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

Heather Boyd, sleep coach, occupational therapist, and mom of 3 addresses the big concern that many parents have around their baby being overtired.  She provides reassurance and strategies for managing overtiredness in babies and explains what else might be going on, and why it can be SO hard to get your baby to fall asleep if they’ve missed their bedtime.

 2:18 Fear of baby being overtired

3:26 How sleep is built

4:48 Signs that your baby is overtired

5:34 What overtiredness, overstimulation, and boredom have in common

6:00 Signs of overstimulation

6:27 Signs of boredom

7:15 What if it’s not overtired, it’s dysregulation?

7:50 Sleep pressure and overtiredness

8:20 When we miss tired cues (or the cues are unclear)

9:05 The Wake Maintenance Zone

10:13 When we’re over-invested in getting our babies to sleep (and why it gets so frustrating when they don’t!)

11:05 How to get unstuck when your baby won’t sleep

13:40 3 Strategies if your baby skips a nap

15:05 3 Strategies if you feel your baby is chronically overtired

Resources mentioned in this episode:

Wondering what you can do next?

✔️ Subscribe to this podcast and share it with a friend!  Provide a review on Apple Podcasts.  It truly makes a difference to reaching families who would benefit from better understanding their baby’s sleep.

✔️ Attend the Ask & Answer on June 18th 2024. Enroll here. https://heatherboyd.vipmembervault.com/products/courses/view/1169576  

✔️ Sign up for weekly baby sleep emails.⁠ https://heatherboyd.activehosted.com/f/1

✔️ Work with Heather https://familysleep.ca/contact⁠

Credits: 🎵 Music: Jordan Wood 🎙️Podcast coach: Min Sukree

In this episode Heather Boyd, sleep coach and therapist, chats with Tara Gratto, mom of 2 and parenting coach who supports parents and caring adults of children from toddler through early teen with behaviour, emotional regulation and social-emotional wellbeing. 

*Heather's audio in this interview is, unfortunately, quite low. We didn't edit it out to provide context for the questions Heather asks Tara. Thankfully, Tara's audio is fine. We'll correct this problem in future episodes!)

A long-time educator and former preschool owner, Tara has two decades of experience working with children and families. She is the host of Tara’s Take: Parenting, Education & Life With Kids Podcast and author of comic picture book The Adventures of Team Brain. 

Tara works one-on-one, facilitates workshops and group programs as well as does children's book talks at schools, libraries and special interest programs.

We cover:

Books mentioned in this episode:

Additional Mentions:

Where to find Tara:

https://www.instagram.com/taragratto/

https://www.facebook.com/raisingresilientchildren

https://www.taragratto.ca/

Heather Boyd, occupational therapist, mom of 3, and Infant & Family Sleep Specialist, outlines the four most common reasons she sees parents struggle with a baby who is not sleeping as well as expected.

This episode is a sneak peak at Heather's upcoming free Masterclass, "Why Isn't My Baby Sleeping?". Save your seat for May 30th at www.familysleep.ca/free-workshops to attend live, get the replay, and get a written summary of the call.

Wondering what you can do next?

✔️ Subscribe to this podcast and share it with a friend!  Provide a review on Apple Podcasts.  It truly makes a difference to reaching families who would benefit from better understanding their baby’s sleep.

✔️ Attend the next free online masterclass, Why Isn’t My Baby Sleeping?, https://www.familysleep.ca/free-workshops May 30th 2024  

✔️ Sign up for weekly baby sleep emails.⁠ https://heatherboyd.activehosted.com/f/1

✔️ Work with Heather https://familysleep.ca/contact⁠

Credits: 🎵 Music: Jordan Wood 🎙️Podcast coach: Min Sukree

Join Heather Boyd in her interview with Sara Intonato, master coach to parents of children with special needs, as they explore parenting, self-regulation, and how Sara used yoga and self-care to heal emotionally after her son was diagnosed with autism.    

In this interview, Sara and Heather discuss:

Mentioned in this episode:

Wondering what you can do next?

✔️ Subscribe to this podcast and share it with a friend!  Provide a review on Apple Podcasts.

