E62: Dream Baby, Dream Business: The Sleep Secrets You Need to Succeed with Helen Cummings

In this heartwarming and eye-opening episode, I am joined by Helen Cummings;  experienced maternity nurse, baby sleep expert, and soon-to-be author...known affectionately as “The Baby Whisperer.” With over four decades of experience supporting new parents, Helen shares her gentle, no-tears approach to helping newborns (and their parents) find restful sleep and calm confidence.

Whether you're a new parent, pregnant with your first child, or running a business while juggling sleepless nights, Helen’s wisdom, warmth, and actionable advice are here to support you.

What You’ll Learn:

🍼 Why sleep is possible in the early weeks...and how to shape it gently
🧠 The power of preparing during pregnancy to ease anxiety and boost confidence
📖 A sneak peek at Helen’s upcoming book for first-time (and second-time!) parents
💬 How “What Would Helen Do?” became a guiding mantra for new families
🛌 The truth behind swaddling, sleep shaping, and balancing newborn routines
🌈 Supporting families through rainbow pregnancies and postnatal depression
💡 Why setting boundaries with visitors can be one of the best things you do as a new parent
📱 The role of online and remote support...having a baby expert in your pocket

Key Quote:
"You don’t get a rule book with a baby but you can get support, gentle guidance, and a way to actually enjoy those early days." – Helen Cummings

Who is Helen?

With over four decades of newborn baby experience and supporting families globally, my mission is to be a guiding hand for new parents and their babies, giving them the precious gift of sleep. I take pride in sharing my proven calm baby sleep approach, ensuring that both babies and parents get the sleep they need for the whole family to thrive. As a trusted expert and mother of four, I understand the joys and challenges of welcoming a baby into your life. It is a privilege to support parents during this special time.

https://yourbabysleepexpert.co.uk/

https://www.instagram.com/helenyourbabysleepexpert

Want to connect? Find me here:

Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/iamemmahine

Linkedin: https://www.linkedin.com/in/emma-hine

Website: https://www.emmahine.co.uk

You Tube: https://www.youtube.com/@EmmaHineStrategy

Transcript

 Hello & welcome to Dream Business Dream Life, helping ambitious people, like you, to grow a business they love.

 I’m Emma Hine and I’m on a mission to show you that it is possible to grow a business without sacrificing your life.

 Having experienced the rollercoaster of making millions of pounds, but feeling overwhelmed, anxious, and totally unsuccessful, I know first-hand the importance of growing a business on your terms.

 On this podcast I'm going to share with you lots of tips and advice that will enable you to grow a business that gives you the financial freedom to live the life of your dreams while sharing with you some inspirational growth stories from other fabulous business owners.

 Ready to live the dream? Then let’s get stuck in…

Hello and welcome to today's episode of Dream Business, dream Life. Today I'm joined by Helen Cummings. Helen is an experienced maternity nurse and baby sleep expert. She's what I call a real baby whisperer. Someone I wish I'd known when my girls were little, and I am super, super excited to be chatting with Helen today.

Hi, Helen. How are you? Hi, Emma. I'm very well, thank you. Thank you for having me on your podcast. My absolute pleasure. So, as Heather, I'm gonna dive straight into this, hand it straight over to you, Helen, to tell us who you are and why you started your business. So I'm Helen, you. Baby sleep expert, and I started my business 18 years ago because I'm absolutely passionate about supporting new parents and their babies.

I've had a lifelong love of babies ever since I was, well, really young, and even went along to the local children's home and knocked on the door and asked if I could cuddle their babies. I love that. Absolutely love that. Love that. I mean, there is something so special isn't there about babies? Absolutely.

I, I always say that they give me as much back as I give them, just cuddling them, you know, just everything. It's, it's really magical. Absolutely. So when you first started your business, how did it feel? How did it feel going from, you know, whatever you were doing before into suddenly you are self-employed, you're looking after yourself?

I was really excited. I was a nursing nurse before, so I'd been working in a childcare setting with really young babies actually. So when I set up my business, I was really excited to get my first maternity nurse job, and that job was twins and I. After that I just, it basically was Vero after Vero through the Twins Club in Edinburgh, and I was a twin specialist for the first and triplets for the first five years.

