Before you had a baby, you were regulating your own nervous system all day long... and you didn't even know that's what you were doing.

Coffee with a friend. A walk after dinner. Music in the car with the windows down. A hot shower with the door locked. None of it was really about the coffee or the nails or the book. It was regulation. Little resets, all day long, that you never had to name because your life had space for them.

And then baby came. And those resets quietly disappeared, one at a time, until one day you looked up and couldn't remember the last time you felt like yourself.

In this episode, I'm naming the thing nobody pointed at when it left. If you've been wondering why this season feels so heavy even though you love your baby so much, this one is for you, mama. You're not doing it wrong. Something real disappeared. Let's talk about it.

In This Episode, You'll Learn:

→ Why all those little pre-baby moments (the workout, the nails, sitting in your car in the driveway) were actually your nervous system coming down off high alert... over and over, all day long

→ How those resets vanish after baby arrives: the coffee date that becomes a text you mean to answer for 3 days, the shower where you're rinsing your hair faster than you've ever rinsed anything in your life

→ The part that doesn't get said enough: you didn't just lose your resets. You're also being bombarded with MORE sensory input than ever... touched out, holding every nap, carrying the mental load for the whole house

→ Why "I love him so much, but by 6pm I can't have one more person touch me" is not a confession. It's a nervous system that's been asked to absorb everything with none of its old exits

→ The invisible layers stacking underneath it all: sleep deprivation, low iron stores (a big one I see, especially in breastfeeding mamas or after a rough birth), and hormones that are still settling for months

→ The difference between losing your resilience and losing your inputs... and why only one of those is what's actually happening to you

→ The 60-second reset I do at the start of every Babies at Play class, and how to use it standing at the counter while the bottle warms up

→ How regulation goes both ways: when your baby's nervous system is more organized, they need less from you... and you get some of your own nervous system back

The Big Takeaway

You didn't lose your resilience. You lost your inputs. Your nervous system stopped getting the resets it used to get, right at the exact moment it needed them most. So this week, do one thing. Find your 60 seconds. Breathe, stretch wherever you're holding it, re-center. Do it before you think you have time for it... because you'll always feel like you don't.

Resources Mentioned

✨ Baby Bodywork at Home (Mini Course) ... The same home routine I give my one-to-one families in clinic. Not one more thing on your list... a way to lighten the load you're already carrying. Because a more regulated baby is a mama who gets her evenings back. https://courses.kailiets.com/baby-bodywork

💜 Mothering From Within (The Book) ... Like a good friend, therapist, and mentor in one. Evidence-informed, attachment-focused guidance on milestones, baby sleep, reflux, feeding, mama mental health, and so much more. https://www.kailiets.com/book

Let's Connect

If this episode felt like someone finally named what you've been carrying, I'd love to hear from you. Come find me on Instagram [@TheHolisticBabyGuru] and tell me where you're going to fit your 60 seconds. And if this episode helped you exhale, a rating and review helps more mamas find this show.

Warm hugs, Kaili 💜

Kaili Ets — mom of two, pediatric occupational therapist, certified infant craniosacral therapist — shares the news she's been sitting on for 18 months: she's officially a pediatric osteopath. In this deeply personal episode, Kaili explains what osteopathy actually is (and how it differs from physio, massage, and chiro), traces the 9-year journey that led her here — from meeting her first osteopath in Toronto to finding her mentor Terra Nicolle in Stoney Creek — and opens up about a piece of the story she's never shared before: how completing this program became a way of honouring her late father, who always believed in this dream before she let herself believe in it. She also gets real about what she'll miss from the program, what's changing in her clinic starting now, and what's coming in the next episode.

