Spoil Your Baby

Why is "normal" infant sleep so often labeled as a problem needing medical intervention? Gabrielle Ferrara began her professional life dedicated to mental health counseling and social work, holding a Master’s in Social Work and licensure as a clinical social worker in both New Jersey and Florida. She initially planned to return to her full-time therapy job after having her son, never anticipating...

Is it possible to improve our sleep and reduce anxiety, even when navigating the exhaustion of new parenthood? Talia Shapero's journey to becoming an adult sleep coach began with her own years-long battle with insomnia. This sleep struggle became significantly worse after the birth of her son. Even when her baby started sleeping through the night, Talia found she was unable to. This chronic lack o...

What if "spoiling" your baby with affection, attention, and protection is actually the best path to their long-term mental health and success? Tracy Gillett, a natural parent, felt alone in her early parenting choices like full term breastfeeding and bed-sharing. This led her to create the Raised Good summit, offering a community where parents find confidence, education, and support. The summit hi...

Why is traditional discipline actually causing anxiety and behavioral problems in our children? Dr. Vanessa Lapointe began her career as a practicing psychologist and mother, having been trained in a behaviorist approach that taught her to squash any unwanted behavior to make it stop. She quickly noticed a profound mismatch between this training and the reality of the children coming into her clin...

How do the first impressions of birth and early infancy shape our nervous systems and relationships for a lifetime? Annie Brook is a somatic psychotherapist and educator who helps families understand the profound impact that birth and early caregiving have on lifelong wellbeing. Growing up as a premature baby herself, Annie spent time in an incubator and later navigated infant depression and senso...

How can the simple act of infant massage transform your baby's health and your bond forever? Sylvie Hétu has spent over 30 years leading the way for infant massage around the world. Her journey is tied to the story of Vimala McClure, who saw the power of touch in an orphanage in India. Sylvie realized that this old tradition could solve a big problem today: many babies aren't touched enough and sp...

How does a mother’s internal world during pregnancy shape a child’s lifelong mental health? Dr. Catherine Monk began her career as a clinical psychologist driven by a deep interest in development. She wanted to understand how our early backgrounds shape who we become as adults. This curiosity led her to the epigenetics revolution, where she discovered that experiences actually get embedded into ou...

How can we continue to mother our children and find deep connection even after experiencing profound loss? Kristin Mundy was born to be a doula. She started as a "mother's helper" when she was just a kid and spent years working in education and as a nanny. About eight years ago, she felt a "light bulb moment" and decided to become a full-time doula. Her life and career changed forever when she wen...

Why is the way we connect with our babies at birth so vital for our long-term relationship? Stefanie Antunes began her journey as a doula and educator over twenty years ago after the birth of her second son taught her the true value of preparation and support. She is now a visionary in the field, training thousands of doulas and helping families navigate the intense transition into parenthood. Ste...

How can we use the challenges of motherhood as a powerful medicine for our own healing and growth? Kim Marshall spent nearly 25 years working with children and families as a teacher before realizing the best way to support kids was to help the people raising them. Six years ago, she left her corporate teaching career to become an online parenting coach and reorganized her life to focus on her own...

How can writing and community help us navigate the beautiful, scary, and opposing feelings of motherhood? Hannah Rosenberg is a poet and mother who uses writing as a vital tool to process the intense emotions of parenthood. Her journey into public writing began as a way to capture the duality of grief and joy that often defines the mothering experience. During the episode, she reflects on the "ove...

How can we stay emotionally grounded and raise hopeful children when the world around us feels so heavy? Ariella Cook-Shonkoff is a psychotherapist and writer who has spent her life finding healing and refuge through the creative process. Her journey toward writing her book, Raising Anti-Doomers , was sparked by her own "mother bear" worries about raising kids in a California region increasingly t...

Why is "normal" infant sleep so often labeled as a problem needing medical intervention? Gabrielle Ferrara began her professional life dedicated to mental health counseling and social work, holding a Master's in Social Work and licensure as a clinical social worker in both New Jersey and Florida. She initially planned to return to her full-time therapy job after having her son, never anticipating...

