Enter any keyword(s) to search our Blogs.
Do you have a family vacation planned? Trip to the Grandparents?
Are you going on a family vacation and wondering how you are going to get your baby to sleep well in the hotel room?
Are you going to visit the grandparents and afraid the room is going to be too light-filled for your baby or child to sleep well?
Are you looking for a solution that will make travel this summer easier so you can increase the probability your child will sleep well for nights and naps?
I have 2 solutions for you.
I recognize that packing for a whole family vacation is really daunting. I have prepared this helpful travel checklist to get your organized.
Over the past decade working as a Gentle Sleep Coach, there are many great products that can help make parenting easier! (In fact, I am thrilled to report that many of these must-have products are created by mom-preneurs with incredible entrepreneurial stories!)
The following 2 products I find myself constantly recommending to parents during coaching calls to help make their life EASIER and assist in SOLVING their sleep struggles especially when they are traveling and want to be well-rested!
Order your Slumberpod today!
Ages: 4 months and up
What is it?
SlumberPod is a quick-assembly “pod” that goes over pack-and plays, play yards, mini cribs, toddler cots and toddler air mattresses to create a black-out dark environment for sleeping. Slumberpod also has a NEW product called the HomeBase that allows Slumberpod to be used with a full size crib!
Why I love it?
It’s a Gamechanger! As a Gentle Sleep Coach, creating the optimal learning environment for your child to learn to sleep includes darkness! The Slumberpod is easy, safe and convenient. This is a product that works for babies as young as 4 months and up. Slumberpod is incredible for room-sharing and can be used on vacation! Say farewell to the days of setting up the pack and play in the hotel bathroom for a dark quiet atmosphere or cutting your vacation days short because baby needs darkness to sleep!
I love this product so much that I was able to get a discount for my clients of $20. You will definitely want to take advantage of this discount. Order your SlumberPod today!
What’s amazing about the Slumberpod is that there is room for a sound machine as well as a monitor so that you can really create that optimal sleeping environment. I love this particular portable white noise machine.
Order your Marpac Hushh Portable White Noise Machine today!
Marpac Hushh Portable White Noise Machine for Baby
Ages- All
What is it?
The portable and easy-to-use white noise machine.
Why do I love it?
This is a great option to have for on the go naps or during travel with your Slumberpod! Perfect for those with older siblings and when baby has to take car naps or room sharing. This is a great way to help them stay asleep so they can remain well-rested!
Get your Marpac Hushh Portable White Noise Machine today!
Don’t forget I made this really helpful travel checklist to make packing easier.
Wishing you and your family fabulous summer travel adventures.
Interested in Seeing More of My Favorite Products?
From nursery essentials to children’s books, and more… follow @blissfulbabysleep on KIT.co for direct links to purchase online.
Please join my Sleep is Bliss Tribe on Facebook, Instagram and LinkedIn so we can stay connected and you can continue to get amazing resources on sleep and family wellness. Follow @blissfulbabysleep on KIT.co for my favorite products.
Sleep is Bliss, Let's Get You more!
It’s travel season! Be prepared with a What to Pack List!
It's travel season! For families that FINALLY have their kids taking predictable naps and are enjoying BEAUTIFUL, BLISSFUL SLEEP the thoughts of “messing it up” by stepping out of their routine can be stressful. For families that are already sleep-deprived and struggling with getting the child to sleep at home, the idea of having to handle this while traveling can be overwhelming. Managing your child’s sleep while on vacation is possible and I am going to give you some tips to make everything easier!
Think ahead while packing what you need to maintain your optimal sleep environment!
Download my free Summer Travel: What to Pack checklist!
Bring a white noise machine or small fan! This will help maintain your child’s routine at home and help them be more comfortable in their new environment. It is also a great way to drown out background noise if you are room sharing.
Does your child have a favorite lovie, stuffed animal or blanket? Make sure to pack these!
