homemaker, natural-living, working-mama
Who I Follow
Labor & Delivery
When my husband and I decided we were going to go the all natural route of birth, I started doing lots of research about labor. I had never looked into the subject before and I was quite sure I needed to be prepared what what lay ahead.
In my search, I came across Bridget Taylors Built to Birth and starting binging all of her YouTube videos. I practiced her lamaze technics. I ended up investing in her labor and delivery course and it was definitely worth the expense. At the time my cousin was also pregnant and wanted to have a natural hospital birth and also followed her course.
Nursing
Built to Birth has a section in her course about breastfeeding along with several YouTube videos on how to get the perfect latch and trouble shooting breastfeeding. But I also followed Dr. Thompson with the Thompson Method on Instagram and YouTube. If I had had issues with breastfeeding, Dr. Thompson hosts a class where she goes through basically everything you need to know in order to breastfeed. I never ended up needing to go that route, but should I ever have an issue, that is definitely the route I would take.
Mama Resources
If you are looking for someone to follow who will hook you up with great researces follow the podcast Hey Shayla. Shayla interviews people on her podcast every Thursday about natural parenting, baby led weaning, labor and devlivery, and more! She's been a great resource for helping me find information. Alsoi, she had a great non-bias personality and typically has different people with different styles of parenting on her podcast to talk about their personal pros and cons. I recommend checking her out if you want more information on everything.
Potty Training & EC
When it comes to Potty Training and EC there is no better person to go to than Andrea Olsen's Go Diaper Free website. She had a whole podcast focusing on potty training and EC, several free resources on line, and a book for 0-18 months and 18+ months. Her books are to the point but address several issues that show up when you are going through the whole poty training stage. With the purchase of her book, you have access to a private Facebook support group who will help you if you have some hiccups in your journey. And if that isn't enough, she even has video trainins on her website. Andrea also has a secondary business Tiny Undies for tiny trainers, a potty for your baby, a top hat potty, and tiny underwear for babies - basically anything you need. You really cannot go wrong here, she has everything you could possibly think of.
Baby Wearing
Something I decided when I was preparing to go back to work, is that if I was going to be able to do it well, I needed to figure out baby wearing. At the time my little was nearly two months and wanted to be held constantly. I wasn't able to get anything done around the house because she was on me all day, and I was worried about what it would look like if I wasn't able to put her down. Cue, Lets Talk Baby Wearing. I found this mama on Instagram and instantly I saw the solution to my problems. [name] lives her life with her three children, hiking, baby wearing, and being an influencer. She is constantly wearing her babies and even sometimes tandemn wearing them on long hikes up a mountain. She also reviews several baby carriers, everything from soft structured carriers to woven wraps, and I was able to buy my favorite carriers because of her. She also had several tutorials for putting on soft structured carriers and several differ wrap styles you can do with your baby. If you are looking for more information on baby wearing, I definitely suggest you check her out!
Sleep Schedule
I didn't have a huge problem with sleep, but I know it can be a big issue for a lot of people so I wanted to share the resources I've went to when I've had issues. The Baby Sleep Site has some very gentle sleeping methods for helping parents get their little one on a schedule for sleep. She has a free guide on her website and some short YouTube videos explaining common sleep mistakes and how to overcome them. This honestly was all I needed to help get my little on her sleep schedule, but their site offers erves you can pay for where they walk along side you to help accomplish your sleep goals. So if I had a real big issue, I would go there. Additionally, paired with the information from the Baby Sleep Site, I utilized the Huckleberry App to first see what my daughter's natural sleeping habits were. This was really helpful in establishing a sleep schedule for her. They have more researces for just sleep (tracking your feeding, diaper changes, pottying, and more!) but I found those other features weren't as important to me. I suggest if you are looking for a gentle sleep alternative to check out these two resources!
Bloging Info
When my husband and I decided we were going to go the all natural route of birth, I started doing lots of research about labor. I had never looked into the subject before and I was quite sure I needed to be prepared what what lay ahead.
In my search, I came across Bridget Taylors Built to Birth and starting binging all of her YouTube videos. I practiced her lamaze technics. I ended up investing in her labor and delivery course and it was definitely worth the expense. At the time my cousin was also pregnant and wanted to have a natural hospital birth and also followed her course.
Healthy Living
Built to Birth has a section in her course about breastfeeding along with several YouTube videos on how to get the perfect latch and trouble shooting breastfeeding. But I also followed Dr. Thompson with the Thompson Method on Instagram and YouTube. If I had had issues with breastfeeding, Dr. Thompson hosts a class where she goes through basically everything you need to know in order to breastfeed. I never ended up needing to go that route, but should I ever have an issue, that is definitely the route I would take.
Humor
If you want a good wholesome healthy content, Really Very Crunch is a YouTube mama making comedy about healthy living mamas. She is a "crunchy" mama herself, but the content is funny, relateble, and takes the stress out of crunchy living. Please go check her out, she's amazing and definitely the humor you need in your busy mama lives!
Mindset
Sometimes when you're a new mom, it can be pretty hard to keep a positive mindset. I know for me it was really hard not getting frustrated with everything I had to do and seeing the blessings in my life. Tessa Romero does a really good job of motivating mama's to have a positive (but acurate) mindset about parenting and all that comes with it.
Outdoor Play
Outdoor play is super important to a child's devlopment but it can be intimidating knowing safe play practices, diverse weather wearing, and how to play with your kids outside. 1000 Hours Outside is a great resource for creative ways to get outside and reach a goal of being outside 1000 hours in one year! There is No Such Thing as Bad Weather is a great book that focuses on getting outside despite rain, snow, or shine and puts a different prospective on outdoor play.
Baby-Led Weaning
I'm still reviewing different accounts as far as baby-led weaning goes. I am not quite in that stage, but a couple people I am following currently are Kids Eat in Color.