An expert explains how to combine research, clinical experience, and what parents know about their own babies to make better decisions about infant sleep. The approach balances scientific evidence with real-world parenting.
Hi. Can I just talk to you for a minute? Let me take you to my office. I want to talk to you about something I say often here at taking care of babies, and that is this. I say we must meet your baby right where he or she is developmentally. Have you heard me say that? You probably have. I want to explain to you what that means. Hold on, we need some light in here. What that means at taking care of babies. We practice evidence based practice. We use evidence based research. And if you're in healthcare, you know that phrase well. But if you're not, I want to tell it to you. I want to talk to you about what it is because it's so important when it comes to your baby and baby sleep. Okay, so evidence based practice is something I'm so passionate about. It involves three different components. Okay, so first, evidence based practice means we look at the research, we use peer reviewed journals, and we go, okay, how does the baby's brain work? How does baby sleep work? How do we apply that? What research, what studies have been done that says this is how it works. So that's the first component. The second component is clinical experience. Now, you know, I'm a nurse. I have over 22 years as a nurse, but I also have 40 people on my team. And they are lactation consultants, they are child life advocates, they are developmental specialists, they are nurses, they are educators, they are counselors, they are. The list goes on and on and on. And so together I've worked with hundreds upon thousands of families. So that's clinical experience and specifically in the area of baby sleep. Now the third component. Have you heard me say this before? There's no better mama on the planet for that baby than you. There's no better daddy on the planet for that baby than you. No one knows that baby like you. No one could do it better. You know, I believe that that's the third component of evidence based practice. It says we take the family's values and the family's knowledge of that baby and we combine it with the other two, which is the research and the clinical experience. And you take that third piece where you are the expert of your baby. That's the part that sets me on fire. Do you see how when you put that all three together, you get to make the best decision for your baby and your family. So when you come to taking care of babies and you hear me talk about things or say, you know, we must meet your baby right where he or she is developmentally, you know, that's what's that's what's behind it. Right? I. I don't want to just be some lady on social media who says, don't do this and do this, and you should. And you shouldn't. Like, no, no, no, no. Because I believe you are the expert of your baby. And then we can. We can combine those three components, and that's where the magic happens. And that's what taking care of babies is about. So that's what I wanted to share with you today.
