Taking Cara Babies - Helping Parents Find Sleep, Hope, and Confidence

Ramon Vela (00:02.291)
Welcome back everyone. We're going to have a great show today. I have an amazing brand and founder that we're going to feature today and I can't wait. let's welcome Kara Dumablind who is the CEO and founder of Taking Kara Babies. Welcome to the show.

Cara Dumaplin (00:38.2)
Thank you. Thank you. It's an honor to be here.

Ramon Vela (00:41.065)
Well, I appreciate you being on and I can't wait to dive into your brand and what you do. But I always like to start off this interview or these interviews with a question of gratitude. And the reason why I do that and just for everyone in case you're a new listener is a couple of things. One is I'm a big believer in the power of gratitude to relieve stress and anxiety. As a matter of fact, it's nearly impossible to hold

gratitude and anxiety at the same time within your nervous system. So this is a powerful tool. It's free. You can pray, you can journal, you can meditate, which is what I do. But gratitude is just really, really powerful if you're feeling anxious and worry and you know, there's a lot of stuff going on in the world. So it's really helpful. The second reason why I do this is that I feel and I've noticed in this eight years that I've been doing this,

is that it's very easy for consumers, and this is not a consumer's fault, but it's very easy for consumers to see products on the market, see services and products online, and simply think of a faceless corporation. They don't realize that there are people behind the scenes who care deeply about what they're doing and care about their businesses, they care about their products and their services, the quality.

And essentially they bleed sweat and tear over bringing this to market and I want you to know that there are real people behind the These brands that we feature on the show in one way of getting to know someone and kind of bringing this interview down to a very human level person-to-person level is by knowing what they're grateful for and knowing who we're speaking to so Kara if you don't mind Can you share a moment or a memory when someone did something for you that just made you feel grateful?

because it meant that they believed in you, your vision, or your potential.

Cara Dumaplin (02:33.774)
Sure, I'd love to tell you. I have a list a mile long, but I wanna tell you a story. We're backing up, way back, it's my junior year of high school, prom, prom night, and I was involved in a terrible car accident. I broke my back, my vertebrae, landed me in the hospital for the rest of my junior year, flat on my back, but I was 17 years old.

Ramon Vela (02:51.282)
wow.

Cara Dumaplin (03:01.036)
So they put me on a pediatric wing. So Kara with the babies and the toddlers, and here I was 17. It was tough, very, very painful and not where I wanted to be. You know, teenagers, they're stuck in between, like I want to be an adult, still a child, and searching for independence. But here I was, remainder of my junior year, flat on my back in the hospital. Those nurses in that hospital,

Ramon Vela (03:19.412)
Mm-hmm.

Cara Dumaplin (03:30.56)
took such good care of me. Like they made sure that I was as pain free as I could be. They were so protective of me and just making sure I was comfortable. also like teenagers really like their friends. So when my friends would come to visit, they didn't act like, gosh, all these teenagers, here they are. They would put out chairs and they let them visit and they'd watch me and they'd be like, okay, she's had enough guys. It's time for you to go.

Ramon Vela (03:59.551)
Mm-hmm.

Cara Dumaplin (04:00.462)
truly took care of me. about maybe it was about two nights before I was discharged home. One of the nurses gave me some pain medication, but instead of like knocking me out and helping me sleep, it wired me. I was wide awake. So she brought me out to the nurse's station and just talked to me. She'd go take care of her patients and then come back out. And I was just there hanging with the nurses at the nurse's station. And it was like three in the morning. And I said to one of them,

Ramon Vela (04:14.738)
Mm-hmm.

Cara Dumaplin (04:30.21)
You know what? I think I want to be a nurse like you. First her name was Sylvia. I'll never forget. She said, Kara, you'd make a great nurse. I said, really? Why? And she said, because you know what it is to face your darkest hour. You know what it is to be so vulnerable. And you also know what it is to have people take really good care of you. And when you've walked that journey, you can do that for other people.

And that was like a truth that hit me. I'm going to tell you from that point on, I decided I'm going to be a nurse. I went into college. I'm going to be a nurse. I graduated college. I became a nurse and it's never left me. Sweet Sylvia. I don't know where she is today, but she said that to me. And it really is the mission of what I do. It is you meet people sometimes in their darkest hour when they're most vulnerable.

Ramon Vela (05:18.014)
Thank

Cara Dumaplin (05:29.71)
and you walk with them and you take really good care of them. And so I am so grateful for Sweet Sylvia. She really, at 17, set me on this journey.

Ramon Vela (05:40.607)
Wow, I love that story. of course you're talking from a high level because the details are probably, I mean, there's a lot of moments when you were really down. A lot of moments where you went in a lot of pain. A lot of moments where you didn't know what and why.

Cara Dumaplin (06:00.739)
Yes.

Ramon Vela (06:07.294)
You know, we, you know, a lot of times when people are in those situations, we start asking ourselves like, why me, why me? And it's very difficult not to get depressed and feeling and feel bad during those moments. And, and that's why I think it's, it's, it's so wonderful that you had someone there or had people there that were able to take care of you and watch you and, and be that sort of positive positive force for you.

it really is touching. And, and I'm glad that you, I'm, I'm glad that you, you, you went through that, where you had that, that, you know, those people there for you. And I also wonder, I mean, there's a lot of people struggling out in the world at any point in time, you know, like in right now, they could be, they could have some sort of medical issues. They could have, they could have financial issues.

