As a mom, neuroscientist, and a long time expert to parents, almost every expert has it wrong when they say 'don't spoil your baby.' Up until the age of 3, your only job is to spoil your baby with affection, attention, and protection. I promise you it's the best chance for the long term mental health and success of your child. On my podcast, I will interview the leading experts to explain why you need to SPOIL YOUR BABY as well as those that may disagree for a spirited debate. I will also give you the most up to date science-backed tools and tips that will help you to raise your baby for lifelong health and success.
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The Doula’s Guide to Nurturing Birth Instincts and Connection feat. Stefanie Antunes | #51
Monday, May 11, 2026 • Duration 37:51
Why is the way we connect with our babies at birth so vital for our long-term relationship?
Stefanie Antunes began her journey as a doula and educator over twenty years ago after the birth of her second son taught her the true value of preparation and support. She is now a visionary in the field, training thousands of doulas and helping families navigate the intense transition into parenthood. Stefanie believes that birth is an embodied experience that acts as a gateway to our emotional world. She has seen how modern hospital practices often disturb the natural hormonal flow that nature designed for safety and bonding.
A major challenge she addresses is the pressure for parents to follow "head-based" information instead of trusting their own inner landscape and instincts. She transformed her practice by focusing on helping people connect with their heart and gut before the "noise" of the world takes over. Stefanie advocates for a return to our mammalian roots, emphasizing that we aren't meant to parent in isolation. She encourages us to reject the myth that we should know everything automatically and instead surrender to the community support we deserve. By prioritizing skin-to-skin contact and planning for postpartum care, she helps families create a foundation of connection that lasts a lifetime. We believe this conversation is a beautiful reminder to look inward and trust the wisdom of our bodies.
Key Takeaways
Early connection at birth is deeply rooted in our mammalian biology and sets a vital foundation for the lifelong parent-baby relationship.
Learning to distinguish between anxiety in the head and instinct in the gut helps parents make better decisions for their families.
Modern hospital disturbances, like early inductions, can disrupt the essential hormones that nature provides for a safe and bonded birth experience.
The "nuclear family lie" makes us believe parenting should be easy, but we actually need a village to thrive in the postpartum period.
Planning for postpartum support through exercises like the "four circles" helps families navigate the intense changes in time and energy after birth.
Guest Bio:Stefanie Antunes has been a Lamaze® Educator and doula since 2002, after the birth of her second son showed her just how valuable it is to be prepared for birth and to have good support around you. Stefanie is a visionary in the childbirth field. Her commitment to the profession has been exemplary. She founded Ontario’s first doula agency, helping to obtain insurance for the doula industry, creating the Birth Doula Program, Ontario’s first and only hospital doula program, and more! Stefanie is the director of public relations for the Association of Ontario Doulas, former Public Relations Director and Treasurer for DONA International and sits on many local boards and coalitions to improve our communities.
_Motherhood Expanded: Coming Home to Yourself Through Storytelling feat. Kim Marshall | #50
Monday, May 4, 2026 • Duration 25:59
How can we use the challenges of motherhood as a powerful medicine for our own healing and growth?
Kim Marshall spent nearly 25 years working with children and families as a teacher before realizing the best way to support kids was to help the people raising them. Six years ago, she left her corporate teaching career to become an online parenting coach and reorganized her life to focus on her own motherhood journey. This shift allowed her to move away from a fast-paced "doing" mindset and embrace a slower, inward-looking way of "being".
Her biggest challenge was navigating the "noise" of a world designed to keep us busy and distracted. She realized that if we aren't intentional, we can lose our true selves in the expectations of others. Her transformation came through accepting "matrescence"—the threshold of becoming a mother—and viewing motherhood as a sacred "portal" for growth.