But I loved it. I've got four children of my own, so it felt very natural for that to be, I. An extension of my career. I always wanted to work with babies, even when I was, you know, say very young. And yeah, it was my dream job. Love that. Absolutely love that. So just tell us a little bit more for those who aren't familiar with what a maternity nurse is, tell us a little bit more about what a maternity nurse does.

So I Aternity nurse is often booked when you're pregnant. A lot of people book you so that you're around for very soon after the baby's born and I go into their home at nighttime. So I might turn up, for example, at nine o'clock at night and be there until seven in the morning. And during that time, I care for the baby.

If the mom is breastfeeding, then I will. Take the baby to her when the baby's needing fed, and then I'll just take the baby back off her and resettle the baby and she can go back. Sleep. If they're formula feeding or expressing breast milk, then I will have the baby all night and I will give the baby a bottle, giving them whatever milk the mom wants.

And that way the mom switches off. She may get up to pump and go back to bed, but she doesn't have to do anything else. And when I leave in the morning, I leave them a detailed. Description of everything that's happened during the night, but also with a view to what that day would perhaps look like. So giving them an idea of a nice, gentle sort of sleep shaping routine so they can follow it.

And I also have a WhatsApp service so they can keep in touch with me even if I'm not in the nighttime, and they can ask me questions about what's going on with the baby. So it's. It is a great way to get support, especially if you have no family around. A lot of the people that I work for don't have any family, so it's great either way.

It's good. Yeah, and I think a lot of people who are gonna be listening to this podcast are business owners, and I think, you know, I've been there, I've, you know, had babies when I've been working, um, and, and that thought of having to go back to work. Sometimes as early as four or five weeks after you've had the baby, the biggest fear is that you're not going to have had any sleep.

So how, how would you help people in those situations? 'cause most people will say, oh, you need at least three months, you know, before your baby's sleeping through. Would you agree with that? Well, first of all, it depends what week the baby is, when the baby's born. So if your baby's quite low birth weight, it will take longer for your baby to sleep during the.

Because they've only got a tiny tummy. So again, you know, each baby's an individual. It's hard to sort of see when a baby should or would be sleeping during the night because it's a very personal to how that baby is and what weight they are with regard to going back to work, um, actually working with a mum who's baby is four weeks old and she's not working at the moment from home.

But juggling a four week old baby. So we have started right from birth, a very gentle, um, routine so she can get an idea of when he will sleep, when is she a feed? And it's working really well. You know, he's still on three hour feeds. He's quite a small baby. Um, but she's getting better nights because the days are good and she's keeping an eye on how much sleep he's having awake time and feeds.

So you can start really. You know, with a newborn baby, which yeah, a lot of people don't realize. Yeah, I, I, and I think there's a lot of mixed messaging out there, isn't there for, for parents? You know, it's, I remember when I had my three girls, there was, there's quite a gap between my girls in terms of, you know, how many years I waited before next baby came along.

Not necessarily planned to be that way, but that's life, isn't it? Sometimes. And, and. The rules, if the rules is the right word to, to say, you know, that the health visitors and, and, and it's minimal, isn't it? Don't get me wrong. The support, it changed so much. You know, it was like, swaddle your baby, don't swaddle your baby.

Lie your baby on the front. Don't lie your baby on the front and you know, give them, um, you know, don't give them cows milk till the six months. Give them cows months, not before the 12 months. And it amazed me how these rules keep changing and there's no rule book is there? There's no, you know, you're not.

You don't have this baby. And you know, you give birth to a rule book at the same time that says this is what you need to do. So I think as a parent, when you are pregnant, I think that's when it starts to kick in in terms of on earth am I gonna do when I have this baby? Yes. And I, I'm really passionate about supporting parents when they're pregnant and giving them some knowledge, because when I do a pregnancy workshop, the parents transform in that period of time.

From the start of the workshop, you can see they're quite anxious and wondering what it's all gonna be about. And by the end of it, when they've changed nappies, when we've spoken about, you know, the moment they meet their baby, skin to skin, all the different benefits that they then realize. And actually one of the most important things is about sleeping, safe sleep, how to put your baby down to sleep.

