support the show

THANKS TO SPONSORS:

Wild Nutritionist!

Use code MOTR to save 35% off Mama Baby Biome Method AND First Foods Plan

and

TEMPDROP!

use code momsofftherecord at checkout for 10% off your fertility awareness method Basal Body Temperature (BBT) armband here

Stay Connected With Me:

Subscribe to Moms Off The Record on YouTube

JOIN THE MOTR PRIVATE COMMUNITY here 

Book a potty training 1:1 consult with me here

Discount codes & links to my favorite courses and products here

Love Moms off the Record? You can directly support the show here

Thank you for leaving a rating and written review on Apple and Spotify! This is the best, free way to support the podcast.

Follow MOTR on instagram here

Thanks to sponsor Wild Nutritionist!

Use code MOTR to save 35% off Mama Baby Biome Method AND First Foods Plan

In this solo, I discuss why I chose to nightwean each of my children when I did and how I returned to my "why" when staying committed to nightweaning felt hard in the middle of the night.

I explain which strategies worked vs. which didn't. Why I nightweaned my son at 21 months old vs. my daughter at 17 months old and what it meant for each of their breastfeeding relationships with me.

Each of my children, as I'm sure each of yours, have such different temperaments. There is no one-size-fits-all nightweaning blueprint. A lot of it is a mix of your maternal intuition coupled with some trial and error. There are general guidelines of definitive nos and yes's with the process, but there is no bypassing the hard parts. Like with any other challenging milestone, it must be met head on. This is something I kind of learned the hard way.

I explain when I believe it is developmentally inappropriate vs. appropriate to night wean and when the benefits of nightweaning outweigh the benefits of night nursing. I also talk about how and when your husband can get on board with helping.

For more support with nightweaning, join dozens of other women in the private Moms Off The Record community. We have an active nightweaning thread within the forum with other first-hand accounts and success stories!

Use code MOTR to save 35% off Mama Baby Biome Method AND First Foods Plan

Support the show

THANKS TO SPONSORS:

Wild Nutritionist!

Use code MOTR to save 35% off Mama Baby Biome Method AND First Foods Plan

and

TEMPDROP!

use code momsofftherecord at checkout for 10% off your fertility awareness method Basal Body Temperature (BBT) armband here

Stay Connected With Me:

Subscribe to Moms Off The Record on YouTube

JOIN THE MOTR PRIVATE COMMUNITY here 

Book a potty training 1:1 consult with me here

Discount codes & links to my favorite courses and products here

Love Moms off the Record? You can directly support the show here

Thank you for leaving a rating and written review on Apple and Spotify! This is the best, free way to support the podcast.

Follow MOTR on instagram here

Thanks to sponsor Wild Nutritionist!

Use code MOTR to save 35% off Mama Baby Biome Method AND First Foods Plan

Elena Bridgers is a mother of two, science writer and researcher with a focus on maternal health and well-being, examined through the lens of evolutionary mismatch.

Her personal journey of finding motherhood challenging after choosing to have two-under-two and going through extreme sleep deprivation led her to ask why this is so hard. How did our ancestors do this?

While Elena is a big fan of Michaeleen Doucleff, author of "Hunt, Gather, Parent," she points out that Michaeleen's focus is on parenting strategies whereas Elena examines the social context in which our ancestors mothered.

In this episode we discuss, from a hunter-gatherer evolutionary perspective:

• interpregnancy intervals
• breastfeeding as birth control
• weaning from nursing
• tandem feeding
• the tradwife movement and having very large families
• Bedsharing vs. sleep training
• Alloparenting, "free" childcare, and the nuance with daycare

Use code MOTR to save 35% off the Mama Baby Biome Method and First Foods Plan.

Subscribe to Elena's Substack (it's one of my personal favorites!)

Follow Elena on Instagram

Support the show

THANKS TO SPONSORS:

Wild Nutritionist!

Use code MOTR to save 35% off Mama Baby Biome Method AND First Foods Plan

and

TEMPDROP!

use code momsofftherecord at checkout for 10% off your fertility awareness method Basal Body Temperature (BBT) armband here

Stay Connected With Me:

Subscribe to Moms Off The Record on YouTube

JOIN THE MOTR PRIVATE COMMUNITY here 

Book a potty training 1:1 consult with me here

Discount codes & links to my favorite courses and products here

Love Moms off the Record? You can directly support the show here

Thank you for leaving a rating and written review on Apple and Spotify! This is the best, free way to support the podcast.

Follow MOTR on instagram here

JOIN AMANDA'S UPCOMING MOTHERPRINT COHORT ON FEB 23RD! 

Today I'm joined by LCSW Amanda Texeira who is a mom of three boys and a holistic, trauma-informed therapist. to unpack one of the most misunderstood and overused phrases in modern motherhood: nervous system regulation.

Somewhere along the way, “regulated” became synonymous with “calm.”
If you’re not calm all the time? You must be dysregulated!

Amanda debunks this myth.