They can have a loved one, maybe a child who's suffering. there are moments where things are so dark and you eventually get out of it, but during those moments it's really difficult. During the moments where you're in it, it's difficult and people can really, it's hard for you to see like the future. So I don't know about you, but it's so hard to see the future.

when you were in there because it's so painful and so difficult and so forth. But what I've noticed is that sometimes, you know, and I think this is really healthy, is, you know, later on, you, after you've experienced it, you can look back on it and you can say, yeah, that really sucked. you know, I'm, it's, you know, probably should, I would have not wanted to go through that, but at the same time though, you think in,

Like maybe was this a gift that I was given to put me on the path of where I am now? I mean, do you feel that way?

Cara Dumaplin (08:09.69)
Ramona, it's the story of my journey. I can't wait to get into it, but it truly is my story. There's a song that I heard right now, it's called Flowers. I think Samantha Ebert is the one who sings it, but it talks about flowers grow in the valley. And so during this time when it's so hard and you just think, why am I here? This is awful. Just know that's when seeds are being planted. And it's only later that you can look back and go,

Wow, flowers grew in the valley. And that's what I'm learning. Sometimes our deepest, darkest hour, where it feels like this is ridiculous, seeds are being planted and flowers grow in the valley. But you're right. you have to kind of get out of the valley to be able to look back and go, it's a beautiful field of flowers. So listen to that song. It's so good. It's flowers.

Ramon Vela (08:50.942)
Hmm.

Ramon Vela (09:01.746)
Mm-hmm. Yeah. I definitely will. So why don't we talk a little bit about this? So thank you for sharing that. That's amazing. And so you graduated, you became a nurse, and let's take it from the place where, and you can step back as far back as you want, but I would love at least to start off.

Cara Dumaplin (09:23.79)
Okay.

Ramon Vela (09:29.454)
When you, when this idea started taking shape, where you were and what you were doing and what was the pull of this, of this idea, because I feel like for a lot of people, especially entrepreneurs, we all get ideas. We all think like, that would be a great business. And there would, but there's, there's something about entrepreneurs. and there's some, about these ideas that sometimes pull us like no matter what we do, and no matter what our day job is, we feel a sense of like, this is pulling me.

and I gotta start it, I gotta jump off the fence and do it. And I think that's one of the things that differentiates an entrepreneur from a non-entrepreneur. Where were you and what was the pull of the idea? What was the idea and what was the pull of the idea that really got you to take the next step?

Cara Dumaplin (10:18.223)
So I started my career in the neonatal ICU, which is sick and premature babies. I did that for five years. I really thought I would be a bedside nurse forever. I loved it. So I did NICU for five years, cross-trained over to labor and delivery, which is where babies are labored and delivered, right? Like that's labor and delivery. Again, loved it. Thought I would do it forever while working in labor and delivery.

There was this one pediatrician who had come to the hospital and he kept bugging me and bugging me, so I married him. There might be a little bit more of a story, but that's kind of the twist of it. So I'm working labor and delivery and I truly loved it. We had four kids. I worked all through all four kids. After my fourth was born, those 12 hour shifts, I got a little hard with four kids at home. So I traded the delivery room in.

Ramon Vela (10:53.116)
Okay.

Cara Dumaplin (11:14.553)
for an OB office. I was working for an obstetrician in town and I was seeing her postpartum patients. So patients would come in four weeks, six weeks, eight weeks after they gave birth. And it was wonderful because moms and babies, that's what I had done my whole career. Well, they would come in for this postpartum visit. And I just remember feeling like, my gosh, if I could just go home with you, I know I could help you.

Like here they were, I was working in North Scottsdale, which is kind of, you know, there's a lot of women that are like running corporate America. Like they are doing well in the world, but you give them this sweet little baby and they're like, I need some help here. You know, it's overwhelming. But I knew just how they felt. Cause when I had my daughter, I was a little like, how hard can this be? You know, I'm a baby nurse. He's a baby doctor. Like who got this?

Ramon Vela (12:12.488)
Mm-hmm.

Cara Dumaplin (12:14.721)
And we were pretty good, like things like breastfeeding and newborn care and things like that, it came naturally for us. But the part where like you try to get sleep and you take care of a baby, like that, that's something we didn't do at work, right? So after we had our baby fast forward eight months, I was so sleep deprived. I didn't know my middle name. Like I knew the importance of sleep, but like how to get it.

I was struggling. I was having a hard time. And this sweet baby girl who we loved more than life itself, she was up about every hour or two all night long. And the only way to get her back to sleep was to nurse her back to sleep. And I was so tired. I was just like, I'm not the mom I know I can be. I wanted to be a mom my entire life, but this is not it. And so it was kind of on that journey that I really started to

trying to dig in and learn about baby sleep. Like, yes, sleep is so important for babies, for parents, for everyone. It's a building block of our health. But like, how do you help a baby sleep? And so as a nurse, one thing that I was good at, one thing that I knew how to do was to look at evidence-based research and interpret it, put it in like common language. So I started reading and researching and researching and reading.

Some might say obsessively, I say I like to learn all about baby sleep. And so I used that and I got my own baby sleeping. And I was like, my gosh, this is life changing, right? She started sleeping. We started sleeping. I watched our connection just get stronger. I watched this baby develop, like just blossom. And I'm like, I'm the mom I want to be. Well, take us back to that OB office.

These moms were exhausted. And I just felt like, what am I doing here in the office? I need to go home with them. And so my youngest started preschool, Charlie started preschool and mama started taking care of babies. I started going into homes of new moms and I would teach them anything they needed. Breastfeeding support or feeding newborn care. But a lot of times it was about sleep. A lot of times like

Cara Dumaplin (14:40.323)
I would show them, okay, look what your baby's doing. That's a sleepy cue. She's trying to tell you she's ready for a nap. And so I would show them how to read their cues. And then what do you do? How do you actually get them to fall asleep? Like in their bassinet so you can run and take a 10 minute shower. And so sleep became kind of the thing I began teaching and I saw moms go from hopeless to full of joy.

