Shows / The Baby Sleep Connection: Holistic help for tired, responsive parents who don't want to sleep train
The Baby Sleep Connection: Holistic help for tired, responsive parents who don't want to sleep train
Hello tired parents! If you feel exhausted and overwhelmed about your baby’s sleep and are trying to be gentle and responsive but aren’t clear how, welcome! In this podcast, we go beyond wake windows and bedtimes to help you understand your baby’s sleep so that you can find responsive ways to support it…without sleep training! The Baby Sleep Connection also explores all the layers connected to baby sleep --maternal mental health, nutrition, temperament, sensory processing, gentle/responsive…
Episodes
- The Baby Sleep Connection: Holistic help for tired, responsive parents who don't want to sleep train
Ep 82: Nap Rescue!
Do you find yourself the reluctant hero who must swoop in to “rescue” your baby’s nap? In this episode, Heather breaks down why an unexpected string of short…
- The Baby Sleep Connection: Holistic help for tired, responsive parents who don't want to sleep train
Ep 81: Kim Barthel on Connection, Regulation, and Sleep
Today I’m joined by Kim Barthel, occupational therapist, author, international speaker, and global educator to practitioners who are invested in supporting…
- The Baby Sleep Connection: Holistic help for tired, responsive parents who don't want to sleep train
Ep 80: Sleep Plan? Or Sleep Explore?
In today’s episode, Heather explores two different approaches to sleep coaching: traditional sleep coaching that uses sleep schedules and a sleep plan, and a…
- The Baby Sleep Connection: Holistic help for tired, responsive parents who don't want to sleep train
Ep 79: Sleep Challenges: Is it me or my child who’s having the challenge?
When sleep feels like a challenge, parents want to know what they can do to get their child to sleep longer. And to do that, many parents look at what needs to…
- The Baby Sleep Connection: Holistic help for tired, responsive parents who don't want to sleep train
Ep 78: How Big, Whole-Body Movement Supports Sleep with Kim Hawley
I am excited to be joined today by my good friend and sleep colleague Kim Hawley. Kim is an IBCLC and Holistic Sleep Coach from Washington, D.C., and is my…
- The Baby Sleep Connection: Holistic help for tired, responsive parents who don't want to sleep train
Ep 77: Keeping It Simple: 3 Non-Negotiables for Easier Baby Sleep
If I had to give you just three non-negotiables for better sleep, here is what they’d be: Ask yourself what your child needs in this moment. Not what you wish…
- The Baby Sleep Connection: Holistic help for tired, responsive parents who don't want to sleep train
Ep 76: How Important ARE Bedtime Routines?
Summer is drawing to an end, which brings many parents a desire to get back to “routine”, to get some predictability in their schedule, and to tighten up…
- The Baby Sleep Connection: Holistic help for tired, responsive parents who don't want to sleep train
Ep 75: The Core is Key: Movement, Milestones, and Infant Development with Shelley Mannell, Physiotherapist
I’m joined today by Shelley Mannell, pediatric physiotherapist from St. Catharines, Ontario, and champion of the concept that core stability is key for…
- The Baby Sleep Connection: Holistic help for tired, responsive parents who don't want to sleep train
Ep 74: Are We Over-Optimizing Baby Sleep?
Are we over-optimizing baby sleep and trying to make it “perfect”? Strategies that make sleep easier are worthwhile, but when we expect that if we simply “do…
- The Baby Sleep Connection: Holistic help for tired, responsive parents who don't want to sleep train
Ep 73: The Pressure to Change Sleep
When things aren’t where we think they should be, we can feel intense pressure to change something NOW. With your baby’s sleep, that might look like pressure…
- The Baby Sleep Connection: Holistic help for tired, responsive parents who don't want to sleep train
Ep 72: Your Baby, Your Environment, Your Routine: Where to start to understand sleep.
Join Heather Boyd, Occupational Therapist, sleep coach, and mother of 3 as she explores how to ask the right questions to solve your baby’s sleep. As an…
- The Baby Sleep Connection: Holistic help for tired, responsive parents who don't want to sleep train
Ep 71: The Three Pillars for Better Family Sleep
How do I think about infant sleep as an occupational therapist and holistic sleep educator? What framework allows me to understand and address your family’s…
- The Baby Sleep Connection: Holistic help for tired, responsive parents who don't want to sleep train
Ep 70: Five Things to Love About Your Baby’s Sleep
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…
- The Baby Sleep Connection: Holistic help for tired, responsive parents who don't want to sleep train
Ep 69: 5 Things You Might Hate About Baby Sleep
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 Baby Sleep Connection: Holistic help for tired, responsive parents who don't want to sleep train
Ep 68: Is Calmness Overrated?
