Episode 196: From sleep training & Classical Attachment Parenting to AwP with Kim Cousins

I'm so delighted that Kim Cousins came back on the podcast again. Kim was on episode 136 and 176 and I so highly recommend listening to those episodes if you haven't already. Kim is an Aware Parenting instructor who used to work in a perinatal mental health unit and has an abundance of experience of working with mothers and babies and families in general. In this episode, she also shares her own experience with sleep as a mother, with experience of being taught sleep training, then moving to Classical Attachment Parenting, and then to Aware Parenting. We'd love to send so much compassion if you are feeling exhausted and desperate for sleep, and if you have used sleep training. Throughout the episode, we highlight the importance of deep compassion for parents. Please check in with your willingness to listen to this episode, and reach out for listening support if it helps you connect with painful feelings. The focus on this episode is knowing that there really is a third choice, and that parents really don't need to choose between secure attachment and sleep. Kim shares about how when her daughter (who is now 8), was a baby, she slept very little in the day, and Kim had someone visit from a sleep centre to teach some sleep training. Kim shares about how painful the experience was, and how she didn't want to do it afterwards, and thought that she was a failure and that her daughter wasn't sleeping because she was not reading tiredness signs accurately or missing sleep windows. Kim shares about all the pressure and the lack of support that led to a diagnosis of postnatal depression and anxiety. Kim dived into understanding attachment theory, and when her son was born, she practiced Classical Attachment Parenting with him. When he was 12 months old, he was waking lots at night and she decided to do my sleep course. She listened to him crying in her arms for about 45 minutes to an hour and he slept through the whole night! Kim shares moving stories about supporting mothers to listen to their babies crying in arms, and what a difference it makes to receive that kind of support. Kim also talks about the importance of support, our own inner work, and lots more fascinating parts of listening to feelings and the relationship of that with sleep. You can find out more about Kim and her work at: https://www.instagram.com/kimberley.cousins/ You can find out more about my work at www.marionrose.net You can also find me here: https://www.instagram.com/_marion_rose_/ https://www.instagram.com/awareparenting/ www.facebook.com/MarionRosePhD