I used to feel so exasperated when packing my toddler up for a sleepover. If I wanted the night to go smoothly, it meant that my little one’s routine needed to be consistent. So into the backpack went the night light, the sound machine, the baby monitor, the tooth brush … you get the idea. It took forever to pack up the pieces of the nighttime routine, nevermind untangling the cords once we actually got to Grandma’s house. Cue my saving grace: the MELLA Ready to Rise clock.

As mamas, we all have our own stories and adventures with feeding our little ones. I still remember my first day breastfeeding at a public event. I forgot to lock the door to the washroom at a wedding, and a groomsman walked in just in the nic of time to be accidentally flashed. He panicked and fled the washroom like he’d never seen a woman’s breast before. It was awkward.

How many of us have been in this situation: Our wee one starts crying uncontrollably, and after over an hour of bouncing baby up and down on your shoulder doing laps around the kitchen, attempting to shove a bottle into their mouth, and singing “Itsy Bitsy Spider” 14 times … all of our efforts to calm baby aren't working? 🙋‍♀️

Picture this: It’s the perfect day. The sun is shining, you’ve managed to get out of the house to meet a friend for a coffee and walk on the beach. The air is fresh and warm. You see signs of Spring all around. You’re feeling hopeful, good, and a little like yourself today (and - let’s be real - it’s been a minute since you’ve felt that way).

For some, Daylight Savings is a delightful sign that Spring is on the way. For others, it’s a phrase included in their mental book of parent curse words.

Regardless of how you view it, it can feel overwhelming at times to know you’ll have to adjust those nap and bedtime schedules.

The good news? It is way EASIER to make adjustments during Spring Forward Daylight Savings.

When I find a parent hack or product that is a game-changer in the mamahood, I have to share the love.

This one is a real joy for me to rave about. West Coast Walls has Changed. My. World. And considering that the pandemic has narrowed my world to my home, my office, and Starbucks, that isn’t much of an exaggeration.

West Coast Walls is a local company in my neck-of-the-woods. They provide stunning, removable wallpaper and wall decals. And when I say removable, I don’t mean “you can pull it off along with half of the drywall.” I mean: You can remove it easily and find a beautifully-preserved wall behind it.

Ahh, swaddling … the 104th thing that made me feel completely unprepared to be a parent. I actually practiced this one on a doll while pregnant, right along with diaper changing and clicking baby into the car seat. As it turns out, swaddling was a lot tougher to do on a LIVE baby … nevermind an overtired baby who had just passed gas and was in the middle of the 5-8 week brain leap … anybody else relating over here? Just me? Cool.

It'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.

But here we are. You’ve typed that question into your search bar, and you’ve landed here. So let's get down to it:

I don’t know about you, but a baby nest was at the top of my baby shower registry.

After I found out I was pregnant, I spent hours on Instagram, scrolling through feeds of adorable babies … and a lot of those babies were lounging peacefully in a baby nest. It was the quintessential item that I associated with a happy, sleeping baby.

Now, let’s pause for a moment. Some of you may be reading this thinking, What the heck is a baby nest?

When I find a parent hack or product that is a game-changer in the mamahood, I have to share the love.

Do you ever have that moment where you’re feeling content, like your family is “complete”?

You know, you're sitting on the beach, your toddler is building happily in the sand, and your infant is napping in the pack and play to the sound of gentle ocean waves. You’re drinking an adult beverage because hey, it’s vacation and you can pump and dump (thank you, formula). Then you take out your phone and start scrolling.

Has anyone else been living the #shortnaplife? It’s not my favourite place to be.

Short naps are naps that last 20-30 minutes. They are especially rough on the mental health of everyone involved … for a few reasons.

As parents, we often feel a sense of relief after we lay baby down for their nap - especially once we see them drift off to sleep on the monitor. Whew. Time for a break. We go over our mental list of goals: shower, cup of tea, favourite page-turner. We turn the water on in anticipation, and set the kettle to boil. But just as we’re stepping out of the shower, we hear that telltale waaaaaaaaaaa! So much for the tea.

Turns out, there was a lot I didn’t know about sleep, temperature, and my baby that would have helped me to sleep more soundly at night. So allow me to give you the 411 on navigating sleep through warm weather:

When it comes to temperature, heat is the one we need to be especially aware of. Coolness actually helps to induce melatonin, which helps sleep. Whereas when your little one is too hot they can struggle more in sleep, become lethargic and waking more. In toddlers, overheating can cause nightmares or disorientation.

When I find a parent hack or product that is a game-changer in the parenthood, I have to share the love.

I had to laugh at how much I became obsessed with this particular product. It felt similar to picking up a new hobby, like bird-watching. Though instead of bird-watching, I was baby-watching. Instead of talking my hubby’s ear off about different kinds of birds, I was talking about the monitor’s different functions. Instead of interpreting different bird calls, I was learning to interpret different types of my baby’s cries. The monitor was my nerd-out set of binoculars. And I thoroughly enjoyed using it.

Ahhh, summer. It’s the season of late night barbeques, weddings, and days spent at the beach - it’s the season I live for. Single me loved those days. When I became a mom, however, I had a complicated relationship with special events for a while. It made me ask questions I didn’t see coming.

Thoughts like,

How do I breastfeed on the beach when the wind is blowing my cover off every 5 seconds?

How in the world am I going to stay awake this late when I know I’m going to be up half the night?

I spent many hours awake at night with my first, feeding her and then trying everything, including begging, to get her to go back to sleep. And if she slept longer in the morning, there was no way I was going to wake her even a second earlier. I needed to sleep.

But back to the questions: Does waking up your baby at the same time each day really make a difference?

Once you’ve been around the parenting block a couple of times, then you have a fairly good idea of what to expect - even then, however, there are surprises and “I wish I had known that with my last baby” moments.

Here’s one that might surprise you: Newborns sleep A LOT (wait for it …). However, if you just let baby sleep on their own timeline, you might be making things tougher for yourself.

Sometimes I take potential client calls while working in the same room as my husband. I try to avoid it, as I like to keep work calls separate from my family life. A few times in the past I know he’s wondered why I don’t push the benefits of teaching your baby to sleep in order to try to “land a client.”

Toddlers are the CUTEST forces of nature. And they love to push boundaries and use ALLLLL of their cuteness powers to post-pone bedtime.

Your little one’s sleep needs change as they develop and age. While toddlers need much less sleep than they did as infants, ensuring they get that sleep consistently is important.

What a wonderful question! More sleep. Yes girl. As you can tell from my line of work, I am super passionate about helping families get their sleep back. And it’s not just because I love sleep, it’s truly because we need sleep to function.

During sleep, our brain gets to work sorting memories…