If your child is used to sleeping in a crib, call ahead to see if there is one available or bring a pack and play. You can also consider using a baby equipment rental company at your destination. If your child is sleeping in a bed, there are some great options for child air mattresses! **
Getting a child to sleep in bright rooms can be tricky while away! There are some great products available that ensure a quick and easy fix. Check out the Snooze shade or Slumberpod! These are also a must-have if you are room sharing while away! Check out my interview with the Creator of Snoozeshade
If your child is used to a sleep sack or swaddle make sure to pack them (plus some back ups).
What is your sleep routine with your little one? Do you read the same book every night or sing songs? Pack whatever you will need to maintain this routine as much as possible. Consistency helps children feel comfortable and know what to expect.
Remember being consistent does not mean never changing the schedule or routine. It's important to be flexible and most importantly ENJOY YOUR TRIP! Don’t feel guilty if you need to offer your child a little more support while traveling to make them feel comfortable! When you get home, you can return back to your normal schedule and routines!
Download my free Summer Travel: What to Pack checklist to help make sure you are prepared!
You can also check out my video on Holiday Travel Tips and blog post 7 Family Travel Tips for Summer 2021 for more travel tips!
If you are sleep deprived and struggling with getting the child to sleep at home and the overwhelm is taking the joy out of travel planning, hope and help are available.
The first step to see if I can help you achieve beautiful, blissful sleep is to schedule a 60 minute ZOOM Sleep Strategy Session. Go to this link and complete the contact me form and I will be in touch within 24 hours with directions on how to schedule your Sleep Strategy Session.
If you are still wondering if I can help, please know I do NOT advocate 'cry-it-out'. I am a Gentle Sleep Coach. If you want to learn about my guilt-free and gentle process, please go to these links.
The Blissful Baby Stairway to Sleep
Please join my Sleep is Bliss Tribe on Facebook, Instagram and LinkedIn so we can stay connected and you can continue to get amazing resources on sleep and family wellness.
Are you expecting baby #2? Have kids that are polar opposites?
Are you pregnant with Baby #2? Do you have children that are polar opposites? All children are different and what works for one might not work for another. This is also true with teaching your child to sleep!
Sleep coaching is not just for first time parents! I often have clients that try sleep coaching for the first time with their second (or third!) child, others that return for guidance because it worked so well the first time and some find me when they are pregnant looking to get their oldest child sleeping well before new baby comes.
With my 1:1 Sleep Coaching Packages, I take the time to learn about YOUR child, YOUR family and YOUR goals. I customize each step of the process to ensure success so there is no need for you to "fit the mold" to experience this total family sleep transformation.
Here are success stories from some of my clients....
Was your first child a "dream sleeper" and as a 2nd time parent you need something different?
I CAN HELP!
Watch their story here!
Maybe you have sleep trained another child before but it's just not working with this child?
I CAN HELP!
Watch their story here!
Are you pregnant and looking to get your child's sleep on-track before baby comes?
I CAN HELP!
Watch their story here!
Did you know before your baby was born you were going to sleep coach? Maybe start earlier?
I CAN HELP!
Watch their story here!
The first step to see if I can help you achieve beautiful, blissful sleep is to schedule a 60 minute ZOOM sleep strategy session. Go to this link and complete the contact me form and I will be in touch within 24 hours with directions on how to schedule your Sleep Strategy Session.
If you are still wondering if I can help, please know I do NOT advocate 'cry-it-out'. I am a Gentle Sleep Coach. If you want to learn about my guilt-free and gentle process, please go to these links.
The Blissful Baby Stairway to Sleep
Please join my Sleep is Bliss Tribe on Facebook, Instagram and LinkedIn so we can stay connected and you can continue to get amazing resources on sleep and family wellness.
Sleep is Bliss, Let's Get you more!
Health and Family History Could Have an Impact on Your Child’s Sleep!
It's no secret that adequate sleep is essential for health and wellness. Does it surprise you to know that trouble sleeping can also be a sign of underlying health conditions? The tip of the iceberg so to speak.
