e009 – Sleep, Feed, Repeat – with The Mama Coaches Carrie Bruno and Amanda Archibald

Today we are going to talk about all things new mom, from infant sleep to breastfeeding and everything in-between with The Mama Coaches- Carrie Bruno and Amanda Archibald. Carrie is the founder and CEO of the nationwide company, The Mama Coach. She leads a team of committed Registered Nurses who are passionate about supporting women through all the stages of motherhood. She is a mama herself, of two little boys, who are the reason behind The Mama Coach. She believes all mamas should be able to find sleep and feeding solutions from a health professional that are tailored to them in a non-judgemental way.  In this episode, Carrie explains why she started The Mama Coach. She started the company when her boys were little because she was looking for a way to spend more time with her family. She is a Registered Nurse and lactation consultant and was passionate about helping other families achieve sleep and feeding success in the newborn phase. She believes that these two things are completely linked, so she wanted to bring all of her research to other families so they could all start getting some sleep as well. And her company grew! What makes them different from other companies is that they provide an in-home consultation with all families. Carrie talks about how as new mamas we end up relying on Google for our sleep questions. This can be totally overwhelming as there is so much information and judgment out there. She shared the mantra of The Mama Coach, which is: “It’s only a problem if it’s a problem for you!”. It is not up to anyone else in your world to tell you how things should be in your life as a Mom. “It’s only a problem if it’s a problem for you!” ~ Carrie Bruno; The Mama Coach Amanda is first and foremost she is the mama to her spirited little girl Emily who will be two-years-old next month. Amanda received her Bachelor of Science in Nursing from BCIT with a specialty in Perinatal Nursing and worked in labour and delivery and postpartum care in Vancouver and Calgary. She is an International Board Certified Lactation Consultant and the owner of The Mama Coach in Vancouver providing Prenatal education, Lactation Consulting and Sleep Consulting for new mamas and their families. She loves caring for the families she works with and when she is not working you will find her exploring her city, out on a long run or checking out a local brewery! The ladies delve into the #1 most Googled newborn sleep question: ‘When should my baby be sleeping through the night?" Carrie affirms there is no one right answer and no secret sauce to that question because it’s very personal. Everyone has different thoughts of what ‘sleeping through the night’ actually is. She says that there is a general guideline out there that at either three months old and/or thirteen pounds you should be able to teach a newborn to sleep through the night. As a nurse, she would argue that it would be incredibly stressful developmentally for baby and mom (aka a lot of crying) for this to be true. With The Mama Coach programs, they start with feeds, with the hopes that the babies learn the skills and sleep through the night when they’re ready. They start with changing what the middle of night feedings look like by teaching the babies a trick. She purports that it’s really about helping the baby learn how to “eat when they’re hungry and sleep when they’re tired.” This does not have to be a boot camp like experience. Carrie tells us that often just by getting the science and timing behind your baby's sleep schedule can fix things almost to the finish line. Next, the Mamas move onto the dreaded ‘sleep-training’ debate. Carrie feels that whatever method you choose to get your baby to sleep, be it ‘cry-it-out’, co-sleeping or everything in between nobody should judge either way. There is a solution out there that will work for you and your family,