The Birth Lounge Blog

Bed Sharing with Amanda Jansen Today we're talking about bed sharing with Amanda Jansen, who is a registered nurse and IBCLC. She has eight years of L & D and postpartum experience as a nurse.  (This blog is pulled from a The Birth Lounge podcast interview with Amanda Jansen.) So let's start off with the basics.  What is Bed Sharing?  If you get online, you'll realize there's not a set definition. Just to make it clear bed sharing, obviously infants in the bed with you. Co-sleeping, you know, there's something right beside the bed, like kind of like an arms reach but not necessarily, you know, right next to mom.  And then there's room sharing, which could just be a crib in the same room with you.  So those are the three levels parents should be informed of, and then of course the independent sleep in a separate room, that a lot of families choose to do. So a little bit more of my history. I did bed share with my first as a postpartum nurse, you know, I'm...

How to Get Your Baby to Sleep Through the Night with Eva Klein (Taken from The Birth Lounge Podcast with Eva Klein, Certified Sleep Consultant) So I am a certified infant and child sleep consultant. I help exhausted moms get their little ones consistently sleeping through the night so that they can be functioning humans again. And I got into this business because of my middle child. So, um, I'm a wife and a mom of three. I live in Toronto, Canada and I, my kids are 10, almost eight and almost three. Um, and so it was my middle child that got me into this business because interestingly, I'm actually a lawyer by training. So my previous lifetime, um, which wasn't, which was you about 10 years ago now I was working as a lawyer. I basically finished law school, had my first baby. Um, that first baby was like this unicorn baby that made me look amazing and was just so easy and happy all the time and you know, slept amazingly. And then a couple of years later when I was done law ...

An Awkward Run-In at Target turned into a Lesson in Diversity (This was an article Hehe wrote originally for Family Education, you can view the full article  HERE . As a Maternity Concierge , sometimes I go on the first few outings with new moms after the baby is born. This particular family had a three-year-old, too. So here we are having spent way too much time in Target and a cart that drops items every few feet because it’s piled mountain high because this mom had been cooped up for the last three weeks. I’m wearing the baby, who is sleeping, and the three-year-old is in the cart (and holding a few items), but growing antsy as each minute passes. Nap for her was due in 45 minutes and we knew we’d already be late for that. As we step into the line (keeping in mind, we are the third party in line), the three-year-old asks if tomorrow is a “school day” or a “home day” and her mom tells her it’s a school day. The conversation pursues and the little girl names her frien...

When Things Are Bigger Than You Recently, I have been truly connecting with the approach of "Is this bigger than me?" to try to combat what I call "The Guilt of Saving the World." This is where someone has such strong feelings about helping others that it sometimes inhibits them from seeing the limitations of their help or that they may not be able to remedy certain situations at all. I became acutely aware of this guilt that I so often encounter when I first moved to Boston. The homeless population around Newbury Street and the Back Bay area absolutely break my heart. They do. It makes me feel so deeply sad. I without fail will always purchase food and drink for someone when we go walk around that area. I won't give them money because I want them to be fed and hydrated more than I want [insert whatever their sign says]. I can't help them get a job, or help them get to their destination, but I can feed them and I can give them water. I can give them a ...

One-Handed Snacks That Won’t Break Your New Year’s Resolution (This was originally written as an article for Birch Baby, here .) The new year is a time filled with making goals to strive for, and envisioning yourself one year from now. Many parents will make promises to themselves to eat healthier and exercise more. However, between feedings, diaper changes, doctor’s appointments, play dates, and household chores, it can be challenging to find time to prepare food let alone eat. If eating healthy were easily incorporated into your daily life, would you be more likely to stick with it? Of course! Check out this (free download!)   list that requires little prep, can be easily taken on-the-go, and won’t make you break your New Year’s Resolution of eating healthier. Our free download and the Birch Baby article break down the reasons behind each snack, so be sure to check one (or both!) out, but let's get to the good stuff: snacks! You don't want to miss these- especia...

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Becoming a Podcast Influencer with Bryn Huntpalmer [This is also an episode of Friday Free Talk on The Tranquility Tribe Podcast on iTunes. Listen  here .] Hey, Tranquility Tribe!   In this episode, Hehe talked to Bryn Hunt Palmer, an inspirational mom and business owner.   If you’re thinking about starting a business but aren’t sure how to do it, this is the episode for you – Bryn has some super helpful tips for growing your passion into a business while finding that illusive balance between your work and the rest of your life! Bryn’s Background Bryn Hunt Palmer is the host of The Birth Hour, a podcast dedicated to enabling parents and families to share, learn from, and connect through each other’s birth stories.   Bryn is also the mother of 6-year-old Adelaide and 4-year-old Darwin and lives in Austin, Texas, with her kids and her husband, Richard.   Bryn got involved in the birth world during her first pregnancy.   Eager to le...