You know all the rules, which are very important. The safety rules about caring for your baby. I show them the benefits of swaddling, but I also show them how to safely swaddle. It's. You know, there is a way to safely swaddle where the hips aren't restricted. And there's a lot of confusion about swaddling.

Um, because years ago people used to do it too tight, and then there was a big sort of reaction and saying, stop swaddling. But actually swaddling is. Really when your baby's first born, the first few weeks, they have a startle reflex and that can wake them from asleep. So swelling really is for the top part, the most important part is this part.

So when they're sleeping, they're not jumping and waking up, and they feel like they're getting a hug. I. Rather than being totally wrapped up really, really tight. So things like that, just giving them knowledge. I think they then feel confident to meet their baby once they've been prepared with some sort of knowledge, you know, that really helps 'em.

Um, so I think in pregnancy, if you can get knowledge, it'll prepare you for the moment that you meet your baby. Yeah, yeah, completely. And you are writing a book, aren't you at the moment, Helen, that is gonna help people with all of this. Tell us a little bit about this. Yeah, so the book will be coming out next year, and it is going to be for, mainly for first time parents, but possibly for second time parents who maybe in with their first time they maybe found it quite difficult or they didn't look at any sort of sleep shaping.

And it will be preparing baby parents to meet their babies and give them sleep really in the first trimester, which. At the moment, they're being told it's not possible to have a baby sleeping well within the first three months, and that is not the case. You know, it's, it's, what I do is not, I. Strict. It's very gentle.

It's hands on, absolutely no tears approach. Lots of cuddles, but it's just about having the good balance of your baby's day. It's really important. So I'm gonna be explaining how to do that. Excited. And when is this coming out? It should be out just before Mother's Day next year. Exciting. And I think, I think it's the, the thing that is missing, isn't it, in this world, you know, it's.

My children are all grown up as you know, so it's, you know, it's, things have changed drastically since then. But I mean, I don't, do they still do the bounty packs? Do they still do the bounty packs? Yeah, we've got boxes in Scotland. I'm not sure. Yeah, I don't, I I've got a feeling they've stopped them here in, in, in England.

I haven't seen them. But you used to get the box and that was basically, that was it. You know, you go and pick up your box at so many weeks, pregnant again at another, so many weeks pregnant and then. So much after birth. And it was like, that was the only thing that gave you a bit of information about what was going on.

Um, but I think we forget that having a baby starts during pregnancy, doesn't it? You know, a lot of people are, are not preparing themselves for what is to come. They're just gonna, they're just worrying, you know? They're just worrying about what is to come, but wanting to enjoy because it's what they want to have this lovely little baby.

So there needs to be more, doesn't there to help people at that. Yeah, definitely. And I think when you fall pregnant, apart from people saying congratulations, usually it's followed on by, oh, well make sure you get some sleep because you're not gonna get any sleep or your sleep's gonna stop. So they immediately give you that fear.

How am I gonna cope without sleep? And of course you're going to have periods of not getting a lot of sleep when your baby's first born. But there is ways of finding a balance, even if it is knowing when your baby's gonna have a sleep in the afternoon and you then go and have a nap. You know, and other things as well.

You know, I, I talk to parents about visitors coming, you know, just protecting your space, being clever about when you have people around and. You know, all the things that people worry about are maybe they don't want to upset. You know, family members. But it is important in pregnancy to think about these things because once the baby's here, it literally just happens and sometimes new parents can feel it's all got a bit out of control.

So when they're planning their birth plan, I also suggest that they actually think about what they're gonna do. Who's gonna visit? Is it only gonna be grandparents for the first couple of weeks? You know, how are you gonna manage it because you're much cleaner minded when you're pregnant than when you've just had a baby.

It can all be quite overwhelming. So it's just really been able to talk them through all the things they might not even have thought about. I. Yeah. And you don't know what you don't know, do you? That's that's the key thing, isn't it? You know, if, if, if you were launching a business, you don't know what you're doing to launch a business, so you learn, don't you go and find that information out.

You, you listen to other people, you take advice, you learn as you go in. Um, but with a baby, it literally happens in that moment, doesn't it? You go from pregnant. Parent to parent of, of a child that is completely reliant on you. And you touched on something there that I think is really important to, to note, isn't it?

