What if your baby’s sleep was a language you just haven’t become fluent in yet?

It can be frustrating to try to figure out what interrupted sleep, resistant naps, or frequent waking are telling us. But if we start looking at this as a language we can learn, the cues become like words, and patterns begin to form sentences that help us understand what our baby needs.

Mentioned in this episode:

1. Listen to the clues that help you figure out sleep.
2. Know that sleep may be communicating something outside of sleep altogether.
3. The need for connection and safety may be the key thing your baby is communicating.
4. What are the clues we see when sleep is going well? (It’s not just long stretches of sleep!)
5. How do we translate what we are seeing with baby sleep when it’s not going well?

What you can do next:

• Subscribe to this podcast and share it with a friend!

• Download the Baby Sleep Connection Podcast Listener Guide at www.familysleep.ca/links

• ⁠Work with Heather⁠ inside the Confident & Connected Baby Sleep group program or one-on-one.

• Find previous episodes of the podcast at familysleep.ca/podcast

Credits:

🎵 Music: Jordan Wood

Have you been doing “everything right” with your baby’s schedule, following a rigid instructions of a nap and bedtime schedule you found in a book or online and still feel like sleep isn’t working?

Listen to 3 key perspectives that will have you rethinking your relationship to your baby’s sleep schedule.

Ultimately:

1. Sleep schedules are tools, not solutions.
2. Stress (in you or your baby) can lead to sleep disruptions that no schedule can fix. Address the stress, connect, and regulate the nervous system.
3. Regulation strategies that focus on connection help you see more clearly what sleep routine or schedule works best for your baby in this moment
4. Sensory strategies that use movement, proprioception, heavy work, and vestibular experiences are an important foundation to a regulated nervous system that can fall asleep more easily.

What you can do next:

• Subscribe to this podcast and share it with a friend!

• Download the Baby Sleep Connection Podcast Listener Guide at www.familysleep.ca/podcast -it includes a breakdown of how much sleep to expect at each age

• ⁠Work with Heather⁠ inside the Confident & Connected Baby Sleep group program or one-on-one.

Credits:

🎵 Music: Jordan Wood

Whether you are a first-time mom or have multiple kids, there are a few things Heather would want to share with you over a cup of tea (or decaf Americano) to make sleep development easier to navigate.

Listen in as she reassures listeners that:

Your baby is not broken (and you did NOT break their sleep)

Your approach is going to be unique and doesn’t have to follow the rules of any one approach.

There’s no “good enough parent club” you have to tick boxes in to be a member in good standing.

You deserve support and you aren’t supposed to do this all on your own.

Worth exploring after this episode:

• Self-Care versus Community Care: Episode 18 of The Baby Sleep Connection with Mr. Chazz https://infantsleep.ca/podcast/ep-18-mr-chazz-lewis/

What you can do next:

• Subscribe to this podcast and share it with a friend!

• Download the Baby Sleep Connection Podcast Listener Guide at www.familysleep.ca/links for a resource on how much sleep your baby likely needs at each age and stage and more

• Book a Sleep Screening Call familysleep.ca/contact

• Find previous episodes of the podcast at familysleep.ca/podcast

Credits:

🎵 Music: Jordan Wood

Angela Sacco talks with Heather about how to give birth through the perspective of yoga.

In the interview we talk about:

How sounds during labour support opening of your cervix (and what sounds to make)

Breath, and its role in birthing your baby

How the vagus nerve supports you in staying in a regulated parasympathetic state and staying out of sympathetic fight or flight

The connection between fear and pain

Visualizing (and how it’s ok if it’s not a strategy that you lean on)

How much a sense of community is underestimated in supporting pregnancy and motherhood

The number one question parents ask Angela

Trusting your instincts

What you really need when you have your baby (spoiler: it’s not as much as you think)

Angela’s roles, past and present, as doula, yoga instructor, and owner of Between Mothers in St. Catharines Ontario

And much more

We also get interrupted by a phone ringing and a cat meowing (#reallife)

To learn more about Angela, go to betweenmothers.ca, facebook.com/betweenmothers

What you can do next:

Subscribe to this podcast and share it with a friend!

Don’t miss the next episode of The Baby Sleep Connection: ⁠Sign up for weekly baby sleep emails (which includes a heads up when a new podcast episode is released

⁠Work with Heather⁠ inside the Confident & Connected Baby Sleep group program or one-on-one.

Find previous episodes of the podcast at infantsleep.ca/podcast

Credits:

🎵 Music: Jordan Wood

You Ask, I Answer!

Join Heather as she answers questions about how to bridge to the next connection without interrupting the bedtime routine, and how to problem solve 2 hour bedtimes.

