It’s Never Wrong to Nurture Your Baby

I’m often asked at postpartum visits whether or not it’s wrong to hold your baby while they sleep. 

We have a longer conversation about this, reflecting baby’s age/stage and family needs, but essentially my answer is: 

It’s never wrong to nurture your baby.

Your baby NEEDS this connection and so do you!

It can form a beautiful part of your bond over time, and an attunement with your child.

1.5yrs ago, I started to notice I was losing weight. My clothes fit differently, my rings were falling off. I’m just busy! I’ll have to try and eat more, I thought. And then I began to feel my heart pounding. It must be because I’ve lost weight, I reasoned. Maybe my heartbeat is more noticeable now?

Then one night, my daughter came to lie down in bed with me, and she put her head on my chest. 

(She was a higher needs baby who spent a lot of time in my bed over the years)

“Your heart is REALLY loud”, she said.

Oh, I thought. It’s not all in my head!

I promptly booked myself a doctor’s appointment.

“Your blood pressure is still in the normal range” the doctor told me, and said she was hesitant to book a blood test. 

Thankfully, advocacy is my jam!

“But is it normal for me?” I asked. What is my typical range?

She looked again at my file. “It IS higher for you,” she said. “You’re typically on the lower side.”

I went for a blood test that day, and my doctor called me the very next morning (on a Saturday).

“It’s your thyroid,” she said, and she immediately sent me a prescription to regulate my heartbeat and put through a referral for an endocrinologist.

Thank goodness for my daughter!

Our children are so in tune. 

As parents, the connection we nurture with them gives back to us in incredible and profound ways. 

Want to read more about the power of nurture?

I highly recommend checking out Nurture Neuroscience HERE

Throwback pic of my daughter and I