Helping all parents feel empowered, aligned, and flexible

while approaching the postpartum period and transition to parenthood

Mom and Dad playing with newborn baby

featured guides

featured guides

Baby sleeping without a sleep sack

Baby Sleep
Patterns Guide

Learn and implement proactive healthy sleep habits for your baby (and you as parents!) to optimize sleep sooner.

postpartum dad holding baby

Postpartum
Planning Guide

Proactive, specific tips and strategies to help support family rest, recovery, and bonding during this big life transition.

parents walking with baby in a stroller

Money Conversations
& Family Finance

Fully understand, discuss, and plan for changes to your finances & spending to support your evolving needs & values when raising a family.

new family holding hands

There’s a better way than figuring it out as you go.

When a baby is born, parents embark on a beautiful journey, but no one is immune to struggles or unexpected challenges during vulnerable life transitions. When parents find themselves in a period of overwhelm, sleep deprivation, and decision fatigue, their brains actually struggle to go-with-the-flow. A proactive approach as a team can help minimize potential adverse outcomes in a variety of areas beginning in the postpartum period.

We plan for the nursery & baby items, pregnancy & childbirth, and perhaps read a few baby books. We often gear information towards Moms, starting in pregnancy. But there are also additional obstacles parents can run into, at the individual, couple, and family levels, due to a variety of factors. There are many reactive businesses and support, geared towards mostly Moms, but both parents are going through a life transition, and many solutions require an aligned approach. It's time we help parents proactively, focused on all parents, beyond just the medical advice and the baby.

And with that, the idea for
Plans for Parents was born.
dad playing with baby
baby crib next to parents' bed

Do you want to strategically plan as a team in areas supporting your health, wealth, values, & relationships?

YOU’RE in the right place.

  • A holistic multi-level approach, so you truly can go-with-the-flow without the overwhelm and decision fatigue.

  • The critical postpartum period, to help minimize the chances of postpartum setbacks and depression in moms and dads.

  • Sleep! With a strategic plan for the entire family, and knowing proactive healthy baby sleep habits for more restful and consolidated sleep. 

  • A solid routine for supporting the baby's main needs, so you all have structure, predictability, and flexibility to your day.

  • Prioritization of your needs and values as individuals, a couple, and as a family.

  • Your relationship and how you'll balance the load, make time for each other, and communicate. 67% of parents unexpectedly experience a decline in marital satisfaction.

  • Your finances so you can confidently budget for your immediate and future needs, while spending in alignment with your values.

My goal is to share research-backed strategies and information to support ALL parents, proactively, and as a team, during life’s greatest transition.

Starting with a critical component… sleep for the family!

Sleep is a pillar of health, and the consequences of poor sleep are short and long-term, for the baby and for the family. 

There is so much research available on proactive baby sleep patterns and habits, but little is shared with expecting parents before the baby arrives. Baby sleep is very different from child and adult sleep, and often sleep-deprived parents are desperate for answers and reactive strategies, months and years into challenges.

Understanding baby sleep including what to expect and how to support healthy sleep habits can have a positive impact from the beginning and years to come. And no matter how the baby sleeps, there are ways your family can have a strategic family sleep plan to optimize sleep, for everyone, from day one.

Knowing about the impact of poor sleep from studies in child development, family psychology, relationships, and many other areas, I was determined to learn about what new parents aren’t taught.

Countless hours of research, all synthesized in one place. Let’s help parents optimize sleep during the most exhausting transition of their lives, and the most critical period of their lives.

Mom snuggling baby 
But wait, there’s more.

Before becoming parents, we were once in your shoes, trying to piece together information as we saw the cracks in how people are supported on their way to becoming parents. Drawing on many years of psychology studies, I’ve seen the research on the common obstacles parents have, from postpartum to a few years down the road, as well as the power of additional components to focus on during life transitions. I want others to have the awareness of what to expect, as well as the tools and resources to be proactive, and as a team, in their approach to parenthood and the transition.