That it's okay to enforce your boundaries. Yes, definitely. It's really important. And I think years ago when I had my daughter, that wasn't you just people came to visit and sometimes you had visitors every day and you would never have, it would've appeared to be rude to see, look, we're not having visitors.

But I think the younger generation now are much better at protecting their space, and I think that's really important. You know, just to get used to being a little unit theirself. It's, um, it's important. I'm not saying don't see grandparents, sorry. Everybody has their own choice. Um, but sometimes it's just too overwhelming and they just want a bee bit space.

So I think that's really useful. As well just to have support. Um, I also do support online, which some people find that more useful because they don't necessarily want somebody in their house, but they do want the support. So, you know, we can start working together from the time the baby's born. Anywhere in the world.

It doesn't have to be, I don't have to meet the baby, but basically we just work, um, away right from the beginning. And it's just a bit like having me in their pocket that they can just. Any questions because you know, you can go on the internet, but the internet is not talking about your actual baby. You know?

And that's the thing that makes all the difference when you're actually looking at that. Baby's we health? Does the baby have reflux? You know, is the baby feeding well? You can't put into Google all these things and they'll come up with a plan for your actual baby. And I think that's really important to have that sort of one-to-one.

Support because it's not easy nowadays to get that kind of support. Um, you know, just in Scotland, the health visitors are not out as much as they were when I was a young mom. You know, I think they came every week for the first month and, yeah. My daughter was born. I remember the doctor came out to you after you'd had your baby.

You know, I remember when I had Becky, the doctor comes, you know, the literally to visit your home. I mean, get a doctor to your house now. It's an impossible thing to do, isn't it? Get appointments hard enough. Um, but I suppose that's just how the world has changed, isn't it? I think there's, there's an awareness piece isn't there, around people actually knowing that, you know, there is support beyond Google.

You know, we are all very reliant on, you know, if we've got, we're stuck with something, we Google it. We must be a doctor's where it's nightmare when we walk into the surgery and we've already, you know, we've already diagnosed ourselves and you know, and everything else. 'cause we've put some generic symptoms into Google.

So I think, you know, for people to know that when they are pregnant, that they're not alone, that there is some support out there that they can call on. Be that, you know, like you say, remote. Services or the full, you know, Monty, in terms of you, you know, being in their homes with them and, and doing the, doing the do with them alongside them.

I think it's important for people to know that exists and the benefits that brings. Um, you know, I would've loved that sort of support when, you know, my mom were little. Um, I completely fell into that trap of just to let the baby do whatever it wants to do and, you know, I'll just run around like a headless chicken and fill the gaps.

Yeah. It's also, I think it also helps with, um, postnatal depression. If you have support that can really help a patient. You know, they feel that they've got your confidence, they, they've got your expertise and it can help. You know, then go through the, the journey of postnatal depression and come out the other side.

So I have worked with many, many parents with postnatal depression over the years, and sometimes it's been grandparents that have paid for me because they've not been able to get there. And I've gone in and helped and it's a real privilege. And you know, it's lovely to see the parents come out the other side with.

You know, feeling happier, feeling better, baby's more contented. Everybody's happy, and these are people that still keep in touch now after many, many years because it is such a special part. You're, you're going into them at such a vulnerable part of their life, time of their life. So it is really special.

You become a part of a lot of families, don't you? That's, you know, you become a, a really integral part of, of people's homes and families for, you know, for however long that, that it is that they need you, and that, that, as you say, is a really, really special moment, isn't it? But I think what I, I absolutely love here is, is you give people the option or the opportunity is probably the right word, not option.

The opportunity to enjoy. Their pregnancy and also those early months of having a baby. 'cause I think a lot of people. For whatever reason, it's very stressful, it's tiring. And what you remember is those moments, those, oh, baby doesn't sleep. So what do you say to somebody when they have a baby? Oh, get ready for no sleep because your baby doesn't sleep.

So it's, it's almost like you are giving them that opportunity to have memories that aren't just lack of sleep, that aren't just, I didn't know what to do when I, you know, it, it's, you know, you. What would Helen do? I know that's a phrase that we've used before. You know, you would have somebody to be able to say, well, what would Helen do if this was happening?