Kim's journey inspired her to curate an anthology called Motherhood Expanded, featuring 15 authentic stories of mothers and grandmothers. She believes that our children act as mirrors, holding up invitations for us to heal our deepest wounds and unlearn old patterns. By sharing these vulnerable stories, we find the strength to come home to our humanity and break generational cycles. We believe this episode offers a beautiful reminder that we are never alone in the messy, painful, and glorious process of raising children while raising ourselves.
Key Takeaways
Motherhood is a unique threshold where we are birthed and chosen to step into the primal and transformative force of love.
Our children act as mirrors that hold up invitations for us to address our deepest triggers and begin the work of healing.
We must intentionally slow down to avoid losing ourselves in a fast-paced world that prioritizes constant doing over the beauty of being.
Vulnerable storytelling helps us connect with a collective motherhood energy, reminding us that we are enough exactly as we are right now.
It is a privilege to confront generational wounds and transform them into blessings for the children who are born for these specific times.
Resources
Self-Mothering: Your Most Important Parenting Job feat. Dr. Gertrude Lyons | #41
Wednesday, November 5, 2025 • Duration 44:18
What if the most crucial job we have in motherhood is learning to mother ourselves?
Dr. Gertrude Lyons, a master coach and thought leader, developed the "Rewriting the Mother Code" framework after conducting an in-depth doctoral thesis. Her purpose is to help women rewrite outdated narratives surrounding motherhood, self-worth, and identity. Dr. Lyons was prompted to begin this work after realizing that even as an established coach, she had lost herself in motherhood, stopped mothering herself, and experienced deep regret and remorse. This experience motivated her to investigate what is possible when women put themselves in the picture.
Her doctoral thesis centered on raising women's awareness of the possibility of personal growth and transformative experiences within motherhood. This included challenging personal norms. For example, when facing fertility issues, Dr. Lyons chose to listen to her intuition rather than immediately adopting the full medical model. By tuning in, she uncovered a deep, unconscious fear of being a mother and continuing generational trauma. Addressing this "unfinished business" proved to be a critical part of her healing journey.
Dr. Lyons emphasizes that motherhood, despite being painful or chaotic—described as the "caterpillar to butterfly gelatinous mass period"—is the ripest time for transformation and rewiring. She champions the idea that we all mother (ideas, careers, relationships), and the most important person we need to mother is ourselves.
Is it possible to improve our sleep and reduce anxiety, even when navigating the exhaustion of new parenthood? Talia Shapero's journey to becoming an adult sleep coach began with her own years-long battle with insomnia. This sleep struggle became significantly worse after the birth of her son. Even when her baby started sleeping through the night, Talia found she was unable to. This chronic lack of quality sleep severely impacted her cognitive, physical, and emotional health, leading to intense anxiety and a dysregulated mood. Fortunately, her medical practitioners were insightful, suggesting that addressing her sleep issues might alleviate her anxiety, recognizing the crucial bi-directional relationship between mood and sleep. Talia was diagnosed with true insomnia and underwent Cognitive Behavioral Therapy for Insomnia (CBT-I), which she describes as truly transformative. The treatment improved her overall well-being—she was feeling better, eating better, and became a more engaged partner and parent, gaining resilience, patience, and love to give to her family. Through this experience, she realized that many people lack knowledge about sleep and struggle silently. Motivated by her personal success and the universal need for solutions, Talia earned her certification to help others as an adult sleep coach.
Focus on the quality of sleep as much as the quantity, and anchor your morning wake time for circadian rhythm consistency.
When a full nap isn't possible, schedule "daily pauses" by lying down horizontally, screen-free, to refresh and restore your mind.
Optimize your body's sleep-wake cycle by ensuring you receive bright light exposure in the morning and limit bright light in the evening.
Develop a purposeful and relaxing wind-down routine before bed to signal to your brain and body that it is safe to relax and anticipate sleep.
Aim for "good enough" sleep instead of seeking perfection every night, recognizing that sleep is not static and will fluctuate.