Ramon Vela (14:45.118)
Hmm.

Cara Dumaplin (15:09.547)
You help a mom get more than an hour or two of sleep at night changes her life. It changes dad's lives. Like it was life changing. And you help one mom, let me tell you, she's going to tell 10 of her friends. So before long, it got to a point where like, I couldn't go to all the homes of the families who were wanting me. So I decided, you know what? I think I'm going to teach a class. I'm going to invite them while they're pregnant and teach them.

Ramon Vela (15:22.27)
Mm-hmm.

Cara Dumaplin (15:38.371)
what I'm teaching these parents in their homes. And it was highly sleep focused. That was kind of a gap for new parents. There's so many breastfeeding class and newborn care and new dad bootcamp, but sleep, there was kind of this gap. So I began teaching this class. And over time, and there's a lot to this journey, but over time, it became the number one.

newborn class in Phoenix, Arizona, the number one prenatal class to the point where I couldn't fit everyone in the room. I had to teach it two and three times a day just to get everybody in who wanted to attend. And it was so good. Like I loved it. It brought me so much joy. But after class, inevitably somebody would come up to me and be like, Kara,

my sister's in Boston or my best friend's in Dallas or my sister-in-law is in Cincinnati. I'm like, you guys, I have four little kids. Like I just can't travel all over the world. Well, this is early, like 2013, 2014. So I had this great idea that I would take what I taught in class and I would put it on a DVD. And I thought, there you go. That way I don't have to travel. I have this DVD. Well.

Ramon Vela (17:01.0)
Mm-hmm.

Cara Dumaplin (17:05.378)
I started Googling and looking and I was like, you know what? There's this thing where you can record yourself and then it like streams into parents homes. And now we call them online classes. But at that point, nobody was talking about an online class. Well, I just kind of created it. Like I hired some wedding videographers to come record me while I was teaching. And I started, I,

Ramon Vela (17:21.767)
it

Cara Dumaplin (17:31.897)
put a paywall in front of it so you had to pay for it, but then it could stream right into your home. And I didn't, I didn't, I mean, I wasn't marketing it or doing anything. was just people who attended in Phoenix would tell their friends and family. And from there it was doing pretty well. But then there's that little app that a lot of people were showing up on Instagram and I could get on that app and just kind of teach, just kind of talk about baby sleep. Well, the more I talked about it.

Ramon Vela (17:54.6)
Mm-hmm.

Cara Dumaplin (18:01.699)
the more people who would buy my online class. And so it grew and grew until now it's the number one newborn class in the world. So.

Ramon Vela (18:13.91)
this is amazing. know, it's really interesting that, you know, babies, one is that it's the hard part about it. And I'm sure like you're always updating things is that every baby is different. Some babies sleep through the night and there's no problem at all. Some people, some of them sleep a little bit. Some of them, you know, don't, you know, like I know I have three children. They're older now, but

They're all in basically their twenties. And, and the first two were really difficult. Like they wouldn't sleep unless I like rocked them to sleep. And, you know, it was really, really difficult or my wife. my third child was like, you know, just let me just put me on the, like basically put, me, telling me, put me in the crib and just leave me alone. That's what she, she's still kind of like that. You know, she likes to be just on her, like, you know, she likes to do her own thing, you know,

Cara Dumaplin (18:58.777)
little you

Ramon Vela (19:12.71)
And she's the youngest, but everybody's a little different and that's what makes it so hard for parents. And this is why I think it was so helpful for you in the beginning to go in there and be able to help them read the cues. And there's so much other things involved too is that I remember having one of them, I don't remember if that was, I think it was on our first, and she would sleep a little bit and then she would wake up and she would just cry. She would just cry and she would cry.

and we didn't know what was going on. Everything we tried was not working. And it turned out though, she had an ear infection and we're new parents. We had no idea how to tell if it was an ear or like whether it was ears that were impacting her. You know, this is so difficult. So yeah, there's so much stuff going on in that age where I think people are hungry for this information and hungry for help. And the other cool thing about this, and I've noticed this when I cover,

brands that deal with, you know, like with children and babies is that when you have a child, and this is more kind of like from a business standpoint, but you know, when you have a child, you typically hang out with other parents. you know I mean? Like it's just the thing. It's just like, you know, when you're at that age or even if you're not at the age, you go to places like Jimberry or, you know, Mommy and me or whatever it is.

And you do those things together. So you're around parents. And the great thing is that when you find a product that or a service that actually helps you, you want to share it to everybody. Like that's the thing that you talk about. And so you have great marketing right there. So that if people love your classes and your services, they're telling the world about it because it is like a godsend when you find something that works or is really helpful, especially with a parent who's losing sleep and you know,

That's like a godsend to have something like that. So that's amazing. I love the story.

Cara Dumaplin (21:08.911)
I want to touch on something you said, Ramon, because it's so true. know, babies are so different. And at Taking Care of Babies, what I want parents to understand is they are the expert of their baby and this baby. Because like you said, even from the first to the second to the third, they're all different, right? And we have to be really careful because there's this like belief or...

saying out there like, well, you have maternal instinct and you do, I do believe in that. And you do have a gut or a still small voice inside that kind of guides you, but we aren't animals. And so it's not like we have this like instinct like that. here I was a baby nurse and he was a baby doctor and we struggled. So I don't want parents to feel like, hey,

If you weren't born knowing exactly how to be the parent you want to be, something's wrong with you. The amazing thing is at taking care of babies, what I can do is, okay, I can give you education that's rooted in research. Like this is evidence-based education, right? Then give you practical tools. You take education, practical tools, and you put those together. Then you combine that with what you know. What do you know inside? What do you know about this baby?

