Gentle, practical guidance for pregnancy, birth and those tender early weeks — written to reassure, not overwhelm.
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Your baby tells you what they need long before they cry. Eight pages from Sue — the cue chart itself (print it for the fridge), the settling ladder, how to tell hungry from tired, what's normal in the first six weeks, and the short list of things worth a phone call.
This is where Sue shares gentle, practical guidance drawn from more than 30 years as a neonatal intensive care nurse. Each article is written to answer the real questions new and expecting parents ask — about pregnancy, birth, feeding, settling, sleep, and recovering through those first tender weeks at home.
There's no jargon and no fear-mongering here, just calm, evidence-based reassurance you can return to whenever you need it. Browse the latest posts below, and check back as new guidance is added.
You can have a support person with NICU experience, glowing references, and the right training on paper, and still feel unsettled in your own house by day tw…
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A baby can look “latched” at the breast and still be causing the same pain, the same nipple damage, and the same poor milk transfer for two completely differ…
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If you have been feeding, burping, changing, rocking, swaddling, and your baby is still crying after an hour, the problem is probably not that you are doing…
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A mother can be feeding, attending appointments, changing nappies, even smiling at visitors, and still not be okay.
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They think they are choosing between sleep and no sleep.
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A newborn who is hungry and a newborn who wants contact can look almost identical at 2 a.m. Both can root, fuss, suck their hands, and settle for a minute in…
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If your baby’s best sleep cues only show up after they’re already overtired, the answer is not to settle harder. It’s to change earlier parts of the routine…
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If a baby sleeps better in arms than in the cot, the first thing I troubleshoot is usually not the cot at all. I start with the last 10 minutes before sleep…
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If your newborn wakes every 45 to 60 minutes, settles quickly, and then does it again, I would not start by changing the whole routine. I would start by chec…
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When a baby won’t sleep despite a dark room, white noise, and a consistent bedtime routine, the next move is usually not “make it darker” or “turn the sound…
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How do you prepare for overnight care when one parent is recovering badly and the other is trying to avoid becoming the default all-night caregiver? You do n…
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What’s normal after birth? Learn the postpartum healing timeline, what to expect week by week, and when symptoms need a closer look.
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Learn newborn cues before the crying starts. Spot early signals, settle your baby sooner, and feel more confident in those first weeks.
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Gentle, practical coping strategies for postpartum anxiety that work in real life—especially during night feeds, panic spikes, and exhausted moments.
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Learn how to settle a newborn by calming overstimulation, reducing crying, and using simple soothing steps that actually help baby relax.
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Spot the subtle postnatal depression signs families often miss—when coping masks distress—and learn how to recognise the early warning signs sooner.
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A baby who wakes every 45 to 90 minutes is not automatically hungry, and not automatically “just being difficult” either. That pattern can come from hunger,…
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