Mindful Birthing - Hypnobabies Childbirth Hypnosis

Official Facebook announcement time!...

I have decided to not renew my Hypnobabies certification and I will no longer be teaching classes. As I am getting ready to move into a doctoral clinical psychology program and move away for a Sept 2018 start to do that, my time is going to be focused on applications and research, and I am only going to be around for 2/3 of the year next year.

I've been honoured to have met all the fabulous families that have passed through my life in the past 7 years as I taught this class. Some who have changed MY life in ways you cannot know!

NOVA Birth Services Did you know labor is less about your cervix opening and more about the thickness and contracting power of the uterus moving baby down and out? READ more about  what empowering birth expert Carla...

I cannot tell you how many times I hear the words "s/he slept so well between 10 and 16 weeks, we were getting five, six, even seven hour stretches in the crib/bassinet/basket and s/he would settle back to sleep easily and quickly after a feed. Things started to go wrong at around four months, I don't what we did wrong, s/he was such as good sleeper, but since then it's all been downhill. I just don't understand".

We ('we' meaning society) seem to think that baby sleep is linear. By that I mean we seem to think that it gets better as babies grow older. Or at least we believe it is static, ie. it won't get worse again. The thing is, it's not linear (certainly not in an upwards trajectory) and it's not static. It goes up and down (mostly down in the first year). This is entirely normal and very, very common (that doesn't mean there is anything wrong if your baby's sleep got better and better, you're just in the lucky minority!).

This chart is far more representative of what happens sleep wise in the first 18 months. Yes it is depressing, but it's realistic and once you know that something is totally normal, not your fault and most importantly *not permanent* it is so much easier to relax a little.

As it happens, 3 months is the peak of sleep in the first year, that means it's as good as it gets. There is a very, very high likelihood that your baby will sleep the best they are going to sleep until their first birthday (and later) around the age of about 3 months. It's really not uncommon for 3 months to be happy to be put down, to only wake once or twice in the night and to go to sleep easily after a quick feed/cuddle.

Then 4 and 5mths happen, they're not fun months. You get lulled into a false sense of security at 3mths, then suddenly your baby is waking every hour, won't be put down and is awake for an hour or more refusing to go back to sleep. This is normal development, it is temporary and you didn't do anything wrong! You also don't need to do anything to change it, keep doing what you're doing. Don't be scared of bad habits and especially don't consider sleep training. It's temporary!

You often get a blissful little blip of better sleep around 5-6mths, then just when you think "finally, it's getting a bit better", bam, thinks get worse again, usually not as bad as they were at 4mths, but still far worse than you'd hope.

7-8/9mths are often months that promise hope, with any luck you'll be back somewhere to where you were around 3mths (but probably not as good), but then - oh my goodness - 8-10mths hits. This is the worst sleep gets in the whole of the first year. At this age 84% of babies are waking (and feeding) regularly at night. Who would have thought that your baby would sleep significantly worse at 10mths than they did at 3?!!

Thankfully from around 11mths things start to improve again, fairly steadily for the next 6mths or so (although not the golden heyday of 3mths!). You can still expect nightwaking and night feeds at this age though.

I didn't draw the rest of the chart, as it's a bit depressing, but when can you expect 'good' sleep fairly reliably? somewhere between 2-3yrs of age (there is a common dip at about 2.5yrs however). That's a *lot* later than most people think and certainly a lot later than most professionals advise, but it's the reality, it's just such a shame that we've lost touch with reality when it comes to infant sleep! The secret to all of this is you - what you can do to stay calm, rested and able to cope with this normal sleep pattern. Having realistic expectations is a huge start.

What was the worst comment you got as a new mom?

"This, too, shall pass".... and other phrases new moms don't want to hear It never fails. A new mom posts on Facebook about how she hasn't slept more than 2 hours in a row since...she can't remember when, or about the fact that she's been wearing the same clothes and messy bun for 36+ hours, or about how the baby has gone through 6 outfits in the last 4 hours, or ab

True story, right?

True that!

Is there evidence to support using castor oil to induce labour post-dates? Find out here!

https://evidencebasedbirth.com/evidence-using-castor-oil-to-induce-labor/

Evidence on Using Castor Oil to Induce Labor This Evidence Based Birth® video is all about the evidence on using castor oil to induce labor.

Today is International Day of the Midwife. Yet NL still doesn't have registered midwives in NL. I call on the government of NL to move their action plan forward so all women and families in NL have access to evidence based maternity care.

Sarah's blog posts are such a blessing for the women in this area. Here's a little about how to prepare and what to expect with cesarean birth.

http://birthside.ca/can-prepare-cesarean-birth/

How can I prepare for my cesarean birth? - birthside Birth is birth now matter how that experience unfolds and everyone will hold that experience differently. How would you like to hold yours?

If you are giving birth in St. John's, NL, you are part of a kickass parenting community. Here's Hope showing you why:

https://theovercast.ca/what-war-sharing-the-triumphs-and-trials-of-parenting/

What War? Sharing the Triumphs and Trials of Parenting Slogans like “breast is best” and “fed is best” have been created (by formula companies, incidentally) to divide parents and keep them in fear of judgement. Mired in self-doubt and illusory conflic…

Happy Doula Week!

Here's one of my favourite doula photos, kickass doula Lindsay standing on the bed using her robozo.