According to the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services, getting enough sleep has many benefits. It can help you:
Get sick less often
Stay at a healthy weight
Lower your risk for serious health problems, like diabetes and heart disease
Reduce stress and improve your mood
Think more clearly and do better in school and at work
Make good decisions and avoid injuries — for example, drowsy drivers cause thousands of car accidents every year
Have you considered your current health and family history could have an impact on your child’s sleep?
A study by Bruni identified three “sub-classes” of sleep problems and their underlying physical conditions. They looked at children ages 6 mos-4 years and analyzed sleep problems as well as current health conditions and family histories. The results found three subtypes of sleep problems:
Difficulties in falling asleep, with bedtime and nighttime restlessness, and awakenings during the night were associated with a longer time falling asleep and the presence of restless legs syndrome and anemia in the family history. (This group represented 17% of the sample)
Early morning awakenings were related to a family history of depression and/or mood disorders. - About 21% of the sample.
High frequency of night wakings and difficulties in falling asleep (without restlessness) were related to underlying allergies and/or food intolerance. This group was the largest at 62%.
As a Sleep consultant, knowing links to underlying health issues is important to properly assess sleep problems and offer guidance on how to navigate them. When working 1:1 with my clients to develop a customized sleep plan, I start by learning all about your family by collecting real data and relying on sleep science, behavioral science, and attachment theory. Potential underlying health problems can become evident in this detailed process.
To learn more about Blissful Baby’s Stairway to sleep process
https://www.blissfulbabysleepcoaching.com/stairway-to-sleep
To read more about this study
https://doi.org/10.1016/j.jpeds.2018.01.036
https://health.gov/myhealthfinder/healthy-living/mental-health-and-relationships/get-enough-sleep
Please join my Sleep is Bliss Tribe on Facebook, Instagram and LinkedIn so we can stay connected and you can continue to get amazing resources on sleep and family wellness.
Sleep is Bliss, Let's Get you more!
What is responsive feeding?
Nursing moms are often pummeled with Do’s and Don’t to maintain a healthy nursing relationship. There are times when baby needs to be fed when mom is away and it can be stressful for moms to filter through conflicting information. They are faced with questions and terms such as:
How soon should they introduce the bottle?
What pumping schedule should I follow?
What is the best baby bottle?
What are best practices for bottle feeding a breastfed baby?
How to avoid nipple confusion?
What are the best baby bottle for breastfed baby?
What are good baby bottles for newborns?
What are best practices for introducing a bottle to breastfed baby?
What to do when breastfed baby is refusing bottle?
How to combine breastfeeding and pumping?
When to start bottle feeding expressed breast milk?
Do I have to pump every time baby gets a bottle?
Often times moms come across a technique called “Pace Feeding”. It’s a term nursing moms hear about when they research bottle feeding a breastfed baby and it's claimed to mimic breastfeeding.
Pace feeding was a feeding technique used for medically complex and premature babies so they could bottle feed without aspirating milk into the lungs. It is parent-led and controls the milk flow. This technique gained popularity even among term infants despite their ability to manage the milk flow (with the right technique) and advancements in the market for nipple flow, nipple types, and bottles. This feeding technique involves limiting the milk flow.
Have you heard the term “responsive feeding”?
Responsive feeding is child-led and allows the baby to set and regulate their own sucking pace while parents respond to their baby’s hunger and fullness cues. It is interactive between baby and caregiver and often a very positive experience.
What are the benefits of responsive feeding?
Encourages child to self-regulate their milk intake and set their own pace for feeding
Develops trust when responding to your baby’s feeding cues
Supports a loving relationship with caregiver
Helps baby develop healthy eating habits
Positive experience
Bottle feeding can be a positive, loving experience that develops trust and does not threaten a healthy nursing relationship. Check with your pediatrician to ensure there are no special circumstances around feeding.
To learn more about the difference between “pace feeding” and “responsive feeding” check out this article from the Fed Is Best Society
Please join my Sleep is Bliss Tribe on Facebook, Instagram and LinkedIn so we can stay connected and you can continue to get amazing resources on sleep and family wellness.
Sleep is Bliss, Let's Get you more!
