About the Parent and Baby Coach

Supporting and empowering families for over 18 years

As a Baby Sleep Coach, I now have over 9 years experience in working one to one with families and a total of 18 years childcare experience! I truly understand what it means to become a parent and am passionate about families being able to enjoy those precious first few years. By empowering you with knowledge, I want to enable families to make the right decisions, creating calm and contented children and confident parents.

I work with families either one to one through my 1-1 parenting packages or via my online parenting courses which cover topics such as baby sleep, behaviour, weaning and potty training.

You can trust me

Here are some of the professional bodies I work with / am accredited by:

The lastest from the blog

Here for you when you’re looking for advice and peace of mind on baby sleep, reflux, feeding, weaning, babies and toddlers.

Day in the life of a cloth bum mum

I’m here to spill the beans on what it’s like being a cloth bum mum… My name is Katrina, I’m a cloth nappy mummy to a 2 year-old and very[…]

Skiing with Toddlers – Family time in the Snow

Having never skied before, I have always been a little unsure of a family ski holiday so wasn’t sure what exactly to expect when we were kindly offered by Flagstone[…]

Sensory Issues and Sleep

Sensory Issues and Sleep

Imagine a long day at work or school, dealing with the stresses of the day and returning home shattered looking forward to a good night’s sleep. But instead of settling[…]

SEE ALL BLOG POSTS

Follow Heidi on Instagram

Powerful things happen when women come together. T

Powerful things happen when women come together. This week is Maternal Mental Health week and instead of advice, I’m looking for honest and raw conversation.

I’d love to know how becoming a Mummy has affected your mental health? And how have you navigated that?

Are you happy to share with others, the things that have helped you through your journey?

Sending everyone all of the love and compassion. It’s a rollercoaster motherhood. But there’s nothing better than Mum’s supporting Mum’s 🥰

Everything’s such a rush. But I want to hold you

Everything’s such a rush. But I want to hold your hand forever.

Just your Tuesday reminder to stop and savour some of the moments that are so quickly and easily missed. It doesn’t have to be all of them, but as and where you can, if you feel able to. As someone juggling all the balls, I know it’s so easy not to. I get it.

Stop for 10 seconds. Breathe it in. That grasp, that little chubby hand, grabbing yours 🥰

Parents of school age children - do they still want to hold your hand?

#parenting
#parentlife
#parenthood
#motherhood
#mindfulments
#mindfulparenting
#mummylife
#mumofboys
#mindfulness

Pre-Starting School Panic! Anyone else in that zo

Pre-Starting School Panic!

Anyone else in that zone right now? My eldest starts school in September and I’m suddenly like arghhhh; did I make the most of not having to do trips away in term time? What can we fit in before it all kicks off! Did I “waste” the time just doing local things and not getting out and about enough. Silly questions but part and parcel of realising they’re starting school I guess 😬

Really deep down I know what we’ve done has been what we’ve needed and perfectly enough, but it doesn’t stop that little irrational pre-school fairy whispering in my ear!

One of my favourite affirmations is “you are enough”. Going to bed with that one tonight!

Happy Friday all! Pouring a large Gin whilst wondering whether I’ll ever want to go back to Legoland again (see stories) 😂

Night feeds can be one of those sleep topics that

Night feeds can be one of those sleep topics that invite a lot of judgement & controversy - everyone deals with their baby’s nights & feeding in different ways. Here at PBC HQ, we are all up for hearing your stories & you’ll never be told what your baby should be doing.

There are lots of reasons babies may need to feed in the night, and some parents may be totally ok with comfort night feeds for as long as it takes, & others are struggling much more with regular night wakes - You do YOU Mama!

I’ve been witness to maternity nurses going into clients and dropping all night feeds in a very hardcore way at 6 weeks of age (!!!) and I have also seen many a family be happy giving milk in the night until closer to two years +.

If you’re looking to night wean, think about the following;
👶🏻 How is baby feeding during the day? On a hunger level, we’d usually see night feeds until at least 6m+ when baby is on solids if not longer depending on baby’s weight gain and interest in foods. Don’t be pushed into dropping them earlier just because a friends baby is able to. They’re all different.
👶🏾How many feeds do YOU feel your baby needs? It’s not for anyone else to tell you. Most parents will know very instinctively when we ask them this question, and therefore that’s what we will aim for.
👶🏼Have you tried resettling rather than feeding? Let’s assume baby is 11 months and feeding 3 times. You can choose to keep whichever feeds you like, eg you may choose to feed on the first wake, but resettle back to sleep on the second…dropping night feeds when they are actually ready is usually quite straight forward and babies respond well to other ways of settling.
👶🏾Is your baby comfortable? Are they suffering from any wind/reflux/food and tummy issues? This can often be a reason for multiple night feeds - the kind that are often every hour, so it’s always worth talking this through with someone like myself, to see if actually tackling the underlying cause of the discomfort will help the longer night stretches.

If you’d like more support with dropping night feeds and you feel your baby is ready, pop your details below and we’ll DM you with further info

The most wonderful chat around helping your child

The most wonderful chat around helping your child to listen with Elaine from @parentpractice

Elaine has a decade of experience behind her and is a brilliant go to for parenting skills, courses and re sources.

“When can I start helping my baby to fall asleep

“When can I start helping my baby to fall asleep on their own” is one of the most popular questions I have when I do Q&As on newborns. I wanted to talk a little bit more about this for you this evening.

See…babies actually know how to sleep already, believe it or not they DO sleep in the womb (even though when pregnant it may not have felt that way!). That said, being outside of you in the big, wide world is a very different experience for them. Contact naps are actually really important for your newborn, but wanting to put them down whilst you eat or shower is also totally fine too 😘

To start with, you’ll likely find that they need a lot of comfort and support to get to sleep. This includes doing things to replicate the environment that they are used to, such as;

👶🏾Swaddling
👶🏻Shhh’ing
👶🏾Swaying
👶🏻Sucking

But it doesn’t mean they actually can’t sleep on their own and there are some newborns who will just drift off quite easily. That said, there are also lots of babies who won’t, but it’s not that they can’t, just that they need a little more help.

You’ll find it will depend a huge amount on their little bodies being intricately balanced, full but not too full, no wind, a comfortable tummy, not being too tired, being the right temperature and then their little temperaments too. There’s a LOT going on for a newborn so it’s no wonder they need our support to start with 🥰

Given they do have the ability to sleep, there’s no reason why you can’t attempt the odd nap in their crib or basket if you want to. Remember that you need to be in the same room as them, but otherwise you’re good to practise the odd nap.

If your baby is fed, winded and around about their awake window, give it a go! Sometimes you’ll be pleasantly surprised, other times you’ll give it a go and it won’t work. Try again another time. It’s small steps in those early weeks and you can get to a place where they’re doing it on their own if that’s what you’d like (cont in comments)