Let’s talk about when to put your baby down “drowsy but awake”. It’s a term we hear often, and it simply means you rock your baby until they are drowsy, then gently set them in bed and allow them to doze off into a deep sleep on their own. But when do I recommend doing this?
My answer is simple: During the first 12 weeks:)
Read MoreOne of my biggest concerns as a new mom was, “is my baby getting enough ounces in a day? How many is she supposed to have each day? What if she drinks 2oz less than the recommended amount, then what!?”
These concerns kept me up at night pretty often, until my pediatrician told me something that calmed my nerves and changed my perspective.
Read MoreFor the first few months of your baby’s life, they will likely eat every 3 hours and take a nap every 1-1.5 hours, which is known as the “3 hour schedule”. However, as your baby gets older, they will start to stay awake longer between naps, as well as go longer between feedings - about 4 hours. At this point, your baby will move to what is called a “4 hour schedule”.
Read MoreFirst, let me explain what a dream feed actually is. A dream feed is when you give your baby a full feeding while they are still asleep. So your baby is not waking up at all, they aren’t crying or acting hungry, you simply stick a bottle in their mouth or latch them onto you and give them a feed before you go to bed or in the middle of the night.
Read MoreIf I answered all of the questions on here, it would be a novel, so I’m going to do a podcast episode about (stay tuned for that!), but one response kept popping up that I wanted to address: I want to sleep train but I’m too tired to be consistent".
I’ve said it before and I’ll say it again, with my method, sleep training typically looks like one week of consistency for a lifetime of sleep.
Read MoreMama, did you know that you don’t have to wait for months and months to teach your baby how to sleep? Did you know that with my method, you can literally start the sleep training process as early as 4 weeks old?
Read MoreI don't know who needs to hear this, but... you cannot spoil a newborn!
As a baby sleep consultant and mother of 4, I want to ASSURE you that you absolutely cannot spoil a newborn and there’s no such thing as snuggling your newborn too much:)
Read MoreHave you ever noticed that somehow everyone becomes a "baby expert" overnight when you're a new mom? 😂 From "You should try this!" to "Back in my day..."—we've heard it all!
Here are just a few that have been said to me personally:
"When are you planning to have your next child?" (I ran away crying because we were in the thick of infertility)
"You look SO tired!" Thanks? I gave birth 3 days ago and haven’t slept since because of medical complications.
Read MoreIn my professional opinion, the easiest way to prepare your baby for daylight savings is to siimply move your baby’s schedule up by 10-15 minutes per day this week leading up to Sunday, March 10th.
By the time you switch the clocks, your kids will be right on track and they won’t even know the difference!
Read MoreYou’ve just spent 30 minutes rocking, bouncing and swaying your baby to sleep, then went through the careful process of setting them down and walking away as slowly and quietly as possible so they don’t wake up.
You close the door behind you, let out a sigh of relief, only to hear your baby crying 30 minutes later😅. The worst part!? You have to repeat this process no less than 7 times throughout the night and neither of you get sleep.
Read MoreOne of the most common concerns parents have is that their baby will only nap if they are holding them. This causes a lot of stress for parents because they feel like if they hold their baby for naps, it will form bad habits and their baby will never learn how to sleep.
I have good news for you: holding your baby for naps will not form bad habits, and it’s totally okay to soak up those snuggles!
Read MoreRaise your hand if you’ve ever heard someone say “Never wake a sleeping baby!”. I know I have! But the truth is, there are actually a lot of situations in which you should wake a sleeping baby. Why? Because if your baby is getting too much sleep during the day, it’s going to be very hard for them to feel tired enough to sleep at night!
Read MoreIf you are on step 3 in The Sleep Fairy Way Method and are eliminating night feedings by slowly pushing feedings back, apply “binky duty”, as I like to call it. This means you offer the binky instead of a feed for 10-15 minutes per waking. After those 10-15 minutes, if baby is still awake, go ahead and feed your baby.
Read More“Should I push my baby’s bedtime back so they sleep in later?”
If your baby is older than 12 weeks, pushing baby’s bedtime back can actually cause MORE night wakings and/or earlier morning wake times.
Read MoreTaking on bedtime with a toddler and a newborn has the potential to feel like a marathon, especially if you’re doing it alone! I have four babies of my own, so I’ve done this a time or two! I wanted to share some tips that help make bedtime easier on all of us.
Read MoreWe’ve all been there…you get invited to dinner at 7pm on a Friday night. The problem? Your baby goes to bed at 7pm! You don’t want to miss out, but you also don’t want your baby to get overtired, or worse, completely ruin their sleep! Sound familiar?
If so, you’re not alone! As a baby sleep consultant, I’m here to tell you that you’re totally allowed to take your baby out late every now and then, and that it is not going to ruin their sleep. You heard that right. You can take your baby to dinner, holiday parties, or wherever you’re wanting to go and not ruin their sleep. Why? Because sleep is a SKILL that is not suddenly forgotten because you had an off day or night!
Read MoreThis is going to be your year, mama. The year you prioritize YOU so that you can be the best version of yourself . The year you prioritize your health - both your physical and mental health. The year you discover and focus on the things that make you happiest. Because when you take care of you, you can better take care of your babies:)
Read MoreThe entire goal with Melli Baby is to help make your nights a whole lot better. I want to support the healthy sleep habits that you've worked so hard to create. I want your independent sleeper to continue to sleep like a champ, while feeling both safe and comfortable.
Read MoreI’m just here to tell you that you are exactly the mom that your baby needs. Nobody will ever love them better than YOU. Nobody will ever know their needs more than you. And all your baby really needs is YOU! Exactly as you are. You were made for this. Trust your gut. Do your best. And know that you are doing better than you think you are.
Read MoreBut in case you need permission to simplify this year and just say no to burn out, here it is:) I give you full permission to put your mental health above everything else.
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