Does your child STRUGGLE when it comes to tummy time? Maybe you’re an expecting mama and have heard how this struggle can be so real and want to start off on the right foot. And therapists, if you have those kids who just have no tolerance for prone play—tummy time help is here!

Why is tummy time important?

Learn the foundations of tummy time—the science behind why it’s so hyped and most importantly the ways you can make it playful and effective!

What are the best tummy time exercises?

There are many strategies for tummy time, and this particular episode explores:

-Best approaches-cry it out or gentle strategies?

-Tummy time modifications

-Equipment and toys for tummy time success

-Tummy time as measure of readiness for other milestones

-Tummy time and digestive issues

-And more!

Visit nurturehealthhome.com for more resources.

This episode explores the different styles of attachment and how we can be mindful of the ways that we influence how our children relate to us as they grow and develop. We talk about the four major types of attachment which are anxious, avoidant, disorganized, secure. Join us as we explore an overview of each.

Also, we touch on attachment repair, or the ways that we can learn to be conscious of our own attachment styles as parents and repair any issues as needed when it comes to our own tendencies in relating to others. This is also useful to be aware of in the context of other relationships as well, including romantic relationships and friendships.

Attachment style quiz: https://www.psychologytoday.com/us/tests/relationships/relationship-attachment-style-test

Follow upcoming episodes for deeper dives into each of the styles of attachment!

This episode dives into 3 simple objects that you probably already have in your home and how they can be leveraged as tools for supporting the development of motor skills. We talk about how couch cushions can be used to milestones such as transitions in/out of sitting, crawling, weight bearing through arms, knees, or feet, and more! Water bottles can also be used as means of developing fine motor strength and coordination. And the last item--spoons!--can be used to foster both gross and fine motor development. Tune into this episode to learn specific strategies for how to make these strategies work for you and your little one!

In this episode we explore things that we can do in the early days postpartum to best set ourselves up for a successful breastfeeding journey. Part of this is making sure you get a solid milk supply, most of which is driven by supply and demand. I talk about crucial strategies to help make this happen, including initiating breastfeeding within an hour postpartum, protecting your golden hour, skin to skin contact, removing sufficient milk every 2-3 hours, and hand expression. The early hours and days will affect outcomes weeks and months down the road when it comes to milk supply in particular, so it's important to start out strong with a good plan and commitment to making the most of the early postpartum period.

I also give little tidbits about infant reflexes at work via the breast crawl and how this is a not widely known (but highly awesome and natural) avenue for feeding and specifically latching. Additionally, I talk some about cases where adding extra pumping in the beginning might be a good idea to explore with your qualified lactation professional.

WHO/UNICEF Breast Crawl Video (Warning: this is a video of an actual birth with actual images/footage)

https://www.ccbirthcenter.com/unicef-breastfeeding-crawl-video/

We all know that reading books to our kids is one of the best things we can do to help them in their literacy and language development. But what else can we do as parents in our everyday routines to set our little ones up for the greatest chance of success when it comes to speech outcomes? This episode explores the impact that we can have as parents on these skills, and how simple, conversational strategies with our babies can have huge effects down the road. Talking to your baby with special attention to certain, simple strategies can make a big difference in how infants piece together parts of language and social interactions, and include concepts such as encouraging eye contact, pausing for them to take a turn, utilizing "parent-ese," being mindful of cues for overstimulation, and more. We also talk about how to best set up environments that are conducive to language-learning activities.

This week's episode is Macy's personal account of working through postpartum depression. She shares what life was like at the time with three kids: having another child with special needs, her husband's job demands, being distanced from lots of their support system, and the insanity that life brought in this season. Macy also goes into the symptoms that clued her in to something being off, and how a shift in symptoms made it more difficult to pinpoint the reality that there was even an issue. She talks of how when this shift is gradual, our baseline for normal functioning and healthy emotions can change without us even knowing it. For this reason, she discusses the importance of checking in with yourself as well as opening these kinds of discussions with others whom we trust in order to hold one another accountable and foster true healing in a community context.

If you found this episode helpful, we'd love to hear from you! You can email Macy at macy@nurturehealthhome.com. And if you like listening to the show, we'd love it if you gave us a rating and left a review!

In this episode we continue our conversation from last week and talk about postpartum depression through a functional medicine lens. While medication and other highly medicalized treatments can be beneficial, they are definitely not the only means of making a big impact on depression. Through lifestyle factors such as nutrition, social health, movement, and sleep, we can make a huge impact on mental health issues (and most of the time these are low-cost and low-risk interventions!). Functional medicine refers to interventions that aim to get to the root cause of health conditions, and rather than seeking out solely the treatment strategies that manage symptoms, functional medicine providers will try to treat the cause of the issue from its source. This is an especially beneficial lens to look through as we talk about the chemical imbalances that come with postpartum depression and anxiety, and asking ourselves the question, "Why is this chemical imbalance occurring in the first place?" These types of questions ultimately lead to more profound healing, longer lasting results, and lower risks and costs to treatment.

Nutritional interventions that we can prioritize include getting appropriate intake of vitamins which are vital for brain function and neurotransmitter creation and exchange, including in particular B vitamins, myoinositol, D vitamins, and omega 3’s. Nutrients are the literal brain fuel we need in order to function at optimal levels, so it makes sense that if we are not putting the right things into our systems, then trouble will arise. Along with this, the concept of oxidative stress describes the inflammation that can take place in our brains with suboptimal thinking patterns, life events, nutrition, etc., and how nutritional supplementation and intervening with our negative cycles of thinking can impact free radicals in the body and improve health. We discuss sleep through a cultural lens and how we may benefit from leaning more into our village, along tips for getting your best night of sleep so that child-related disturbances aside, you have a strong sleep foundation to build on. This episode also entails an overview of pelvic health physical therapy, what it looks like for various circumstances, and how investing in quality care like this in the postpartum period can be highly beneficial for participating in functional activities without pain or hindrance. As we know, barriers from participating in life routines and meaningful activities can serve as perpetuators of distress and therefore the prolonging of depression.