baby and family sleep resources

The decision to be 'done' is a hard one. A personal one. One that often leaves people judging or questioning, no matter what you decide. We remember the thoughts of a mama who was real and vulnerable for us. --A Guest Post By A Mama Who Wished To Remain Anonymous-- I have five children, and...

Bedsharing. Everyone has an opinion, and everyone has the right to parent the way they feel best for their baby. Here's one family found worked for them. I have a pack 'n play that's been used a handful of times and that's it. Before my first was born, I dutifully set it up right next to the...

Breastfeeding is the most natural thing in the world, and yet...sometimes, it feels everything but. Here are some great tips for beating the Booby Traps of Breastfeeding.   Guest post by Kristen Tea In the past 4 years since becoming a mother and an enthusiastic breastfeeding supporter, I...

  Bedsharing is something that many parents have done for hundreds of years, and only truly questioned in the last few decades with the advent of direct campaigns against bed-sharing and cosleeping. There are so many positive benefits to bed-sharing for both parents and children, though, and we...

Want to make reading to your kids an easy thing that has few rules but all sorts of benefits? Check out one mama's 3 rules for bedtime reading. Though tons and tons of research suggest the many benefits of reading to your children, there's also research that reveals fewer and fewer parents...

Crying, kicking, screaming. The front-lines of the bedtime battle with your toddler can get ugly. Being a toddler is an exciting time in a child's life. There is so much to see and do in their ever-expanding world, and but with the territory comes a greater awareness of what bedtime is. It's...

Herbal dream pillows have been used for hundreds of years as an aromatic remedy for a good night's sleep. Simple and fun to make with your children, these tiny satchels may even offer them sweet dreams ahead! A few months ago my son began having occasional nightmares. He would whimper and cry...

The Bradley Method for natural childbirth prepares expecting mothers (and their coaches) for childbirth through education, breathing, relaxation, nutrition, and exercise. When I became pregnant with my first son, I honestly had no clue what to expect from childbirth. I had seen extremely...

From a burgeoning baby bump to painful leg cramps, getting a good night's sleep during pregnancy is no easy feat. Here are some tips to help you catch some z's. "You better get your sleep now, before the baby gets here!" I am pretty sure this seemingly helpful statement falls under the...

If you are like most parents, you've had your fair share of bedtime troubles. What if the answer was as simple as the food that you place on your child's dinner plate? Fish is rich in omega-3s, the fatty acids found in many types of fish. While previous studies have demonstrated a relationship...

Whoever decided that Halloween and the end of Daylight Saving Time should fall during the same week was clearly not a parent of a young child. At 2:00 a.m. on Sunday, November 5th, in the United States and Canada, we will set the clocks back by one hour. For those of you without young children...

So often a mother's sleep is dependent upon her child's, but new research shows that may go both ways, as children with mothers who have insomnia symptoms suffer from poorer sleep themselves. It's the age-old sign of motherhood - sleep being less than abundant, particularly in early years. Now...

A new study found that babies who shared a room with their parents slept less, on average, than those babies who spent the night in their own rooms. From vibrating bassinets to swaddle blankets, the infant sleep industry is estimated to be worth more than $325 million dollars a year. It's no...

A new report finds a correlation between toddler screen time and the amount of sleep they get, and researchers advise parents to think twice about screen time in very young children. As the world turns into a modern smorgasbord of technological devices and electronic offerings, the question of...

Daylight Saving Time either gives or takes an hour of your sleep. Either way, it can make you lose your mind as a parent. Here are some hacks that will hopefully ensure sweet dreams for everyone in the family. Before you had kids, you used to think that having an extra hour in the Fall was...

By Ashley Lefrak for Brain, Child: The Magazine for Thinking Mothers 9:36 PM Walk your toddler back to bed for the twenty-seventh time. Start reading on-line parent forums about what to do when a toddler keeps leaving his room after bedtime. Read about people claiming to have solved this...

Thank you to Brian Leaf for sharing this excerpt of his book, Misadventures of a Parenting Yogi. Parenting precepts scare me. I'm Jewish and from New Jersey, so I'm prone to worry. My neurotic mind can turn any set of precepts into another explanation of why I have failed and my children will...

I have been so lucky to live in a country where I have been able to engage the support of one midwife for all of my care throughout pregnancy, birth, and beyond. You were there with me, beside me, for the births of three of my children. Tears spring to my eyes as I remember those births: the...

People often ask me how I survived the early years of motherhood when our firstborn son woke up between ten to twelve times a night and needed more than the breast to go back to sleep. Part of what allowed me to survive was an extraordinary partner who shouldered the nighttime challenges with me...

In natural birth and Attachment Parenting circles, it seems to be de rigueur to have siblings at subsequent births. This practice has become more than just a fad relegated to more alternative women. I hear women everywhere discussing issues around siblings at their upcoming births: support...