What would Helen do? And that must just must be heartwarming for people to know that they've got that option. Yes it is. I mean, there's many times they've said if they, you know, maybe it's been a weekend and I've not been around, and they've said, that's exactly what the thought is. Right? What would Helen do?

Let's stop, let's think. And um, they always have a, you know, I always make like a little. Plan for the baby and then we tweak it as the baby gets bigger and things change. Then, you know, every week or two I just change it so that we're always moving forward and I think that's really important. But in pregnancy, I think a lot of people are working now right up until they have their baby and they literally have no time to rest or.

You know, prepare. So it is hard even going to late classes at nighttime when you finish a, a day at work. So I think sometimes that's where online is useful because online can be, you know, any Saturday morning or it can be, you don't have to be going out at night to do a three hour workshop if you've got somebody that you can actually speak to during pregnancy.

Um, I also support. Mothers through a rainbow pregnancy. If they've had a loss previously, then I can support people through that. Um, my own experiences, I had two miscarriages before I had my first daughter, so I do understand I've been through that situation, albeit wasn't late pregnancy, but it was still a loss, so.

I understand the anxiety of being pregnant after a loss. I remember it very clearly worrying, you know, especially for the first sort of up to about 16 weeks until I felt like my pregnancy was really established. So that's another area where I think there's not enough support for people. You know, going through their rainbow pregnancy, um, because it is very stressful.

It's a whole heap of new fears, isn't it, that are going through your head constantly as long on top of all of the normal things that you have. You know, being a a pregnant mother, um, you know, is, is huge, isn't it? So. What I normally do at the end of every episode is ask guests to share with us one of the top tips and what I think would be lovely.

Helen, just thinking of the people who listen to this podcast or the majority of people, as I say, are business owners, so can we, if you don't mind, of course, can we, we be personalized a little bit of this and say, okay, so if you are a, if, if you were a business owner right now who is, is, is pregnant and gonna have a baby, what would your advice be?

Be to them. 'cause I guarantee they are, they are already starting to think about the, how am I gonna cope with my business once I've had this baby? So they're pregnant. What would your top tips be for them right now? My top tips would be to get the knowledge, um, when you're pregnant, of what there is around to support you and find something that can support you.

Whether it's somebody that does what I do that offers one-to-one support from the minute your baby's born, or whether it's, um. Finding a book that will help you, that you can keep in your change bag. I would definitely start thinking ahead and taken from what was said today, the, the actual confidence that you can have a baby that sleeps well, even in the first three months of your baby being born.

It just takes a little bit of finding some resources, somebody that can support you and work with you, and it's. Can be done really, really gently. It's, it's not about putting your baby on a strict routine. It, you know, mom's at best, breastfeed, combi, feed, anything. It doesn't matter. You can still have your baby sleeping well.

It's just finding somebody that can help you with it. Aura book that can help you with it. I think that would be my, my tip is think about it in pregnancy because once your baby's here, life just happens. And before you know what you get, you know, you're trying to work, you might possibly leave your baby asleep for too long because you're trying to do a bit of work on the laptop, but that could be during the day.

And then unfortunately, you may have a really bad night because the baby's turned, you know, day in to night. So it's trying to get a balance for both of you, a balance that will work for the baby, but a balance that will also work because you can't go back to work at four or five weeks. Eight weeks, um, and function unless you're getting some sort of sleep.

So I think looking ahead and planning, making some plans is definitely what I would recommend. I. Yeah, which is exactly what you do in your business normally, isn't it? So it's, it's about doing that exact same thing, isn't it? With, with, with your pregnancy and with your baby. So finally, Helen, if any of our listeners want to come and learn more about you, follow you for more tips and advice around, you know, helping them through pregnancy and, you know, having their baby, where's the best place for them to come and connect with you?

I am on Instagram, your baby sleep expert, and I'm also on LinkedIn as well. Helen Cummings, your baby sleep expert. Amazing. So thank you so much for joining me today, Helen. It has been amazing chatting with you, and thank you everybody else for listening. We will see you next time.

You have been listening to Dream Business Dream Life with Emma Hine. If you want to know more about how I can help you to build your dream business and your dream life, then visit my website emmehine.co.uk. Until next time remember you really can have it all!