How Long 'Til Bedtime? | Sleep and Parenting Podcast

Latest Episodes:

123. Choosing A Daycare: The Most Important Sleep Questions To Ask Feb 19, 2024

Show notes

Are you searching for a daycare for your child? Check out the 12 most important sleep related questions to ask when you visit potential daycares.

Allison has vast experience helping parents navigate sleep with a wide variety of daycares across the United States and in other countries. She's compiled her advice into this comprehensive episode and the corresponding download.

Get your free download with all of Allison's questions to ask a potential daycare

Access the AAP Safe Sleep Recommendations

Allison mentions Episode 26: 5 Myths About the Crib to Bed Transition and her

Your Preschool Sleep Champion program

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Enjoying How Long 'Til Bedtime? Please consider rating and reviewing the show. This helps Allison support more parents. Click here, scroll to the bottom, rate the podcast, and select "Write a Review." And if you're a Spotify listener, you can now leave reviews on Spotify by clicking here. Also, if you subscribe to the show, you won't miss any episodes!

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122. Self-Leadership as a Parent with Kara Ryska Feb 12, 2024

Show notes

Join Allison and Kara Ryska, a mom of four and a life coach with experience coaching corporate professionals and special needs moms, for an empowering conversation about self-leadership for all parents.

They explore many of the qualities strong leaders demonstrate and how they pertain to parenting. Listen in as they discuss the importance of learning to listen to yourself and follow your intuition, how to avoid decision paralysis and take the next right step with confidence, simple ways you can reframe your thoughts to put yourself in a more proactive state of mind, the value of setting clear boundaries in parenting, simple questions you can ask yourself to determine your needs and develop a plan to meet them, how to be bold enough not to neglect your own needs, and much more.

Find out more about Kara's work on Instagram or her website, or check out The Special Needs Mom Podcast.

Click here to watch or listen on YouTube

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121. The Advice I Was Most Grateful For Before I Gave Birth Feb 05, 2024

Show notes

There are so many surprises that come along during the process of delivering a baby the first time. It's vital that women look out for one another and pass on some of the little known secrets with other new moms-to-be. In this episode, Allison is sharing the unsolicited, but VERY good, advice her best friend shared with her before she delivered her first baby. This advice made those first few days and weeks after childbirth a bit easier for Allison. In the event you don't have that friend that's going to share some of the less glamorous advice, Allison is your girl.

Find out more about Allison's new online workshop, Important Things To Know Before You Bring Your Baby Home

Allison mentions her favorite pajamas:

KicKee Pants Footies

Magnetic Me

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120. How To Choose a Temperature and Dress Your Child For Sleep Jan 29, 2024

Show notes

During the winter, Allison gets a lot of questions about choosing the right pajamas and how many layers we should put on our babies and children when they are sleeping. Many parents also wonder about the ideal temperature for sleep. Allison tackles these topics in this episode.

Grab your free Setting the Scene for Sleep checklist.

Allison mentions these pajamas:

KicKee Pants Footie Jammies

KicKee Pants For Older Kids

Kyte Sleep Sack 0.5 Tog

Kyte Sleep Sack 1.0 Tog

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119. Ditching Mom Guilt and Managing Overwhelm with JoAnn Crohn Jan 22, 2024

Show notes

Allison and JoAnn Crohn, parenting coach and founder of No Guilt Mom, discuss the guilt and overwhelm all mothers feel from time to time. They share many personal anecdotes and explore these topics:

how current societal pressures impact the role mothers play in a family
the effect social media and comparing yourself to others has on moms
JoAnn's thoughts on the root of most mom guilt and overwhelm
strategies for tackling your mental load
two steps JoAnn recommends moms take to regain a little bit of control over the emotions they are feeling and how they react
the importance of pursuing a passion or hobby for yourself outside of your family
the three types of problem solving that exist when you're talking with friends
JoAnn's suggestion for approaching household tasks and the distribution of responsibility among family members

Learn more about JoAnn on the No Guilt Mom Podcast or her website

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118. How To Execute a Smooth Crib to Bed Transition with Sophie Kuzjak - Part Two Jan 15, 2024

Show notes

Did you catch part one of this two part conversation on the crib to bed transition? In episode 117, Allison and Sophie Kuzjak, one of our sleep coaches, detailed the plan to move Sophie's daughter from her crib to her big girl bed. In this episode, Sophie is back to reveal how well the plan worked, and the insights she gained from the completed transition. Sophie is sharing the lessons she learned along the way, how she tackled the unexpected issues that arose, and what she would suggest other parents in her situation do. If you missed last week, listen to episode 117 first!

