Category Archives: Sleep

Sleep, Mental Health, Family, Uncategorized, Parenting, Blog

Music in the womb means less crying after birth!

Dear Parents in Tune – We talk a lot about how to connect with your baby once they are in your arms. This week, let’s spend some time talking about tuning in to them BEFORE they arrive into your arms. Specifically, let’s see how music in the womb can effect your baby once they’re born. 

This is for all your friends out there who are staring at their belly wondering – will a baby actually come out of my body?? It’s for any of you who are pregnant with your first, second, third, or eighth baby. 

Remember how it felt when you were pregnant for the first time? You had all the time in the world to feel the changes in your body. Every new centimeter was noticed and measured, every bit of heaviness meant a slower step, hunger was tended to and nausea was acupunctured. 

With any pregnancy following, there is no time for that. Discomfort must be tolerated and we plod on, dealing with our toddlers as best we can. But no matter what number you’re on, everyone can benefit from taking a pause and tuning in before the shit hits the fan (and seeps through the onesie).  

And what should you do in that pause? Two things- 

  • Tune in to the changes in your body.
  • Connect to your fetus.

 

Let’s talk body:

 It can feel very scary and exciting for your body to be changing so drastically. I remember the moment I realized I couldn’t suck in my stomach as I walked into a party trying hard to feel my best (before letting it all hang out by the end of the party.)

Here’s a reminder – Take the time to run your hand compassionately over areas that are changing. Allow your body to do the work of growing a human inside you with all the beauty and discomfort that comes with it.

 

Now let’s see how you can connect to your fetus. Why? Because the more you feel connected to your fetus now the more you will once they arrive in your arms. And it just so happens that MUSIC is a direct phone line straight to your little nugget.

 

4 ways to use music to connect to your baby during pregnancy

 

Play music you love for your baby. 

Until about 30 years ago, we didn’t know how much the fetus could hear.  We now know that by 16 weeks, they can hear sounds outside of the womb. A 2013 article shows that babies at birth and at four months old noticed changes in the melodies that were played to them in utero. 

So take the time to put something on that makes you feel GOOD. It can be that song your teenage self jammed to or your wedding song. It could just be “Groove Thang” – don’t judge it! Just play it. There is a good chance your baby will remember that music on the outside.

 

Sing! Even early on.

Did you know that singing to your baby in utero can have an affect on their behavior post birth? This 2017 study published in “Women & Birth” showed that babies who were sung to in utero cried less after they were born!

That’s a pretty good reason to do it. Not only that, When you sing, your body relaxes and vibrates and it’s like an internal massage that affects everything on the inside, as well. 

Where to start? Find some time during your day to take in deep breaths and use your lowest voice. 

Put your hand on your chest and see if you can make it vibrate even more. Let all of your breath come out as you sing so that you take in deep breaths in between phrases. This is called vocal toning. You are using your voice to align with your vocal vibration. 

 

Start to search for your lullaby. 

Once the baby is here, you are going to want to have a lullaby prepared. Your lullaby will be KEY to helping your baby fall asleep and helping you create a dependable sleep routine. I didn’t have one ready to go and I wish I did.  It is so nice to start singing your lullaby from day 1.

And if you start to sing your lullaby while you are pregnant, your baby will become familiar with it and it will work even better.

 

Tune in to the sounds within your body. 

This means sitting still and quiet and tuning in to your heartbeat. This 2015 study showed that pre-term babies who listened to recordings of their mothers heartbeat and recordings of their mother singing had improved neural processes. So tune in with your baby!

 

Connecting with your fetus now means taking your first step toward bonding once they’re here. And as you know, that is crucial for your baby’s well being and your own.

I know, it’s almost impossible while you hae a toddler or more to run after at the same time. But if you can, take a few moments a day especially in the last month of pregnancy to connect. Your body will probably start telling you to turn inward, to start slowing down, go out less, do less things, and LISTEN, and SING. 

 

Did you pick out your lullaby while pregnant (unlike me)? How did you find it? Comment below. 

Have a pregnant friend? Forward them these 4 ways to connect and eliminate one of many Google searches. 

The baby is already here and you need sleep help ASAP? Check out this post for some tried and true strategies that I’ve collected over my many years of work with parents and babies.

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Soothing, Sleep, Mental Health, Family, Parenting, Tantrums, Blog

What is Co-Regulation and how do you do it?

Co-Regulation. It’s the buzz word of our era of parenting. So what is it?

In extremely simple terms, it means to calm your baby. But there’s a twist. The focus has shifted a bit since grandma raised your parents. 

 

But let’s back up. In order to understand Co-regulation let’s look at Regulation.

What is Self-Regulation?

Self- Regulation is the ability to manage your thoughts, feelings and actions. When you can self regulate you can respond rather than react when you face strong emotions or stressful situations. You are aware of your emotions and have control over how you express them.

 

The Twist

Your baby needs help to regulate. They weren’t born with the ability to do it on their own. However, instead of seeing your role as simply regulating your baby, your role is helping your baby learn how to regulate themselves.

It’s an important distinction that will take you through parenting at all ages. 

Instead of – “I soothe you.”

It’s “I help YOU soothe you.”

(That’s so Jerry Maguire!)

And how do you do that? By Co-Regulating.

 

How to Co-Regulate

I hate to say it parent, but in order for you to teach your baby how to self-soothe you need to first soothe yourself.

Your baby will only start to calm if you are able to convey to them that they are safe and are attuned to. It comes down to the way you use your voice, gestures, affects, and movements.  And your baby is expert at assessing your cues.

Here’s the good news – The more you help your baby cope with moments of stress, the more they will internalize the process and learn how to do it themselves, without your help. So you’re not stuck doing this forever, but it is crucial you learn how to do it now.

 

So how do we actually Co-regulate?

 

1 . YOU self soothe.

Your baby is extremely sensitive to your behavior and emotions. If you’re feeling stressed you might have a harder time calming your baby which of course will agitate your baby more and make you feel more stressed.

This is not a chicken or the egg situation. When your baby is crying, or distressed,, you need to initiate the regulating.

How do you do that? Deep breaths, take a moment away from the situation , call a soothing friend or family member for help, put on music, etc. (Need a Fussy Baby Playist? I’ve got you covered.)

2. Tend to your baby’s physical needs.

A lot of regulating your baby has to do with being attuned to their physical needs – food and sleep.

3. Provide warmth and nurturing.

Convey through your voice, body and face that you empathize with your baby and are there to support them.

4. Decrease stimulation.

Modify your baby’s environment to decrease stress – turn off screens, lower the lights, reduce noise. These shifts are very effective in soothing you both.

5. Label Emotions.

Especially for older babies, give your baby words to understand and express what they are feeling. Teach them what those words mean.