And what we can do then is I can give you that and then you get to customize it for that individual baby. And when parents start doing that, what they start seeing is I really am the expert of this baby. I know what to do for this baby. Over time, they're like, okay, what I don't want is for parents to feel like...

Well, I don't know what to do. I need to go ask, taking care of babies. What does Kara say? Like, let me guide you. Let me be your guide. But you are the expert. And over time, they start seeing that. Like, I got this. I got this. And when you see confidence like that in parents, it's life changing. And it increases the connection between mom and baby, dad and baby, between the parents, right? So it really is.

Cara Dumaplin (23:30.913)
incredible to observe. It really is and it's okay that every baby is different. It really is okay and I really can help them even if I'm not going into their home.

Ramon Vela (23:31.741)
Hmm.

Ramon Vela (23:42.622)
Mm-hmm. You know, there's, um, and I've talked about this before in other, other interviews is that during this time period, um, obviously the woman has gone through all sorts of different stages, biologically, emotionally, and of course the, the, the father as well, but, um, but it's, it's sort of safe to assume that, you know, there's a lot going on there physically and emotionally. And on top of that.

Cara Dumaplin (24:05.795)
Yeah.

Ramon Vela (24:10.525)
There are society pressures too, like, you know, like, oh, you know, we sometimes make people feel like, Oh, if you're not doing this, or if you're, if this is not working, then you're doing something wrong. And then the reality is that, like you said, every child is a little bit different. So you kind of maybe need to look at, look at those, but, um, I really feel like it's hard enough for parents as it is to figure things out.

Even like you said, like you guys were doctors and everything, it's hard enough for parents without society kind of like putting pressures on you. So I always tell people like, yeah, take advice from people and learn and so forth. But always remember that, you just do the best you can. Like don't, you know, don't punish yourself. You know what mean? Have compassion for yourself. Like you're learning, especially if you're a new parent, you're learning. And so just be a sponge and learn and try things and so forth. And don't feel like you're like doing the worst. You know, like I've talked to people and they're like,

I'm the worst parent in the world. I'm like, no, you're not. You're just, you know, you're just, you're feeling that way, but it's not true. Like you're, you're mind playing tricks on you. You're doing as best job as you can and so forth. So,

Cara Dumaplin (25:16.099)
I always tell parents, if what you're doing is working, there's no reason to change it. If it's working and it's safe, there's no reason to change it. But if you need help, I'm here for you. And I hope that just gives them like, it's okay. Like, no expectations. If it's working and it's safe, you're doing it right. If you need help along the way, I'm here for you.

Ramon Vela (25:28.189)
Mm-hmm.

Cara Dumaplin (25:42.317)
Something else you said, you know, I think we expect ourselves to be incredible parents, like right out of the gate. But we look at our babies and we don't have expectations for them that are...

Like we would never look at our two week old and be like, I can't believe you're not walking yet. Like what's wrong? Why aren't you walking? Right? But we look at ourselves. We've been a parent for all of two weeks and we think we're supposed to have it all together. Or let's say we've been a parent for four years. You wouldn't expect your four year old to know how to do calculus. Right? So parents give yourself a little grace. You've only been a parent for as long.

Ramon Vela (26:03.57)
Thank

Ramon Vela (26:20.636)
Mm-hmm.

Cara Dumaplin (26:28.063)
as your oldest child has been with you, right? So it's okay that you're learning and growing. That's what it's all about.

Ramon Vela (26:35.997)
Yeah, I love that. And you're absolutely right. Like I said, I just I think we need we need to give ourselves a little bit of compassion and grace on some of those things. So let's let's let's give people a little bit of a taste as to like what you do and so forth, because this is just like, know, again, I don't I'm not trying to make this transactional. But this is you know, we do talk about entrepreneurship on the show, but

Cara Dumaplin (26:45.677)
Yeah.

Cara Dumaplin (26:53.231)
Okay.

Ramon Vela (27:05.519)
I just feel like on one hand you have this incredible market and this perennial market. There will always be parents as long as there's humans involved, will always be parents and parents will always have trouble with this. So this is a great business. But what I love about it too is that you are just so, I can tell how you light up. I can tell your voice. I can tell your facial expressions, how passionate and how much you enjoy doing this and how much.

joy you have in helping people. It shows just from watching you speak and how you speak and what you and your eyes light up and so forth. That's great. It's I'm envious because you have this job where not only can you create a business around it, but you can also genuinely help people who really need help in this in this really important time of their in their child's life. So kudos to you. This is

I'm jealous. You have such a great business. It's like the perfect blend of business and I don't know what the other side of it, but like business and helping people or business and doing something you're very passionate about. you don't see it all the time.

Cara Dumaplin (28:19.447)
It truly is, it's an intersection of what's my expertise as a nurse? What's my passion, right? So my expertise is babies and families, my passion, making an impact on the lives of new parents. And you put that together and that where that intersection happens is the sweet spot. And that passion overflows. And somehow, and still I look and I'm like, wait, this is a business? I'm doing what I love. I'm impacting.

the lives of new parents. This is what I've always wanted to do. okay, this is entrepreneurship? Okay, if you wanna call it that, But I just listened to parents, what do you need? Okay, I'm here for you, I can help with that. So it's been good.

Ramon Vela (29:03.569)
Yeah.

