The Baby Sleep Connection: Holistic help for tired, responsive parents who don't want to sleep train

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

Heather explores the pressure she felt as a new mom to “measure up” and be “attachment-based enough”.  This pressure to be good enough is a theme that comes up often in her one-on-one and sleep group work.

In this episode, Heather explores:

• “Attachment Parenting” and the 7 B’s

• Why checklist parenting undermines what is truly important to you (and what to focus on instead)

• The freedom in knowing that not every moment is perfect

• The questions parents ask about whether what they are doing is attachment-based enough or if what they are doing is actually sleep training

• The value of knowing what’s most important to you so that decisions are easier

• Looking ahead at where you want your parenting to steer your family

• Appreciating that you are in a season of parenting right now that requires some compromise 

Mentioned in this episode:

• Scott Noelle Scott Noelle - Author & Life Coach

• Dr. and Martha Sears, The Baby Book and the 7 B’s

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

Baby wearing (carrying a baby on your body using a sling, wrap, or fabric carrier) is a popular and useful way of keeping baby close, and keeping a caregiver’s hands free.  

In this episode, Heather talks with Jordan Morillo, maternal health occupational therapist, mom of one, and babywearing educator about the benefits and barriers to baby wearing.  Jordan became inspired to start The Babywearing OT when she saw gaps in the perinatal care continuum after giving birth to her son.

Her evidence-based wisdom and passion for sharing information on the safety, merits, options and strategies for baby wearing leaves little doubt: babywearing is not a fad, but is a long-term helpful strategy that, with the right knowledge, can be done safely and easily.

When Jordan’s not working, you can find her caring for her plants, exploring local restaurants and boba tea shops, and spending afternoons on the couch, nap trapped.

Where to find Jordan:

Website: motherhoodtherapyservices.com 

IG: motherhoodtherapyservices.com

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 May, communities across Canada come together for Flora’s Walk to increase awareness of maternal mental health and raise funds for community agencies who support mothers in the perinatal period. 

In this episode, Heather explores:

• The statistics around prevalence of mental illness in mothers and fathers in the perinatal period

• Common signs of Perinatal Mood & Anxiety Disorders

• 5 Strategies for supporting maternal mental health

• The roles that sleep and community play in supporting maternal mental health 

Don’t miss this important episode.

Mentioned in this episode:

• Lifewithababy.com

• Postnatal Support International postpartum.net

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