Mama You Belong

Unlearning Sleep Rules: Choosing Connection Over Shoulds (Transforming Our Sleep Practice) - Part One


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Kirsten traces the journey from pressure-filled, sleep training newborn days to a more child-centered and connected approach to sleep. Together, we share how postpartum rage became a compass, how sensory needs shaped real rest, and why prioritizing relationship over rules brought relief.

• check in: school strain reaches a tipping point and home education is considered; Molly pursuing an amazing creative endeavor!
• Kirsten's experience as a first time mom. The sleep "shoulds" were HEAVY
• postpartum rage named as boundary signal and guide
• the weight of sleep training culture and external validation
• sensory input, proximity, and ritual as sleep supports
• co-sleeping stigma vs what actually works for rest
• unlearning rigid schedules or expectations and centering relationship over expectations
• grief for lost early weeks and permission to choose differently


Resources:

Duluth Perinatal - perinatal mental health and parenting resources curated by a perinatal mental health therapist 

My Connected Motherhood - Sleep consultants WITHOUT SLEEP TRAINING. Love them.

Nurture Neuroscience 


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Mama You BelongBy Kirsten Desmarais, DPT and Molly Hilgenberg, LICSW