Carly Grubb

Realistic expectations for infant and toddler sleep — Little Sparklers Ltd Wondering what’s realistic when it comes to infant and toddler sleep? Knowing what to expect can make everything a lot easier, and no, it’s probably not going to be 12 hours from 7-7 of solitary sleep...

Before baby arrives, parents should be well-versed on how normal it is for babies to wake/ need night time parenting in the first few years of life. This allows time for discussions about how they can set themselves up to handle this in the way to keep their family as rested and well as possible.

Caring for a baby is not always easy, nor is it always convenient.
This doesn’t mean you are doing anything wrong.
Raising whole new humans IS hard work.
it’s also deeply meaningful, valuable, impactful work.
Nurture on ✨
##infantmentalhealth #sleep #peersupport #coregulation #parentingsupport

Human babies ARE dependent.
Not by mistake or result of faulty parenting, but by our human design.
Anyone trying to scare you into nurturing your baby less is not worthy of your attention.
Nurture on ✨

All of which has been debunked by brain science that shows the path to healthy self-regulation comes through extensive and reliable experiences of coregulation in infancy. Self -regulation is not physically possible with this region of the brain only beginning to make the connections for later use.

They are using fear-based messaging to stifle your in-built nurturing responses.
They are coming from an old-school of thought that believed that babies could be spoilt, that needing an adult’s support to regulate was bad and that independence from a very young age is desirable …

Anyone who makes you question whether you should:
✨pick your baby up
✨feed them (awake or to sleep)
✨comfort them
✨have them sleep in your arms/ on your chest/ in your bed
✨go to them when they cry
~is a giant, walking red flag 🚩

If someone’s advice stands in the way of you responding to your baby the way they need, feel free to chuck that advice in the bin 🚮 with urgency.

The Albanese Government said it will force people in Australia to Nauru after bribing the country with an undisclosed amount of money.

History has told us what will happen next: people will die, families will be separated, and the major parties will still blame migrants for problems they created.

Reading this again from Yvette @southernnaturalparentingnetwork and all I can hear in my head is some Rage Against the Machine … f%^* you, I won’t do what they tell me!!! 🥵😤🥺😵‍💫 sleep training culture is a stain.
Nurture on ✨

I’m petrified of the dentist. It’s massive sensory overload and I feel desperately anxious the whole time. My 6yo seems to be shaping up to feel similarly and I can tell you, I am finding it one of the harder parenting challenges yet to know how to support her while every bone in my body wants out.

Who to trust?
The baby book/ social media sleep guru or your baby?
The sleep whisperer tells you your baby needs to *learn* to settle themself to sleep.
Your baby tells you they love to settle in your arms and at your breast.
Answer: ✨YOUR BABY. Trust your baby. And your heart ✨
You’ve got this

Extremely important mention! Thank you! My brain was focused on rebutting yet another post suggesting that attending to your baby too quickly interferes with their ability to self-soothe but your point is vital. Many of us needed to step away sometimes to regain our own composure. Thank you 🤩 ✨

When a baby is unsettled, the answer to their distress should never be to leave them cry alone.
Ever.
Your nurturing presence and attempts to soothe buffer them from the toxic stress experienced when they have no one there to coregulate their immature stress system.
✨Soothe your heart out✨

Thanks for amplifying 🙌

Realistic expectations for infant and toddler sleep — Little Sparklers Ltd Wondering what’s realistic when it comes to infant and toddler sleep? Knowing what to expect can make everything a lot easier, and no, it’s probably not going to be 12 hours from 7-7 of solitary sleep...

Infant sleep support should never pit a parent’s need for adequate sleep and rest against their infant’s need for adequate sleep, rest, comfort and coregulation.
The needs of parent AND their baby must be held and protected ✨
It’s not us vs them littlesparklers.org/infant-and-t...

✨Nurturing our babies is world healing✨
Their brain is wiring a stress system that knows how it feels to down regulate in a healthy way. It knows that there is more to life than fight/ flight/ freeze/ fawn …
They know deep in their cells that they matter to others and others matter to them.

✨Nurturing our babies is world healing✨
That little heart and mind is thriving in your care.
They are learning through your dedication, trust and coregulation how it feels to be safe, held, valued and respected.
They are learning that the world feels good when we care for each other.

The reality of modern day parenting is that a lot of parents will have chronically unmet needs. This undoubtedly takes a toll on your mind and body. Give yourself grace if you aren’t as regulated as you would like to be.

✨Nurture is healing✨
For everyone nurturing babies feeling restless or uncertain, wanting to do more to change the trajectory of our world but currently swallowed whole by caregiving … Settle in and nurture your heart out.
Love on those babies abundantly and extravagantly without reserve.