#Join The Nurture Neuroscience Practitioner Certification · Join our February 2026 Program: https://nurture-neuroscience.com/professional-certification-sales-page Resources Talia Shapero is an Adult Sleep Coach. She can be found through her website, TaliaShapero.com, and on Instagram and Facebook at @TaliaShaperoSleep. Talia regularly posts tips and information, and she offers a free 20-minute, no-obligation call for those struggling with their sleep. ● Website: ● Instagram: @taliashaperosleep ● LinkedIn: ● Facebook: Talia Shapero Adult Sleep Coaching Services Ready to Connect with Greer? "Nurture Neuroscience" Website: Instagram: LinkedIn: FREE GUIDE - "Nurture Your Baby's Stress": FREE GUIDE - "Manage the Stressors & Triggers of Parenting": Order "The Nurture Revolution" Book:
From Low Nurture to Nurture Revolution feat. The Nurture Duo | #39
Wednesday, October 22, 2025 • Duration 28:18
How do you turn a childhood of "low nurture" into a passion for helping other parents find confidence and joy in responsive motherhood?
Erin and Hayley are twins and the co-founders of The Nurture Duo. They shared their challenging upbringing, having grown up in a single-parent household with two older brothers. Due to circumstances including poverty, mental illness, and addiction, they experienced a "low nurture" background, though they are grateful their parents did the best they could. They always nurtured each other from the womb, leading to a strong bond. Their shared love of children led them to work in early childhood education for ten years. During their bachelor's degree studies, they took a course on infant mental health, which was eye-opening. They realized that many educational settings had high expectations for children's self-regulation, largely because professionals lacked sufficient knowledge about infant mental health. This realization was a driving force, making them passionate about helping parents because they recognized that the change needed to start there.
Their personal journey intensified when they both became pregnant with their first babies, whose due dates were two weeks apart. Motherhood, especially concerning sleep, was initially a shock. They were confused by the pervasive sleep training culture until they found a holistic sleep consultant (TikTok handle: raised to flourish). This consultant helped them trust themselves and their babies more, leading them to embrace responsive parenting practices like contact naps, feeding to sleep, and nighttime parenting. Feeling the transformative and healing power of this knowledge, they enrolled in the Nurture Neuroscience Practitioner course while pregnant with their second children. They launched The Nurture Duo by offering free workshops to build their community. They are now successfully running back-to-back, unique, in-person support circles where mothers feel safe and receive non-judgmental support, allowing them to connect with their own intuitive nurturing abilities and proudly bring the nurture revolution to their town.
Recognizing previous challenges, like coming from a low nurturing background, can provide the drive needed to implement change for your own children and community.
Join The Nurture Neuroscience Practitioner Certification Resources Ready to Connect with Greer?
Boosting Confidence Through Nurtured Presence feat. Amanda Hadfield | #38
Wednesday, October 15, 2025 • Duration 18:58
Are you feeling conflicted because your mothering instincts feel right, but everyone around you insists you are doing it wrong?
Amanda Hadfield, who was previously working as a veterinary nurse, started maternity leave looking for self-discovery and a complete career change. While pregnant, she knew she was looking for something else. She faced a major challenge during this time: she felt deeply conflicted because everything she was doing felt right in her heart, yet she was under immense pressure from family, friends, and health visitors who told her she was mothering incorrectly.
Her path changed when a mother at her breastfeeding group recommended The Nurture Revolution by Greer Kirshenbaum. The book changed everything for her. When she received a newsletter announcing the certification program, she knew 100% that this was the path for her, manifesting getting into the limited spaces.
Amanda became the world's first Nurture Neuroscience Practitioner to certify. She launched her first circle in March 2025, initially expecting only two mothers but welcoming eight. The impact was profound, providing mothers with a space to be nurtured and find healing from issues like birth trauma or difficulty bonding with their baby. Amanda also experienced significant personal growth, moving from being "terrified" before her first class to gaining the confidence to lead circles and workshops. Her group fostered deep connections, with the first block of mothers continuing to meet up every week, forming a tight-knit group.