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…
- The Baby Sleep Connection: Holistic help for tired, responsive parents who don't want to sleep train
Ep 67: Parenting with Triplets, Adoption, and Disability
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…
- The Baby Sleep Connection: Holistic help for tired, responsive parents who don't want to sleep train
Ep 66: Obstructive Sleep Apnea and Sleep
Sometimes health and medical issues get in the way of how sleep development unfolds. In this episode, Heather Boyd discusses why airway and obstructive sleep…
- The Baby Sleep Connection: Holistic help for tired, responsive parents who don't want to sleep train
Ep 65: 5 New Year Questions to Ask Yourself Instead of Making Resolutions
New Years Eve, and New Years Resolutions land differently once you’re a parent. The idea of setting resolutions and goals for oneself in the usual ways may not…
- The Baby Sleep Connection: Holistic help for tired, responsive parents who don't want to sleep train
Ep 64: The First Few Days of Newborn Sleep
In this episode, we break down what newborn sleep really looks like in the first week—especially the shift from the sleepy first night to the cluster-feeding…
- The Baby Sleep Connection: Holistic help for tired, responsive parents who don't want to sleep train
Ep 63: Parenting From Within As a Highly Sensitive Person with Nelia DeAmaral
If you identify as a highly sensitive person, wrap yourself in your favourite blanket, grab a tea, take a deep belly breath and listen in on this episode…
- The Baby Sleep Connection: Holistic help for tired, responsive parents who don't want to sleep train
Ep 62: Baby Sleep Development from Birth to 3 months
As the parent of a new baby, you know better than anyone that newborn sleep is different. For Heather Boyd, occupational therapist and mom of 3, there likely…
- The Baby Sleep Connection: Holistic help for tired, responsive parents who don't want to sleep train
Ep 61: Rewind: How to Drop Naps Without Losing Your Marbles
In this episode, Heather Boyd, O.T., mom, and sleep coach, explores why babies drop naps, why it can feel so difficult, and what to do to make it easier. Even…
- The Baby Sleep Connection: Holistic help for tired, responsive parents who don't want to sleep train
Ep 60: Separation Strategies That Backfire
Heather Boyd, occupational therapist and mom of 3, shares ways that separation-based advice backfires and what to do instead. When parents get advice that…
- The Baby Sleep Connection: Holistic help for tired, responsive parents who don't want to sleep train
Ep 59: Managing a Sleep Emergency Part 2
In Part 2 of Sleep Emergencies, Heather Boyd, occupational therapist and sleep coach, explores a shift she has seen in her private practice away from…
- The Baby Sleep Connection: Holistic help for tired, responsive parents who don't want to sleep train
Ep 58: Managing a Sleep Emergency
What is a sleep emergency? How is it different than difficult sleep that needs coaching. And when is it a mental health emergency requiring medical attention?…
- The Baby Sleep Connection: Holistic help for tired, responsive parents who don't want to sleep train
Ep 57: Sleep Associations: The Good, the Helpful, and the Misunderstood
Sleep associations often get a “bad wrap”, being labelled crutches or bad habits. In this episode, Heather breaks down what a sleep association is, what it…
- The Baby Sleep Connection: Holistic help for tired, responsive parents who don't want to sleep train
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…
- The Baby Sleep Connection: Holistic help for tired, responsive parents who don't want to sleep train
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…
- The Baby Sleep Connection: Holistic help for tired, responsive parents who don't want to sleep train
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 a rigid instructions of a nap and bedtime schedule you found in a book or online…
- The Baby Sleep Connection: Holistic help for tired, responsive parents who don't want to sleep train
Ep 53: Three Things I Wish Every Parent Knew About Baby Sleep
Whether you are a first-time mom or have multiple kids, there are a few things Heather would want to share with you over a cup of tea (or decaf Americano) to…
- The Baby Sleep Connection: Holistic help for tired, responsive parents who don't want to sleep train
Ep 52: Birthing Through a Yoga Lens with Angela Sacco
Angela Sacco talks with Heather about how to give birth through the perspective of yoga. In the interview we talk about: How sounds during labour support…
- The Baby Sleep Connection: Holistic help for tired, responsive parents who don't want to sleep train
