When I had my first child, I thought I was set. I mean, I was an L&D nurse, after all! Surely I’d know how to handle all of the things that came with being a new mom. As the first of my friends to have a child, though, I quickly realized how hard it was.
On top of everything, my husband was away serving in the Army, and it was a whirlwind of a storm. I struggled with breastfeeding, switched to exclusively pumping, and had a sweet baby who was a terrible napper and up all night long. I was hyper-focused with tracking his sleep, which only added to the overwhelm when he wasn’t sleeping.
And then the 4-month sleep regression hit.
At our next pediatrician visit, I exhaustingly poured out everything that was going on to our doctor. He looked at me and told me my baby was now at an age where he was capable of falling asleep on his own. But, the idea of removing all of my son’s sleep props (which, looking back, were super unsafe), was daunting.
I went home, got a book that dove deeper into child sleep, and decided I was going to do it. I was going to make the changes needed so my son and I could both sleep better.
And you know what happened?
It went better than I imagined, and my life completely changed.
As painful as my early postpartum experience was – the breastfeeding struggles and months of sleepless nights- all of it brought me to where I am today. My Mama Coach practice was born out of my desire to share the feelings I had – sleeplessness isn’t a life you have to live forever, and you can create feeding routines that work for your entire family. I am here to give you the tools needed to make impactful changes.
When I work with families, I provide evidence-informed advice and judgment-free encouragement. Whether you sleep train or not; breastfeed or use formula; choose baby-led weaning or introduce purees; I believe the decision you make is best, as long as it works for your family! Trust me, I know there’s enough mom-shaming out there, and you won’t find any of that here!
The heart behind my work is to empower you with the belief that your happiness and health matter and to remind you that you cannot pour from an empty cup. Your child’s sleep and feeding routines need to work for YOU just as much as they work for your child. If they aren’t working, that’s what I’m here for!