6. Provide structure and routine.

When your baby is having a hard time with a transition rely on routines that comfort them like a lullaby before sleep, a food that they normally eat, a walk that soothes them, etc.

7. Model Regulation.

Have patience for your baby and yourself. Model calmly waiting. Sometimes it simply takes time. Modely self calming strategies like deep breaths.

 

2 Examples of Co-Regulation:

 

Example #1 – When your baby goes to sleep it can be stressful for them. The transition from being with you to parting and quieting down can be hard. By singing a lullaby you convey calm, you lower their cortisol with your voice and the melody, you hold them and help them feel safe and contained.

Eventually, as your baby grows, they will start to sing the lullaby to themselves. Have some of your babies already done this? It’s the cutest thing to hear your baby softly singing to themselves essentially embodying the sense of calm they feel when you do it.

 

Example #2 – Does your baby get upset when they need to part from you? Coregulating might look like another adult holding your baby as you part. They might consistently soothe your baby while being attuned and responsive to your baby’s needs. Through their voice, tone and body they would convey calm and safety to your baby.

 

As time goes on your baby may still be distressed by these transitions, but after having learned how it feels in their body to calm down and regulate  will be able to do it for themselves. And then these moments go from distressing to manageable.

The behavior of the people around your baby help to wire your baby’s neurobiology during the millions of stressful moments that your baby has during their first years.

Don’t worry. You don’t need to be there to co-regulate all of the time.Studies show that if your baby is co-regulated 30% of the time then we’re doing pretty well.

Dear Tunie, we are in especially challenging times right now. You and your baby need Co-regulation. I hope this post helps a bit in finding it (for more advice on how to handle tantrums try this post.)

 

Do you have a friend who needs help with regulation and co-regulation? Who doesn’t? Lol. Send them this post and tell them to sign up for more in the future.

 

Please COMMENT and let me know if this is helpful and how YOU coregulate.

 

Yes! Please send me the Tuesday Tune-In!

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Rhythm, Lullabies, Vocalizing, Soothing, Sleep, Mental Health, Uncategorized, Parenting, Tantrums, Blog

The Utimate Fussy Baby Playlist

Dear Tunester,

It’s the witching hour. You’re so tired you’re practically bumbing into walls, your baby is fussy even though you’ve gone through the “what could be wrong?” checklist and can’t find a reason, you’re watching the door just waiting for relief to step in so you can STEP AWAY.

 

And your baby is still FUSSY.

 

I can’t come to your home and give you relief but I can help in another way. This week I’d like to give you a playlist for exactly those moments. With winter on its way, you might be spending a lot more time indoors, which means you could have more of these.

 

The playlist that will not only be enjoyable to listen to but will actually HELP you soothe.

 

When I was in your shoes I wanted someone to just do things for me – wash the bottles, make dinner, call the electrician, so that I could focus on my baby (and resting.)

 

So I’ve done it for you. I’ve made the playlist that hopefully will save you during the witching hour which always gets so much worse as it gets colder outside.

 

The musical process of soothing a baby

 

This playlist is going to take you from rhythm, to reggae, to vocals, to guitar, to soft piano, and hopefully to sleep.

 

When I was recording Soothing on Hello My Baby I remember my producer saying – are you sure you want it to be this fast if it’s a soothing song? 

 

But he didn’t have kids. He didn’t know that when we soothe we bounce fairly quickly. And having a good bouncy beat to do that to is key.

 

So here’s your musical journey. Feel free to comment below and let me know which songs to take out or which you’d like me to add. This is a work in progress.

 

The Fussy Baby Playlist:

Click here to go straight to your playlist.

  1. Your playlist starts with “Cry To Me”, a mid tempo swinging song that hopefully reminds you of Dirty Dancing and makes your hips sway as you bounce your baby around the house.
  2. Babies love Reggae. It has to do with the accentuated upbeat. Think 1, and, 2, and, 3, and, 4 . Rock songs put the stress on the downbeats (1,2,3,4). Reggae stresses the AND which adds bounce. The second song on this playlist is one of the sweetest reggae songs out there by Marley the king – “Three Little Birds“.
  3. I’m in a Taylor Swift mood. Aren’t we all these days? The third song is called “You Need to Calm Down“. Its got a groove with a tempo that takes it down a bit from the songs before.
  4. Parents often tell me that their baby listens closely to the voices of other babies on my song “Ah Ah“. It’s also got an upbeat tempo that is still good for dancing/bouncing.
  5. The next song is “New Soul“. In case your baby hasn’t calmed yet I’m hoping this one will remind you how new your baby is to the world and how much they have to work to get used to it. That could make anybody fussy!
  6. We transition to taking it down a bit with the guitar of Paul Simon on “St. Judy’s Comet“. It’s a beautiful lullaby with a medium tempo. Paul Simon has a way of begging his kid to sleep that makes you feel like you’re not alone.
  7. Babies love to hear our voice. At this point in the playlist I transition you both to songs that are vocals heavy. “Mr. Sandman” is the perfect blend of bounce and harmonious vocals.
  8. My “Soothing” song to start bringing it home.
  9. “You Were Born” is one of those gorgeous timeless songs that takes you somewhere else. I hope that at this point your baby’s eyes are starting to droop and you have a chance to sit and reflect. You’re doing great, mama and papa.
  10. In case your baby needs more voice, more love, and gentleness here’s my friend Frances England making her magic with “Little By Little”.
  11. “Didn’t Leave Nobody But The Baby” is the lullaby of all lullabies. Is your baby calm yet? I hope so.
  12. To help your baby drift off with a slight smile at the corners of their mouth and make you both feel like you’re falling into a cloud, here’s my friend Kira Willey with “How to Be a Cloud.”
  13. For good measure I added my “Sleep” song here.

Click here to go straight to your playlist.

 

Need another excellent tip on how to get through the Witching Hour? Click here.

 

So how did it go? Did the playlist work? Let me know which songs did and which didn’t. COMMENT below.

 

And most importantly, if you have a friend who is heading into winter with their little baby and you want to send them some help during fussy moments, share this post with them.

 

And tell them to sign up for more just like this by adding their name to the list.

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To sleep train or not to sleep train?

Dearest Tunesters, today’s topic is one that I know you think about ALL the time – SLEEP.

 

Believe me, I was right there with you. I was blessed with three terrible sleepers. Apparently there are miracle babies out there who sleep through the night from the get-go. I didn’t get one of those.

 

I obsessed about sleep and how to get it with each of my babies. I read the books, I googled, I spoke to specialists, I experimented with methods, and I obsessed some more.