We talk about the pendulum swing in motherhood content: from hyper-curated, perfectly curated moments to victim-mindset misery. We discuss how algorithm-driven black-and-white parenting advice like never saying the word “no” can actually make moms more dysregulated, ironically.

We explore:

• Why calm ≠ regulated
• The difference between congruent responses and suppression
• How to model emotional intelligence
• Why yelling “NO!” when your child runs toward traffic is actually regulated
• Why Amanda doesn't like parenting scripts
• The performative side of “gentle parenting”
• How algorithm-fed content can manufacture misery
• When "mental load" rhetoric is helpful vs. harmful

We close by talking about congruency, repair cycles, environmental regulation myths, and why your reaction often makes sense even when Instagram denies it.

Follow Amanda on instagram

Check out all of Amanda's incredible services and courses here

Support the show

THANKS TO SPONSORS:

Wild Nutritionist!

Use code MOTR to save 35% off Mama Baby Biome Method AND First Foods Plan

and

TEMPDROP!

use code momsofftherecord at checkout for 10% off your fertility awareness method Basal Body Temperature (BBT) armband here

Stay Connected With Me:

Subscribe to Moms Off The Record on YouTube

JOIN THE MOTR PRIVATE COMMUNITY here 

Book a potty training 1:1 consult with me here

Discount codes & links to my favorite courses and products here

Love Moms off the Record? You can directly support the show here

Thank you for leaving a rating and written review on Apple and Spotify! This is the best, free way to support the podcast.

Follow MOTR on instagram here

I have no clue whether Erik and I will have a third baby. We're both leaving the door open for that possibility. What we do know though is we're waiting minimum 3-4 years between baby 3 and our second baby. Probably leaning closer to 4 years.

With two kids just over two years apart, I reflect on what the postpartum period was actually like for me, especially as a mom who parents intentionally, prefers not to take shortcuts or use literal or metaphorical pacifiers, and mothers in alignment with biological norms. Hint: I had to take shortcuts. I needed to give myself a lot of grace.

I examine factors such as my personal capacity, my kids' and my own temperaments, resources, age, energy, and milestones I would prefer for my second baby to reach before we even begin to think about trying for a third IF we eventually decide to have a third. 

In this episode, I talk about:

• What postpartum really looked like with two kids 26 months apart
• My theory for why “two under two” works for some families and not for others
• The physical and emotional toll of back-to-back pregnancies and extended breastfeeding
• What bigger age gaps actually mean for sibling bonds
• Hunter-gatherer family spacing and modern pressures around fertility
• Egg quality vs. egg quantity (and why I’m not afraid of pregnancy in my late 30s)

If you’re a mom who feels conflicted about wanting to wait or pressured to hurry up, this conversation is for you.

Support the show

THANKS TO SPONSORS:

Wild Nutritionist!

Use code MOTR to save 35% off Mama Baby Biome Method AND First Foods Plan

and

TEMPDROP!

use code momsofftherecord at checkout for 10% off your fertility awareness method Basal Body Temperature (BBT) armband here

Stay Connected With Me:

Subscribe to Moms Off The Record on YouTube

JOIN THE MOTR PRIVATE COMMUNITY here 

Book a potty training 1:1 consult with me here

Discount codes & links to my favorite courses and products here

Love Moms off the Record? You can directly support the show here

Thank you for leaving a rating and written review on Apple and Spotify! This is the best, free way to support the podcast.

Follow MOTR on instagram here

I welcome my friend Celanie Jones for an honest, intricate conversation about sovereignty and what it actually means, without the catchy buzzwords, and how it’s often distorted in modern motherhood and within spiritual communities. Celanie is a homeschooling mom of two young children and local Weston A. Price chapter leader.

Celanie shares her rocky but redemptive journey through abuse, trauma, pregnancy termination, postpartum psychosis, and her time inside the Free Birth Society, where the language of sovereignty was used ironically to control rather than to encourage autonomy. We unpack how real sovereignty isn’t about rejecting systems blindly but rather listening to your own body without the outside influence of another leader or expert.

This episode explores:
 • What sovereignty actually means on a nervous-system level
 • How cult dynamics show up in “crunchy” and spiritual motherhood spaces
 • The role of trauma in people-pleasing and submission
 • Why changing your mind is a powerful act of sovereignty
 • How to tell if you’re truly making your own choices

Please share your feedback within the comments section of Spotify or on instagram. We welcome your respectful discourse!

follow Celanie at @bodilywaysofknowing

Support the show

THANKS TO SPONSORS:

Wild Nutritionist!

Use code MOTR to save 35% off Mama Baby Biome Method AND First Foods Plan

and

TEMPDROP!

use code momsofftherecord at checkout for 10% off your fertility awareness method Basal Body Temperature (BBT) armband here

Stay Connected With Me:

Subscribe to Moms Off The Record on YouTube

JOIN THE MOTR PRIVATE COMMUNITY here 

Book a potty training 1:1 consult with me here

Discount codes & links to my favorite courses and products here

Love Moms off the Record? You can directly support the show here

Thank you for leaving a rating and written review on Apple and Spotify! This is the best, free way to support the podcast.

Follow MOTR on instagram here