In this episode:

• What osteopathy actually is, and how it's different from physio, massage, and chiro
• The 10-year backstory: from a craniosacral therapist in New York to finding her mentor in Stoney Creek
• The personal reason she finally said yes to this program — a tribute to her late father
• What finishing an 18-month program with a tight-knit cohort actually feels like
• How this credential changes what she can offer at her home clinic (and who it's covered for)
• The mindset shift this training required of her, and why patience was the hardest part
• A sneak peek at what's coming next episode

Timestamps:

• 00:00 — Podcast intro & welcome
• 00:50 — Disclaimer
• 01:05 — The big news: officially an osteopathic manual therapist
• 01:15 — What osteopathy actually is (and how it's different from physio, massage, and chiro)
• 03:05 — Where this dream started: New York, craniosacral therapy, and finding Leah in Toronto
• 05:05 — Meeting Terra Nicolle and finding this program
• 06:05 — The real reason she said yes now — a tribute to her dad
• 07:10 — 18 months, gone in a blink: the cohort, the goodbyes, the last lunch
• 09:00 — What she'll miss (including her own monthly bodywork)
• 09:30 — What actually changes now for her clinic and her clients
• 10:10 — The patience this training demanded of her, plus a new party trick
• 11:05 — Closing thoughts & a sneak peek at next episode
• 11:50 — Outro: subscribe, share, and review

Links & Resources

Come and see me in-person - book your first appointment here.

Free guide: Calm Baby Blueprint → freebie.kailiets.com/calm-baby

Course: Baby Bodywork at Home ($37) → courses.kailiets.com/baby-bodywork

📲 Follow Kaili on Instagram: @theholisticbabyguru

Please note: nothing shared in this podcast is medical advice. All content is for educational purposes only and does not replace your own healthcare provider.

Loved this episode? Subscribe to Mothering From Within, share it with a mama who needs it, and leave a review wherever you listen — it really helps the show grow.

Have you ever noticed that your baby always ends up in the same position? Head turned the same way... one arm always up... or sleeping with their head tilted way back, chin up, like they're looking behind themselves?

You're not imagining it. And it's not just a quirk.

Your baby's body is always moving toward comfort and away from discomfort. So the position they gravitate to over and over is actually a window into where tension might be living in their little body. In this episode, I'm walking you through the most common sleep position patterns I see as a pediatric occupational therapist, what each one can suggest, and the one position that gets missed all the time... the head tilted back, neck extended position that can be a sign your baby is working harder than they should be to breathe.

A quick but important note: this episode is all about OBSERVING your baby, not repositioning them. Safe sleep rules don't change. Back to sleep, firm flat surface, no pillows, every single time.

In This Episode, You'll Learn:

→ Why the position your baby gravitates to is information, not randomness (and what your own body does at the end of a long day that proves it)

→ The 4 most common position patterns and what each one can point to:

• The consistent head turn to one side (and how it connects to feeding, flat spots, and movement development)
• The C-shaped body curve
• The strong arch or extension preference (these babies get called "strong"... but that's not the whole story)
• Asymmetrical arms or legs

→ Why a baby who sleeps with their head tilted back, chin up, may be instinctively opening their airway... and why that position deserves real attention

→ A warm, simple explanation of infant airway anatomy and why babies are naturally more prone to airway narrowing

→ Where the tongue is supposed to rest during sleep, and the 2 big reasons a tongue ends up resting low (body tension vs. a true tongue tie... and why not every low tongue is a tie)

→ The signs that often travel together with a compromised airway: snoring, mouth breathing, restless or thrashing sleep, heavy sweating, waking unrefreshed, feeding difficulty

→ Exactly what to do if you're noticing these patterns: what to gently encourage during awake time, what NOT to try to fix, and when to seek a proper assessment that looks at airway, tongue function, and the body together

The Big Takeaway

Your baby's body is always communicating. The position they gravitate toward, the way they arrange themselves, even the way they tilt their head to breathe... it's all information. Not necessarily problems. Information. And once you know how to read it, you can support your baby in a way most parents never get the chance to.

Resources Mentioned

🌿 FREE GUIDE: 10 Baby Signs Dismissed as Normal ... The head turn preference and the sleep signs from this episode are both covered inside. It walks you through what to look for and when it's worth paying closer attention.

--> https://freebie.kailiets.com/10-baby-signs-lm

✨ Baby Bodywork at Home (Mini Course) ... If you've noticed something and you want to start supporting your baby's body hands-on at home, this teaches you how. --> https://courses.kailiets.com/baby-bodywork

💜 Mothering From Within (The Book) ... Like a good friend, therapist, and mentor in one. Evidence-informed, attachment-focused guidance on milestones, baby sleep, reflux, feeding, mama mental health, and so much more. https://www.kailiets.com/book

Let's Connect

If this episode made you look at your baby a little differently, I'd love to hear about it. Come find me on Instagram [@TheHolisticBabyGuru] and share what you noticed. And if you loved this episode, it would mean the world if you left a rating and review... it helps more mamas find this show.