She covers:

• What is bridging to the next connection?

• How to use the Boomerang method of leaving your child at bedtime, but returning before they call out to you (or chase you out of the room!)

• Ways to reconnect and build trust that you’re coming back

• How to use connection, play, and song to allow sleep to happen.

• Why 2 hour bedtimes are usually a timing issue

• How to change naps, gaps (between last nap and bedtime), and bedtiming to solve 2 hour bedtimes

• How total sleep in a 24 hour period can impact bedtimes and bedtiming

• How to use temporarily late bedtimes to eliminate long bedtimes

• How to role back bedtime to a reasonable hour!

Mentioned in this episode:

• Episode 49 Bridging to the Next Connection https://open.spotify.com/episode/2Js2U8TkS53CdsnBpi1J5d?si=42a7b4021a894f55

What you can do next:

• Subscribe to this podcast and share it with a friend!

• Download the Baby Sleep Connection Podcast Listener Guide at www.familysleep.ca/links

• ⁠Work with Heather⁠ inside the Confident & Connected Baby Sleep group program or one-on-one.

• Ask your sleep question!  Email Heather at [email protected] (use the subject line You Ask I Answer Podcast)

• Find previous episodes of the podcast at infantsleep.ca/podcast

Credits:

 🎵 Music: Jordan Wood

Join Heather Boyd as she talks to Carrie Bennett, a health educator in the emerging field of quantum biology, about using light to optimize health and sleep.  Carrie has a background in biology, nutrition and body work.  Her work is focused on supporting clients by translating and applying research and knowledge about using light and water for promoting optimal health.

In this episode, Heather and Carrie talk about:

• Quantum Biology: what is it?

• How to use natural light exposure to improve sleep and health

• The value of true darkness at night

• The biology of ultraviolet light

• What times of day to consider light exposure

• Carrie’s simple recommendations for increasing light exposure safely

• UVA’s link to serotonin, melatonin, and tryptophan

• Sunlight’s link to serotonin and healthy bowel movements

• How where you place your lighting impacts your circadian rhythm

• Red light blue light: what colour and kind of bulbs are best?

• Why you can still get the benefits of light sitting on the grass in the shade of a tree 

Mentioned in this episode:

• My Circadian App

• Hooga lights

• The Carnegie Curve

Published Research about concepts covered in this episode:

• Red blood cells have a negative charge; zeta potential; Rouleaux Formation https://pmc.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/articles/PMC3415751/

• Earthing restores negative charge on red blood cells https://pmc.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/articles/PMC3576907/

• Environmental light exposure and melatonin https://pmc.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/articles/PMC9855654/

Where you can find Carrie:

• carriebwellness.com

• Instagram https://www.instagram.com/carriebwellness/

• Youtube https://www.youtube.com/@carriebwellness

• Podcast https://www.youtube.com/@QuantumConversationsPodcast

What you can do next:

• Subscribe to this podcast and share it with a friend!

• Download the Baby Sleep Connection Podcast Listener Guide at www.familysleep.ca/links

• ⁠Work with Heather⁠ inside the Confident & Connected Baby Sleep group program or one-on-one.

• Find previous episodes of the podcast at infantsleep.ca/podcast

Credits:🎵 Music: Jordan Wood

In this episode, Heather answers real questions from tired parents looking for solutions.

We cover two questions about independent sleep:

1. How do I stop holding my 15 month old’s hand for her to fall asleep?

2. How do I help my 3 and 5 year old fall asleep independently?

To answer these questions, Heather describes sleep support strategies that respect your baby’s need for safety and security, stage of development, and temperament.

Listen in to hear how the Loved to Sleep method can help you change how a 15 month old falls asleep, and what the Boomerang Method and Bridging to the Next Connection can do to support your preschooler’s sleep.

Mentioned in this episode:

• Andrea Strang and Jen Verela's Loved to Sleep https://lovedtosleep.com/

• Gordon Neufeld’s Roots of Attachment neufeldinstitute.org

• Lyndsay Hookway's Holistic Sleep Coach lyndsayhookway.com

Do you have a question you want answered on the podcast?

• Leave a text or voice note for Heather in Whatsapp at 905-749-8254 and I may use your question on a future episode.

What you can do next:

• Subscribe to this podcast and share it with a friend!

• Download the Baby Sleep Connection Podcast Listener Guide at www.familysleep.ca/links

• ⁠Work with Heather⁠ inside the Confident & Connected Baby Sleep group program or one-on-one.

