About this online business & circadian rhythms call:

I spent a decade as an online business and marketing consultant before pivoting into full-time birth & babies & light-based wellness in 2022, and I really do enjoy that strategic business piece (especially with the unique goal of minimizing screen-time for circadian health reasons, while still being successful).

Let me know what you think:

Thank you for participating in my little poll here, and I hope you enjoy the replay from this community call.

Updates from Nikko:

• I had a wonderful birthday month in June, and celebrated my fourth child turning 3 this July (read his birth story here).

• My perinatal practitioner mentorship program is live again after a break—if you were in before the migration, check your email for my invitation to the new platform. If you are interested in joining now, details are here.

• My Research Li…

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Lonely. In pain. Struggling with breastfeeding. Not sleeping well. Not eating well.

I don’t want this for you.

I want you to have a good postpartum.

In this live planning session, I talked through my main recommendations based on my experiences as a mother of 5, as a postpartum doula since 2011, and as a quantum biology practitioner working in the perinatal field at the cutting edge of scientific discovery into how energy flows through our bodies (and what gets in the way of it).

I started the class out with a concept that may surprise you:

It’s not enough to just promote the good.

Everyone tries to have a good experience, and trying to just have a good experience isn’t enough.

This is why I started by saying this: we also have to curb evil where we see it.

Around the world there are various superstitions around postpartum mothers, and for good reason.

In this delicate time, chaotic forces can wreak absolute havoc in a short period of ti…

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There was an old woman who lived in a shoe.

She had so many children, she didn’t know what to do.

She gave them some broth without any bread

And whipped them all soundly and put them to bed.

~Traditional nursery rhyme

As a birth professional, I was taught to parrot the statistic that outcomes are best with a minimum of 18 months from birth to the subsequent conception1.

Many now take it further to say that 3-4 years between is the gold standard.

A question I have always had: how much better are outcomes.

Because I’ve seen both:

The super closely spaced family where the children are born premature, sickly, need glasses and frequent medical interventions, whine incessantly and mother and children alike generally seem shortchanged.

ie, what Weston A Price described in Nutrition and Physical Degeneration.

(for what it’s worth, I’ve also seen families with long child spacing also have this pattern)

And, I’ve seen families with close child spacing where the children are robust, well mannered, and the fa…

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Lamenting the inability to sleep 8 hours straight in the mothering season of life is like wishing you could get all the nutrition you need for breastfeeding from just one meal.

Instead of running pumps and bottles so that other people can feed mom’s baby, hiring night doulas (I used to be one), and seeking new sleep training methods, mom culture could just lean in to this:

all humans have built-in circadian polyphasic sleep options

Once forgotten, but now rediscovered by scientists who study mood and sleep architecture, we can deliberately flip the cues so that sleep naturally arranges itself around the clock.

Then, instead of trying to put 8 hours of gas in a 2 hour tank, moms can sleep lightly around their babies’ schedules, waking rested every time whether it was 20 minutes…

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For the past year, or maybe even more like 18 months, I’ve been hearing from women who want more community style support from me.

Not just one-to-one work, and not the cadence of classes and group chat here in the Substack, but a way to form intentional relationships with other circadian-savvy women and mothers.

A way to connect through similar stages of preparing for conception, being pregnant, planning for birth, and supporting our newborns… circadian-style.

I’ve loved this idea of a circadian sisterhood, or mother’s circle, and have played around with different ideas for how it could work; but nothing felt quite right… until Now!

So, for those ready for creating real connection with other women on this journey, here’s where you can learn more and join our new Women’s Circle.

Women’s Circle

But the truth is, there’s nothing unique about my babies, or me as a mother—the cues and the ways of responding are universal!

If you are curious about EC or experiencing some stalls or frustration with it, or deciding whether to do EC or potty training, this class is for you.

You’ll learn the 4 easy and specific times to help your baby have less messy pees and poos. You’ll also learn when it’s better to just potty train. And so much more!