Warm hugs, Kaili 💜

It's 2am, roughly 11 years ago, in a small apartment in Park Slope. I am on a therapy ball, bouncing hard, because vigorous is the only setting that works. My son will only sleep on my body, and the second the bouncing stops, he wakes up...

Sound familiar?

In this episode, Kaili takes you back to that ball and teaches you what she wishes someone had taught her then... how to actually look at an unsettled baby instead of just surviving the night with them.

You're not imagining it if your baby feels harder to settle than the babies in the group chat. Kaili walks through why settling is a nervous system shift, not a discipline problem, why true self-regulation doesn't come online until age 3 or 4, and what it means to co-regulate instead of waiting for a baby to "self-soothe." She introduces the idea of the "55 baby," the baby who starts the day already partway up the arousal curve, and traces her own son's story, the C-section, the tummy time refusal, the reflux, the constant need for movement, back to one under-supported nervous system.

Then she gets practical: body tension, digestive discomfort, sensory overload, and retained primitive reflexes (including the Moro) as the most common physical reasons a baby won't settle, why the usual advice (add more rocking, more white noise, more motion) often just masks the signal instead of resolving it, and what to actually look at across the whole day, not just the hard evening stretch.

In this episode you'll learn:

• Why settling is a shift from the sympathetic to the parasympathetic nervous system, and why a baby's brain isn't built to do that alone
• The real difference between self-soothing and self-settling, and why co-regulation comes first
• What a "55 baby" is, and how to recognize one
• The 4 physical patterns behind most settling struggles: body tension, digestive discomfort, sensory overload, and retained reflexes
• Why adding more input (more bouncing, more noise, more motion) sometimes works just enough to keep you trying, and never enough to fix it
• Practical ways to reduce sensory load and look at the whole day's patterns, not just the moment your baby won't settle

Timestamps:

00:00 – Welcome to Mothering From Within

01:12 – The therapy ball at 2am

03:08 – What settling actually asks of a baby's nervous system

05:13 – Co-regulation: how babies borrow calm from you

05:47 – Self-soothing vs. self-settling (they're not the same thing)

07:20 – The "55 baby": her son's story 1

0:15 – The 4 most common physical causes behind settling struggles

12:33 – Why the usual settling advice often falls short

13:53 – Practical, body-based steps to try tonight

15:05 – Baby Bodywork at Home

15:39 – Her son, 10 years later 17:43 – If this is you tonight

18:20 – Wrap up

Resources mentioned:

• Baby Bodywork at Home – $47 – the hands-on routine Kaili teaches her 1:1 families, now for your living room floor. If this episode resonated, this is your next step.
• Mothering From Within (the book) – for the fuller journey through baby sleep, reflux, feeding, and your own mental health as a mama.

Your baby brings their fists to their mouth constantly. They only settle when they're held a very specific way. They clasp their hands, mouth everything, root even when they're not hungry... and you've probably wondered what it all means (or been told not to worry about it).

Here's what I want you to know: none of it is random. All of it has a purpose.

In this episode, I'm pulling back the curtain on something I talk about with my clients all the time but have never made a full episode about... the midline. That invisible vertical line running down the centre of your baby's body is one of the most organizing, regulating things their developing nervous system can find. And once you understand it, you'll start seeing it everywhere. In your baby. In your big kids. Even in yourself.

We're connecting the dots between hands-to-mouth, sucking, clasping, that "only wants to be held facing in" phase... and what it means when your baby's search for their centre seems frantic or just out of reach. Plus, I'm sharing my favourite hold for calming a baby who's had enough (it's about as close to an instant reset as you can get).

Your baby is not being difficult. They're telling you exactly what their nervous system needs. Let's give you the language for it.