• Find links to the podcast at familysleep.ca/podcast

Credits:

Credits:🎵 Music: Jordan Wood

Let’s talk about the 4-month sleep regression: what it is, what it’s not, and how to manage it.

In this episode, Heather Boyd, occupational therapist and sleep coach, explores what’s happening at the 4-month mark and how to move past the worry and fear about this stage of your baby’s development.

You’ll learn:

• An alternative perspective on the entire idea of a 4-month sleep “regression

• What’s happening in your baby’s brain and body at 4 months

• Why sleep is sensitive at this stage

• What makes this stage difficult for some babies

• 4 strategies for supporting your 4 month old baby

• That if sleep is difficult, it doesn’t mean you’re doing it wrong 

 Mentioned in this episode:

• Parent Self-Care resource https://heatherboyd.vipmembervault.com/products/courses/view/1090681

• Baby Sleep Mini Course (50% off in June 2025 with the code JUNEBUG): https://familysleep.ca/baby-sleep-course

What you can do next:

• Subscribe to this podcast and share it with a friend!

• Download the Baby Sleep Connection Podcast Listener Guide at www.familysleep.ca/links

• ⁠Work with Heather⁠ inside the Confident & Connected Baby Sleep group program or one-on-one.

• Find previous episodes of the podcast at infantsleep.ca/podcast

Credits:🎵 Music: Jordan Wood

If there was one theme in my practice in the past year, it was night weaning and how to do it with respect, reason, and responsiveness.  So today’s episode is right on the mark.

My colleague and friend, Kim Hawley, IBCLC and Holistic Sleep Coach, shares perspectives and guidance on night feeding and weaning, and its relationship to sleep.

Kim Hawley, MA, MPH, IBCLC is a Holistic Sleep Coach, Lactation Consultant, Peaceful Parenting Educator, mom, and the host of The Responsive Family Sleep Podcast. She helps tired parents bring together developmental knowledge, sleep science, and their intuition to improve family sleep. Her specialty is holistic, responsive sleep support for babies, toddlers, and nursing families. Kim lives in Capitol Hill, Washington DC with her husband, 2 kids, guide dog, and cat. She loves running, listening to audio books, coffee, chocolate, and wine.

Listen for:

• 2 questions Kim wants parents to ask themselves when considering night weaning

• What age may be easier to night wean (you might be surprised!)

• What age tends not to be easy!

• Feeding is more than calories

• How the sensory system, nervous system regulation, and temperament play roles in night weaning

• Perspectives on how much of a gamble to put on night weaning helping sleep

• The fear Kim and I are seeing from parents about big feelings from your toddler

• Setting loving limits

• Kim’s favourite picture books about night weaning

• Strategies for setting the stage for night weaning

Mentioned in this episode:

• Research on the parent experience of weaning a toddler (covered in Heather’s blog, https://familysleep.ca/blog/nightweaning)

Where you can find Kim:

• Website: https://intuitiveparentingdc.com/

• The Responsive Family Sleep Podcast: https://intuitiveparentingdc.com/podcast

• https://www.instagram.com/intuitive_parenting_dc/

• https://www.facebook.com/intuitiveparentingdc

What you can do next:

 Subscribe to this podcast and share it with a friend!

 Download the Baby Sleep Connection Podcast Listener Guide at www.familysleep.ca/podcast

 ⁠Work with Heather⁠ inside the Confident & Connected Baby Sleep group program or one-on-one.

 Find previous episodes of the podcast at familysleep.ca/podcast

 Stay tuned for a collaborative project Kim and I are working on!

Credits:🎵 Music: Jordan Wood

Wondering if your newborn’s sleep is normal?

In this episode, Heather Boyd, occupational therapist and sleep coach, breaks down what to expect in the first few months of sleep development.

Listen in to hear:

• What sleep looks like in the first few months

• What movements, sounds, and behaviours you’ll see in your newborn when they are sleeping

• What reflexes, breathing patterns, and movement patterns you’ll see from your newborn

• When sleep cycles and consolidated night time sleep start to develop, and what you can do to help

• The role that routines play in supporting your baby’s sleep

• Your role in supporting newborn sleep

Mentioned in this episode:

• Baby Tired Cues resource (and resources from other episodes) https://heatherboyd.vipmembervault.com/products/units/view/1654580/?lesson=2922858

What you can do next:

• Subscribe to this podcast and share it with a friend!

• Download the Baby Sleep Connection Podcast Listener Guide at www.familysleep.ca/links

• ⁠Work with Heather⁠ inside the Confident & Connected Baby Sleep group program or one-on-one.

• Find previous episodes of the podcast at infantsleep.ca/podcast

Credits:🎵 Music: Jordan Wood