 

If you’ve got a baby who doesn’t sleep well, most likely you’re wondering two things:

 

  1. Should I sleep train or not?
  2. (And if so,) What method should I use?

 

Here’s my answer to these questions which is based on my experience as a mom, my professional experience with you all for the last 10 years, and some of the latest research.

 

The THRESHOLD theory

 

What I’ve realized is this: We all have a different threshold as to how little sleep we can tolerate in those first years with our baby.

 

Some reach their threshold in the first months. They realize that they can’t be good parents unless they get more sleep. Perhaps they are also working, perhaps they have other kids at home, maybe they are single parents, or maybe they’ve noticed that the lack of sleep is having an affect not only on their physical well being but on their emotional health.

 

I was in that category with my second. I reached my threshold quite early.

 

Some reach their threshold later in the first year. Although they absolutely want to sleep more, they aren’t ready to take extreme measures to make that happen right away. They want to ride it out a bit more and see if the baby will find a sleep pattern on their own.

 

I was in that category with my first. I reached my threshold at around 8 months (he did not find a sleep pattern on his own ?).

 

Some reach their threshold a lot later. They’ve made some peace with the idea that they won’t be getting 7 unobstructed hours of sleep for a while. They can handle the exhaustion and have found ways to maintain their own health despite it.

 

Are you wondering what camp you’re in? Don’t stress. Google won’t have the answer for you. Your friends won’t have the answer for you.

 

When you reach your threshold depends on many factors including your home situation, your health, how much help you have, and your baby’s temperament.

 

But here’s the important part –

When you hit your threshold, YOU’LL KNOW. 

 

You’ll feel compelled to take action and it won’t even be a question. You will no longer be asking anyone who will listen – “should I or shouldn’t I?”

 

And that means that until you hit your threshold, you can relax. You don’t need to obsess about it any longer. If you’re going back and forth about it, it means what for whatever reason you simply are not ready.

 

So give yourself a break. You’re job is simply to listen to that voice inside you that says – not yet, or NOW.

 

Here’s what I want to scream from the rooftops – 

 

  1. There is no conclusive evidence on the best time to sleep train. 
  2. No matter when you take action to help your baby sleep through the night, it’s going to be HARD.

 

There is no RIGHT TIME to do it other than your own gauge.

 

And then the only question that remains is: Which method?

 

The fact is that no matter which sleep training method you decide on, it’s not going to be fun. Your baby will fight back whether they are 4 months or 2 years old and it will break your heart at any stage. There is no evidence that one method works better or is better for your baby. It comes down to you using the method that feels right for YOU and your family.

 

So to recap – 

  1. Noticing when you reach your threshold is key. It’s what makes you a good parent. It means you’re noticing what you need in order to be available for your baby.

  2. Until you get there, lay off the obsessing. Let yourself enjoy this time with your baby,  even the wake ups. With my third I fully surrendered to feeding through the night in a way I didn’t with my first two.
  3. Once you are ready to sleep train pick a method that feels right. They are basically variations on the same method ranging from more hard core to less hard core.  Unfortunately no matter which you choose, it’s going to be hard on everyone.

 

Whether you are planning on training or not, this post might help get more sleep you in the meantime and put good practices into place.

 

So what do you think dear Tunester? Do you agree with my Threshold Theory? COMMENT below and let me know.

 

Do you have a friend who is drowning in articles trying to figure out what to do? Send them this post and tell them to sign up for more.

 

Yes! Please send me the Tuesday Tune-In!

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7 tips for skipping the sleep competition with your partner

Today’s post is all about that awful (and often secret) competition we have with our partners once we have a baby to take care of. I call it: “Who Sleeps More”.

 

You know what I mean.

 

I’m talking about the darkest part of ourselves that gets unleashed when we are thrown into a stressful situation. I’m talking about the competition you actually don’t want to win.

 

Remember when your biggest disagreements with your partner were about where to eat brunch, whose friends to see on a particular weekend, or how often to see the in-laws? 

 

You were the master of your own schedules. You went to the gym when you wanted, slept late when you needed, and parted ways to take care of yourselves and fill your individual needs.

 

And then came baby, and then came a pandemic (or the other way around.) And all of that free time dissipated into the air like steam off a pot of boiling water, slowly reducing to nothing but BURN. 

 

So what do you do? You go into survival mode. You do what needs to be done and hope your partner is doing the same. You try to get through the day without having a nervous breakdown or keeling over in exhaustion.

 

Having a baby during a pandemic (or anytime) is kind of like being thrown on a desert island with no food, no water, no way out, with a stranger you’ve never met before (that would be your partner). Oh, and you have to survive AND stay friends??

 

You are both so spent. Forget the island, you’re drowning. And when a precious sleep opportunity becomes available you inevitably ask – who needs it more?

 

It’s dangerous territory, that question, because what It’s really asking is – whose time is more important, or whose “work” is more important? And that scratches at the archaic roles that men and women used to have in society.

 

Despite the evolving we’ve all done it can still be so easy to slip into the roles of generations passed- mom minds the baby, dad makes the money.

 

After I had my first baby I remember waiting at home with the baby on my hip and the meal in the oven literally watching the door for my husband to come home.

 

I’m not just talking about women and men. The two mom or two dad families in my classes report that they have a similar dynamic  -there is a “mom” role, the one who spends more time with the baby, and there is the “dad” role, the one who spends more time at work and takes less ownership over the baby.

 

We’re smart enough to know now that whether you’re clocking in hours on conference calls or are spending your day trying to get your baby to nap, it’s EXHAUSTING. 

 

In fact, spending a full day with a baby is often a lot more taxing, physically strenuous and mind numbing than any other job. Not only that, your boss is RELENTLESS. They are demanding and refuse to give you breaks so you can eat lunch or shower. And forget about a raise. 

 

So what becomes of the sunny eggs benedict-eating duo?

 

The dreadful competition. Who does more? Who works harder? Who cleans more? Who soothes more? Who plays more? Who goes to the gym more? Who sees friends more?

And the mother of them all:

 

WHO DESERVES MORE SLEEP?

 

Once we’ve hit that point, there is no way back. There is no mistaking it. We are parents. We are in this. We will make mistakes. And we need to work TOGETHER.

 

So in the spirit of Valentine’s day, here are:

 

7 Tips for Skipping the Sleep Competition

 

1. Recognize that this is par for the course. We are the children of baby boomers who set the stage for equality of roles in a marital partnership. Now it is our job to figure it out. Paternal roles is one of the topics that comes up most in my classes. Most couples, if not all, deal with it in some way. So you’re not alone, and your marriage is not doomed. But there is some adjusting that needs to be done and it will take a little while to figure it out.

