Sleep like a baby?

Do you have an orchid or a dandelion? How do you know if your baby is highly sensitive? And how can you parent with your own specific sensory needs?As mentioned in the episode, you can do a HSP test here: https://hsperson.com/test/highly-sensitive-test/

Nobody talks about how lonely it can be if you're the only one with a child who continues to be wakeful when everyone else around you seems to be getting more sleep.And then you might feel the pressure to sleep train if you ever talk about how tired you are.Perhaps your partner or someone else close to you is trying to get you to make changes in a way that doesn't feel right for you right now. This is an episode for anyone stuck in a comparison trap or a cycle of disagreement over whether to sleep train or not. For more information on my guides and webinars, see https://littlenest.podia.com/

Yes that's right, more Lucy! We had so much to say about second babies that we had to make it into a 2-parter.What if you can't imagine loving. your new baby as much as your first? How does the bond work?How do you do bedtime with two children (and one parent?)Are nap times always a disaster if your older child doesn't understand the concept of 'quiet! the baby is sleeping...'?

What if there was no word for self-settling? How different would your parenting experience be if nobody expected your baby to sleep in a cot in their own room? This week I'm joined by Lenka Medvecová Tinková from the Durham University Infancy and Sleep Centre to talk about how our cultural expectations shape parenting decisions and ultimately how we feel about ourselves as mothers.For more information about Lenka you can follow her on Instagram: the English speaking account is @sleepanthropologist or she has her Czech account @prosimspinkejhttps://prosimspinkej.cz/And for more info about Durham University and BASIS (Baby Sleep Info Service) see: www.basisonline.org.uk===============================For more information about the Little Nest Sleep guides and webinars, go to https://littlenest.podia.com/

Are you holding yourself to the highest standards as a mum? Have you noticed a cycle of self-criticism creeping in?What happens when perfectionists and people pleasers have babies? This week's guest, Catherine Counihan, is an Integrative Psychotherapist working in private practice in London. Cath specialises in complex trauma, perfectionism, nervous system healing, shifting dysfunctional patterns in our families and reparenting. One of her areas of expertise is how our own childhoods impact our parenting journey. Her passion is to shift shame and help each client gain an embodied sense of being good enough. Our shame voices do not speak the truth! Cath had done a lot of personal trauma therapy prior to kids and, despite this, was set back to emotional ground zero by motherhood. Cath hosts a weekly podcast 'Grow Yourself Up' focused on how we can learn to tend to ourselves in adulthood when we have not had our needs met as children, and the challenges of doing this as we parent. She also writes, has taught at the Bowlby Centre in London and will begin teaching for the International Attachment Network in Sept 2023. She is accredited by the UK Council for Psychotherapy (UKCP) and has nearly 12 years of clinical experience. Cath had a previous career in financial services and is the mother of 7 year old twin girls. Insta: @cathcounihanFB: Cath Counihan - Psychotherapy MumLinkedin: Catherine Counihancatherinecounihan.co.uk

Is your baby sleeping less than their peers? Are they cat-nappers with late bedtimes but... actually thriving? You might be surprised to learn that this is actually A Thing! The idea that all babies need long naps and 12hrs overnight is totally outdated and not backed by science. But if you have a low sleep needs kid, you might be struggling to find more information about this.I spoke to fellow sleep consultant Paula Morales McDowell about how she discovered her own son had low sleep needs and how they made this work for their family. Are babies harmed by having less sleep? Will they develop poorly?How can you handle judgement from others who think babies and toddlers should have more sleep?What are the benefits of parenting a low sleep needs child?To find out more about Paula go to https://newparadigmmotherhood.podia.com/ or follow her on Instagram @paulamoralesmcdowell.And to listen to her podcast, search Bedtime Tea with Paula Morales McDowell.To keep in touch with me, Hannah, please follow @littlenestsleep or drop me an email at hannah@littlenest.uk.

Making her very welcome return to the Sleep Like a Baby? podcast is the one and only midwife and lactation consultant Olivia Hinge! You may well know her from much-loved Instagram account (@olivia_lactation_consultant), I know I am a super-fan.In this week's episode we talk a lot about the pressures that mothers put on themselves and celebrate the importance of imperfection. If you think you're not a good enough mother because you find crafting torturous or you find life with a small baby boring a lot of the time - you've come to the right place.But how do we practise self-acceptance in the age of mass information and parental comparison?And then throw in sickness season (which us Northern Hemisphere folk are currently enjoying) and tricky infant sleeping patterns and - well, it's a lot.---------------As mentioned in this week's episode, my 0-18m + Toddler Sleep Guides are available here as both pdf AND audio: littlenest.podia.com.And tickets to my upcoming December Night Weaning Webinars are here:Breastfeeding: https://app.acuityscheduling.com/schedule.php?owner=22681540&appointmentType=38787046Bottle-feeding: https://app.acuityscheduling.com/schedule.php?owner=22681540&appointmentType=38787155Use code NIGHTWEAN20 for an early bird discount up until 1 December

