The Baby Sleep Connection: Holistic help for tired, responsive parents who don't want to sleep train

There’s a lot to feel frustrated and run down about with your baby’s sleep.  But the flip side of the coin matters too.
In this episode, we explore the positive side of baby sleep: what happens with sleep, what it can teach you, and what you gain from it (yes, truly!).
If you’ve been struggling to see the positive side of baby sleep, have a listen while I explore:
Sleep development

Uncoupling sleep from problem solving.

Letting go, acceptance, and control

Forcing rest

Empowerment as a parent who knows your baby best

Mentioned in today’s episode:
Harvey Karp

Sarah Ockwell-Smith

What you can do next:
Subscribe to this podcast and share it with a friend!  Provide a review on Apple Podcasts.  It truly makes a difference to reaching families who would benefit from understanding their baby’s sleep better.
Sign up for weekly baby sleep emails.⁠ https://heatherboyd.activehosted.com/f/1
Book a screening call with Heather (Occupational Therapy receipts are provided for families from most provinces in Canada)
Credits: 🎵 Music: Jordan Wood

Heather Boyd, Occupational Therapist and developmental infant sleep coach gets honest about the things that may be driving you mad about baby sleep.  And when the reality of baby sleep conflicts with what we’ve been told, the gap between what we want and what is happening can be wide.  Let’s get honest about what makes baby sleep hard because then we can shift to what can make it easier.  
Honesty about how hard it is and understanding why sleep might be looking this way can give us a strong start to how to navigate it.
So let’s dive in.
Is there something that would make it on your top 5 list of things you might hate about baby sleep?
Let me know!  I love receiving emails from Baby Sleep Connection Podcast listeners.  My email is heather@heatherboyd.ca
And if you’re feeling like focusing on the negative is too much, stay tuned for the next episode where I’ll talk about the 5 things to LOVE about your baby’s sleep!
What you can do next:
Subscribe to this podcast and share it with a friend!  Provide a review on Apple Podcasts.  It truly makes a difference to reaching families who would benefit from understanding their baby’s sleep better.
Sign up for weekly baby sleep emails (https://heatherboyd.activehosted.com/f/1
Book a screening call with Heather (OT receipts provided for families from several Canadian provinces; families outside of those provinces can work with me through my international sleep coaching practice)
Credits: 🎵 Music: Jordan Wood

If you’ve been giving yourself a hard time for not staying calm, have a listen.
Perhaps being calm is overrated.
It feels so good to stay calm, but calmness doesn’t always fit the situation.  It’s also simply part of the human experience to go through challenges that throw us out of calm, dysregulate us, and leave us feeling off balance and stressed.  The Beatles may have sung about having “nothing to get hung about”, but the truth is there are things in life to get hung about.
In this episode,  Heather talks about:
Is staying calm really the goal?

When things get hectic, stressful, or exciting, do we “stay” regulated?  Or do we match ourselves to the situation?

A 4-stage framework that is an alternative to “staying calm”: Recognize, Recalibrate, Reset, and Nurture

The analogy of squeezing a lemon

An incident this morning that gave Heather real world practice recognizing, recalibrating, and resetting.

Mentioned in this podcast:
Lisa Carpenter, coach and previous guest on The baby Sleep Connection Podcast: lisacarpenter.ca 

Mitch Albom, Twice, novel. 

What you can do next:
Provide a review on Apple Podcasts.  It truly makes a difference to reaching families who would benefit from understanding their baby’s sleep better.
Sign up for weekly baby sleep emails.⁠ https://heatherboyd.activehosted.com/f/1
Book a screening call with Heather (receipts provided for families in many provinces in Canada -email Heather if you wonder if your province is covered)

If you’ve been giving yourself a hard time for not staying calm, have a listen.
Perhaps being calm is overrated.
It feels so good to stay calm, but calmness doesn’t always fit the situation.  It’s also simply part of the human experience to go through challenges that throw us out of calm, dysregulate us, and leave us feeling off balance and stressed.  The Beatles may have sung about having “nothing to get hung about”, but the truth is there are things in life to get hung about.

I am proud to say that my teenager edited and published this episode for me. In our excitement of working together (and my impatience to get it published after a 3 week delay). Congrats on a job well done, Roo!
In this episode,  I talk about:
Is staying calm really the goal?

When things get hectic, stressful, or exciting, do we “stay” regulated?  Or do we match ourselves to the situation?

A 4-stage framework that is an alternative to “staying calm”: Recognize, Recalibrate, Reset, and Nurture

The analogy of squeezing a lemon

An incident this morning that gave Heather real world practice recognizing, recalibrating, and resetting.

Mentioned in this podcast:
Lisa Carpenter, coach and previous guest on The baby Sleep Connection Podcast: lisacarpenter.ca 
Mitch Albom, Twice, novel. 
Ep 27: Sleep, Rest, & Support:…–The Baby Sleep Connection: Holistic help for tired, responsive parents who don't want to sleep train – Apple Podcasts
What you can do next:
Provide a review on Apple Podcasts.  It truly makes a difference to reaching families who would benefit from understanding their baby’s sleep better.
Sign up for weekly baby sleep emails.⁠ https://heatherboyd.activehosted.com/f/1
Book a screening call with Heather (receipts provided for families in many provinces in Canada -email Heather at heather@heatherboyd.ca if you wonder if your province is covered)
Credits: 🎵 Music: Jordan Wood

To start 2026, I’m joined by a guest whose story brings new perspectives around surviving and thriving in parenthood.
Stephanie Woodward is a not-for-profit CEO, attorney, proud disabled woman, and mom to six children—including triplets and children adopted through foster care.  She and her husband went from family of 2 to family of 8 within a single year. 
In this conversation, we explore parenting multiples, navigating NICU life, pregnancy loss, supporting older siblings through massive transitions, and why routine plus flexibility matters more than having a perfect plan. Stephanie also speaks candidly about disability, scrutiny, and the assumptions that still shape how society views parents, and disabled parents in particular —often without realizing it.
This episode isn’t about one right way of parenting: It’s about responsiveness, creativity, advocacy, and building family life around what actually works.
In this episode, we cover:
Parenting triplets alongside older children

Life in the NICU and transitioning home

Supporting big siblings through major family changes

Parenting as a wheelchair user and adapting routines

Misconceptions about disability and caregiving

Why “routine plus flexibility” is a powerful parenting framework

You can find Stephanie and her family on Instagram at @WCTriplets, and learn more about her work with the Disability EmpowHER Network via the links below.
Where you can find Stephanie:
Instagram, TicTok, and Facebook at WC Family @WCTriplets

Disability EmpowHER Network https://www.disabilityempowhernetwork.org/

What you can do next
Book a screening call with Heather (receipts provided for Ontario families)
Subscribe to this podcast and share it with a friend! Provide a review on Apple Podcasts. It truly makes a difference to reaching families who would benefit from understanding their baby’s sleep better.
Sign up for weekly baby sleep emails.⁠
Book a screening call with Heather (receipts provided for Ontario families)

Credits: 🎵 Music: Jordan Wood