New SAFE SLEEP GUIDELINES: American Academy of Pediatrics
The American Academy of Pediatrics has just released new SAFE SLEEP GUIDELINES. Those families using infant hats, weighted sleep sacks, blankets and swaddles, or monitoring devices must pay special attention to the new guidelines below.
New safe sleep recommendations can help pediatricians guide families
June 21, 2022
Rachel Y. Moon, M.D., FAAP
An updated AAP policy statement and technical report on reducing the risk of sleep-related infant deaths reiterate previous safe sleep recommendations and offer some new guidance.
The AAP continues to emphasize the importance of placing infants on their backs in an uncluttered crib next to the parents’ bed in a nonsmoking environment. The policy and technical report also address the use of noninclined sleep surfaces, short-term emergency sleep locations, substance use, home cardiorespiratory monitors and tummy time.
The policy Sleep-Related Infant Deaths: Updated 2022 Recommendations for Reducing Infant Deaths in the Sleep Environment is available at https://doi.org/10.1542/peds.2022-057990. The technical report Evidence Base for 2022 Updated Recommendations for a Safe Infant Sleeping Environment to Reduce the Risk of Sleep-Related Infant Deaths can be found at https://doi.org/10.1542/peds.2022-057991. Both are from the Task Force on Sudden Infant Death Syndrome (SIDS) and the Committee on Fetus and Newborn, and will be published in the July issue of Pediatrics.
Following is a summary of the updates and responses to common questions asked of the Task Force on SIDS.
Sleep surfaces
Use a flat, noninclined sleep surface. A crib, bassinet, portable crib or play yard should conform to the safety standards of the Consumer Product Safety Commission (CPSC).
Recent biomechanical analyses have demonstrated that sleep surfaces that are inclined more than 10 degrees from horizontal are unsafe for infant sleep. Additionally, the CPSC recently passed a rule that any infant sleep product, including those marketed for sleep or with images of sleeping infants, must meet federal safety standards for cribs, bassinets, play yards and bedside sleepers. Products that do not meet these standards (e.g., inclined sleep products, cardboard baby boxes, in-bed sleepers, baby nests and pods, and hammocks) are not recommended.
The Safe Sleep for Babies Act of 2021, signed into law May 16, bans the manufacture and sale of crib bumpers or inclined sleepers.
In emergency situations when a CPSC-approved surface is not available, an alternative device with a firm, flat, noninclined surface with thin, firm padding can be used temporarily until a CPSC-approved surface is available.
Sleep location
Infants should sleep in the parents’ room, close to the parents’ bed but on a separate surface designed for infants, ideally for at least the first six months.
The AAP has shortened the period recommended for room-sharing. Although it is difficult to stratify the data based on age in months, the AAP recognizes that the highest risk is in the first six months (when 90% of sudden and unexpected infant deaths occur).
Bed-sharing
Although the AAP cannot recommend bed-sharing based on the evidence, it also respects that many parents choose to bed-share routinely for a variety of reasons.
It is important for clinicians and parents to have frank and nonjudgmental discussions about the family’s bed-sharing circumstances. The policy provides a risk-stratification analysis to guide these discussions.
Because of the extreme (up to 67 times greater) risk, the AAP strongly recommends that infants never be placed for sleep, with or without another person, on a couch, sofa, armchair and similar cushioned surfaces (despite the multitude of pictures posted on social media of adults sleeping with a baby on their chest on a sofa).
Bedding
Do not place any soft objects, including pillows, blankets or bumper pads, in the infant’s sleep environment.
Families concerned that their infant will be cold should add layers of clothing, as this reduces the risk of head covering or entrapment. Wearable blankets or sleepers also can be used. The AAP does not recommend any weighted objects (e.g., weighted blankets/sleepers/swaddles) on or near a sleeping infant.
Pacifiers
Pacifier use is associated with a reduced risk of SIDS.
For infants who are not directly breastfed, pacifiers can be introduced at any time. For breastfed infants, the pacifier can be started once breastfeeding is firmly established — meaning that milk supply is sufficient, the infant is latching effectively and the infant has demonstrated appropriate weight gain.