 

2. Divide and conquer. Some couples are able to have a silent agreement on who does what, but most need to lay it out clearly. For the tasks that repeat, like making lunch for the kids, cooking dinner, cleaning up dinner, straightening up the house, laundry or washing the bottles, DELEGATE ahead of time. It’s comforting to know that one of you owns the job. The other can take it off their list.

 

3. Communicate CLEARLY. The thing about the “who sleeps more” conversation is that it doesn’t communicate what we actually need and want. Instead of saying,  “I really need to take a nap right now, can you take over for an hour?” We say – “Are you going out for a run AGAIN?” and we hope our partner will understand the subtext. It won’t happen. They’re drowning too. So instead of letting the resentment build, state what you want and need. It may be granted, it may not. Either way, you were clear about it which will usually yield the best results.

 

4. Encourage INITIATIVE. The main complaint I hear in my classes is that one of the partners doesn’t take initiative with baby-caring tasks. Assuming you have the simple tasks divided, the next step is encouraging  initiative with positive feedback. But be sure to address the root of the action. Instead of saying “thank you for washing the dishes,” which never feels right because -of course the other should do the dishes too, Say -”thank you for noticing the dishes needed to be done and taking initiative to do it”. THAT’S the behavior you want to encourage. Give some props for that and it will be repeated.

 

5.  LISTEN. When your partner finishes their day exhausted  and wants to vent, try to find space to listen, even if you are exhausted  as well. Listening to each other without judgment will remind you that you are both drowning.

 

6. Get HELP. It isn’t easy, especially during a pandemic. Find someone who can relieve you. Even better, find someone who can relieve you both so you can hang out together.

 

7. REMEMBER that it won’t last forever. It’s easy to get so stuck in the daily grind or the diaper, rinse, repeat process that we forget the most important thing: this period will pass. You will not be fighting over sleep forever. And once you are both sleeping well, all of the other tasks will fall into place much more easily.

 

That’s it for today dear Tunie. I hope this brings you one step closer to celebrating Valentines Day with your partner. Hopefully your day will include a lot of sleep.

 

So how about you –  Do you have the “who deserves more sleep” compention with your partner? How do you handle it? Comment below and let us know!

 

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This baby CRIES every time she hears this song ?

Dear Tunester,

Did you know that your tone of voice can have a direct impact on your baby’s emotional state?

I’m going to show you a video that illustrates this in a surprising way. But first, let’s talk TONE.

 

Tell me if this has ever happened to you – You meet someone new and something about the tone of their voice or the musicality of how they speak makes you feel uneasy. You find yourself clawing for an escape or an alibi.

 

Maybe you also have a distant aunt who yell/speaks in a high pitched voice about the rugellah? (Or maybe it’s just me?)

 

So what is tone? It’s the way the air flows through our vocal chords. It is the COLOR of our voice. And Intonation is the MELODY in our voice.

 

Our babies don’t speak our language yet, so all of the information they are getting is through our tone, intonation, and rhythm (the syncopation that naturally occurs in our words and sentences.)

 

Those of you who have taken Baby in Tune classes know that we spend quite a bit of time learning how to make your tone of voice more resonant and more soothing for your baby. 

 

We do this in a few ways:

  1. By taking deep breaths between phrases.
  2. By using the muscles at the bottom of our abdomen.
  3. By making the voice deeper and creating more vibration.
  4. By relaxing other parts of the body like shoulders, neck, hips.
  5. By letting the jaw fall open. 

 

Try this tonight: As you are singing your lullaby notice how your body feels. Try taking in deeper breaths from the bottom of your lungs, filling the sides as well. Relax your jaw, relax your shoulders. See if you feel a difference as you are singing. See if your body relaxes and if your baby calms more easily.

 

When we sing or speak without the support of our breath and abdomen we tend to feel tense, especially in our throat. And when that happens it doesn’t matter how many times we cycle through Twinkle Twinkle, our baby isn’t going to feel soothed.

 

There are research studies like this one or this one illustrating how babies listen closely and respond to tone. 

 

But I also had my three subjects at home. In this video you’ll see something surprising that happened with my daughter when she was two months old. 

 

It all began when I started singing a silly ditty I had made up:

 

“I could watch your eyebrows all day…”

 

I know. There’s a reason it never made it onto an album. But go with me because what happened next was the surprising part.

 

I started to sing an improvised melody with the vowel sounds Ah and Oo.

 

As she listened my daughter increasingly got VERY sad. She seemed to be responding directly to the shift in the music.

 

I wanted to be sure her mood shifts had to do with the music and not something else so I went back and forth between the eyebrow song and the haunting melody.

 

I was shocked to find that each time I sang the haunting melody my daughter’s lower lip jutted out, her eyes got red and wet, and her eyebrows went down. She was about to cry!

 

Elton John can only dream about such an attentive and responsive audience!

 

I was so intrigued by her response. Her mood seemed to shift as a result of the shift in the music:

 

So here’s what we can learn from this video and what I’m hoping you’ll take away from today’s post:

 

  1. Our babies are listening to our tone, melody, rhythm very closely.
  2. They are so sensitive to the EMOTION we convey in our tone.
  3. We can change our tone to make them feel more calm, more soothed and happier.
  4. Just as our baby is watching us closely, we can watch them closely and learn their preferences and behaviors.

 

I’d love to hear your thoughts on the video. How do you interpret my daughter’s reactions? Obviously this is not a controlled science experiment so interpretation is up for grabs. Let me know!

 

Also, have you noticed your baby’s preferences for certain songs? Tone? Rhythm? Please COMMENT below and let me know.

 

Do you have a friend who would be interested in learning about how to make her tone, intonation and rhythm more soothing for her baby? Forward this post to her and tell her to join a Baby in Tune class ASAP!

 

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6 ways to ease your kids’ transition into fall

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Here we are squeezing out the final drops of summer as the sun sets on this season.Can you almost hear John Travolta and Olivia Newton John singing “Those summer, niiiiiiiiiiiihiiiiiiiiights?”

So…now what?

Now we transition.

In past years, I’ve written blogs during this time about going back to school, picking up our routine again, rediscovering our own freedom.

Traditionally this was a time of stress, sure, but also of celebration! Parents would wipe away their first-day tears and then break out in dance on their way home or off to work.

Things are obviously so different this time around. Yes, it’s back-to-school season, but it’s nothing like the picture-perfect parade to school: new backpacks on new, freshly cut hair, leaves beginning to drop from the trees. It feels more like a procession of overgrown COVID curls, walking the plank off into a sea of the unknown.

If you’ve got school-age kids, you are probably feeling a mix of elation by the possibility that the kids may actually leave the house for two days, along with terror of the possibility of them hobnobbing closely with a million other kids, no matter HOW many regulations are put into place.