● Up until the age of three, your primary role is to spoil your baby with affection, attention, and protection.
● When women gather in person, magic happens, creating a supportive sisterhood and community that lasts a lifetime.
● The Nurtured Presence practice is highly emotive, centering on four questions that affirm to your baby, "I see you, you are enough".
● Inner child work involves holding your baby but answering the four natural questions as if you were addressing baby-you.
● Ambivalence can be practiced by holding two rocks to help you really feel two conflicting emotions at the same time.
Join The Nurture Neuroscience Practitioner Certification Resources
Finding Hope and Light in Evidence-Based Sleep feat. Linda Fitzgerald | #37
Episode 37
Wednesday, October 8, 2025 • Duration 20:00
How does embracing neuroscience and genuine community support transform the challenges of early motherhood, especially when navigating conflicting advice on infant sleep?
We sit down with Linda, a Nurture Neuroscience practitioner, to discuss her incredible journey into supporting mothers. Originally from the Czech Republic, Linda moved to the United States and found that becoming a mother completely transformed her life. She experienced significant challenges early on, particularly facing conflicting advice regarding infant sleep. She was told she had to sleep train her son before he turned four months to avoid sleep regression, a suggestion that left her deeply conflicted so she searched everywhere for answers.
Her transformation began when she found a holistic sleep expert, which eventually led her to discover Greer's work. She was drawn to the professional training because it was grounded in neuroscience and research, which made the information digestible and true. Linda's initial goal was clear: to support families with sleep and ultimately prevent sleep training by working with newborn and pregnant families. The course offered the direction, hope, and light she needed to launch her practice. She fought hard to build her circles, getting creative with marketing—including recording videos and drawing with chalk in front of playgrounds, grocery stores, and schools—to ensure everyone knew about the neuroscience circle. Now, Linda leads successful, intimate circles and one-on-one consultations, providing mothers with a vulnerable and safe space where they receive vital community support and knowledge based on science, ultimately changing lives.
● Preventing sleep training is best approached by working with newborn or pregnant families, as sleep training is often initiated very early on.
● When seeking parenting guidance, prioritize information and knowledge that is backed by credible research and neuroscience over popular myths.
● Community circles offer a safe and intimate space, allowing mothers to be vulnerable and receive deep emotional support and connection in real life.
Resources
Brain benefits of Skin-to-Skin and how to do it at any age feat. Hayley Mullins | #36
Episode 36
Wednesday, October 1, 2025 • Duration 22:47
What if the key to maximizing bonding time with your newborn was created out of a moment of terrifying crisis?
Hayley Mullins, the founder of the Joey Band, shares the deeply personal and frightening experience that led to the development of her innovative product. When her newborn daughter, just two weeks old, startled and fell from her chest onto a hardwood floor, Hayley was devastated. After rushing to the emergency room, she learned that infant falls during skin-to-skin time happen often, even in hospital settings, occurring at an estimated rate of one in 165 births. Frustrated that existing baby-wearing products like wraps and carriers didn't offer the simple, soft support she needed while resting, she and her husband developed the Joey Band. This stretchy, yoga pant-material device wraps around the parent, securing the baby in a proper skin-to-skin position. This simple change transformed the practice, enabling comfortable, hands-free bonding time and mimicking the snug comfort of the womb. The Joey Band has become a game-changer in hospitals, particularly for C-section mothers, allowing uninterrupted kangaroo care right on the operating table, with one nurse noting it turns "a surgery to a birth". It has also been instrumental in NICU settings, helping vulnerable babies get home sooner by encouraging consistent kangaroo care.
● Skin-to-skin contact is crucial for brain development, temperature regulation, and nutrient absorption, which helps babies gain weight faster.
● Babies held skin-to-skin have been found in studies to cry 12 times less, offering enormous relief and increased confidence for new parents.
● The Joey Band is non-ambulatory and is meant to be used while sitting or reclining, helping parents slow down, recover, and focus on bonding time.