In This Episode

• What the midline actually is, and why finding it is so regulating for a developing nervous system
• How your baby's body develops from the centre out (and why the mouth becomes home base so early)
• Why hands-to-mouth, sucking, rooting, and clasping are all the same beautiful story
• The real reason some babies only settle held facing in, tucked against your chest
• What it can mean when a baby arches away from the midline, or can't quite get their hands to their mouth... and why that's useful information, not a problem with your baby
• How midline seeking shows up in toddlers, big kids, and yes, in you too (nail biting, collar chewing, ring twisting, swaying... sound familiar?)
• 4 practical ways to support your baby's midline seeking, starting today
• My favourite calming hold: midline + sucking + rhythm

Timestamps

• 02:30 – Why I've never talked about this before (and the mastermind moment that changed that)
• 03:30 – What the midline is, and why it matters so much
• 04:30 – How your baby's nervous system develops: center first, edges later
• 06:00 – What my level 3 baby class taught me about the midline in action
• 07:30 – The 4 main ways babies activate their midline
• 11:30 – When midline seeking becomes frantic or difficult... and what that's telling you
• 13:00 – This doesn't stop at babyhood: kids, adults, and the ways we all find our center
• 15:15 – 4 practical things you can do right now
• 17:00 – When it's time to go deeper

Resources Mentioned

• Baby Bodywork at Home course ($47): Learn practical, hands-on techniques to release what's in the way, so your baby's own system can find its way back to centre. Right from your living room. → Grab Your Spot Here
• Ep. 76 | The 10 Baby Signs: The perfect companion to this episode. Fist-to-mouth was sign number 1... now you know the why behind it.
• Free Baby Signs Guide → Grab Your Copy Here

Let's Connect

If this episode helped you see your baby a little differently, share it with a mama friend who needs it, and leave a review on your favorite listening app... it truly helps the show grow.

Tag me on socials @theholisticbabyguru and tell me which midline behaviour you're suddenly seeing everywhere.

Warm hugs, Kaili 💜

10 Baby Signs Dismissed as Normal

If you've sat across from a doctor, a mother-in-law, or your mom group and heard some version of "it's fine, babies are like that, you're probably overthinking it"... this episode is for you.

Okay, listen. Not an emergency and nothing worth addressing are two completely different things. And both can be true about the exact same symptom.

In this episode I'm walking you through 3 of the 10 signs in real depth, the ones I see dismissed the most in my practice:

1. Red, irritated skin creases (neck folds, armpits, behind the knees) It's not always "just chubby folds." Persistent redness can be a tension issue too. When a baby holds tension through their neck, shoulders, or hips, those creases don't open and close the way they're supposed to. Worth a closer look if it's worse on one side, keeps coming back, or your baby seems uncomfortable when you clean it.

2. Head-turning preference "They just have a favorite side" is doing a lot of work it shouldn't be doing. A baby who consistently turns one way isn't forming a habit, they're working within a limitation. This one rarely stays contained to just the head. It can show up in flat spots, a feeding preference for one side, and tummy time frustration.

3. Reflux (or "colic") that just doesn't resolve Reflux is common. Common does not mean it doesn't deserve a real look. Medication manages stomach acid, it doesn't address what's causing the regurgitation in the first place. If symptoms haven't meaningfully shifted after a few weeks, or you've cycled through medications or formula changes... your gut is telling you something worth listening to.

I also name (but don't go deep on, they each get their own full breakdown in the guide):

• Shallow latch, chomping, lip blisters, clicking during feeds
• The curled, tense baby who fights diaper changes and sleeves
• The stiff, arching baby everyone calls "so strong"
• Flat head shape
• Motor milestones out of sequence (rolling one direction only, bum scooting instead of crawling)
• Inconsolable crying
• Sleep patterns that get waved off as normal when they're not, and vice versa

The thread through all of it: these aren't 10 separate problems. They're one story, told 10 different ways. A baby's system carrying more load than it needs to, showing up in a handful of places at once.

You've been noticing these things for a while now. You weren't imagining it. You just didn't have the language yet.

Grab the Free Guide

All 10 signs, in the same depth we covered here for the first 3: 10 Baby Signs Dismissed as Normal

Next Steps

If something in this episode named what's been going on with your baby:

• Local to Hamilton? Book an in-person session.
• Anywhere else in Canada or the world? Check out the Baby Bodywork at Home course, hands-on techniques you can start using today from your living room floor.

More From Kaili

My book, Mothering From Within, is available now --> https://www.kailiets.com/book

A gentle disclaimer: nothing on this podcast is medical advice. It's provided for educational purposes only and doesn't replace your own medical or healthcare provider.