This was one of the most enlightening, inspiring episodes I've ever recorded.Zoe Blaskey's Motherkind podcast is one of my favourite things to listen to and I just knew she would be the best person to talk to about maternal guilt and shame.We covered the intricacies of disagreeing with your partner over different parenting choices (what do you do when one of you really wants to sleep train?). As well as how to start giving yourself validation and recognition for the invisible labour of motherhood.----------------------------------------------------My new webinar about Starting Childcare + Sleep is here: https://littlenest.podia.com/----------------------------------------------------Zoe Blaskey is the founder of Motherkind, a self empowerment platform for modern mums. Through Motherkind Zoe coaches mothers of all backgrounds from Global CEO's to full time mums on how to navigate the huge challenges of modern motherhood. Zoe hosts The Motherkind Podcast which is the UK's number one family podcast on i tunes and speaks every week to world leading experts on a range of topics from self care, mental health, career, nutrition and parenting. Zoe is has two daughters, and lives with her husband Guy in Dorset.https://www.motherkind.co/

Ever since I had my mum on this podcast, I've been desperate to ask her mum more about parenthood.Did she choose to cry-it-out?Was she obsessed with how her baby slept?What were her generation's expectations of infant sleep?This episode is a super special one to me as my 90 year old grandmother and I reflect on early parenthood - what do we have in common and what can we learn from her generation?

Sometimes the biggest change we can make to our family's sleep situation is to find acceptance and surrender to the present. I sat down with Ana from The Octopus Club to talk about how she found peace and patience over her own son's sleep (and frequent waking) over the last 3 and a half years.If you have a very wakeful baby or toddler, it can feel so lonely... and you might even blame yourself. If we can let go of that extra burden of responsibility and guilt over how our children sleep - and understand our kids for who they are - it can be a really powerful mindset transformation.For more about Ana and The Octopus Club - see theoctopusclub.com

Have you ever wondered if your child's sleep is influenced by their gender?Do baby boys wake more? Do little girls take longer to fall asleep?To explore this I sat down with Kirstie from Sonshine Magazine, a proudly feminist quarterly publication that explores the challenges and the joys that come with raising boys in the modern world.If we want the world to be a more equal place for everyone, we need to think about how we raise our sons as well as how we raise our daughters.

This week's chat is super personal! My mum, Jan, shares her experience of having four very different babies (born in the 70s, 80s and 90s) - we discuss breastfeeding, bed-sharing and responding to cries in the night. In 1978 my mum was 21 years old and had just given birth to her son. Six weeks later she found herself moving from a small town in NW England to the Yemen.She was breastfeeding and sharing a bedroom her her baby, and her own mother was appalled. I wanted to talk to my mum a little more about her experiences of early motherhood and how it changed with each subsequent baby. We talked a lot about her adventures but also compared our experiences as different generations of mothers. Has the internet made things better or worse for new parents?Do babies sleep better nowadays, or worse?What gems of wisdom does my mum want to share with parents in 2022 and what does she wish she'd known back then?

Have you experienced unwanted intrusive thoughts as a new mum? Why does the arrival of (very normal) maternal rage feel like such a shock to so many of us?I sat down with perinatal psychologist Dr Caroline Boyd who has written a beautiful, incredibly helpful book called Mindful New Mum as an antidote to all the parenting manuals out there currently prescribing a ‘right’ way to mother. Instead she takes a holistic look at the transition into matrescence with a focus on mindful compassion, evidence-based psychology ideas, meditations, visualisations, nutritional advice, natural remedies, baby massage and yoga.In this episode we talk about ways in which we can learn to soothe ourselves before we can effectively soothe our babies, and yet this is something too few people are talking about in the parenting world. If you thought it was just you who had intrusive thoughts, or felt rage, this episode is for you!Trigger Warning: we explore postnatal depression, anxiety and psychosis, and discuss unwanted, intrusive thoughts and taboo topics like self-harm, suicide and harming babies. If you are in the UK and struggling with unwanted intrusive thoughts or are experiencing any other mental health challenges, please do speak to a trusted health professional/GP who can refer you to further support.The PND charity PANDAS is another fantastic resource with a free helpline as well as free email and text support.https://pandasfoundation.org.uk/Or you can contact Samaritans whose 24hr free helpline as well as email and in person support options.https://www.samaritans.org/To purchase Mindful New Mum by Dr Caroline Boyd, go to:https://www.dk.com/uk/book/9780241531365-mindful-new-mum