My journey as a mother to three highly sensitive, neurodivergent boys has endowed me with an intimate understanding of the challenges families face.
Now, I'd like to help you.
I live in Kansas City with my husband, our 3 boys, and our chocolate lab.
I founded Spirited Baby Sleep and Wellness because I was absolutely shocked to find that there was very little support, education, or resources available to new parents. Even as a healthcare professional, I was overwhelmed with misinformation, outdated parenting opinions, and harmful advice that flooded in daily as I tried to get to know my new baby. As a new mom who spent the first year of her baby’s life drowning, and focused on all the wrong things, I knew I had to be a part of a much needed change.
When I moved in with my husband, I had never heard of a highly sensitive person. My knowledge of the nervous system was limited to what was required of a nurse. I knew nothing about epigenetics, co-regulation, or how each individual moves in and out of their window of tolerance differently. My role as a step-parent lacked the crash course I needed in low demand parenting, highly sensitive children, and neurodivergence.
By the time my son was born in 2021, I felt like I had it all figured out. I had spent a lot of money on parenting classes to prepare for his arrival. I knew all about “eat play sleep,” it was drilled into my brain that I wasn’t to bring my baby to bed with me under any circumstance, I was prepared to nurture his independence through crib sleep, and knew the importance of getting him out for a walk every day. I had binders and apps on my phone ready to track and manage everything. I was READY. Except, I wasn’t.
He cried. For the first 10 months of his life. He rarely slept.
I couldn’t put him down. He wouldn’t tolerate baby wearing, or the stroller, or the car. He struggled to nurse. I struggled to keep it together. My husband went back to work. My village got smaller and smaller as I distanced myself from those who pressured me to go against my instincts: “stop breastfeeding,” “let him cry,” “be more consistent,” “stop coddling him.”
My healthcare team completely missed my severe postpartum depression and anxiety. They also continued to promote abstinence only education related to bedsharing, which lead to some really unsafe sleep practices with my son. I started diving into any and all things related to my baby’s sleep, temperament, hypersensitivity, and overall wellness. We started working with early childhood educators, physical therapists, occupational therapists, speech therapists, and lactation consultants. I started trusting my own intuition more as I found science that proved that our anti-nurture society was not rooted in data, but instead was established by white men who had never cared for children at all.
Something happened for us as I began to look to my baby for direction - we slept. My anxiety calmed. His anxiety calmed. I enrolled in a sleep and wellness certification program during a contact nap, and decided then that I wanted to devote my time to families struggling in the same situation that I was.
My day to day as a stay at home mom with a highly sensitive toddler looks a little different every day.
Our weeks usually involve speech, occupational, and physical therapy. We go to playgroup together once a week, as well as attend a Kindermusik class. We try to fill our days with lots of sensory experiences, outside time, and connection. During nap time I have been focusing on my sleep specialist certification, supporting and connecting mommas in my DMs, and keeping up with household chores! I have also completed the following continuing education nursing courses to supplement my sleep certification: “Screening for Postpartum Depression,” “Caring for Pediatrics With Developmental Delays,” “Breastfeeding and Baby Friendly Hospitals,” “Pain Management in Newborns,” “Nursing Care of Pediatric Patients by Stage of Development,” “Childhood Asthma Treatment and Prevention.” I love spending time with my family and am so excited to be on a journey that allows me to show up as the mom I want to be for my boys, and to still help families around the world!