We did a lot of troubleshooting scenarios of all the questions sent in with those who registered to attend live. (thank you! those questions really helped guide the conversation).

About our guest expert, Andrea Olson:

Andrea Olson has built a whole online empire, including books, courses, and helpful products like the tiny potty and flush husher to make this all super simple and easy no matter what age or stage you are starting at.

To learn —> GoDiaperFree

For gear —> TinyUndies

I’m so grateful Andrea had time to come chat with us today, and hope you enjoy this super warm and practical replay.

Also, please share this with a friend! This information is truly invaluable.

, one of our dear readers and community members, really said it best:

Why aren’t we teaching this to all new moms? Now, we can!

And each of you has the ability, authority and our blessing to become the node for circadian and elimination communication rhythms for all the moms in your community who will look up to you for advice and support in the future.

Also, you are invited to RSVP for next month’s community class: Sleep Like A Mother: Circadian Postpartum Planning.

Fourteen years ago, I was the only mama I knew doing elimination communication (EC).

I learned about EC by serendipity… the friend who had originally introduced my husband and I was coming through town and stopped by while I was at the end of the third trimester with our first child.

Our friend had just attended a rebirthing workshop, and mentioned that one of the parents in attendance had been doing elimination communication (EC).

We watched the Birth as we know it documentary (highly recommend) after dinner, and I woke up the next morning in labor.

My daughter was born into my husband’s hands that evening, and it was a natural flow that we started EC with our daughter right away.

Reactions to our decision to do EC in 2012 ranged from WTF to “this little girl is going to rule the world.”

Nowadays, I am finding that the majority of moms I chat with are either practicing some form of EC, or are at least aware of it.

I think this growing interest in going back to EC is great for babies an…

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Women have long associated menstrual and birth cycles with the moon, a pattern that may be breaking down under widespread circadian disruption.

We have evidence from historical writings about this, and can also compare datasets from before and after the widespread adoption of fluorescent and LED lights to validate these claims.

What I always say is healthy babies can be born anytime of the year, month, or day!

But are there trends with the moon and birth?

Yes, and I do hypothesize that women coming back into circadian alignment with their local environments will see stronger patterns.

For example, looking at nearly every birth in New York City for 1961–1963 showed a 10% increase in births during the brighter half of the lunar cycle1.

But if you search modern literature, they always say there’s no scientific consensus.

The other question or end of this spectrum is if there is a lunar correlation to fertility, as conception time will obviously influence birth date.

Although current consensus …

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There are at least two major issues with the current state of hospital check in for women in labor.

Those who know my work, know my first issue well: the lights.

We’ve long since established that too bright of light, or light in the wrong wavelength slows contractions and makes them more painful.

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Sleep is the daily rhythm it seems most people are most concerned about in regard to a new baby.

Just how many times as a new mom do you get asked about baby’s sleep?

But how little do we actually understand the development of sleep patterns, especially in the context of the greater bucket of circadian health?

Sleep is the most well-known output of the circadian rhythm, but it’s not the only one!

Babies are born with immature circadian rhythms, and it takes about 2-3 years for their rhythm to fully mature.

Here are the most important stages of circadian development in a baby:

1. Body temperature rhythm (warmer in the day, cooler at night)

2. Melatonin rhythm (higher in the day, lower at night)

3. Sleep rhythm (consolidating toward the natural darkness)

4. Digestion rhythm (consolidating toward the natural daylight)

In my own understanding, early childhood circadian health can much more easily be assessed by understanding digestive rhythms, because they a…

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Are modern manufactured lights contributing to the rising c-section rates?

I never would have jumped to this conclusion myself, but when I was putting together my most recent class… the story just put itself together.

Here’s the gist of how changes in lighting and increases in c-section rates correlated:

Pre 1800’s, all the light we had to illuminate childbirth was rich in infrared—sunlight or firelight.

Then we got incandescent.

Then fluorescent—think of the 50’s institutional vibe and how different that was. This was the height of the twilight birth era.

