Shine Om

The potty training came undone.

So did the sleep.

Maybe they’re asking for a bottle again.
Wanting to be carried everywhere.
Climbing into the baby’s swing.
Wanting to be “the baby.”

If that’s your home right now…

Take a slow breath.

Nothing has gone wrong.

Regression after a new sibling isn’t your child going backwards.

It’s actually one of the cleverest things their nervous system can do.

Think about it through their eyes.

A tiny new person arrives and suddenly they’re carried, rocked, fed, cuddled and adored simply because they’re little.

So your firstborn asks the most logical question:

“If being little brings me closer to Mum and Dad… maybe I should be little again.”

That’s not manipulation.

It’s love.

It’s their way of saying,

“I miss you. Can you come find me?”

Sometimes the most healing response isn’t correcting the behaviour.

It’s answering the need underneath it.

Rock your big kid.
Carry them for a while.
Let them climb onto your lap.

When closeness is freely given, they don’t need to fight so hard to find it.

Regression is temporary.

The connection you build through it lasts much longer.

If you’re navigating this season, I’ve written about what’s actually happening inside your child’s nervous system, what’s completely normal, and how to support them without feeling like you’ve gone backwards.

Because understanding the “why” changes everything. 💜

Motherhood changes you.

But it doesn’t erase you.

And yet, in those early months and years, it can feel like parts of you quietly disappear.

The spontaneity.
The space to think.
Finishing a hot cup of tea.
The hobbies, the work, the impulse to follow what lights you up.

So much of motherhood asks us to turn our energy outward —
toward our babies, our homes, the never-ending list of things that need doing.

But when we forget to turn some of that attention back inward…

That’s when the ache begins.

Not because you’re doing motherhood wrong.
But because a part of you is asking to be remembered.

This episode opens a conversation so many mothers quietly carry:

How do we honour who we’re becoming without losing ourselves along the way?

🎧 Listen to From Maiden to Mother: Navigating and Reclaiming Your Identity in Motherhood

Watch on YouTube:
https://youtu.be/uleMHwGZGYU?si=N0JM4noUnNx7qPoI

Learn more:
https://shineom.com.au/rediscover-your-identity-after-motherhood/

Sometimes the most regulating thing in motherhood… is silence.

In this episode, Natalie .natalie shares that when she listens to something, it’s a podcast called You Make Sense—a beautiful show exploring inner work, parts work, and nervous system regulation.

I love this moment.

Because it reminds us that healing isn’t linear, and we all need different things at different times — sometimes guidance, sometimes stillness.

And I’m always here for good recommendations.

If this conversation resonated, know this:

Breathe, Laugh, Parent is full of insights, resources, grounded nervous system education, and real conversations about authentic motherhood.

Not noise.
Not pressure.
But thoughtful, practical support you can return to when you’re ready.

And if what you need today is silence?
That counts too.

🎧 Watch the full episode with Natalie Olson: https://youtu.be/IFrJCIUuIJk?si=C-KuXEYhoSr2bexl

Read more: https://shineom.com.au/authentic-motherhood-nervous-system-care-natalie-olson/

You don’t “lose” joy. You lose access to it.

When you’re moving through something heavy — grief, trauma, exhaustion — it can feel like joy is gone.

Like it’s been taken from you.

But here’s the truth:

Joy will wait for you.
It always does.

And the hardest part?

You’re still parenting through it.

Still showing up.
Still holding space for your children…
while quietly navigating your own experience.

That’s not something we talk about enough.

If this resonates, this episode gives language to what you might be feeling—and helps you understand how joy and pain can coexist in motherhood.

🎧 Watch on YouTube (including a powerful reframe on joy after trauma and how to move through it while parenting):
https://youtu.be/QsPtfl8d2Rw?si=riw38V2l32JxaVvZ

📖 Read about how to gently reconnect with joy after trauma and support your nervous system in motherhood:
https://shineom.com.au/shineom-com-au-finding-joy-after-trauma/

What’s the bravest change you’ve ever made? ✨

This podcast guest, Bree Wi******er, shares how she left behind the life she’d built — marriage, business, home — to create one that felt truly hers.

Her story is raw, real, and deeply inspiring for anyone standing at the edge of a big decision.
She reminds us that courage isn’t about having no fear… it’s about moving forward while your heart pounds.

🎧 Listen now and tell me in the comments: what’s one change you’ve been scared to make, but know deep down you need to?

https://youtu.be/4zNuxrHuJ9c?si=8Xm3PklZ2yI5XMlK
Learn more: https://shineom.com.au/podcast

Ten minutes became an anchor for us. 📓

After my youngest arrived, I didn’t suddenly discover that small moments of connection mattered.

I’ve always believed in the micro moments.

But I was exhausted.

Sleep deprived.
Healing.
Caring for a baby while still wanting my eldest to know, deeply, that she still had me.

And on those really depleted days, sometimes I didn’t have the capacity to think of how to create that connection.

I needed something to guide me too.

That’s really where the Family Gratitude Journal came from.

Ten minutes.

We might write.
We might draw.
We might talk.

Some days it’s a sentence.

Other days, one little prompt opens the door to a whole conversation and I hear things I didn’t even know she had been carrying.

And that’s the part that matters most to me.

The journal gives us somewhere to begin.

But underneath it, the message is:

I see you.
I’m listening.
What matters to you matters to me.
We still have this space together.

Because when you’re sleep deprived and depleted, connection doesn’t need to be elaborate.

Sometimes you just need something gentle enough to help you find your way back to each other. 💜

📓 The Family Gratitude Journal — Available on my website and from Amazon (check it out via the link in bio).

Preparing your firstborn for a sibling isn’t about the baby doll🎎 or preparing them to be a good helper.

It’s about nervous system security.

Your child doesn’t need information about babies.
They need to feel secure enough in YOU to survive the disruption.

That means:
→ Connection deposits now
→ Rituals that will survive the newborn phase
→ Language that validates without dismissing
→ Understanding the family nervous system and
→ learning tools that support your family to co-regulate

Ao if you’re pregnant and soon to welcome a second baby into the world then the Joyful Parenting Project may be for you.

Visit my website for all you need to know — link in bio for IG.

Your kid doesn’t need you to be perfectly calm.

They just need you to be present.

Your presence is enough.

One of the playful ways I support my daughter’s nervous system before bed is something we call “Pillow Play-Doh.”

She lies down like a piece of Play-Doh and I use a small pillow to gently roll, press and knead along her body from below her neck to toes.

Then we add a little shake and some giggles.

Tap tap tap.
Shake shake shake.
Lots of laughter.

It might look silly, but there’s science behind it.

Children often regulate through firm, predictable pressure on their bodies.
It signals safety to the nervous system.

“I am safe.”
“I can soften.”
“I can settle.”

And sometimes the simplest, most playful moments become the most regulating ones.

🎧 Listen to Calming Toddlers at Bedtime After a New Sibling Arrives: A Nervous System–Led Approach

Learn more:
https://shineom.com.au/calming-toddler-bedtime-new-sibling/

Also available on Spotify, Apple Podcasts, Amazon Music & YouTube.
YouTube- https://youtu.be/pRnNl7LRW2g?si=7d208U5dT78raz-i
Spotify- https://open.spotify.com/episode/7B4FfIGIiPVAuC7njPjlaO?si=OTkWEEMERtaTjyuy95f09Q