If you’ve got a baby, you’re probably staying up at night weighing your options— do you keep the baby home all day while you work, or do you send them to a daycare with other possibly Corona-bearing babies?Or should you bring in a nanny who might have to travel on the potentially COVID-y subway to and from your house?

Sure, we have options, but none of them look great from here.

But in all the unknowns, there are two things we do know:

  1. Our time is up. No more debating or hemming and hawing—the transition is HERE.
  2. We’ll put one foot in front of the otherand figure it out as we go.

We all know our kids crave some routine. They seem to fall in line when we manage to hold it together. In the past, school helped out with that. This year, it’s on us. And although we can also cut ourselves A LOT of slack in this regard, it will also help to go into this unprecedented year with a game plan.

 

To help you get through this week, here are 5 ways to help your kids and babies feel some semblance of what September is supposed to look like:

 

1. Music is your friend. USE IT.

I can ‘t stress this enough. Music is powerful, especially when it comes to calming us and setting routines.

During these next few weeks, use music in these two ways:

To reset routines. Round up your bath time music, your bedtime music, your feeding music. Pull out all the stops. Go full-force . It WILL help you reclaim your routine that might have slipped during summer. Here is a post with more ideas about this and why it works.

To calm everyone down. Precisely in those moments when you feel overloaded, when the kids are bouncing off the walls, when you can’t hear another conflicting message from the DOE, put on a song that will put you all in a good place. Maybe that’s a dance song, maybe it’s classical music, maybe it’s Raffi.

 

2. Organize the house a bit.

A cluttered space can easily make for a cluttered mind. I’m not saying you need to do a deep clean. But if you have 5 minutes, make a corner for your kid that says “In this spot we think, we create, we respect our surroundings.” Nothing too complicated. Just a clean corner that invites a new page and makes you feel a little peaceful when you look at it.

For your baby, create a “YES area”—a space where everything is allowed and they won’t get into trouble for touching things. A place where they can do their own exploring independently without you needing to monitor their every move or worrying about them getting hurt.

 

3. Reclaim your bedtime routine

Summer lovin’ throws off all evening routines. Trust me, it happened in my home big time. But it’s time to put actual bedtimes back into place. You know what that means? Beyond knowing what time that will be, it means starting the wind down process waaaaaay earlier than you’d think. The trick to keeping to your bedtime routine is giving yourself and your babies/kids enough time to wind down.

For instance, in our home, summer hours have pushed the kids’ bedtime to 9pm. I am going to do my damndest to move that back at least a half hour this fall. But that means that by 8pm they need to already be IN BED. Once they are in bed they read books, ask for a million things, chat and complain. It usually takes them a half hour to do all that no matter how much I try to minimize it. That means that my reading to them needs to start as early as 7:30, at least until we have this established. (Even as I write this, I’m rolling my eyes at my own suggestion.)

But we CAN do this, people. It takes effort but we know it’s worth it—for their sake and for ours.

 

4. Schedule playdates

This year, since we are deciding on friend pods ahead of time, it will help to schedule these meetings for the week. That will take a HUGE load off us when our kids ask for it daily. It will also ease our own scheduling hell and give your kids something to look forward to. Find two days a week that your kid will have playdates with their one or two friends.

Try to keep to set times at least for the first month or so. That way you’ll be able to say, “Tomorrow you have your playdate with Katie!,” which will be something positive for them to focus on, especially during the tough transition time.

 

5. Schedule FaceTime with grandparents

During the summer we did this whenever it felt right. If you’re like us, it probably happened about twice a week with each set. But as we head into the fall things will be a bit more chaotic. We’ll have more to do while our kids might have less to do.

It will help to think of meetings with the grandparents as after-school activities or even school meetings that they do once a week. For instance, my mother reads with my daughter, my mother in law does art with her. If we can get something set on a schedule, I know that my daughter, the grandparents and I will feel much more relaxed knowing the plan.

I want to be able to say, “It’s grandma Wednesday!”

 

6. Plan your weekly meals

I know you might hate me for even saying this. But if you can actually do some meal-planning, it can take a huge load off. Note: I am not talking about anything gourmet. In our home we’ve got 5-7 meals that we rotate between anyway, so why not have designated nights for them so that the kids can latch onto it and expect it. They love knowing what we’ll be eating ahead of time. I love not thinking about it, and it helps a lot with the shopping too.

At our home our weekly meal plan looks like this:

Monday: Ziti night
Tuesday: Taco night
Wednesday: Spaghetti night
Thursday: Chicken/fish night
Friday: Soup and salad night
Saturday: Leftovers
Sunday: Omelette
Get out of jail free card: Takeout night, for when I just can’t.

For lunches, since my kids will be home all the time, I’ll have a few options which they need to either make for themselves or help with heavily. Those are:

Turkey sandwich
Cream cheese sandwich
Quesadilla
Fake nuggets
Mac and cheese
Nutella sandwich

So there you have it. You now know the full extent of my culinary abilities. What’s your weekly meal plan?

 

Let’s do this, parents. It’s a strange new school year with all unknowns ahead of us. Our kids may be home with us for the entire year, they may be at daycare/school for a few weeks only or they may be there for a while. (Or, if you’re my family, they will be in the car with you 24/7.)

Regardless, the tiniest bit of routine will save us right now and be the perfect antidote to TRANSITIONITIS and whatever else this crazy time tries to throw at us.

 

Do you have a strategy for dealing with this year’s extreme case of Transitionitis? Comment below and let me know what it is. I could use some help myself.

 

Do you have a friend who is biting her nails as she heads into a precacrious fall season? Send her this. Tell her there is more help to come if she signs up for the Tuesday Tune In.

 

Yes! Please send me the Tuesday Tune-In!

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Phone down, summer back. Let’s do this!

You guys—I need to detox, and I need your help.

 

I’m doom-scrolling at 6am, grabbing for the phone at every single lull, stopping tasks mid-way to give myself an “Instagram break”, and worst of all—flipping through my boring feed while my kids are right in front of me. 

 

Are you in this boat? If so, read on.

 

I don’t know about you, but my addiction has gotten SO MUCH WORSE since our old “friend” Corona stopped by. I’m ashamed by how many times I reach for my phone knowing full well that I just checked it a few minutes ago and found NOTHING interesting before either. 

 

But I’m not just talking about social media. My compulsion has grown for the news too. Never before have I actually RUN OUT of news articles to glance through on the NYT app. Sigh. It’s bad. And I can bet I’m not alone in this.

 

Assuming we know, more or less, at this point why this isn’t great for us (see: increases anxiety, lowers self esteem, makes us feel lonely) let’s look at why this isn’t great for our kids. For me at least, that is an even bigger motivator to kick this habit.