● The simplicity of the Joey Band makes skin-to-skin easier for non-birthing and adoptive parents, giving them confidence and growing the bond.
● For C-section moms, the use of the Joey Band reduces maternal anxiety and decreases the need for pain medication post-operation.
Resources
A Successful Daycare Transition Story feat. Kelly Yefet | #35
Wednesday, September 24, 2025 • Duration 39:42
What happens when the thought of transitioning your baby to daycare brings anxiety and tears, but the reality turns out to be a surprising success story?
We sit down with Kelly as she shares her candid journey through the daunting process of transitioning her 10-month-old baby, Noa, into daycare. Kelly faced a non-negotiable deadline: returning to work in November. Because her chosen daycare was highly sought after and had firm start dates, she began the transition in September, two months before she needed to be back at work.
This forced early start actually became the best option, allowing for the slow, flexible transition Kelly desired, where she could spend time in the room or drop off Noa for short periods. Kelly details her initial fears, which centered on disrupting her hyper-focused, high-attachment "Greer's method" of parenting, including concerns about Noa crying alone, eating (as she was predominantly breastfed and had never taken a bottle), and sleeping (as she only napped on Kelly).
Despite these major worries, the transition moved much faster and smoother than Kelly anticipated. The daycare staff embraced the learning curve, successfully introducing a bottle and helping Noa transition from sleeping on a person to sleeping in a crib over the course of a week, without tears during the process. This unexpected success led Kelly to pivot her original plan, shifting from a part-time/nanny hybrid approach to confidently choosing full-time daycare, a decision she made by listening to her gut and observing how well Noa was thriving. Kelly's story offers reassurance that a successful and smooth transition is common when anchored by flexibility, trust, and a focus on building a strong relationship with the care provider.
● Trust your gut throughout the process and hold plans loosely; you can change your decisions and reassess as you go, based on your baby's experience.
● Prioritize finding a childcare setting or implementing a strategy that allows for forming a trusted, loving relationship between your baby and at least one caregiver.
● Encourage social referencing by spending time with the baby and caregiver, showing the baby through your calm nervous system that the caregiver is trustworthy.
Resources
Navigating Sleep with a Newborn & Toddler feat. Rachael Shepard-Ohta | #34
Thursday, September 18, 2025 • Duration 27:49
Feeling overwhelmed by the thought of adding another baby to your family and wondering how everyone will ever sleep? We've got you covered!
In this episode of the Spoil Your Baby podcast, we connect with Rachel Shepard-Ota, the founder of Hey Sleepy Baby. Rachel shares her personal journey into the world of baby sleep, which began after a "horribly traumatic experience" with sleep training her first child. This pivotal moment led her to extensively research and discover attachment-focused sleep certifications, initially for her own benefit as she was on maternity leave with her second baby during COVID. What started as a personal quest and a potential "side hustle" quickly blossomed into Hey Sleepy Baby, a platform that took off, allowing her to leave her decade-long career as a special education teacher. Rachel is now dedicated to changing the narrative around infant sleep, moving away from sleep training as the default, especially in the US where lack of parental support adds extra pressure. Through her work, she aims to normalize sleep and support parents, offering alternatives and guidance to families seeking gentle, attachment-focused approaches.
Key Takeaways
● Remove the pressure to space children closely: Allow breathing room between babies to recover from tough sleep or deprivation
● Prepare for toddler regression: Have a flexible plan for how you'll tackle sleep in the night, as toddlers may regress with a new baby
● A two-year-old is still a baby: Avoid putting too much pressure on older children; they are still tiny and need support
● Implement a "divide and conquer" strategy: If two parents are present, one can take the toddler and the other the newborn for nighttime support
● Embrace flexibility: There's no single "right" solution in parenting, and acknowledging that everything is a phase helps manage expectations
Guest Bio: Kim Marshall is a mother of 2 and founder of Roots and Wings Childhood. As a parenting coach, she works online to serve an international audience, helping mothers unlearn and relearn what it takes to mother themselves and their children with connection instead of control. Her holistic approach to understanding behavior and relationships guides families toward emotional safety. Kim provides personalized private and group coaching that integrates mindset, strategy, and somatic work to help parents break generational cycles.