Then fluorescents got compact and entered our homes, too.

(Cue widespread circadian disruption among pregnant women, and the concurrent fact that women who go postdates and get prescribed induction tend to have lower circulating melatonin)

Then we got LEDs.

Then the LED’s became more efficient and even more widely adopted.

Each level of efficiency stripped away more of the energy intensive frequencies.

But, the cost was that it turns out, ou…

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Light starts affecting physiology the moment you change it, it works whether everyone believes in it or not, and it can be used alongside any of your other strategies.

You can prepare your circadian rhythm before labor starts, but even if you are just learning about this on the day of labor, you can still use light effectively for stronger, more frequent and less painful contractions.

You’ll learn exactly what kind of light you’ll want to have and why, based on the stage of labor and what time of day it is.

If you are already in the birth suite, you’ll learn how you can create your own cave and what to do about the moments after birth to increase your chances of everything going smoothly.

Light modulation is what I believe to be the most actionable tool we have to improve birth outcomes and experience in the modern era.

In the Q&A, you’ll also hear touching testimonials, real birth stories, and the experience of a community midwife who has been using circadian lighting at the births she attends.

Beyond the twinkle lights class recap

Best lights for nighttime labor at home:

• Red LED strips along the floor for safe navigation

• Plug-in nightlights in amber or red with light sensors (they flip on automatically as you walk by)

• Beeswax candles (I used this lantern with these 12 hour burn candles for my most recent birth)

• Incandescent bulbs in lamps (this company ships even to California)

• Himalayan salt lamps with incandescent bulbs inside

Best lights for hospital births:

• Red light glasses (blue blockers) and/or a sleep mask

• A red light panel or portable lamp you can control

• A few Beacon Lights by Block Blue Light (indestructible, amber or red options, brighter and dimmer settings) code NIKKO for a discount

• A Strainless lamp (incandescent, has a dimmer knob, excellent color fidelity) code AMANDALIZ for a discount

Class resources:

• MyCircadian app lux meter by

• Brewer Diet for Pregnancy diuretics information

• Summer without the AC community discussion post

• Quantum Newborn Jaundice text-based course

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We covered tongue-tie and oral restriction, and how Dr. Neel uses touch, light and empathic abilities to support infants and adults.

This interview is one I definitely recommend to any family considering a tongue-tie release, as surgery can help, but isn’t always necessary and doesn’t always work.

We also talked about light, the mouth, diastases, and so much more.

Listen in, and if this message resonates, connect with Dr. Neel for support on his website here.

Also, in case you missed my interview on Dr. Neel’s podcast Compromised to Alchemized where we dove into the health of the thyroid, you can catch up on that below:

Thank you to everyone who tuned into our live podcast recording! I’m in the process of getting more expert interviews cued up for this Summer.

I’m chatting about dates with an awesome building designer, a childbirth coach, and a few others for another great series.

I was also featured on a few incredible podcasts recently including Awakening Spaces, Regenerative Health, the Evolving Wellness Podcast and more. I will be sharing those interviews with you all soon, too.

Sign up for updates if you haven’t already! I appreciate your support.

Social cues are circadian cues.

We were never meant to spend our days alone with our babies.

This is one of many things that has gotten easier as my family has grown.

Reading or hearing first time moms sharing their experiences brings me back to those long, painful days.

Thirteen hours alone at home with a new baby in a new town… gosh those were the loneliest days of my life just waiting for my husband to get home.

Three things that changed:

1. We moved back to my hometown

2. We decided to homeschool and networked with amazing women ahead of me

3. We had more children—with a teenager and four younger ones now, there’s hardly a dull or quiet moment and I am surrounded be hilarious social chatter all day, everyday

My energy and sleep have never been better; I feel strong and amazing.

When I have low moments, as we all do, I have the mental ease to just sink into them …

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It’s estimated 2/3 women will have uterine fibroids by age 50, and fibroids are the leading cause of the recommendation for hysterectomy.

If you have or treat uterine fibroids, you know what a confusing and difficult situation it is.