 

And then I’ve got a game plan. You might not know this about me but I’m a Challenge Girl. I love to do hard things by setting specific and doable goals for myself. And I especially love it when others join me for the ride. That’s key, actually. 

 

If you want to head straight to the challenge and skip the WHY then click on the link at the bottom of the post.

 

If you’re here for the info, let’s look at the effect our phone use has on our babies and kids.

 

As we talked about in last week’s post, the first three years of our baby’s life is the time to lay the foundation for empathy, self esteem, and emotional development.

 

So much of our baby’s social development happens through mirroring. If I set up a secret camera into your home, I would probably catch hundreds of micro-mirroring moments that you do with your baby without even realizing. You mirror their gestures, facial expressions and sounds, and they do the same back to you. 

 

And what do they see a lot of the time? Us, head bent down, enthralled  at a device that must be pretty darn interesting. And then they see it again, and again and again. And soon enough, they want to mimic our behavior and do it too. 

 

But the issue goes even deeper than just monkey see, monkey do. Through mirroring, our babies understand who they are, how to behave, and how to connect with others. When they are upset, they look to us to show them how to regulate their emotions and they eventually internalize our response. When they encounter others, they look to us to understand when they are in danger and when they are safe.

 

For instance, when a stranger comes up to your baby and leans over the stroller, your baby quickly glances over to you to determine how they should feel about the stranger. If they see your face tense up slightly, they feel that way too. If they see you fully relaxed and peaceful, they understand that the stranger is not a risk. 

 

Neurological connections are being made every time your baby looks to you to gather information about themselves and the world. And, they do it constantly. In fact, our babies actually look at us 70-80% of the time. That’s A TON

 

But here’s the catch: when they glance over at us and they see us staring at the phone, it’s confusing for them. 

 

Why? Imagine this scenario: You’re at the playground, your kid does a thing— jumps off the rock, slides down the pole, climbs up the slide, swings a little higher—and then glances over at you for acknowledgement. 

 

But you’re not looking back. Your head is down staring at the phone. 

 

At that moment, they don’t see themselves reflected back. They don’t see the loving witness that helps them develop self-esteem and self-efficacy. 

 

We might actually look up for a minute and give a little smile, but it is incongruous with what is happening because we don’t get the full picture, and because we are distracted and spacey.

 

Do you want to SEE this in action? Here is a research study by Dr. Tronick that really brings home the point. Check out what happens to these babies when they feel their mother is not appropriately engaged and mirroring their effect.

 

 

Here’s another illustration from the study.

 

These babies will do anything they can to get their parent’s  reaction to be more natural. They may use  charm, surprise, alarm (ie. a fake cough). If all that fails, they WHINE. Yup, we know that whine all too well. In an extreme case in which the parent is mostly disengaged, the baby eventually gives up 🙁

 

I’m not saying you need to be their loving witness every minute of the day. I’m saying we can do better and we know it. 

 

And us? Well, we already know what the phone does to us. But in case you need a refresher, it can make us feel isolated, depressed or stressed. It can eat away at our self confidence and infects us with self-doubt like a trip back to our high school days.

 

But worst of all? It is a TIME SUCK. An hour and a half later, we realize we’ve only really seen one thing that was truly interesting. And that same hour and a half will be the one you long  for the next day while you are with your kids thinking about how you didn’t get that one important thing done.

 

It’s summer. We want to be with our kids and have some carefree fun. That means not wasting our precious time on the f*cking phone.

 

So, who’s with me?

 

I’ve put together a well-thought-out 8 day challenge that I think is totally doable. It’s not going to be easy, but if we do it together, we can get to the other side and feel much better.

 

First step: Join the FB group for this challenge. There I’ll be explaining each step and how to do it. We’ll also be supporting each other. Lord knows I, for one, will need it.

Here’s how the challenge will look. It starts easier and gets harder:

 

Phone Down 8-Day Challenge

  1. Define accounts and sites that make you smile
  2. Categorize accounts you follow 
  3. Log your go-to times of day
  4. Delete accounts that make you frown
  5. Six feet away (from bed)
  6. Song for phone 3 times
  7. One hour a day
  8. Scrap the app after each use

 

Join the Facebook group here to join us for this challenge and kick our habit.

 

In the words of Glennon Doyle, whose books I LOVE but whose SM posts don’t hit me nearly the same way and just waste my time: WE CAN DO HARD THINGS.

 

Let’s go. Join me for the Phone Down Challenge.

 

*This podcast episode of 3 in 30 inspired some of the ideas in this post

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Sleep and how to get it

Dear Tunesters, 

I can talk about music up the wazoo but the fact is that your biggest chagrin is sleep. I know. That’s why I’ve dedicated this Tuesday Tune-in to sleep and how to get it. After working with thousands of parents and dealing with three babies of my own, I’ve come up with what I feel are the important elements when it comes to sleep. 

 

Did you ever imagine that you’d be thinking about sleep so much? I’m sure that these days you plan your entire day around it – when you’ll feed, when you’ll leave the house, when you (eventually) take a shower, when you eat. It’s all around the baby’s sleep. 

 

That’s why, from the moment they come into our lives, they RULE us. We become slaves to shuteye. And our babies become our tyrant majesties. But such cute kings and queens! 🙂

 

I’m no sleep consultant and you guys know that’s not my main focus. But I do work hard to make your relationship with your baby the best it can be and sleep is an integral part of that. 

 

Most of us struggle with this at one point or another. There are those miracle babies out there who instantly sleep well at night, but if your baby is anything like my three adorable little night-hell creatures, yours keeps you up through the night. 

 

The frustrating thing about this is that there is no absolute right way. I am sure you know that by now because it applies to all things baby. Each path you choose will have its benefits and costs somewhere down the road.

 

So I’ll share tips that are not dependent on a particular strategy (CIO, attachment, 5 minutes, etc.) but can be used across the board. But the important part is to share with each other what has worked for YOU. Please comment below and let us know so that we can do some important group sharing. 

 

So here are my tips in no particular order of importance: 

 

Tips to Better Sleep 

1.  A white-noise machine

As a musician, I am particularly sensitive to sound. So are our babies. White noise helps to simulate the sound of the womb and helps to block out any sudden noises in the environment. If you have an older kid, this is important. And if you don’t want to be tiptoeing around your own home, this is also important. 

 

2. A lovey

In psychology, the English psychoanalyst Winnicott was the first to talk about transitional objects. The idea is that these objects – like a lovey or a blankey – help our baby transition from needing to be soothed by US to being able to SELF soothe with the help of an object that replaces us.

It is basically a micro version of our work with our children in general. We slowly teach them how to be independent and less reliant on us.