And I will also say that I think this is why people engage with you or find your social media engaging because you're just like sharing. You're not, it's not like, hey, I have to put it as a script. Again, I'm not trying to say this is bad for people, you know, because we need scripts and all that other stuff. But when you do it, I've looked at some of your videos. When you do it, you're just like very natural and you're just.

great presence and you're just like sharing and very authentically. And so I think that's what people are, you know, are getting from watching your videos or thinking, wow, this person, you know, really cares, really loves what she's doing. So I think, you know, having that, having that allows you to authentically share your story and have it sound authentic and not like preplanned or not scripted or whatnot. I maybe it is, who knows, but

I'm just saying it feels very authentic and it feels very personable. And I think that's what people are also, they're also looking for that. They want clear information. They want good information. They want evidence-backed information and they want it from someone who feels like they care. And I think that's what you're, you're doing, which is a great segue to say that the website, if you want to see what we're, what we've been talking about and what we will be talking about is taking care of.

Biz babies. I was going to say business taking era babies.com. And if you haven't figured this out, it is a play. Uh, Kara is obviously her name. And so it's taking Kara babies. So taking the word taking and then her name Kara C A R A and then the word babies.com. I was gonna say there's a song taking care of business. I was, don't know why I was going to say that. Um,

Cara Dumaplin (30:36.879)
I heard that.

Cara Dumaplin (31:01.753)
get it a lot. People say a lot.

Ramon Vela (31:05.383)
So let's give people a little bit of a taste. let's say I'm a new parent and, let's just, you can imagine there's a new couple there in front of you and you want to share with them. And I'm sure this happens to you all the time, right? Maybe at the grocery store, you get talking to someone and they're like, well, know, give me, you know, is there three things that I should be doing right away or four things I should be doing or think, is there anything like that that you can give our audience?

just to kind of give a little bit taste of like what they would learn from these online courses or maybe three helpful hints that will help them.

Cara Dumaplin (31:41.359)
Yeah, so I teach classes that meet little ones where they are developmentally. So for example, I teach a newborn class and this is for new parents in the first 12 weeks of their baby's life, right? So there's that class. And then there's a little ebook that talks about months three and four. So then there's that. Then I teach a class for parents of five to 24 month olds because a five to 24 month old is very different.

than a two week old or a six week old, right? And then I have a class for parents of toddlers. So two, three and four year olds. So wherever they find me on their journey is, is where kind of they enter. They can enter at any time. And I always say this, it's never too late. If, if where you are, if, if your little one isn't sleeping, it doesn't matter if you meet me when your baby's two weeks old or two months old or two years old, I'm here to help you.

Ramon Vela (32:14.045)
Hmm.

Cara Dumaplin (32:41.049)
But my favorite is when I get expectant parents. Like, okay, you're about to have your baby. And it doesn't matter if it's your first or your fifth. I feel like you can always learn. But let's say you take my newborn class. In this newborn class, what I'm gonna show you is, okay, your baby is crying. How do you take a newborn baby who's crying and help?

Ramon Vela (32:54.439)
Mm-hmm.

Cara Dumaplin (33:08.591)
You've changed their diaper, you've fed them. Now what? Okay, let me show you. And on camera, in this class, I take a fussy newborn and I show you how to calm them. Okay, so now they're calm in your arms, but the second I lay them down in that bassinet, you know what's gonna happen, right? Okay, so how do you go from your arms to the bassinet? Okay, but the second I lay him down, he's gonna be up in one minute. Like, okay, how do you actually get him to nap long enough for you to?

Ramon Vela (33:25.457)
Okay.

Cara Dumaplin (33:38.711)
eat lunch and I show you and I walk you through this. so calming a fussy baby is one thing I teach in there. Reading their cues, that's another thing. You know, I always thought like as a new mom, I was like, well, she's crying. She must be hungry. Right. But what I didn't know, this is something that like is a good takeaway for parents from the, is for newborns from the moment they open their eyes until they're looking for their next nap.

in those early weeks and months, it's about 60 to 90 minutes. 60 to 90 minutes, that's not very long, right? So you teach this to parents and like as a new mom, I would like feed my baby, you know, that takes about a half an hour. She'd be awake for a little bit. And then 30 minutes later, she's crying. I was like, are you kidding me? You just ate an hour ago. What I didn't know was...

Ramon Vela (34:15.581)
Hmm.

Ramon Vela (34:32.253)
you

Cara Dumaplin (34:35.021)
She's crying because she's trying to tell me I'm tired. I'm ready for a nap. But I was just kind of like, well, when in doubt, whip it out. I guess I'll feed you again. You know? And so I think for parents learning little things like that, like, okay, biologically in those first several weeks and those first couple months, about 60 to 90 minutes, they're looking for their next nap. So I teach things like that in the class. How do you set up your day?

for success, know, especially in those early weeks and months, a schedule, and we need to be responsive to a baby's needs and their cues, right? But predictability for parents is really important. how do I quote, schedule my day? How do I have a little bit of predictability in my day? And I show you like, look, we can be responsive to a baby's needs and you'll start getting into a little routine. And so I show them how to do that. Okay, but.

Ramon Vela (35:20.125)
Mm-hmm.

Cara Dumaplin (35:30.959)
How do you get longer stretches at night? Because in those early days and weeks, you are awake every couple hours in the night. Every two to three hours, this baby is awake and needing to eat. But as the weeks start going by, how do you get a little bit longer and a little bit longer and a little bit longer? And so people will take my class and Ramon, they'll be like, okay, Kara, my baby's 10 weeks old, 12 weeks old, and he slept through the night last night. And it's...

