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

Heather Boyd
  • 5.0 (5)
  • Parenting
  • Updated Semiweekly

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 parenting, and infant development so that sleep (and life!) feels easier. I'm so glad you're here.

  1. 3d ago

    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 it right”, we’ll reach the finish line with sleep, we forget that sleep is not a machine or circuit board that just has to be put together right to “work”.   In this episode, Heather Boyd, pediatric occupational therapist and certified sleep coach explores optimizing strategies that support sleep while also taking the pressure off of thinking that you need to work harder on your baby’s sleep to make it better. 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 the Podcast Listener’s Guide with Heather’s list of favourite podcasts, episodes, and books.  (familysleep.ca/podcast)  Book a screening call with Heather (receipts provided for Ontario families) (familysleep.ca/contact) Credits: 🎵 Music: Jordan Wood

  2. 5d ago

    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 to change your bedtime routine, night time responding, or nap schedule.  And when change comes from worry, rather than from what you and your baby are ready for, the temptation is to throw every and all strategy at the situation, rather than doing what makes the most sense under the circumstances. If you’re feeling the pressure to change sleep ASAP -whether it’s coming from feeling that sleep isn’t where it “should” be, or it’s coming from external pressure (social media, your mother), have a listen. This episode explores: The 3 situations when making an immediate change IS important Why we feel pressure to change things right away Why temporary, unsustainable changes can sometimes make sense How to put your attention on the present reality of sleep to make real, sustainable change to how sleep looks Why slowing down and being curious about what’s working, what’s not, and what you like about what’s happening may be a bigger positive change than you think.  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 (receipts provided for Ontario families) Credits: 🎵 Music: Jordan Wood

  3. Aug 9

    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 Occupational Therapist, Heather knows the value of understanding who your baby is, where they sleep, what sleep looks like, and what routine your baby has.  She delves into each of these questions using her BEAR framework (Baby, Environment, Activity, and Routine), a framework she has been using for several years to understand her clients and their challenges better. Whether you are a sleep-deprived parent or a sleep coach, this framework will help you focus your attention and build your understanding in order to support your baby's sleep. Here’s to asking the questions that lead you and your baby to more rest, connection, and ease. 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. Get the Podcast Listener Guide with episode suggestions and more.  https://heatherboyd.vipmembervault.com/products/courses/view/1170166Book a screening call with Heather (receipts are provided to those in many provinces in Canada -talk with Heather to find out if your province has a Memorandum of Understanding to provide remote occupational therapy)Credits: 🎵 Music: Jordan Wood

  4. Jul 31

    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 sleep challenges? In this episode, I outline the 3 pillars of my practice, and how I use these three pillars on our first call together to get a clear picture of what sleep looks like for your family.  Understanding these 3 pillars lets me start honing in on what we’ll focus on in our work together. The 3 pillars are: Development (sleep and other milestones, temperament, sensory development, social-emotional development) Environment (not just the physical environment, but the way the day is laid out, and how parents are doing, too!) Attachment (the way your baby seeks attachment changes with development; finding ways to meet the attachment needs while also shaping and supporting sleep development) If this approach resonates with you, I’d be happy to connect with you on a 30 minute screening call.  Families often leave that call with more confidence that getting sleep coaching support is the right next step.  Even families who chose not to pursue coaching after the screening call still report feeling heard (sometimes for the first time in a long time) and more hopeful.  Mentioned in today’s episode: Neufeld Institute: neufeldinstitute.org 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/1Book a screening call with Heather (Occupational Therapy receipts are provided for families from many provinces in Canada) Credits: 🎵 Music: Jordan Wood

  5. Jul 10

    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 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

  6. May 18

    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 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/1Book 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

  7. Feb 22

    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 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 PodcastsWhat 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

  8. Jan 27

    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 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

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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 parenting, and infant development so that sleep (and life!) feels easier. I'm so glad you're here.

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