I like those little animals heads with the felt body like this one. It’s nice to put it in your shirt for a couple of days before you give it to your baby so it will smell like you. 

 

3. A lullaby

If you’ve been with me for a while, this should not come as a surprise. I’m not just saying this one because I believe in the power of music to soothe, make us happier and connect us to each other. The lullaby actually does work.

Pick a lullaby; be consistent with it; and eventually your baby will associate the lullaby with sleep and will rub her eyes just at the sound of it. 

Also, it is the perfect way to really connect with your baby before the overnight separation. 

Here’s mine as an example.  Your lullaby should be a song that’s soothing for YOU too. Find one that inspires you to slow down gaze lovingly into the eyes of your babe.

 

4. A bottle before bed

No matter if you are doing sleep training or not, it’s torturous to feel like our baby is crying because she’s hungry in the middle of the night. The best way to quell our own anxiety is to give them a full bottle before bed.

When we breastfeed it’s much harder to tell how much our baby is eating and it leaves us with too many middle of the night anxiety attacks. Knowing our baby went to sleep with a full stomach means they can potentially sleep through the night without refueling.

 

5. Baby talk 

This one becomes more important after about 9 or 10 months but it’s good to start it early on.

Talk to your baby. Tell your baby that you are about to put him into bed. Calmly tell him that you are right next door; that you love him; that you will be there if he absolutely needs you, but that it is better for him and for you to sleep through the night.

The more you talk to your baby in this way, the more your baby will start to understand this.

And parents, this is also for you. Because I know that you need to hear this just as much as your baby does. Talk to you.

 

6. Laying down only half asleep

I know you hate this one but it’s true. Try to put your baby into bed when they are not fully asleep. The best time to work on this is during the day for naps when they aren’t completely exhausted from the day and neither are you.

It’s great to have a mobile in the bed that will help them zone out a little bit until their eyes finally fall closed. But this one only works if you do the next tip … 

 

7. Bedtime before overtired time

This one’s hard. It involves catching our baby before the fussy-overtired-overstimulated-monster-baby takes over.

I know. It can be hard to pick up on the cues. For that reason, especially at the beginning, It’s best to go with time intervals to really help you be aware. For instance, babies around four months old can only stay awake for about an hour and 45 minutes between naps. This means that by the time an hour and a half has gone by you should start winding down.

I’ve found that this is a universal rule-  right when our babies are their most charming, funny and engaged, is when the crash is around the corner. 

 

8. A long wind-down

Think about yourself. When you get into bed it probably takes you at least half an hour to wind down. You might do this with a book, your phone, the TV, meditation or just staring at the ceiling. Our babies are the same way. But they need us to help them wind down.

In my opinion, music is the best way to do this. But no matter what tool you use, be sure to start winding down a good half hour before you are going to put them to sleep. Start to limit the noises in the room; dim the lights; bring down your own energy; and create a calm atmosphere. 

 

9. A fade out 

Once you’ve managed to calm your baby and you’ve found the sweet spot when they are a little drowsy but not overtired, you put them into the bed successfully.

But wait.

Be sure you don’t bolt out of there. That might ruin the whole deal. Take an extra minute to slowly fade out on your lullaby, to let your energy stay soft and calm as you slowly walk out of the room. It takes willpower, time and concentration but it’s worth the effort. 

 

That’s all about getting your baby to sleep. 

Now what about keeping your baby asleep? 

 

It’s important to know that all babies wake up in the middle of the night, just as we do. Our goal is to teach them how to put themselves back to sleep without our help. 

There are so many resources out there about sleep training. So much controversy, so many different types of advice. I’m not going to tell you whether to sleep train or not. I will tell you that I needed to do it with all three of mine, despite high hopes of not needing to.

I can tell you that in my years of working with parents, it is RARE that a baby who woke up often during the night learns how to sleep through the night on his own. They usually need some type of intervening or lack of intervening.

 

All that said,  here’s what I’ve learned and I think this is most important …

 

We all have a different threshold of what we can take. 

 

Some of you absolutely needed to start sleeping through the night at 3 months. Some of you don’t mind waking up a couple of times with your one year old. Some of you hit your threshold at 2 years and decided the baby needed to leave your bed. 

We all have a different breaking point and that’s okay. It’s important to notice our own. That’s going to be the moment when you are ready to take action. Until then, there’s no point in torturing yourself about whether or not you’ll sleep train. If you aren’t at your threshold yet, then you are going to want to believe that you don’t need to do it. If you are at your threshold, you will be ready to do what it takes to get a good night’s sleep.

It takes a ton of willpower and no matter what technique you use it’s no fun. 

But even if you don’t here’s something important to remember:  This does not last forever. I don’t mean that in a seize-the-moment kind of way. I mean it in a this-nighttime-hell-will-pass way.

Eventually, probably within the year, you will go back to sleeping through the night. I promise. By that time, your baby will be a little older and things will be different than they are now. You won’t be in quite the same sleepless haze wondering what someone JUST said. 

Okay. Stop reading. Go to bed. I hope you got some good sleep tonight.

And if you get woken up tonight sing your baby THIS. It is the only protest song I’ve ever written.

So we all REALLY want to hear – What is your best sleep trick? Comment below and tell us.

 

Does your friend need this list?  Send them the Tuesday Tune In.

And they can sign up for more below:

 

Yes! Please send me the Tuesday Tune-In!

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I just did something awesome/crazy/scary

I’ve got some big news for you all and it deserves its own Tune In, not even on a Tuesday.

Do you have non-New Yorker friends or family who you wish could have taken my class with you?

Do you work 9-to-5and wish you could have taken my class if time was limitless?

Now. Everyone. Can.

After almost 10 years of classes, I’ve finally gone and done it: I’ve created a digital class!

 

The Baby in Tune Online Class

WHAT IS IT? A downloadable, six-week video series that teaches parents and babies how music can help them connect more deeply and joyfully.

As each parent self-navigates the curriculum, they also log in for weekly live meetings with myself and the group so we all develop a class community.

Participants also receive supporting materials from PDF instructions to song videos.

WHO IS IT FOR? Moms or dads with babies 0 to 12 months.

WHY DID I DO THIS? Two reasons.

To give parents who would otherwise not be able to take this type of class, access to the incredible connective power that music can have on a family.

Also, candidly, for me to be less tied to one city and open up the opportunity to travel with my family while still growing my passion project/business.

HOW DO I JOIN? Attend a FREE online workshop that will give you a taste of what we’ll cover in The Baby in Tune Online Class.

Registration for the Online Class will open Nov 6. Make sure to subscribe to my email list so you’re first to hear.

I think you know this but it’s worth restating: I really believe in what I teach.