Ep 51: You Ask, I Answer: How to Bridge to the Next Connection and How to Reduce 2 Hour Bedtimes
You Ask, I Answer! Join Heather as she answers questions about how to bridge to the next connection without interrupting the bedtime routine, and how to…
- The Baby Sleep Connection: Holistic help for tired, responsive parents who don't want to sleep train
Ep 50: Using Light to Support Sleep: A Conversation About Quantum Biology with Carrie Bennett
Join Heather Boyd as she talks to Carrie Bennett, a health educator in the emerging field of quantum biology, about using light to optimize health and sleep…
- The Baby Sleep Connection: Holistic help for tired, responsive parents who don't want to sleep train
Ep 49: Independent Bedtimes for 15 month old and a 3 year old -You Ask, I Answer
In this episode, Heather answers real questions from tired parents looking for solutions. We cover two questions about independent sleep: How do I stop holding…
- The Baby Sleep Connection: Holistic help for tired, responsive parents who don't want to sleep train
Ep 48: How to Handle the 4 Month Sleep Regression
Let’s talk about the 4-month sleep regression: what it is, what it’s not, and how to manage it. In this episode, Heather Boyd, occupational therapist and sleep…
- The Baby Sleep Connection: Holistic help for tired, responsive parents who don't want to sleep train
Ep 47: Nightweaning with Kim Hawley, IBCIC and Holistic Sleep Coach
If there was one theme in my practice in the past year, it was night weaning and how to do it with respect, reason, and responsiveness. So today’s episode is…
- The Baby Sleep Connection: Holistic help for tired, responsive parents who don't want to sleep train
Ep 46: From Reflexes to REM -Understanding Newborn Sleep Development
Wondering if your newborn’s sleep is normal? In this episode, Heather Boyd, occupational therapist and sleep coach, breaks down what to expect in the first few…
- The Baby Sleep Connection: Holistic help for tired, responsive parents who don't want to sleep train
Ep 45: How to (Attachment) Parent YOUR Way
Heather explores the pressure she felt as a new mom to “measure up” and be “attachment-based enough”. This pressure to be good enough is a theme that comes up…
- The Baby Sleep Connection: Holistic help for tired, responsive parents who don't want to sleep train
Ep 44: Babywearing with Jordan Morillo, O.T.
Baby wearing (carrying a baby on your body using a sling, wrap, or fabric carrier) is a popular and useful way of keeping baby close, and keeping a caregiver’s…
- The Baby Sleep Connection: Holistic help for tired, responsive parents who don't want to sleep train
Ep 43: Flora’s Walk: Compassion, Connection, and Community Awareness of Maternal Mental Health
In May, communities across Canada come together for Flora’s Walk to increase awareness of maternal mental health and raise funds for community agencies who…
- The Baby Sleep Connection: Holistic help for tired, responsive parents who don't want to sleep train
Ep 42: 3 Tips that Change the Way You Look At Sleep Challenges
If you’re feeling frustrated or discouraged by your baby’s sleep, you’re not alone. There’s really no way to fully appreciate how exhausted you’ll be as a…
- The Baby Sleep Connection: Holistic help for tired, responsive parents who don't want to sleep train
Ep 41: Kinder Musik with Miss Corrie Rose
Corrie Rose is a Kinder Musik educator in Niagara Ontario and studio owner of Kinder Musik with Miss Corrie. Music is a powerful and deeply engrained medium…
- The Baby Sleep Connection: Holistic help for tired, responsive parents who don't want to sleep train
Ep 40: How to Fit Naps in Without Destroying Bedtime
Naps can be a huge stress for parents. You might be asking yourself: What time should naps be? How long should they be? How do you drop a nap? And what on…
- The Baby Sleep Connection: Holistic help for tired, responsive parents who don't want to sleep train
Ep 39: Strength-Based Sleep: Finding Your Baby's Superpowers
In February, I had the pleasure of speaking at Sleeposium 2025, an annual international conference for sleep professionals. I spoke about the importance of…
- The Baby Sleep Connection: Holistic help for tired, responsive parents who don't want to sleep train
Ep 38: Baby Massage with Helen Thompson
Heather is joined today by Helen Thompson, Tasmania-based infant massage instructor with over 3 decades of experience working with babies, toddlers, and their…
- The Baby Sleep Connection: Holistic help for tired, responsive parents who don't want to sleep train
Ep 37: How to Spring Forward with the Time Change