No more recommending dozens of resources to friends, who are typically the Moms already carrying the extra mental load. I've synthesized the important information into helpful guides and actionable tools so expecting parents can plan together, proactively. 

I want all parents to feel supported and empowered to enter the postpartum phase with knowledge and strategy.

download my FREE Postpartum Checklist for 10 areas to consider

meet your new best friend

meet your new best friend

Deana postpartum educator helping parents prioritize sleep self care relationship and values

Hi, I’m Deana!

Mother. Wife. Educator. Friend.

I created Plans for Parents to help more people feel supported in their transition to adding a baby, beginning with the critical postpartum period. When I was asked to be a postpartum educator in the community, I wanted to make the information more accessible to all, and with more information beyond postpartum recovery strategies, or just focused on Moms or baby: A holistic approach for the entire family, also rooted in psychology and important areas growing families navigate individually, as a couple, as a family, and in society.

Knowledge is truly power, and so is intentional strategic planning and a holistic approach as a partnership, from the beginning of life’s greatest transition.

    • Mom of three kids under age four

    • Avid traveler (with the kids!)

    • Endurance athlete who enjoys stroller walks with a podcast

    • Went from sleep anxiety with first baby to getting more sleep than pre-baby (but we also prioritize it more!)

    • Laser-focused on lifestyle design & values-based prioritization, especially in the young parenting years

    • Loves the combination of personal finance with human psychology principles

    • Master of Science in Applied Psychology

    • Bachelor of Science in Education, Mathematics, and Psychology

    • Decade of professional strategic planning experience

I’m here to support you.

family with baby and toddler
pregnant Mom and soon to be parents
family with baby and toddler

Proactive support & strategies for life’s greatest transition.

plan and prepare together

Guides and tools to help Moms and Dads plan for a holistic approach in areas that matter. Cut through the noise of parenting advice and baby books, and focus on you too! 

If you've got the baby items ready, let us help you with the rest. With integrated research from psychology and principles in education, the resources support you in a digestible and actionable way.

Let's be proactive, before we need to be reactive, and bring about the best version of your unique parenting journey.

new baby

we're here to help

we're here to help

Insightful
Guides

for a holistic approach

Helpful
Freebies

checklists and tips

Consultation
with Deana

to deep dive into strategies

baby playing next to the water

Traveling with baby?

Heck yes, it’s 100% possible!

This FREE download is packed with tips and tricks to help you travel with your baby by car or by plane. Traveling with kids across the country or internationally is entirely possible, and we’ve gathered strategies and tips along the way. It can be a little more tiring, and require more flexibility, but the memories together are worth it! Bonus: How to handle sleep on-the-go and adjust it based on how traveling went.

  • "The most comprehensive source I have found on baby sleep."

    “I found the sleep guide incredibly concise, helpful, and informative without feeling preachy or overwhelming. While every baby is different, and therefore, every mother’s journey is different as well, I found this guide applicable for everyone! And no matter the baby, I think there are helpful nuggets to take away. This is the most comprehensive source of information I have found on baby sleep, and I would recommend it to anybody! The tips and tricks I learned are already helping me and my 6 week old daughter find our footing with sleep! Thank you Deana for doing so much work for all of us!!!”

    - H, first time Mom

  • "The conversations in this guide are so important to have."

    “This has been SO helpful! My husband read it in the hospital while I was recovering from childbirth and refers to it often. I think reading it pre-baby is SUPER important. I feel like we did not know what we were getting into with sleep and how to prepare as a couple, and the conversations in the guide are important to have. I like the "Sleep on the Go!" and other suggestions of how it actually goes in real life and encouraging people they do NOT have to be home 24-7 when they have a baby! The resources at the end are also key! Our daughter has been sleeping through the night since 2 months old.”

    - E & M, first time parents

  • "Having a strategic plan was the difference."

    “Having a strategic plan for postpartum sleep (for me too, not just my baby) was the difference for me in not experiencing postpartum depression after my second baby.”

    - J, mom of two

Let’s be email friends.