"Birthing" a new website delivers newborn care and baby sleep tips

I’ve got exciting news to share! After 14 years in business, First Daze & Nightzzz is launching a new, professionally-designed website. It feels a little like birthing a baby. (I can relate almost anything back to birth.) I'm grateful to my web design team. Just like with birth, having a skilled team can make a huge difference to the process and outcome.

The new site is more streamlined, aesthetically pleasing and brands our “flamingo parenting” philosophy. (Learn more about that on the About Us page.) The blog - packed with great tips and information on caring for (including sleep tips), feeding, and play for your babies and children is incorporated into the new site. You can sign up to receive blog updates directly to your inbox.

Also on the site are instructional swaddling videos for those who love good visual guidance, and a podcast on how to help our children sleep better. I’ll be getting more videos up in the near future.

One of the things my viewers enjoy most about my website — besides the relief that comes with learning skilled postpartum doula and sleep coaching help is available — is reading our Dream Team bios in the About Us section. The new website features beautiful, updated photos and bios along with a new group shot of our “dream team.” Come take a peek.

We’re also featuring some beautiful photos of our very own clients. What a joy to know that we’ve built such wonderful relationships with our families over the years that they would share themselves on our website. My heart is singing.

I took a trip down memory lane in the web redesign process. Our clients have been artists, musicians, photographers, teachers, salsa dance instructors, stay-at-home moms and dads, video game developers, meteorologists, news anchors, doctors, dentists, attorneys, professors, same sex couples, single parents, engineers, IT specialists, religious leaders, in the military, law enforcement officers - the list goes on and on. Sarah (or Sara) has been the most popular name for our moms, with Katie in second place, followed closely by Jennifer in third.

I recalled the dad who called us Ninja Doulas. He spied us moving about stealthily in the darkness of night, keeping his twin girls well cared for while he and his wife caught up on much needed rest. I think he was the same dad who coined the phrase “Doula Hula” for the moves we do when baby-wearing or trying to settle a fussy little one.

I thought of the hundreds of families who’ve invited us - complete strangers - into their homes to help them transition into parenthood. When our time together ended we left feeling like part of the family.

Animal escapades happen regularly with our families. Like the cats who, pre-twins, would wake the parents in the middle of the night to be fed. While establishing healthy routines with the babies, the doulas also helped “wean the cats” off of nighttime feeds, hence the name Cat Doulas.

There are poignant memories, too, like the family that launched me deeper into the world of helping mothers with postpartum depression and anxiety. I will never forget the morning my client told me she needed me to take her baby. I’m happy to say that mama got the help she needed and their baby is a beautiful 12-year-old today.

Mostly, I recall the love, connection and warmth from the hundreds and hundreds of families whose lives we’ve been privileged to touch. As it says on my new website, we consider it an honor to be invited into the nests of our clients with infants and young children – while we’re there, we will continue to do everything we can to contribute to the rest and well-being of the whole family.