Not any sleep training. It's not any cry it out. It's not, it's just about laying a healthy sleep foundation. And that's what I teach. And so of course that would be the newborn class, but then the older class, we meet them where they are. Okay. We met that newborn where they are developmentally. Where is this baby? Maybe you have a 10 month old. Where are they developmentally? How long awake time do they need during the day? And so often parents think about it's what they do.

at bedtime. Like, okay, I did the bedtime routine. I laid him in the crib. He cried. And what I try to teach is like, it's really a holistic approach. Your baby is a whole little being, right? So it's not just what you do at bedtime. It's how do you account for the whole day and who they are physically and emotionally? And what about that bond between you? And that really sets you up for good nights. And then you have a step-by-step approach to having good nights.

Ramon Vela (36:58.33)
Hmm. Wow. I love that. And, two of the things, two things that you mentioned were really, like just brought back memories for me, placing the baby down, like when they're newborn, like, I, I have so many memories of placing them down and you're doing everything you can not to wake them up. And so it's like, it takes like 10 minutes just to put the baby down. Cause you're doing it so slowly. You're trying not to.

Cara Dumaplin (36:58.671)
So that's what I teach in these classes.

Ramon Vela (37:27.9)
make any movements or creaking of the bed or anything like that. And I remember that and I remember how difficult it was. And I remember like we used to have these wooden floors. It was an older house when our first born was born. And so I remember I would place her down and if I was successful putting her in the bed or on her crib, I would have to like walk out very slowly. Cause if I just made a little creak,

Cara Dumaplin (37:56.503)
Alright, great.

Ramon Vela (37:56.605)
All of a sudden she would wake up. But yeah, I mean, it's fun not thinking about thinking back on it. But back then I was just like, oh my God, not again. And then we have to redo that again. So yeah.

Cara Dumaplin (38:06.415)
Like, please go to sleep, please go to sleep, right?

Ramon Vela (38:09.594)
Yeah. And then the routine part, I think when you mentioned about the routine, like figuring out, like being able to understand their developmental stage and have that routine. I was, I remember that and I remember, I just remember at some point, at some point I remember the routine started happening. we weren't, we were unaware of the stages, but I do remember that when a routine ends up starting to take shape,

It's such a gun-send because now you're like, oh, I can plan my time around it or I can plan my day around it or I can, or my wife would say, I'm gonna, you know, I'm gonna pump and I'm gonna have this and then you just need to feed her at this time. And then I'm gonna go grab a bite to eat or something like that, or take some time off. And when you have that routine is so helpful because now you can plan a little bit of me time. You can plan a little.

just so the time to just gather some energy or, maybe take a nap, right? Just to, just to get some rest or whatever it is. But that routine is so, so important. I mean, it's not even it's like, don't want to, I don't want to oversimplify this, but. Or understated, I should say, but it's just such powerful thing. Don't having that routine.

Cara Dumaplin (39:28.335)
truly is. It really can be life-changing for parents. And what I try to teach is a routine rather than a schedule. And so, know, I'm talking to like both camps. Like I've got one camp that's like I put my baby on a schedule and man, we have it down to the minute. And I try to teach like, remember they're babies, not clocks, right? They're humans, not robots. So there's that camp where I'm like, let's like...

Ramon Vela (39:51.398)
the

Cara Dumaplin (39:58.659)
flex and flow a little bit. You sometimes you get hungry before lunchtime at noon. You might need to eat at 1130 and that's okay. Your baby's just like you. And then the other camp where it's like, yeah, I don't have a schedule. don't want, and I'm like, that's okay. You don't have to have a tight schedule, but let's have some predictability. Babies thrive on predictability. So do parents. And so what I try to teach is let's meet somewhere in the middle. They're not clocks. They're not robots.

Ramon Vela (40:21.638)
Mm.

Cara Dumaplin (40:26.639)
and you throw it all to the wind and there's no predictability. That's hard. Babies, like I said, they thrive on predictability, but also, like you said, we need some time to just breathe or take a shower or take a nap or eat lunch or do whatever it is you want to do, right? And so it really is, you really can have both. And that's what I try to teach is.

Let's meet somewhere in between this strict schedule and throw it all out the window. And that's where, in my opinion, I see families really thrive.

Ramon Vela (41:03.554)
Mm-hmm. So this is amazing. I love this and And then so describes describe your courses or describe the different stages I'm assuming because it you made it sound like You have these different courses for different like age groups or different stages Walk us through that a little bit and let me make sure people know where to go It's the website is called taking Cara babies calm so it's three words

Taking and then Kara's name, Kara, so it's a play on words instead of, yeah, so it's, yeah, C-A-R-A, and then the third word is babies. TakingKaraBabies.com is the website. So when people go there, what are they gonna find?

Cara Dumaplin (41:37.251)
C-A-R-A.

Cara Dumaplin (41:51.481)
they're gonna find the homepage and then it's like, select your child's age. And so they do, like, do you have a newborn? Do you have a baby? Do you have a toddler? And then they click that. And then I just explained to them like, okay, here's what we offer. And it's just based on your child's age. Now I wanna let you know, Taking Care of Babies has for years and years been about online classes. And just this year, something really exciting happened. We...

branched out into physical products. And that has been a big journey, something I'm really excited about.

Ramon Vela (42:23.375)
Mm-hmm.

Ramon Vela (42:30.95)
Wow, well, tell us a little bit about that and tell us what's available. And then I'd also love to know not only what the class is, but with the products, what's your vision for that? But we can deal with that afterwards. What do you have now? And then I'd love to know like what do you have planned for the future?

