When it comes to making the transition from a crib to a big-kid bed, there are two questions that need to be answered.

The first is when and the second is how.

Now, if you’re reading this on my website, chances are that you came here looking for some advice about teaching your little one the skills they need to sleep through the night.

Tell me if this scenario sounds familiar…

Your baby wakes up in the morning after a solid night’s sleep. You feed her, change her, play with her for a little bit, take her for a little walk outside, then rock her to sleep and put her gently into her crib for her morning nap. And then, 30 minutes later, she wakes up fussy and irritable and, despite your pleading, bargaining, and offers of riches, refuses to go back to sleep.

Separation anxiety typically starts to occur around 6-8 months of age, when your little one starts to realize that things continue to exist, even when they’re not in sight. It’s a cognitive milestone known as “object permanence” which is defined as, “the understanding that objects continue to exist even when they cannot be observed.”

It hits you when you least expect it.

Life is cruising along fairly well. I mean, sure, “fairly well” these days means exhausted, overwhelmed, and celebrating the little things, but welcome to parenthood.

Then the dreaded thing happens: Baby gets sick.

One of the keys to baby getting great sleep is understanding and following awake time.

Awake time is the length of time that baby can be awake in-between naps without experiencing a cortisol release and becoming overtired.

Can you teach your baby to sleep independently while still needing night feeds?

This is a question that a lot of new moms ask me. And absolutely you can teach them. It is possible that your baby has great sleep skills, while also waking up for the feeds that they need.

Oh goodness you love them … in your mind this is going to be such a wonderful vacation visiting family… but hang on – you have little ones now! How does this work, spending quality time with family while also helping your children thrive in a new environment! Going and staying with family doesn’t need to be as stressful as it seemed when you first thought about the logistics.

I want to talk about a question people often ask me. What is sleep training?

Regardless of how or even if you teach your baby to sleep, this is not a shame or blame post.

I remember feeling really angsty about the idea of sleep training my baby.

Ah, the bliss of newborn life: Sweet snuggles, that fresh baby smell, wrinkly folds of smooth baby skin … I love it. (Yes, I could also talk about chapped nipples, exhaustion, and that soundtrack of crying - but today, we’re keeping it sunshine!)

So today, let's talk about if we should wake up our baby in the morning.Them’s fighting words. I know. If your experience is anything like mine, anyway.

The idea of flying with my little one was daunting … the idea of being stuck in a window seat with a wriggly eight-month old who is use to having free reign to roam the house … this sounded like something I never wanted to do. If I could guarantee she would sleep the whole time, I’d have no problem but the idea of screaming, wriggling and being stuck made me worried.

Well… you’re here… you’ve actually remembered your underwear – TRIUMPH! That’s right, you have managed to pack everything you need for the family … including packing for yourself! But the reality as we head away, whether it may be to a tropical holiday, to see family, or taking the kids on a work trip, it isn’t easy; because once you have packed and survived the flight (more on that later this week!), you then are longing for a good sleep and wondering if your children will even sleep in this new hotel!

Let’s be honest, when you have someone coming to stay, you often clean up a little more than when the delivery guy comes with your pizza. I am by no means the perfect housewife… I do not cook all the meals, I do not do all the cleaning, I do not do all the washing, and although my fantastic hubby does help with all those things - we have made a choice not to panic when we have people over. I nearly caused a fight when I became “too clean” before our maternity photo session was happening in our home. From then on, we knew we had to be honest about what family life looks like in our home.

Writing this blog today is a little raw. It brings so many feelings of how overwhelmed I was when baby came home and the internal battle, feeling like I had to please everyone. I loved this little bundle with all my being and it bought me so much joy to see others with her… it still does bring me so much joy. I love seeing peoples face light up when she crawls to them or laughs with them.

t's a question that makes most of us cringe: Can my baby sleep too much?

I know, I get it. You’re already exhausted and feeling like you can barely string 2 hours of sleep together at a time. Hearing the phrase “You have to wake your baby up” would make me want to spill my precious daily cup of hot coffee all over you. It’s just that soul-crushing.

During sleep, our brain gets to work sorting memories into short term and long term spaces (ever wonder why you can’t remember much from your baby’s first year of life?), it develops our immune system, it clears out chemical build up from our neural pathways that otherwise leaves our bodies feeling yucky, and it does a whole bunch of other important work.