Sarah Ockwell-Smith - BabyCalmâ„¢: A Guide for Parents on Sleep Techniques, Feeding Schedules, and Bonding with Your New Baby

Praise for BabyCalm

Sarah Ockwell-Smiths BabyCalm provides a welcome antidote to the storm of advice that so often overwhelms new parents. An advocate for mothers, Ockwell-Smiths goal is to help new mothers gain confidence in their own instincts, and learn to trust themselves and their babies. Towards that end, she shares her stories and those of other mothers, encouraging readers to consider their own needs and listen to their babies. There are priceless strategies, from the Tiger-in-the-Tree baby-calming hold, to the suggestions for recovering from a psychologically traumatic birth. But the real treasure in this book is the reassuring, anti-guilt approach, which is why its perfect for any mother-to-be.

Dr. Laura Markham, Aha! Parenting.com

As a first-time mom the ideas contained in the BabyCalm book make perfect sense and it gave me the confidence and knowledge to enjoy my new family. Faith is a very happy little girl and we are very happy parents.

Michelle Heaton, singer and new mom

As a new mom of a colicky baby I found this book and its advice soothing, not only for my baby but for me! Its an essential prebirth read and a valuable reference after birth.

Lucy Speed, actress and new mom

Your book is my bible right now.

Zoe Cole, wife to professional dancer Brendan Cole

BabyCalm is a brilliant, positive resource that focuses on intuition, feelings, love, and trust.

Sheena Byrom, OBE, freelance midwifery advisor

Everything... in the book really resonated with the way we hoped we would parent.

Dame Sarah Storey, British paralympian

First published in the United Kingdom by Piatkus, an imprint of Little,
Brown Book Group. Copyright Sarah Ockwell-Smith 2012

First US edition 2014 by Sarah Ockwell-Smith

Illustrations by Rodney Paull

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Library of Congress Cataloging-in-Publication Data Ockwell-Smith, Sarah.

Babycalm : a guide for parents on sleep techniques, feeding schedules, and bonding with your new baby / Sarah Ockwell-Smith.

pages cm

Summary: Congratulations! You are about to become, or recently became, a new mom. But now what? You may feel overwhelmed by all the advice given to you by friends, family members, online sites, and the slew of contradicting information about calming a crying baby, getting on a feeding schedule, and training your infant to sleep through the night. BabyCalm[trademark symbol] (a company founded in 2007 in England by Sarah Ockwell-Smith and expanding to the United States this year) runs classes that aim to turn stressed-out parents and crying babies into happier parents and calmer babies. In BabyCalm[trademark symbol], Ockwell-Smith sets out to provide new mothers with the inspiring ethos and methods of her successful company. BabyCalm[trademark symbol] aims to empower new parents to raise their baby with confidence. Focused primarily for new mothers (but with a plethora of sound advice for fathers as well), Ockwell-Smith provides a wealth of information-starting with trusting your maternal instincts above all else-on calming your crying baby, implementing sleep training techniques, facilitating a feeding schedule, bonding with your new infant, understanding your babys essential needs, and much more. Including parenting tips from around the world as well as ways in which to create confident children, BabyCalm[trademark symbol] is the only book youll need to set you on the solid path of good (and stress-free) parenting during your babys first year. -- Provided by publisher.

Summary: A guide for new mothers (and fathers) about how to best calm their babies so the whole family is happier and better rested-- Provided by publisher.

ISBN 978-1-62873-670-0 (pbk.)

1. Infants. 2. Infants--Care for. 3. Parent and infant. 4. Parenting. I. Title.

HQ774.O325 2014

649.122--dc23

2013035874

Printed in the United States of America

About the Author

S arah Ockwell-Smith graduated from university with a Bachelor of Science degree in psychology, before spending several years working in pharmaceutical research and development. Following the birth of her first child, Sarah re-trained as a pediatric homeopath, HypnoBirthing antenatal teacher, and birth and postnatal doula. She has also undertaken training in baby massage, hypnotherapy, and psychotherapy.

Sarah founded BabyCalm in 2007, in response to the many parents who, having worked with her in the run up to their babys birth, then asked for support and guidance with their newborn. With help from business partner Charlotte Phillips, Sarah has seen BabyCalm grow from humble beginnings in her living room to a company with over one hundred teachers in countries as far afield as Australia, Canada, Ireland, and Spain.

During her career Sarah has worked with over one thousand new parents, helping them to prepare for an easier birth experience and calmer babymoon. She likes nothing more than watching a nervous new mother blossom into a confident, happy mother and feels honored to play a small role in this process.

Sarah is, most importantly, a mother to four young children. She lives with her husband, children, cats, collie, and several chickens in a four-hundred-year-old cottage in rural Essex.

Contents

Chapter 8

Creating Confident Children

Acknowledgments

I would like to express my gratitude to all of the parents I have worked with over the years, who have trusted me to help them at a very special time in their lives and taught me so much about babies, parenting, and myself. Particular thanks go to the parents who have shared their stories in this book: Claire-Louise, Kerry, Tracey, Sam, Katie, Charlotte, Rosie, Lisa, Corinne, Alex, Kate, Imogen, Lucy, Katherine, and Sian.

Thank you to those who have taught me so much along the way: Dr. James Demetre, my Developmental Psychology lecturer at the University of Greenwich; Isla Ball, ex-midwife and International Association of Infant Massage teacher, who provided a listening ear and helped me to learn to trust my maternal instincts; Marie Mongan, founder of the HypnoBirthing Institute, for restoring my faith in birth and my body; Dr. Michel Odent, for his amazing insight into the importance of birth and for introducing me to the role of a doula; and Peter Walker, for an inspiring weekend of Developmental Baby Massage and Movement.

A special thanks to my business partner and BabyCalm co-director Charlotte Phillips for pulling me out of my comfort zone and being instrumental in bringing the BabyCalm Maternal Revolution to the masses and to our BabyCalm teachers, a wonderful group of positive, powerful, inspiring mothers who all share our goal and provide so much support to new parents all over the world.