Cara Dumaplin (42:41.707)
Okay.

Cara Dumaplin (42:47.841)
Okay. So as I taught, as I was teaching about baby sleep, toddler sleep, parents would always ask me like, Kara, what's the best bassinet? What's the best swaddle? What's the best baby bath? You know? And so it was my job to stay up to date on the latest and greatest baby products and really listen to parents. Parents will tell you what they love. They'll tell you what they don't love. They'll tell you what they love. And so my job was to really

Stay on top of all that. Well, one thing that I recommend for newborns is swaddling, right? It used to be back in the day, parents would put their babies on their tummies for sleep. Well, in the nineties, that changed. We now know back is best, so we have to lay babies down on their back. Well, back in the day, Ramon, when you and I would go in our crib, our parents would put us down on our tummy and we had the mattress there.

to calm us because babies are born with the moro reflex. Have you heard of that? That's the startle reflex. a baby, when, when, have you seen them? They'll kind of do this and it's like little startle reflex. Well, when we, back in the day, when parents would put them down on the back in there, on their tummy in the crib, the mattress would be there to calm that startle reflex. Well, we know now back is best for safety. Babies have to be put down on their backs. So they don't have the mattress there.

Ramon Vela (43:49.222)
No. yeah.

Mm-hmm.

Cara Dumaplin (44:14.583)
under their arms to calm that moral reflex. So what we do now, and you've probably seen babies, we swaddle them, right? We swaddle babies to help them feel nice and secure. It calms that moral reflex, but it also mimics the womb. And so I teach parents how to swaddle and how to do that, how to make a baby go from crying in the swaddle to calm in the swaddle. And over the years, parents would ask me, Kara, what's the best swaddle?

And let me tell you, for 25 years I've been swaddling babies. So I can tell you, this is a great swaddle and this is a great swaddle. There are so many great swaddles on the market. But after a while, I guess I was kind of complaining to my sister and I was like, I really love this swaddle. I just wish it had this. And I really liked this swaddle, but I don't like this part of it. Or this swaddle is great, but this bothers me. And so she said to me, why don't you make your own swaddle? I was like,

Huh, I mean, all I've done all these years is just recommend products, but I'm like, I know good products. I don't know anything about like manufacturing and bringing it to market, but okay, I can figure that out. So I did, I started on that journey to make my own swaddle. And I had these standards, like Ramona, if I was gonna make a swaddle, it had to be the best swaddle on the market. All those things that parents told me they loved,

all the things that they told me they didn't love. I'm like, we can't have any of that. We've got to have all of this. And so, you know, we set out a timeline and because I was so picky, we extended the timeline and it extended the timeline. I'm like, I don't care how long this takes. I want to bring the best swaddle to market. And so number one, like it had to be so soft. Like you are wrapping your baby in this. It's got to feel so soft. Number two, it needs to be easy.

At 3 a.m. your brain is just like, let's get back to sleep. It has to be silent. know, lot of the swaddles have Velcro on them, but Velcro is so loud. So it rips open, it wakes up the baby, it overstimulates them, parents are annoyed by it. So I'm like, it's gotta be silent. And you know what I said earlier? I'm all about customizing things for the individual baby. So this one swaddle,

Ramon Vela (46:15.196)
Mm-hmm.

Ramon Vela (46:23.718)
Mm-hmm.

Cara Dumaplin (46:40.537)
What if it's hot where this baby is? Like there's no AC, they live let's say in San Diego and it's hot and there's no air conditioning. You're gonna swaddle a baby? Okay, this one, it just has where you can just swaddle their arms. Okay, but what about this baby is the one who busts out, he's a little Houdini. Okay, so we need a breakout proof one. Okay, but this one doesn't break out, we just want a quick and easy option. Okay, so you can use it this way. So there's three different ways to use it.

I took all of these, like my swaddle has to have all of this and I created it. And so just a few months ago, I released it out into the world. And let me tell you, with all my heart, I can tell you this is the best swaddle on the market. So it's one product that I teach online classes and I have one physical product. But I think that's the direction we're going is more physical products, but the beauty of it is,

Ramon Vela (47:23.516)
Thank you.

Ramon Vela (47:35.28)
Mm-hmm.

Cara Dumaplin (47:39.277)
I don't want just more stuff to clutter up a parent's home. Parents have stuff galore. I don't want stuff. I want this to be a tool to help you get your baby sleeping. And the amazing thing is with my swaddle, you don't just get a physical product. It comes with a little mini class. So you get a little taste of my teaching with it. So if you buy this swaddle, get this little mini class. I'll show you how to take a fussy baby and make them calm in the swaddle. So.

kind of the best of both worlds.

Ramon Vela (48:10.684)
Yeah, I love that. And I think you really should come up with more products because the baby world is just like lot of the, think, you know, on the show, we talk a lot about not just the products that are being featured, but we talk about the industries and we talk about, you know, what other products are out there. I think it's the same in the baby world as it is with like, let's say,

like a health and wellness product. Like there's people who make products that, you know, who are, who we feature on the show who really take a lot of care and feeding and the research and they, and they put quality ingredients into their products. Um, and they formulate it. They take a lot of time to figure out how to formulate it correctly and so forth. And, and they, that's, and then, you know, it takes time and energy and so forth. And then you have other people who

simply see an opportunity in the market and we'll create a quick product that might have similar ingredients in it, but not at the levels of efficaciousness and so forth. And those are the kinds of things that I've referred to as like marketing, marketing first products or marketing recipes, because the recipes may sound a little bit similar in terms of the ingredients, but it's really, and what people don't realize is that just because it says something doesn't mean that it has that ingredient.

in the levels where it's going to be effective. so unfortunately there's products like that all over the place. And I feel like in the baby market, there's probably a lot of that too, which is people see the opportunity to sell to parents. They create these products that are, you know, okay. Like, like the Velcro thing, for instance, like to me, I don't even remember the, I don't think we had a,

a blanket that had a Velcro on it. But to me, that is a sign of like, do they even understand babies? Cause like that Velcro, I could just picture it when you were just saying that like, you know, pulling off a Velcro. It's like, why would anyone ever use that? Unless of course they were trying to create something very quickly and cheaply and so forth. So I think it's really important to have a place where you have products that are created.