It’s time for the Spring Forward time change! And that means losing a precious hour of sleep at a time in your parenting where every minute of sleep feels…
- The Baby Sleep Connection: Holistic help for tired, responsive parents who don't want to sleep train
Ep 36: How to Vacation With Your Baby and Still Get Them To Sleep
March Break is coming up. For many families, that means travelling. But how do you go away and not see your baby's sleep fall apart? Listen to this episode…
- The Baby Sleep Connection: Holistic help for tired, responsive parents who don't want to sleep train
Ep 35: Redefining Motherhood for High Achievers and Multi-Taskers, with Lisa Carpenter
If you’ve ever listened to a podcast while checking email while waiting for the washer to stop so you can turn laundry over, oh, AND you’re also feeding your…
- The Baby Sleep Connection: Holistic help for tired, responsive parents who don't want to sleep train
Ep 34: When You're Baby's Having a Hard Time (Throwback to Ep 4)
In this episode, Heather Boyd, mom of 3, sleep coach, and occupational therapist dives into how to reframe your baby's difficult sleep. This is a throwback to…
- The Baby Sleep Connection: Holistic help for tired, responsive parents who don't want to sleep train
Ep 33: Parenting 101 --Adapting, Winging It, and Planning Ahead
There's not one "right way" to parent. Some of us are flexible, and adaptable; others of us tend to be more tied to predictability and routine. Some of us wing…
- The Baby Sleep Connection: Holistic help for tired, responsive parents who don't want to sleep train
Ep 32: Positive Discipline Through "Storyteaching" with Sarah R. Moore
Parent coach, author, public speaker, and mom, Sarah R. Moore talks with Heather Boyd, Occupational Therapist and sleep coach about positive discipline, story…
- The Baby Sleep Connection: Holistic help for tired, responsive parents who don't want to sleep train
Ep 31: Parenting When Sick
Heather has been under the weather this past week, which has her reflecting on how she managed parenting responsibilities when she was sick when her kids were…
- The Baby Sleep Connection: Holistic help for tired, responsive parents who don't want to sleep train
Ep 30: Six Questions to Ask Yourself When Your Baby's Sleep Is Tricky
Heather Boyd, occupational therapist and mom of three, runs through 6 questions she recommends you ask yourself when your baby's sleep is going through a…
- The Baby Sleep Connection: Holistic help for tired, responsive parents who don't want to sleep train
Ep 29: Mindful Approaches to Lactation with Victoria Beninger, IBCLC
Heather Boyd, occupational therapist and sleep coach, talks to Niagara IBCLC, Victoria Beninger, about the ways she supports new parents with feeding plans…
- The Baby Sleep Connection: Holistic help for tired, responsive parents who don't want to sleep train
Ep 28: Busting 5 Baby Sleep Myths
Heather Boyd, mom of 3, Occupational Therapist, and certified Infant & Family Sleep Specialist shares 5 common sleep myths (and why they aren’t true). Listen…
- The Baby Sleep Connection: Holistic help for tired, responsive parents who don't want to sleep train
Ep 27: Sleep, Rest, & Support: Are You Cheating Yourself Out of Wellness?
Heather Boyd, mom of 3, Occupational Therapist, and certified Infant & Family Sleep Specialist shares 3 ways parents tend to cheat themselves out of wellness…
- The Baby Sleep Connection: Holistic help for tired, responsive parents who don't want to sleep train
Ep 26: The 2 Keys to Supporting Your Baby's Sleep
Heather Boyd, Occupational Therapist and sleep coach shares two key perspectives in making your baby’s sleep make sense. Listen in to learn: The two key…
- The Baby Sleep Connection: Holistic help for tired, responsive parents who don't want to sleep train
Ep 25: The Feeding Journey with Karla Masse, IBCLC
Heather Boyd, Occupational Therapist and sleep coach, talks with Karla Masse, IBCLC and mom of 6 about her role as a home visiting lactation consultant in…
- The Baby Sleep Connection: Holistic help for tired, responsive parents who don't want to sleep train
Ep 24: You Don't Need to Leave Your Baby to Cry
If you’ve felt the pressure to leave your baby in their bedroom, alone, to fall asleep (despite it going against your instincts), or you’re just discovering…
- The Baby Sleep Connection: Holistic help for tired, responsive parents who don't want to sleep train
Ep 23: Resistance is Futile: Why Meeting Your Baby's Need is the Best Place to Start Supporting Sleep
If you’ve been trying to fit a square peg baby into a round hole based on what you’ve been told about sleep, listen to this week’s episode as Heather Boyd…