Guest Bio: Dr. Gertrude Lyons is a master coach, podcast host, and thought leader who helps women rewrite outdated narratives around motherhood and identity. She developed the "Rewriting the Mother Code" framework after completing an in-depth doctoral thesis. She offers retreats in Mexico and Ireland, and one-on-one immersive coaching experiences.
References and Resources:
● Book: Rewrite the Mother Code: From Sacrifice to Stardust, a Cosmic Approach to Motherhoodhttps://a.co/d/b4MU6hl
Trusting yourself and your baby allows you to lean into responsive parenting practices, transforming sleep from a managed problem into a source of joy and precious memories.
Understanding infant mental health and brain development is critical for all professionals working with children, enabling the setting of appropriate expectations.
Responsive parenting includes embracing contact naps, feeding to sleep, and nighttime parenting, offering a healing alternative to sleep training culture.
In-person support circles create essential safe and non-judgmental spaces, allowing mothers to be vulnerable and connect deeply with their babies and peers.
Guest Bio: Erin and Hayley are twin sisters and certified Nurture Neuroscience Practitioners who co-founded The Nurture Duo. They both previously worked for 10 years in early childhood education, holding a BA in Early Childhood Studies.
Their path was motivated by their own "low nurture" upbringing and a challenging start to motherhood, which led them to realize the importance of understanding infant mental health. After discovering responsive care practices that they found to be "very healing", they dedicated themselves to supporting families.
As practitioners, they focus on educating caregivers about nervous system care and biologically normal infant sleep to help them feel more confident and capable of providing responsive care. They currently run unique, in-person support circles for mothers that are described as non-judgmental and safe spaces.
Guest Bio: Amanda Hadfield is the world's first Nurture Neuroscience Practitioner to certify in the certification program. Her business is North Star Nurture. She runs in-person circles every Wednesday at 9:30 AM in the Glencore Center in Scotland. Amanda also offers sleep consulting and is planning to team up with another practitioner, Gabrielle, for parental regulation support.
● The work of a sleep consultant, focusing on finding alternatives to sleep training, can be a flexible job that allows prioritizing time with young children.
● Societal pressures often hide what mothers are missing; community circles help mothers realize they need to be surrounded by other supportive moms.
● Guest Bio: Linda is a Nurture Neuroscience practitioner who leads in-person circles in Fairfax, Marin County, California. She never offers sleep training but finds different options to maximize family sleep and help with problems like frequent waking or night weaning.
● Guest Bio: Hayley Mullins Inventor of the Joeyband Device & Infant Falls SME. Passionate about revolutionizing newborn care practices worldwide, she´s the visionary behind JoeyBand™, a globally patented medical device designed to elevate the crucial practice of skin-to-skin care. As the driving force behind this groundbreaking initiative, her responsibilities and achievements include spearheading a mission to redefine the standard of newborn care.
● You do not need to change feeding or sleep routines at home (like breastfeeding or co-sleeping) before daycare; babies will typically adapt to new sleep methods in the new environment.
● Seek consistency of care in the schedule, as a baby better understands an every-day pattern (even short days) than inconsistent schedules like Monday, Wednesday, Friday.
● Guest Bio: Kelly Yefet is a strategic brand and growth marketer who specializes in identifying key business challenges to uncover innovative and data-driven solutions. Kelly is also a devoted parent to her baby, Noa and shares her personal journey of successfully transitioning Noa into daycare.
● Guest Bio: Rachel Shepard-Ota is the founder of Hey Sleepy Baby, established in 2020. She was a special education teacher for about a decade before dedicating herself to attachment-focused baby sleep after a challenging experience with sleep training her first child.
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