Looking at the research through a quantum lens, I see a few huge areas for potential noninvasive strategies to reduce the likelihood of getting uterine fibroids, increase the likelihood of slowing or reversing their growth, and for generally supporting wellbeing for women who have fibroids.

The preventable risk factors for uterine fibroids with particularly “quantum” possibilities for intervention: inadequate time outdoors, inadequate darkness, inadequate movement, and too many endocrine disrupting chemicals.

This post is grouped with my Quantum Anemia Theories series because heavy bleeding can lead to an anemia…

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Layered on top of all three sit the culture + tradition + skills components, which is where I like to start my consultations.

When working with a client (or yourself), my opinion is that the best entry point is what is already happening in the kitchen.

A sudden full blown switch tends to produce weeks of digestive (and kitchen) chaos and a likelihood of feeling like a failure and defaulting back to old habits.

This is why I always like to start with what is already happening and choose the easiest nudges toward better health.

Can you source locally in bulk at a discount for some of your staple food items?

Is there a new tool, like a better pot, cutting board, or knife, that would remove some of your dread around a certain cooking task that needs to be done but you hate doing?

Is there one small habit or recipe you could add?

In last week’s class for paid subscribers, I shared some of the things I have learned about managing the kitchen, which is really where the magic happens for diet.

Some of my best kitchen & cooking tips:

Ask for help.

Children can be in the kitchen as company before they are useful, then graduate into real tasks. You can add a food prep component to your baby shower planning and people will probably be happy to oblige the new mom in helping her stock up her freezer and pantry with meals.

Invest in real tools.

Sharp knives, solid cutting boards, and silverware that feels good really improve the experience of cooking. Many women I know who say they hate to cook are working with dull, flimsy, uninspiring equipment.

Buy in bulk.

Bulk buying simplifies the diet choices available since you have to make bigger investments at a time, meaning your budget (and pantry/fridge/freezer space) may be allotted to more of a fewer number of items. I really find it also helps my budget stay available for the food I had intended for us to eat because once it is bought and in the home, I am obliged to cook it. And you can often get bulk discounts.

Pick the No’s that matter.

Two examples from my family: artificial food coloring (because of its potential for neurological effects and how poorly it is regulated in the US) and commercially produced crackers (which trigger carb-chasing and rashes in my household). The list will look different for everyone. My No list used to be a lot bigger! I’m moving from tightly restrictive to more grateful and accepting.

Use the “never skip twice” or “never skip thrice” rule for healthy habits you care about.

If a habit slips, don’t let two days in a row pass without it. This helps me flow with inevitable habit disruptions without feeling like a failure and helps me not abandon my good intentions altogether just because I slipped up once.

Front-load food and water in the morning.

A slice of lemon and a pinch of mineral salt is how I usually start. Many pregnancy symptoms ease with this single change. The same for children and bedwetting: hydration delivered late in the day comes out at night. I find it’s just much harder to catch up if morning hydration is missed.

Here’s some more of the nutrition stuff we talked about

Folate, iron, and the cofactor problem in most prenatal supplements:

Almost every pregnant woman hears that she needs to supplement for iron and folate.

Folate use depends on DHA, vitamin D, magnesium, zinc, choline, the full B-vitamin family, and several amino acids working together.

What those cofactors mean is one isolated source of folate does not guarantee the folate cycle will run smoothly.

The same is true of supplemental iron.

Driving isolated iron up without phosphate, vitamin D, and the rest of the supporting cofactors can tank other parts of the system.

And the same with messing with insulin and ignoring all the other metabolic hormones!

Local, seasonal variations

The mainstream “local seasonal” recommendation works differently depending on latitude and season. Lily Nichols’ research shows healthy pregnancies sustained on as much as 30 percent carbohydrate near the equator and as little as 2 percent in polar regions.

I think understanding the food culture you grew up in, what you agree with and where you are forging your own path is wise to reflect on.