✔️ Attend the next free online masterclass, Why Isn’t My Baby Sleeping?, https://www.familysleep.ca/free-workshops May 30th 2024 

✔️ Sign up for weekly baby sleep emails.⁠ https://heatherboyd.activehosted.com/f/1

✔️ Work with me https://familysleep.ca/contact⁠ in the Confident & Connected Baby Sleep group program or one-on-one.

Heather Boyd, Occupational Therapist, Sleep Coach, and Mom of 3 explores a NEW way to give on Mother’s Day.  If you’ve been disappointed, underwhelmed, overwhelmed, or overcommitted on Mother’s Day and are left wondering how to feel loved and nurtured on Mother’s Day, have a listen.

Heather explores:

Mentioned in this episode:

Wondering what you can do next?

Credits:

🎵 Music: Jordan Wood

🎙️Podcast coach: Min Sukree

When sleep gets challenging, it's tempting to focus all of your attention on your baby's behaviour (hello, behavioural sleep training!). Instead, what if you put your energy and attention on things BEYOND actual sleep that can make sleep easier?

Sleep hygiene is probably the most underrated and underappreciated strategy for sleep, but can be SO valuable for making sleep easier. And that's the goal! Easier sleep!

Join Heather Boyd, Occupational Therapist, sleep coach, and mom of 3 as she discusses 4 sleep hygiene approaches that you can use to make it easier for everyone in your family to sleep.

Wondering what you can do next?

Credits:

🎵 Music: Jordan Wood🎙️Podcast coach: Min Sukree

In this episode, Heather Boyd, mom of 3, certified Infant & Family Sleep Specialist, and Occupational Therapist, talks about why working so hard on making our baby’s sleep better can often make sleep harder.

She shares:

Mentioned in this episode: Episode #2 of The Baby Sleep Connection Podcast: What’s Driving Your Baby’s Sleep? https://spotifyanchor-web.app.link/e/0ofSCAQyZIb

Looking for more?  Here's what you can do next:

Credits:

🎵 Music: Jordan Wood

🎙️Podcast coach: Min Sukree

Heather Boyd chats with Jessica Darling, a personal trainer from Toronto, Ontario who specializes in prenatal and postpartum fitness. 

As a former competitive athlete, (rowing, cycling) and all round gym rat, Jessica loved feeling strong and pushing herself to the limits. After the birth of her daughter, jumping back into that kind of exercise wasn't the right fit. After some searching she found the right program that helped her rediscover my body and feel good in movement. It was a powerful experience that she wants to bring to all women.

Jessica takes a person-centered approach and uses breathwork and deep core awareness to help women reconnect with their bodies. From there she helps them build a path to a stronger self, no matter their life phase.  When she's not helping clients, you can find her somewhere outside, either on the water paddleboarding, rucking some trails or enjoying time with her family. 

In this episode we talk about:

Where to find Jessica:

Website: www.mauvement.ca

Email: je[email protected]

Social Media Handles: @jdarling   https://www.facebook.com/jdarling.fit

Resources:

Free "Return to Movement Guide" (https://jessicadarling.ck.page/freeguide). 

1:1 coaching services virtually or in person in East York Toronto. 

What you can do next:

Credits:

🎵 Music: Jordan Wood

🎙️Podcast coach: Min Sukree

In this episode, Heather Boyd, mom of 3, sleep coach, and occupational therapist dives into how to trust your baby and trust the process.

As an exhausted and overwhelmed parent, you are likely all too aware of how hard this is. And yet, as a responsive parent looking for a better way to parent than conventional approaches, you've probably already had experiences that have required trusting the process.

Heather guides you to reflect on:

🦋 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:

Credits:

🎵 Music: Jordan Wood

🎙️Podcast coach: Min Sukree

If you have an unsettled baby, settle in for a listen as I talk with Alice Lucken, Internationally Board-Certified Lactation Consultant (IBCLC), nurse, and coach to parents of unsettled babies.

Alice is from the UK.  In addition to her IBCLC and coaching ro

In this episode we talk about:

Where to find Alice:

Website: www.babyetal.co.uk

Email: [email protected]

Social media handles: @babyetaluk

What can you do next?