Why is traditional discipline actually causing anxiety and behavioral problems in our children? Dr. Vanessa Lapointe began her career as a practicing psychologist and mother, having been trained in a behaviorist approach that taught her to squash any unwanted behavior to make it stop. She quickly noticed a profound mismatch between this training and the reality of the children coming into her clin...

How does optimal breathing and jaw development impact your child's sleep, mood, and ability to thrive? Dr. Shereen Lim, originally a general dentist for 26 years, first delved into the world of sleep apnea due to her husband's persistent snoring. Her initial focus was on dental devices for adults, but this quickly shifted when she wondered why children's jaws weren't helped to grow properly from t...

Why is healing the complex relationships between adult siblings a universally overlooked area in mental health? Jessica Marriot and Dr. Bluma Sapir, who are sisters, were estranged and hated each other for their entire lives until the pandemic prompted a change. Their relationship healing began slowly on Zoom. This unusual process led to a realization: adult sibling healing is a universally overlo...

Why does our society place more value on controlled baby sleep than on maternal support, proper feeding, or comfort? Tracy Cassels began her influential work while pursuing her PhD in developmental psychology, coinciding with her pregnancy. She observed a profound contradiction between the widespread advice advocating for infant sleep training—even when pushed by some academics—and the robust find...

What happens when we spend our adult lives searching for a quality of maternal love we never received as a child? Kelly McDaniel, a licensed professional counselor and author, introduced the concept of "Mother Hunger" in her first book, Ready to Heal . She identified Mother Hunger as an attachment injury stemming from maternal deprivation, noting that millions of women suffer a lifelong emotional...

What if the most crucial job we have in motherhood is learning to mother ourselves? Dr. Gertrude Lyons, a master coach and thought leader, developed the "Rewriting the Mother Code" framework after conducting an in-depth doctoral thesis. Her purpose is to help women rewrite outdated narratives surrounding motherhood, self-worth, and identity. Dr. Lyons was prompted to begin this work after realizin...

Is it possible to improve our sleep and reduce anxiety, even when navigating the exhaustion of new parenthood? Talia Shapero's journey to becoming an adult sleep coach began with her own years-long battle with insomnia. This sleep struggle became significantly worse after the birth of her son. Even when her baby started sleeping through the night, Talia found she was unable to. This chronic lack o...

How do you turn a childhood of "low nurture" into a passion for helping other parents find confidence and joy in responsive motherhood? Erin and Hayley are twins and the co-founders of The Nurture Duo. They shared their challenging upbringing, having grown up in a single-parent household with two older brothers. Due to circumstances including poverty, mental illness, and addiction, they experience...

Are you feeling conflicted because your mothering instincts feel right, but everyone around you insists you are doing it wrong? Amanda Hadfield, who was previously working as a veterinary nurse, started maternity leave looking for self-discovery and a complete career change. While pregnant, she knew she was looking for something else. She faced a major challenge during this time: she felt deeply c...

How does embracing neuroscience and genuine community support transform the challenges of early motherhood, especially when navigating conflicting advice on infant sleep? We sit down with Linda, a Nurture Neuroscience practitioner, to discuss her incredible journey into supporting mothers. Originally from the Czech Republic, Linda moved to the United States and found that becoming a mother complet...

What if the key to maximizing bonding time with your newborn was created out of a moment of terrifying crisis? Hayley Mullins, the founder of the Joey Band, shares the deeply personal and frightening experience that led to the development of her innovative product. When her newborn daughter, just two weeks old, startled and fell from her chest onto a hardwood floor, Hayley was devastated. After ru...

What happens when the thought of transitioning your baby to daycare brings anxiety and tears, but the reality turns out to be a surprising success story? We sit down with Kelly as she shares her candid journey through the daunting process of transitioning her 10-month-old baby, Noa, into daycare. Kelly faced a non-negotiable deadline: returning to work in November. Because her chosen daycare was h...