Monitoring devices
Home cardiorespiratory monitors should not be used to reduce the risk of SIDS.
Wearable heart rate and pulse oximetry monitoring devices sold to consumers are certified by the Food and Drug Administration (FDA) as wellness devices, which do not meet the criteria for medical devices. They are defined as devices intended “for maintaining or encouraging a healthy lifestyle and … unrelated to the diagnosis, cure, mitigation, prevention, or treatment of a disease or condition.”
Data supporting their use to prevent sudden and unexpected death are lacking. Parents who use these monitors at home still should follow safe sleep recommendations.
Tummy time
Supervised tummy time should start soon after hospital discharge and increase slowly to at least 15-30 minutes total daily by 7 weeks of age.
Other recommendations
Avoid smoke and nicotine exposure — and the use of alcohol, marijuana, opioids and illicit drugs — during pregnancy and after birth.
Pregnant people should obtain regular prenatal care.
Infants should be immunized in accordance with recommendations from the AAP and Centers for Disease Control and Prevention.
There is no evidence that swaddling reduces the risk of SIDS.
Physicians and others should model safe infant sleep guidance from the beginning of pregnancy.
To read about the new guidelines, click here.
Please join my Sleep is Bliss Tribe on Facebook, Instagram and LinkedIn so we can stay connected and you can continue to get amazing resources on sleep and family wellness.
Sleep is Bliss, Let's Get you more!
Happy 4th of July!
What better way to celebrate independence than taking advantage of my Prepare for Sleep Coaching Success Course! This self-study program is the perfect solution for sleep-deprived and overwhelmed parents that want to improve the chaotic sleep situation in their household.
Prepare for Sleep Coaching Success starts here: Prepare for Sleep Coaching Success
Please join my Sleep is Bliss Tribe on Facebook, Instagram and LinkedIn so we can stay connected and you can continue to get amazing resources on sleep and family wellness.
Sleep is Bliss, Let's Get you more!
Your Sleep Situation is NOT HOPELESS. Here are success stories from my hardest clients
Your Sleep Situation is NOT HOPELESS. Here are success stories from some of my hardest clients....
Over my 11 years of experience, I have seen the most difficult sleep challenges and have SUCCESSFULLY guided these families through a total family sleep transformation!
Many families come back to me saying "If you can help us, you can help anyone".
Are you considering any drastic measures to get your child to sleep?
I CAN HELP!
Do you have an alert baby with serious FOMO?
I CAN HELP!
Do you think your child is "too old" to sleep train?
I CAN HELP!
Does your child have behavioral issues and learning differences?
I CAN HELP!
With my 1:1 Sleep Coaching Packages, I take the time to learn about YOUR child, YOUR family and YOUR goals. I am not afraid of a challenge! I customize each step of the process to ensure success so there is no need for you to "fit the mold" to experience this total family sleep transformation.
The first step to see if I can help you achieve beautiful, blissful sleep is to schedule a 60 minute ZOOM sleep strategy session. Go to this link and complete the contact me form and I will be in touch within 24 hours with directions on how to schedule your Sleep Strategy Session.
If you are still wondering if I can help, please know I do NOT advocate 'cry-it-out'. I am a Gentle Sleep Coach. If you want to learn about my guilt-free and gentle process, please go to these links.
The Blissful Baby Stairway to Sleep
Please join my Sleep is Bliss Tribe on Facebook, Instagram and LinkedIn so we can stay connected and you can continue to get amazing resources on sleep and family wellness.
The Importance of Tummy Time for Newborns
Lately, I have been getting LOTS of questions about Newborns. In the video below I talk about the do's and don'ts of TUMMY TIME.
Tummy time is HARD WORK and a lot of babies fuss and complain during the process but it is so IMPORTANT!
Do you wonder WHY everyone is pushing tummy time so much? WHEN do you do tummy time? HOW LONG you should be doing tummy time? Watch this video to find out this and more!