Listen to Episode 117. How To Execute a Smooth Crib to Bed Transition with Sophie Kuzjak - Part One

Learn more about Allison's workshop, How To Prepare Your Child For A Smooth Crib To Bed Transition

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117. How To Execute a Smooth Crib to Bed Transition with Sophie Kuzjak - Part One Jan 08, 2024

Show notes

The crib to bed transition is a significant milestone in a young child's life. In this episode, Allison is collaborating with Sophie Kuzjak, one of our sleep coaches, as Sophie prepares to move her daughter from her crib to her big girl bed. This isn't the first time they've tried to make this transition so Sophie is handling it differently this time. This episode is dedicated to how Sophie has prepared her daughter, what steps they've taken to get ready, how they chose the optimal time to embark on this change (the second time around), and how all the members of her family are handling the emotions of the upcoming change.

And then, stay tuned for episode 118, as the conversation continues. Sophie will share an update on how well her plan worked and her insights from the completed transition. She'll provide the lessons she learned along the way, how she tackled the unexpected issues that arose, and what she would suggest other parents in her situation do differently.

Click here to watch or listen on YouTube

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116. How To Help Your Child Stay In Their Room In The Morning Jan 01, 2024

Show notes

Once kids transition out of the crib, early morning wakings can become particularly tricky. In this episode, you'll hear 3 quick tips that can help your child stay in their room in the morning, even if they wake up before their designated wake time in the morning.

Allison mentions Episode 46. The Key to Success with a Toddler Clock

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115. Our Guests Have Even More To Say - Part Two Dec 25, 2023

Show notes

After each guest interview we do for the podcast, Allison asks our guests some rapid-fire questions unrelated to their area of expertise. Today's episode is a compilation of all the great "bonus answers" they shared with us in the last six months. These five guests will share their best parenting advice, book and podcast and show recommendations, favorite meal they prepare at home, and the personal goal they are working towards this year.

Links to the previous episodes referred to in this episode:

84. Planning for Your Mental Health Postpartum with Kayce Hodos

89. Ditching Mom Guilt, Setting Boundaries and Creating Balance with Stacey Olson

104. What Your Child's Preschool Teacher Wishes You Knew with Elizabeth Lane

105. What Your Child's Kindergarten Teacher Wishes You Knew with Meg Franco

109. The Role of Electrolytes in Reducing Pregnancy Fatigue with Elizabeth Newton

57. Celebrating Our First Anniversary

90. Our Guests Have Even More To Say

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114. How To Use A Timer to Help With Bedtime Dec 18, 2023

Show notes

If you have a toddler or preschooler who has become a master at stalling before or during their bedtime routine, this episode is for you. Allison is sharing the benefits of using timers to help your child start and get through their bedtime routine. And even if you've tried timers in the past and didn't think they helped, we encourage you to listen. There are a couple mistakes that parents often make when using timers. With easy tweaks, you may find the timer is your friend after all.

Some children really struggle when moving from one activity to another - transitions are hard! Timers can be a helpful tool during these transitions, even if your child has said they don't like the timer or has ignored the timer in the past. Three transitions where Allison finds timers to be particularly helpful are to help end dinner, to help with moving into the beginning of the bedtime routine, and to indicate when it's time to get out of a fun bath.

Listen in as she walks you through her strategy with timers, the exact language to use with the timer during these three specific transitions, and what type of timers she feels work well with children.

Allison mentions Episode 13. Helping Your Picky Eater with Alisha Grogan

Allison mentions these timers:

Two minute timer

Three minute timer

Five minute timer

Click here to watch or listen on YouTube

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