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

If you’re feeling frustrated or discouraged by your baby’s sleep, you’re not alone.  There’s really no way to fully appreciate how exhausted you’ll be as a parent, even if you’ve been told you’re going to be tired and your baby will wake up often.

In this episode, Heather breaks down 3 shifts you can make so that your baby’s sleep is easier and less draining starting right now.

So often in our search for solutions to sleep problems, we focus on fixing what isn’t broken, and we struggle to shift our expectations around what we think our baby's sleep looks like.  We also tend to latch onto what has worked for other families, instead of looking at what our unique babies need from us (and what we’re capable and willing to do).

The 3 tips in this episode won’t address underlying sleep disorders (that’s an episode of its own!).  What it will do is give you a foundation for what you can shift TODAY so that you are losing less energy trying to make sleep look a certain way.

Mentioned in this episode:

• The Infant Development Circle -get on the waitlist for September 2025 at www.familysleep.ca/infant-development-circle

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

Corrie Rose is a Kinder Musik educator in Niagara Ontario and studio owner of Kinder Musik with Miss Corrie.  Music is a powerful and deeply engrained medium for learning, connection, and regulation.  Kinder Musik is a specific program that uses instruments, stories, and movement activities to support early development.

In this episode we explore

• The benefits of music for mental health, regulation, and connection

• Corrie’s unexpected path from pharmacy assistant to struggling student, motherhood, and Kinder Musik educator

• What to expect in a Kinder Musik class

• How play and discovery are a part of the routine and rhythm of a Kinder Musik class

• Music, emotions, and healing

• Why being able to sing or play an instrument is NOT a prerequisite to using music to support your baby’s development

Where to find Miss Corrie:

Website: www.kindermusikwithmisscorrie.com

FB: https://www.facebook.com/KindermusikWithMissCorrie

IG: kindermusikwithmisscorrie

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 Credit: Jordan Wood

Naps can be a huge stress for parents.  

You might be asking yourself:

What time should naps be?  How long should they be?  How do you drop a nap?  And what on earth do you do if your baby falls asleep at 5pm?  What will happen to bedtime?!

In this episode, Heather shares strategies on managing the messy middle of changing naps to support night time sleep.

Have a listen to explore:

• How to distribute naps over the day to land at a reasonable bedtime

• How to be flexible with nap length to manage a decent bedtime

• When to consider capping a nap

• How rest time, nature, and water can support a skipped nap

• Strategies for managing surprisingly early or late bedtimes, late naps, and no naps

Mentioned in this episode:

• Heather’s Podcast Listener Guide is available at www.familysleep.ca/links

• Episode #14: How to drop naps.  https://open.spotify.com/episode/2q4dg8MB4YCufyxUTgokSn

 🎵 Music Credit: Jordan Wood

In February, I had the pleasure of speaking at Sleeposium 2025, an annual international conference for sleep professionals. I spoke about the importance of taking a STRENGTH-based approach when working with families.

When families are seeking help around sleep, it’s not because things are going well –there are often some pretty big challenges and some significant hurdles.   Parents feel exhausted and defeated.  And it can feel like NOTHING is going well.

Buried under all the challenges, however, are strengths that can help us support your baby’s sleep and help them reach their potential.

It’s so important to look for the strengths!

Listen in as I share why a strength-based approach is key to getting the support you need.

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

Heather is joined today by Helen Thompson, Tasmania-based infant massage instructor with over 3 decades of experience working with babies, toddlers, and their families.

In this episode, Helen helps break down:

• How to be “baby-led” when doing baby massage

• What signals a baby gives so you can tune into their cues

• How a gentle massage routine can help babies relax and settle into easier sleep

• The role massage plays in building connection, bonding, and communication

• How parents benefit from infant massage

And more

Helen is host of the First Time Mum’s Chat podcast (on which Heather was a guest for episode 160) and is a huge advocate and source of support for mums navigating their parenting journey.

You can find Helen at www.mybabymassage.net, on instagram at @babymassagehelen and @firstimemumschat

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

It’s time for the Spring Forward time change!

And that means losing a precious hour of sleep at a time in your parenting where every minute of sleep feels crucial.

As much as I’d love us to be able to ditch the entire time change ritual every year, there are ways you can make this shift easier.