I know that music is the perfect modality through which to connect to our babies.

It makes us instantly more present and more connected. I’ve felt this firsthand with my three babies and in class with you and your babies.

It’s a language we all understand. Babies included. And it’s a tool we can use to help our little ones feel soothed, sleepy, safe and happy.

And it’s just a lot of good fun.

Now I can share all of this knowledge with more parents. Cue happy dance!

You helped me hone my craft. So I turn to you first with this big news.

Share this with your pregnant friends!
Share this with your new-mom friends!
Share this with your second-time dad friends!
Share this with your cousin in Montana or your college friend in London.
Share this with your doula!
Share this with your prenatal yoga teacher!

I feel like you get the drift.

Share this with anyone who you think would appreciate the joy connecting to their baby with music. This is the perfect way to do it from the comfort of their own couch. Which is where this whole thing started anyway – with me singing to my first son on our little couch.

And now. All this. And more to come!

 

Love,

Vered

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Step one to a happy baby

Dear tuned-in parents, 

Today it’s all about you. It’s time to time to tune in to YOU.

As you know, attachment theory shows that in order for parents to be emotionally available to develop a secure bond with their baby, they need to have THEIR needs met as well.

And in case you’ve forgotten what your own needs include, that’s everything from how much you move each day to how many colors are on your lunch plate and, definitely, how many Zzzs you’re getting. 

 

So it’s time to take inventory.  A 3 minute check-in.

It’s like sixth-grade honor code: You grade yourself. 

I can tell you for myself, that every now and then I get thrown off course and I need a little nudge to set me back.

When I had little babies at home this was especially true. I definitely didn’t sleep enough. I didn’t do yoga or the gym. And I constantly ate the leftovers from my kids’ plates. Is that you? Then let’s do this.

 

I’m just going to give you a quick checklist so you can go through and see how you’re doing.

Sometimes there are easy fixes that we can make and it’s nice to have someone we trust remind us to do it. 

 

  1. How many hours of sleep are YOU getting?

This is a huge topic, I know. Many of you are in the trenches with sleep training or just hoping your baby will start to sleep REALLY soon – once they stop teething, coughing, pooping untimely or forget the old pacifier.

By far your own sleep is your biggest challenge. I know this first hand and I know it from listening to your challenges each week in class. 

 

Good news: There are some things that you can do.

First of all, you can put that Netflix show aside at night and get into bed early. I know that is way easier said than done. When I am addicted to a show (like Fleabag – love it!) I go to sleep every night at midnight.

Not only am I tired the next day but I am shorter with my kids and my body is much more achy. It takes a ton of willpower to Just. Go. To. Bed.

But we can do this. I know we can. Try to make your bed a non-screen zone and get into it no later than 10:00pm. Fine. 10:30pm. I promise you will be a happier person and a better parent. 

 

Here’s a tip: Make it hard for yourself to watch. Put the computer in the other room. Unplug the darn TV. Turn off the phone so you aren’t enticed. Listen. I am telling myself these things, too. I know it’s not easy.

 

(And – look out for a blog post solely about our favorite subject coming soon…SLEEP)

 

  1. How ALIGNED (not toned) does your body feel? 

You probably don’t have too much time to go to the gym right now so I’m not even going to suggest it. But I want to give you two tips that will make all the difference. 

 

First, do 15 minutes of stretching a day. Holding a baby is a TON of physical work. It is a huge strain on your body. Stretching for 15 minutes or even 5 minutes a day will help you feel so much better. You can do the strengthening another time.

For now, take care of your body and be kind to yourself. Try to find time to do either yoga stretches or deep breaths. 

 

Here’s another tip that I found extremely important while I had little babies: Stand up straight; put your bag on the other shoulder every now and then; bring your chin back slightly so that your neck is long and lift your chest.

By the time I was done with the constant holding phase for each baby I felt my body straightening out the way Keyser Söze did at the end of “The Usual Suspects.” My body went from all crooked and suddenly I was walking straight. 

Try not to make the same mistakes I made. 

 

  1. How KIND are you being to yourself? 

If you’re anything like me during days of having little babies, then you are having extreme highs and lows often in the same hour. Our hormones go a little wild after we have babies, especially if breastfeeding is involved.

So, first of all, know that this will not last forever. This is not your new state as a parent. I promise you will feel more emotionally stable as time goes on.

During this time please be kind to yourself. During any time really. You are working hard to tune into your babies and kids. Now I’m asking you to turn that same level of compassion and patience towards YOURSELF.

 

To your baby and your loved ones around, you are probably saying a version of “I love you. I’m listening.” Today, I’d like you to do the same for yourself.

Take a moment. Take some deep breaths. And say to yourself, “I love you and I am listening.” Now, see what comes up. 

 

See if you can put your thoughts into a feeling in your body. If you’re thinking about a particular frustration with someone or something, where does that sit in your body? Now put your hand there and hold it lovingly. 

You do so much soothing for your baby. You need just as much soothing yourself to keep at it. 

 

  1. When is the last time you asked for help? 

Here’s the final one for today. Please ask for what you need.

Ask your partner to get up in the middle of the night instead of you. Ask your parents to help out if you need them or stay away if you need more space.

Ask your friends to check in more often and be sure to tell her the best times to do so. One woman in my class had a friend who always checked in during the witching hour. The mom loved speaking to her friend (who was not a mom) and didn’t want to miss out on those calls. At the same time, she needed her friend to know how different her life now was and that her needs had changed. 

Usually when we tell people what we need they are grateful. We all want to be helpful and have a little superhero moment. Give those around you that opportunity. Let them know where they can swoop in and Save the Day. 

 

To sum it up: Instead of watching an admittedly hilarious 60-minute TV show, dedicate 20 minutes to your own needs (stretch & hold space).

And then go to bed. Immediately to bed. No sweeping. No folding of things. Do not pass Go. I’m quoting board games now which means maybe I need a bit of sleep, too?

And if even reading this gives you a headache because you are so far from being able to take care of yourself right now (trust me, I’ve been there,) then ask for help. People want to help you.

 

I hope hearing this helps you find a way to feel a little bit healthier and happier. 

 

If it did, let me know which of these mental-health prompts did you need to hear today? Maybe you didn’t realize it until you read it. Comment and let me know so I can ask more parents.

 

Have a friend who might need to hear one these tips for the good of themselves and their household? Forward this their way and have your own Save the Day moment.

 

AND – here’s a fun thing. Are you wondering what the best bedtime routine is for you and your baby? Take this QUIZ I put together to find out.

And maybe your friends need a little bedtime help? Send them this link and maybe they’ll thank you tomorrow morning 🙂

The Baby in Tune Bedtime Routine Quiz.

 

 

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