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Ep 56: Laila on Her Personal Journey with Antenatal Depression

Laila, mom of two and host of the popular Learning To Mom Podcast, shares her personal story about discovering what prenatal depression is and why she has come to understand that prenatal depression may have been part of what made her unexpected pregnancy at age 24 so challenging.

This is a heartfelt conversation that runs the gamut from laughter to vulnerability.

Although the circumstances of Laila’s journey are unique to her, and where she found support may be different than for you, her message is important: when you understand your experience, and you know what may be happening to you, it becomes easier to get the support you need to survive and thrive at a very challenging time.  It can also reduce the guilt and shame you may be feeling around how you are navigating pregnancy and motherhood.

In this episode:

  • Laila talks openly about her personal struggles and what helped her.

  • She outlines the common symptoms of prenatal depression, what the risk factors are, and 8 tips she has for families based on her experience.

If you are struggling with depression (prenatally, postnatally, or outside of pregnancy altogether), talk with your doctor or mental health professional today, be honest with what you are feeling, and get the support you deserve.

If you are the spouse, partner, or loving family member or friend who sees your loved one struggling, do not hesitate to help them get help.

Ep 55: The Language of Sleep-What is Your Baby Saying With Their Sleep?

What if your baby’s sleep was a language you just haven’t become fluent in yet?

It can be frustrating to try to figure out what interrupted sleep, resistant naps, or frequent waking are telling us. But if we start looking at this as a language we can learn, the cues become like words, and patterns begin to form sentences that help us understand what our baby needs.

Mentioned in this episode:

  1. Listen to the clues that help you figure out sleep.

  2. Know that sleep may be communicating something outside of sleep altogether.

  3. The need for connection and safety may be the key thing your baby is communicating.

  4. What are the clues we see when sleep is going well? (It’s not just long stretches of sleep!)

  5. How do we translate what we are seeing with baby sleep when it’s not going well?

What you can do next:

  • Subscribe to this podcast and share it with a friend!

  • Download the Baby Sleep Connection Podcast Listener Guide at

  • ⁠Work with Heather⁠ inside the Confident & Connected Baby Sleep group program or one-on-one.

  • Find previous episodes of the podcast at

Ep 54: What If The Problem Isn't Your Baby's Sleep Schedule?

Have you been doing “everything right” with your baby’s schedule, following the rigid instructions of a nap and bedtime schedule you found in a book or online, and still feel like sleep isn’t working?

Listen to 3 key perspectives that will have you rethinking your relationship to your baby’s sleep schedule.

Ultimately:

  1. Sleep schedules are tools, not solutions.

  2. Stress (in you or your baby) can lead to sleep disruptions that no schedule can fix. Address the stress, connect, and regulate the nervous system.

  3. Regulation strategies that focus on connection help you see more clearly what sleep routine or schedule works best for your baby in this moment

  4. Sensory strategies that use movement, proprioception, heavy work, and vestibular experiences are an important foundation to a regulated nervous system that can fall asleep more easily.

What you can do next:

  • Subscribe to this podcast and share it with a friend!

  • Download the Baby Sleep Connection Podcast Listener Guide at www.familysleep.ca/podcast -it includes a breakdown of how much sleep to expect at each age

  • ⁠Work with Heather⁠ inside the Confident & Connected Baby Sleep group program or one-on-one.

Ep 55: The Language of Sleep-What is Your Baby Saying With Their Sleep?

What if your baby’s sleep was a language you just haven’t become fluent in yet?

It can be frustrating to try to figure out what interrupted sleep, resistant naps, or frequent waking are telling us. But if we start looking at this as a language we can learn, the cues become like words, and patterns begin to form sentences that help us understand what our baby needs.

Mentioned in this episode:

  1. Listen to the clues that help you figure out sleep.

  2. Know that sleep may be communicating something outside of sleep altogether.

  3. The need for connection and safety may be the key thing your baby is communicating.

  4. What are the clues we see when sleep is going well? (It’s not just long stretches of sleep!)

  5. How do we translate what we are seeing with baby sleep when it’s not going well?

What you can do next:

  • Subscribe to this podcast and share it with a friend!

  • Download the Baby Sleep Connection Podcast Listener Guide at

  • ⁠Work with Heather⁠ inside the Confident & Connected Baby Sleep group program or one-on-one.

  • Find previous episodes of the podcast at

Ep 54: What If The Problem Isn't Your Baby's Sleep Schedule?

Have you been doing “everything right” with your baby’s schedule, following the rigid instructions of a nap and bedtime schedule you found in a book or online, and still feel like sleep isn’t working?

Listen to 3 key perspectives that will have you rethinking your relationship to your baby’s sleep schedule.

Ultimately:

  1. Sleep schedules are tools, not solutions.

  2. Stress (in you or your baby) can lead to sleep disruptions that no schedule can fix. Address the stress, connect, and regulate the nervous system.

  3. Regulation strategies that focus on connection help you see more clearly what sleep routine or schedule works best for your baby in this moment

  4. Sensory strategies that use movement, proprioception, heavy work, and vestibular experiences are an important foundation to a regulated nervous system that can fall asleep more easily.

What you can do next:

  • Subscribe to this podcast and share it with a friend!

  • Download the Baby Sleep Connection Podcast Listener Guide at www.familysleep.ca/podcast -it includes a breakdown of how much sleep to expect at each age

  • ⁠Work with Heather⁠ inside the Confident & Connected Baby Sleep group program or one-on-one.

Listen now!

Explore past episodes of The Baby Sleep Connection Podcast here.

Listen on Spotify, Apple Podcast, Youtube, or your favourite podcast platform.

Get the Listener’s Guide!

Sign up here to get access to the Baby Sleep Connection Podcast Listener Guide PLUS access to resources mentioned on the podcast including resources like:

  • The top episodes to get you started

  • The Tired Cues printable from Episode #46, and

  • “How Much Sleep Does My Baby Need” from Episode #13

  • Heather’s top book recommendations

  • Links to free resources

  • Next steps for getting more support

Ask Your Question!

Submit your burning sleep question!

I may answer it on an upcoming episode of The Baby Sleep Connection Podcast.

You’ll be added to my email list (so that you don’t miss the next episode!).

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