The Responsive Family Sleep Podcast
If you’ve ever felt overwhelmed by conflicting sleep information; frustrated by sleep advice that felt wrong; or searched for a truly gentle, responsive alternative to sleep training, then you are in the right place. In each episode I’ll be answering your most pressing baby and toddler sleep questions, dispelling common sleep myths, deepening your understanding of biologically normal sleep, and encouraging you to trust your intuition. And because sleep is rarely just about sleep, you may just find some responsive parenting, lactation, or self-care tips sprinkled in along the way.
I’m your host, Kim Hawley, MA, MPH, IBCLC Holistic Sleep Coach, Lactation Consultant, Peaceful Parenting Educator, and mom. My specialty is truly holistic, developmental, attachment focused sleep support – no hidden sleep training here!
Episodes
132 episodes
How to Help a Newborn Learn Their Days From Their Nights
Babies aren’t born regulating their circadian rhythm which means they don’t know their days from night in the early months. While time is a big piece of the puzzle, there are things you can do to help your baby’s emerging circadian rhythm and s...
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Episode 131
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15:13
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10 Things I Wish Every Perinatal Professional Knew About Infant Sleep
We need to do better as perinatal professionals when it comes to sleep information. To parents who are my main listeners, this episode highlights the most common misinformation shared about sleep from professionals so that you are more able to ...
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Episode 130
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15:55
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What Do You Do When Your Baby Wakes at Night?
Your baby wakes, signals they need you, and you respond to settle them back to sleep. This is a pretty standard part of most parents nights. What most people don’t realize is there are lots of small decisions you make about that interacti...
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Episode 129
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10:59
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Reflecting on Lessons From Early Parenting
The other day I was reflecting on some of the struggles a few clients had shared with me, and how common their individual stories really were. As new parents, there’s so much pressure, guilt, and expectation that you should be doing it “right”....
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Episode 128
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14:40
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Troubleshooting Long and Stressful Bedtimes
Bedtime can be a really hard time of day for many families. If bedtime has been long, stressful, and feels like a battle, then this episode is for you! There are many reasons bedtime can turn into a struggle. In this episode I’m walking you thr...
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Episode 127
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18:10
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From the Archives: How to Get Back on Track With Sleep After the Holidays
Happy new year It’s January, and you may be thinking about bringing some order to the chaos that the holidays brought to your sleep routines. I’m sharing a from the archives episode on getting back on track after the holidays. I wan...
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Episode 126
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12:10
What Are Your Non-Negotiables?
What helps you feel like you are taking care of yourself ? How well have you adapted those things to your life as the parent of a baby or toddler. In this episode, I’m talking about non-negotiables. The self-nurturing things you need to show up...
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Episode 125
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18:26
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The Biology Mismatch in Modern Sleep Info
Modern sleep info is recent while baby biology is hundreds of thousands of years old. While cultural expectations have changed drastically, babies have not. In this episode I’m talking you through the mismatch of baby biology and humans as carr...
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Episode 124
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12:27
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A Simple Checklist for When Sleep Goes off the Rails
Sleep is in a reasonably good place. You feel like you have a handle on things. Then suddenly, they are waking more, a struggle to get down to sleep, and need so much support and soothing! What happened? This is a normal part of sleep developme...
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Episode 123
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12:19
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What Babies Need to Sleep Well
There’s lots of talk about how babies should sleep, but that conversation it often misses the mark for what babies and toddlers actually need to get good quality sleep. We need to look past the modern sleep rules and shoulds and should nots and...
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Episode 122
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13:18
Gratitude
Happy Thanksgiving. I hope today is a day full of family, food, and connection with loved ones. This is a short episode reflecting on gratitude. Connect with Kim Instagram:
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Episode 121
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4:42
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Tips for the Holidays
The holiday season comes with so much joy and also so much disruption to your normal sleep and parenting routines. This is a common time for lots of questions about routines, sleep set ups, and navigating family. In this episode I’m talking thr...
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Episode 120
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16:31
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Things to Consider About Baby Sleep During the Return to Work Transition
The return to work is a big transition. So many parents are worried about the impact of starting daycare on sleep, and the need to prepare their baby to handle daycare naps. In this episode, I’m walking you through some key things to consider a...
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Episode 119
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11:11
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Let’s Talk Nursing Limits
Your toddler nurses 1 million times a night (or at least it feels like it)! Your little won’t unlatch for hours on end. There are many reasons why you might want to set some limits around your toddler’s nursing around sleep or otherwise, but ho...
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Episode 118
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14:17
Supporting Your Little’s Sleep When They Are Sick With Pediatrician Dr. J
It’s germ season, and babies, toddlers, and young kids get sick a lot! In this episode, I’m talking with pediatrician Dr. J about supporting sleep when your little is sick. We chat about:What to expect from sleep when your little is...
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Episode 117
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34:48
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How to Help Your Little Build Familiarity With a New Sleep Space
Switching sleep spaces can be stressful for both parents and babies. Whether you are moving your little from their bassinet to their crib, crib to big kid bed, bedsharing to floor bed, it can be a big transition. In this episode I’m sharing way...
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Episode 116
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10:28
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Helping Your Partner Be More Involved in Supporting Sleep
Parent preference is a really normal thing, and it’s a common struggle around sleep. Sometimes it’s developmental and sometimes it comes from doing what works for so long that we just don’t have experience doing something else anymore. In this ...
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Episode 115
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15:37
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Building Your Sleep Soothing Toolbox With Habit Stacking
Habit stacking is a common strategy I use with many families when they want to make a change with sleep or have more flexibility. In this episode I’m sharing:What is habit stacking (or layering sleep associations)?When and ...
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Episode 114
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10:32
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How Do I Get My Baby’s Sleep to Be More Predictable?
Sleep predictability is a common struggle for many families. And the important thing to note is that not all babies are going to have the same level of predictability in their sleep patterns. In this episode I’m talking you through the things w...
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Episode 113
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13:48
Troubleshooting Daycare Nap Struggles
For most babies and toddlers, there naps have an impact on their nighttime sleep quality. So what happens when your child is in daycare, and you aren’t in control of their naps? This is a common situation for many of the families I support. In ...
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Episode 112
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12:40
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What’s Your Baby’s (And Your) Chronotype?
Are you a morning or evening person? What about your baby or toddler? We all have tendencies in our circadian rhythm, and this episode dives into those tendencies or chronotypes. I talk about the general trends in chronotypes, some impacts of m...
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Episode 111
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14:25
The Dos and Don’ts of Black Out Curtains
Black out curtains are a popular tool for helping people of all ages get better sleep. In this episode I’m talking you through when to use black out curtains and some of the unintended impacts I see with my clients. I discuss:Why to...
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10:48
Nap Trapped Again? Tips for Contact Naps
Are you regularly nap trapped? Whether you know your little routinely needs contact naps to get good sleep or you just find yourself caught in a phase where it’s happening a lot, being nap trapped by a contact nap can be frustrating. In this ep...
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Episode 109
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11:47
From the Archives: Tips and Tricks for Enjoying Bedsharing With Tiffany From Cosleepy
Welcome to the last of the summer from the archives series! We’re revisiting some much loved podcast episodes from the early months of the podcast. These are episode that are great to revisit at different points in your parenting journey. ...
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Episode 108
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55:43
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From the Archives: How Sleep Training Culture Shapes Your Sleep Expectations (Even When You Don’t Want to Sleep Train)
Welcome to the summer from the archives series! We’re revisiting some much loved podcast episodes from the early months of the podcast. These are episode that are great to revisit at different points in your parenting journey. Sleep...
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Episode 107
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17:18
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