Food is more than merely nutrition, and treating it as some kind of ideal to attain is just not as comforting or fun as chasing the flavors and experiences of home and belonging through meals.

Imported food: I think how food travels matters

Trade routes are ancient and I believe the desire for new tastes is built in and healthy.

My considerations when buying imported foods:

1. Dehydrated foods (especially sun dried), which are harvested at peak ripeness, keep a stable shelf life, and are lighter to ship

2. Fermented and pickled foods, also transported well historically

3. Flash-frozen foods, which retain a comparable nutrient profile (texture changes; nutrition largely does not)

4. More caution with canned goods, partly because of can linings if you aren’t doing your own canning

5. Caution with imported carbohydrates if you live in a polar or even temperate climate because of light/dark and metabolic hormone interactions and possibly deuterium

Sourcing quality food

1. (USA) Azure Standard convenient for one stop for bulk meat (cases from specific farms), line-caught fish, produce and other groceries, plus I love the “drop” system as yet another way to build local community

2. Local CSAs, you may be able to find one using a platform like https://www.localharvest.org/csa/ and customize your shares

3. Cow/pork shares split across families

4. Work-trade arrangements on local farms, gleaning parties

5. Mindset! Farmers markets are not just for shopping! They are also and maybe even more importantly a relationship-building entry point to your local farming community

References mentioned:

1. Lily Nichols, Real Food for Pregnancy and Real Food for Fertility (the latter includes a section for men)

2. The Brewer Diet for Pregnancy

3. Quantum Anemia series

4. Folate series

5. Full class citations at the end, and in my Circadian and Quantum Research Library

The perinatal nutritional arc:

Specific concepts I find helpful for preconception, earlt pregnancy, late pregnancy, labor, early and late postpartum.

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Enjoy!

Babies are born equipped to absorb UV light much more rapidly than adults through two mechanisms:

1. Lower melanin levels, so they have less shielding

2. Higher vellus hair content (the super soft, uncolored hair or “peach fuzz”), which may absorb UV light approximately 250x as fast as normal hair

These physiological conditions seem to allow babies to meet their UV light requirements in a very short amount of time without experiencing dehydration, heat fatigue or sunburn

In un-supplemented individuals, solar-derived Vitamin D is thought to make up approximately 90% of serum levels1.

And yet it is common to find even highly educated researchers making claims such as “low compliance…

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My food philosophy includes cultural heritage, nutrition, timing, ingredient sourcing and storage, skill and creativity.

But above all, food is probably one of my very favorite things to talk about.

You all asked for my food philosophy, so I set up today’s call. Here’s the link to join us at 1 PM Pacific: Nikko’s Food Philosophy (Group Doula Care Session for Brighter Days, Darker Nights community members and guests).

RSVP

Before the call, I thought it would be fun to share one of the strangest recipes in my cabinet: Vital Garlic Chutney from Mama’s Menu by Ameya Duprey.

For those who have oxalate sensitivity1, I am very sorry you will not be able to enjoy this recipe with us. The photo from my cookbook tells you everything you need to know about how well loved this recipe is (and that I often cook one-handed with a baby or toddler in the other):

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“lucky” “privileged” “elitist”

Yes, I have had all these names thrown at me for shring my reasons for avoiding daycare.

Online anyways, and especially on mom-Substack.

In real life, people don’t tend to be so quick to call names and throw labels.

But what does daycare have to do with my mission here?

Daycare, even high quality daycare, seems to disrupt the circadian flow of cortisol for the majority of youngsters1.

And unnatural cortisol patterns and circadian disruption in early life are correlated with lifelong outcomes, especially mental health outcomes.

Inside my circadian pregnancy & babyhood workshops I teach how the first 2-3 years of life are foundational for circadian rhythmicity across the lifespan.

The patterns set at this time tend to be carried forward for the rest of life.

I wouldn’t ever take daycare away from those who want to use it.

But to say daycare is always a good and necessary thing is absolutely a slap in the face to the intelligence and resourcefulness of mothers.

Mother…

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