In this episode, I share:

• How circadian rhythm drives sleep

• 3 approaches you can take to manage the time change

• What are zeitgebers and how do they help you manage the time change

• 1 key reassuring take away that will help you feel less worried and more confident coming into the spring forward time change

Looking for more? 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 me⁠ in the Confident & Connected Baby Sleep group program or one-on-one.

• Find previous episodes at infantsleep.ca/podcast

Credits:

🎵 Music: Jordan Wood

March Break is coming up.  For many families, that means travelling.

But how do you go away and not see your baby's sleep fall apart?

Listen to this episode for:

• 4 perspectives on why (and how) sleep might not tank the way you expect it to
• 3 practical strategies to tip the scales in favour of reasonable sleep AND a reasonable vacation
• 1 story of how our vacation to Mexico didn’t look like we expected, but why it worked out anyway

Looking for more?  What you can do next:

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

• ⁠Sign up for weekly baby sleep emails.⁠

If you’ve ever listened to a podcast while checking email while waiting for the washer to stop so you can turn laundry over, oh, AND you’re also feeding your baby, have a listen to my interview with Lisa Carpenter.

Lisa is an anti-performance performance coach –and if you’re an overthinking multi-tasker who hasn’t considered your own needs and is attempting to be a perfect parent, you need her perspectives on dismantling the ideas we have about motherhood, busyness, and parenting.

In this interview, Lisa unpacks:

• Why BEING more doesn’t mean DOING more

• How the stories we tell ourselves (including the ones about whether we’re “good” moms) are just that: stories

• Redefining what makes a “good mom”

• The HALT acronym for supporting yourself

• The power of being present

• Why chaos can feel normal, and calm feels uncomfortable (and how to change that)

• The value of self-compassion

  
  

You can find Lisa Carpenter at lisacarpenter.ca, on her Full Frontal Living Podcast, and on Instagram at @lisacarpenterinc   

Looking to connect with Heather Boyd?  What you can do next:

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

• ⁠Sign up for weekly baby sleep emails.⁠

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

🎵 Music Credit: Jordan Wood

In this episode, Heather Boyd, mom of 3, sleep coach, and occupational therapist dives into how to reframe your baby's difficult sleep. This is a throwback to episode 4 nearly 1 year ago!

As an exhausted and overwhelmed parent, you are likely all too aware of how hard this is.

Heather guides you to reflect on:

🦋 Appreciating that your baby is doing the best they can at this particular time.

🦋 An evolutionary perspective on what babies have needed (and what your baby needs) to sleep.

🦋 Why curiosity trumps cookie-cutter approaches to sleep coaching.

🦋 How holistic approaches look at your baby's needs but not at the expense of YOUR needs.

🦋 How you can shift from searching for a problem to solve, to trusting the process.

🦋 Difficult does not mean broken.

Looking for more?  What you can do next:

1. Subscribe to this podcast and share it with a friend!

2. Sign up for weekly baby sleep emails.⁠

3. Work with me⁠ in the Confident & Connected Baby Sleep group program or one-on-one.

Credits:

🎵 Music: Jordan Wood

There's not one "right way" to parent. Some of us are flexible, and adaptable; others of us tend to be more tied to predictability and routine. Some of us wing it, and others plan ahead. Join me in this episode to challenge your usual approach and give some thoughts to how to make things easier --regardless of your usual approach to parenting!

In this episode, I compare baking cookies with parenting and baby sleep.

Here's the short version:

1. "Gather all the ingredients" is great advice, whether you're baking or trying to get your baby to sleep.

2. When you have some experience you can go with the flow a bit more ("wing it" in the kitchen and the nursery!)

3. One dish casseroles -there are ways to keep this simple. Parenting is hard enough without complicating things.

4. Savour the batch you just baked.  When your baby reaches a milestone for sleep, celebrate!

5. Worrying about making a change? Sometimes you just have to try it.

6. The perfect cookie --and perfect sleep-- doesn't exist.

Mentioned:

Ep 27: Sleep, Rest, & Support: Are You Cheating Yourself Out of Wellness?

https://open.spotify.com/episode/0CUOTn9u1FPygMP2nxogDE?si=hQC0hPgQQ9SEkJKuWChzXw

Looking for more?  What you can do next:

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

• ⁠Sign up for weekly baby sleep emails.⁠

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

Credits:

🎵 Music: Jordan Wood