A Healthy Little Note

Holiday travel is in full swing and whether your trip is by car or plane, you’re probably dreading the thought of that travel disrupting your baby’s sleep. Well, these tips will keep things smooth and help you actually enjoy your upcoming trip!

When my son was first born, sleep did not come easy. I tried everything and some things worked – but then I realized my son would only fall asleep with those aids. More than likely, you'll find yourself having to phase out once-helpful sleep habits too. Here’s how to do it.

As the parent of a 6th and 4th grader, I have seen my fair share of after-school meltdowns. Luckily, helping our kiddos navigate their big (exhausted) emotions just requires some simple changes to help them settle in once their school day is done.

You’ve got your bedtime routine down pat: diaper changed, baby swaddled, lights off, and white noise machine on. But, is that white noise machine actually good for baby? I recently had the privilege of talking with a Professor of Developmental Cognitive Neuroscience and here’s what you should know…

Just as your little one grows out of the newborn stage, their sleep rhythms start to become more predictable, and you think they’ve finally got sleep down… then – bam! – something changes. We call this the 3 to 4 month sleep regression, and while it sucks, you will be able to get baby’s sleep back on track! 

It’s normal for kiddos to be worried or stressed from time to time, but if full-blown anxiety needs extra support. Here’s what you need to know about recognizing that your little one might have anxiety and how to help them with their feelings.

You’ve brought baby home from the hospital – fully prepared to get no sleep – and now you’re more exhausted than you’d ever thought possible. Which begs the question… Can you sleep train a newborn!?

If you’re a new parent, you might have just started noticing: your tiny little one can make some big noises and even bigger smells. And you have baby gas to blame for it! Here’s what you need to know about baby gas and how to relieve baby’s gas.

You probably can guess the main benefit of sleep training: more sleep! But the positive benefits of sleep training go far beyond bedtime – for both baby and you! (And BTW, you can get all these wonderful benefits withOUT treating your baby like a robot!)

Before you had baby, you were probably warned, “You’re never going to sleep again!” And now you might start believing that to be true. But let me tell you, sleep training can fix all that! Some babies can start sleep training earlier and some do better a little later, if you’re unsure if the time is right for your little, read this!

Gratitude is one of the healthiest emotions that humans can practice. I got the low-down from our HLS family therapist Eri Nakagami, PhD, LCSW on how to teach kiddos gratitude and why it’s so important.

There are few things more heartstopping and heartbreaking as a parent than hearing your little one scream out for you in the middle of the night, only to find them wide-eyed or crying… because of a nightmare. Bad dreams are a common way to process emotions and information and your kiddo will eventually grow out of them. But in the meantime, here’s what you need to know.

Two babies mean double the love – but also, double the work, in most cases! Coming home with a single baby is hard enough… and when you have more than one the challenges are even greater. Sleep training twins (or triplets, or quadruplets!) so they can be a bit more of a challenge, but it’s definitely not impossible!

When I first had my son, I had no clue what I was in for when it came to sleep – and I didn’t like that feeling! But that's when I realized with my background in applied developmental psychology, I could figure this out. (And I did!) And now I'm sharing how to handle those pesky sleep challenges, so you won’t have to stress like I first did.

Things are going great. Nap schedules are pretty regular, your little is sleeping through the night (maybe with a feed, but it’s right back to sleep after). Then something changes… and you might be dealing with a sleep regression. To help you out, here’s everything you need to know about sleep regressions and what you can do to help everyone sleep well again.

So many of our daily interactions require social skills. Good social skills have benefits way beyond social acceptance; and for our kids, good social skills can lead to better relationships, more success in school, and even less stress. The good news is that social skills can be taught. And we, as parents, can help them learn, practice, and develop.

As parents we really want to do what’s best for our children. We want them to grow up and be healthy, productive adults – and, often, that starts with teaching them socially acceptable behaviors when they’re young.

All good things must come to an end, and that goes for naps too. 😢 Here’s everything you need to know about how to know if it’s time to drop the final nap and how to do it smoothly.

Pacifier, binky, bubba…whatever you may call them, I’m sure you – like many other parents – have thought this question before: Are pacifiers okay for my baby to use?

Woohoo! Baby is down for a nap! You’ve got some time to yourself before your little one wakes up… You make yourself a fresh cup of coffee, sit down to answer some emails, maybe find something to watch on Netflix – then BAM, baby’s awake. You check your phone and it’s only been 20 minutes, that clocks in at another short nap. Ugh.

I think it might be about time to clear the air around sleep training. A couple weeks ago, one of my Instagram reels picked up some steam and caused a bit of a controversy. Internet moms were accusing me of treating babies like robots (*insert eye roll here*) all because I was advocating for sleep training.

Wake-ups, feedings, naps, sleepless nights – yikes! There’s nothing scarier than navigating newborn sleep… especially if you’re bringing home your first little one. It took a while, but I’ve got newborn sleep figured out, and I’m passing along some of that knowledge to you. Here’s a few things every parent should know about newborn sleep.

When your little one is able to soothe themselves to sleep – it opens the doors for your baby (and you!) to get more restful sleep. But teaching baby to self-soothe can be a bit more challenging than you think… So, what do you really need to know about helping your little self-soothe?

You know what one of the best parts about baby milestones is? They almost always seem to happen as soon as you’ve got your little one’s sleep schedule going smoothly! (I’m typing this with sarcasm, obviously.) Milestones are so exciting and important, but when they happen, you’ll probably notice their sleep gets disrupted for a bit. Here's what to expect and how to support your little through it!

Earth Day is the perfect time to evaluate the baby products you’re giving your littles. There are so many brands that offer eco-friendly baby products made with sustainability in mind. Choosing earth-friendly and green products isn’t just trendy, it helps contribute to a healthier planet for our little ones to grow up on. Here are 10 eco-friendly baby brands that are committed to helping our Earth and giving back.

As your little grows and develops, their daytime sleep requirements will change. And if you can rule out hunger, room conditions, sickness, teething, travel, a developmental milestone, or even a quick snooze that happened on the go as the reason for a disrupted nap, then it might be time to drop a nap. Here’s how to know if it really is time to drop the nap and how to do it successfully.

We are in the middle of cold and flu season, so you may have noticed your little sniffling a bit more than usual. And even if your child is a star snoozer, a cold could result in disrupted sleep, more nighttime wakings, and an extra amount of clinginess around bedtime. Here’s how to help your sniffling baby get their sleep back on track.