Northern Baby Links

09/03/2022

We have a wonderful early childhood networking group becoming established in September, and will be a monthly get together for parents/ guardians and their children.

Waldorf Homeschooling ECE Network

Friday, Sept. 9
Friday, October 14, 2022
Monthly – 2nd Friday of every month
Story, songs, music, craft, nature table and play
Donation suggested to cover the cost of materials
Location – Gillies Community Centre 1835 Hwy 595 P0T 2V0
Contact: melkaltenbach@gmail.com

Join us in a peaceful and beautiful environment that enables the children to immerse themselves in play. We will celebrate Autumn with a seasonal Waldorf puppet play and circle time.

Adults have the opportunity to explore the Waldorf approach to raising young children and get a glimpse of a Waldorf Homeschooling program.

Link to Northern Lights school parent program page for more events and info on the school, link in bio

https://northernlightsschool.ca/parent-programs/

08/26/2022

‘I've been rocking and cuddling my baby to sleep since that day he was born. I mentioned this to a nurse at my clinic recently. She said that she did the same thing with her son, and everyone warned her that she would still have a teenager sleeping in her bed. And then she told me that, a few weeks ago, her teenage son came home from school very upset. He didn't want to talk, and just went to his room and listened to his music, typed on his phone and cried. The mother gave her son space, and night time came and she went to bed. Just as she was about to turn off her side light, the door opened, and her 15 year old padded into the room. He climbed into the bed with her, laid his head on her shoulder and cried. He told her all about the girl that broke his heart, all about the friends who laughed, all about the stresses of being him. She told him about her first broken heart, about friends who'd been cruel, and told him she understands. They talked in the dark for hours, until he feel asleep in her bed. Still sad but relieved after their talk.
'So you see' she said to me, when she finished the story. 'I was so scared that I wound wind up with a teenager who would 'need me' at night, that I never stopped to consider how beautiful that would really be.' 🌟
One of my favourite stories ever. Had to .
Words by the beautiful
Photo

07/22/2021

"What if we held the mother first? • What if we held her so much that she could breathe out those worries—the ones wrapping those tight circles in her mind? • What if we asked her, how are you really doing? • And what if we held space for the answer—whatever it might be? • What if we listened? • What if we gifted her with our own stories; our own truths? • What if she listened? • What if we told her we knew it was hard because we’ve walked her walk? • What if we weren’t so quick to forget? • What if we told her that we get it and that in all of that hard, you are doing so very well? • What if we did that before we held the baby? • And what if, in all of that space, she felt ready for us to hold the baby—because she felt held herself?"

Thank you for such beautiful and wise words 🤎🤎

02/28/2021

From sleeping in separate beds to their children to transporting them in prams, Western parents have some unusual ideas about how to raise them

06/16/2020

Allow partners to stay with new moms after birth in Thunder Bay

05/22/2020

The days are long, but the years a short 💕

05/05/2020

02/05/2019

I’m so passionate about providing a counterbalance to the sleep training culture. But, when I write about this topic, boy is it controversial.
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People accuse me of "shaming" parents who sleep train. I hear throw away comments like "each to their own" as if that justifies doing something we know, deep down, isn't right.
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There's this assumption that if we are "pro-baby" we are "anti-parent". Bu****it.
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Babies don't need to suffer so that parents can rest. And parents don’t need to suffer in the way our modern society dictates.
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The sleep training industry needs to stop pretending that they're doing a great service by "teaching" babies to sleep. Because what they're really doing is using manipulative marketing tactics to convince parents to ignore their baby, when every fibre of their being is shouting, “this doesn’t feel right”.
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Imagine if sleep trainers were honest and said, "if you ignore your baby long enough, they'll stop crying for you, they'll give up, they'll learn nobody is coming and then you'll be able to sleep."
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Because that's what sleep trainers are really there for, right?! To help PARENTS sleep.
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Opposing sleep training isn't about shaming mothers. It's about normalizing normal. It's about undoing the mess our society has created over the last 150 years. It’s about questioning cultural values.
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It's about getting mothers the help they truly need - maternity leave, paternity leave, free access to lactation consultants, postpartum doulas, evidence-based safe cosleeping guidelines.
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A shoulder to cry on, the safety to be vulnerable - to say that, yes, we're beyond exhausted but we don't blame our baby. We don't need a scapegoat, we need empathy. We need a warm cup of coffee and a shower. We need to know that it will all be ok, that this too shall pass and before we know it we'll miss the wee small hours of the morning when it was just us and our baby, while the whole world slept.
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So, listen to your wise mama heart. And when it gets tough lean on this community. I’m creating a series of guides on the science of sleep - I can't wait to share them with you soon. In the meantime, sending you love and light ✨✨