Ramon Vela (50:32.058)
by people who really care and understand the market. So I say the more products you create that are very useful for parents, the better. Because you understand what they're going through. And so you have a very unique understanding of their needs and their wants and their pains and the trials and tribulations that they do. yeah, well, with that said, can people look forward to? you started thinking about what else you want to do?

Cara Dumaplin (50:42.4)
I agree.

Cara Dumaplin (51:02.651)
yes, yes. It's coming, it's coming. I can't say a lot about it, but I can tell you that we're working on it. Of course, everything takes longer than what we think it should take because I am so like, no, I have built this brand by having parents trust me. And so I'm not gonna bring anything to market unless they can trust this is the best of the best.

Ramon Vela (51:03.402)
Ha

Ramon Vela (51:08.059)
Mm-hmm.

Cara Dumaplin (51:32.537)
We're not quite ready to say exactly what those products are, but you can know it's going to help little ones sleep and it's going to be held to a high standard.

Ramon Vela (51:41.883)
Yeah. Well, yeah. then the other thing too, is that I think, you know, having a grading system or having a, like you referring products to, you know what I mean? Like which ones are best out there and so forth. So, because I think there's, there's other products, there's definitely companies out there who create some great products designed to help, you know, either the mom or the

either baby or both and whatnot. So yeah, I think there's a lot of great stuff out there.

Cara Dumaplin (52:16.207)
gonna tell you, I never set out, as you heard my journey, I never set out to have a business. I never set out to like, well, I never had a business plan. I never had revenue goals. I didn't know the difference between being in the red and being in the black. I didn't know what a profit margin was. In the nursing world, those are terms you don't talk about, right? Even people would come in and they're like, so my insurance, oh, I'm just here to take care of you.

Like they take care of that. I, the business world was never really my thing. I just listened to what parents needed and wanted and said, I can provide that. And so it's kind of been a beautiful journey because it's really about listening. What just, what, I started with a newborn class. I was there to help parents of newborns. Okay, then I started hearing, but my babies.

Nine months old, my baby's 18 months old. Okay, then that came about. All right, Kara, I didn't find you until I had a three year old. toddlers. Okay, this is taking care of babies. Okay, toddlers are about behavior. Let's talk about behavior and how that impacts sleep and what can you do? It's about firm loving boundaries. so the whole taking care of babies brand was built on just listening to parents and responding.

Ramon Vela (53:25.649)
He

Cara Dumaplin (53:43.053)
to what they needed. And I just see that for our future too. Like, I hear what you're saying. Where are your pain points? I can help there. So that's where we're going.

Ramon Vela (53:51.645)
Yeah. Well, you know, my perspective is that this is such a really important area, kind of mainly what we were talking about early on, that this is not just like, this is a phase of a human's life that is so important. it combines so many different things. You're emotional, you're physical, know, society. mean, there's all sorts of stuff going on.

when this happens and it can be very difficult. It can feel lonely sometimes for women who may be experiencing issues. There's a lot going on during this time. And because of that, it's not just like other markets where you can be opportunistic. And I know there's companies that do that, but you can be opportunistic and create products quickly and cheaply or whatever.

I think this is an area where it requires, or we hope it has people that care deeply about what they're doing and care about the mothers, the fathers, the babies, and understands what they're going through. And I think that it requires that. So I'm glad there's people like you in this industry who care about that. And I want you to stay in business and I want you to help people and I want you to create new products.

then you know what mean? Cause, cause you need more people like you in this. my only thing is like, how do you expand this? Like, how do you get more people to, to, to see your, your, your videos and your training and how do get more people to get and gain the information? You know I mean? that's what I would love to see. I mean, I'd love to see a book, you know, maybe if you, I'm sure you've already thought about that, but.

Cara Dumaplin (55:44.642)
talking about it.

Ramon Vela (55:45.285)
Yeah, but I mean, there's a lot for you to go through. Yeah, there's a lot of stuff that you can go through. I remember there's a brand called Slumberkins. I know if you've ever heard of them. Yeah. So I've had them on years and years ago, but I always used to love their trajectory in that, you know, they started off in this like one little thing and then that became like cartoons. And I think now they're doing the cartoons and now they're books and all sorts of, mean, like, and then the little puppets or whatever it is.

Cara Dumaplin (55:54.255)
Yes, very familiar with them, yes.

Ramon Vela (56:14.254)
I mean, it's really kind of expanded. And I think it's because they care about what they're doing. They were in it in the very beginning and they kind of grew up from there. And that's where I see you. It's like you, you, you did this because you wanted to help a certain place and it just started taking off from there and growing. And there's just so many more people for you to touch. mean, because look at everybody. I mean, half of the population on the earth.

has children, you know? And so there's a lot of people, even if you're just here in the United States, there's a lot of people who can potentially use your services. So I say, yeah, let's figure out how to get more people to know who you are and let's figure out how you can help them in all sorts of different ways.

Cara Dumaplin (56:56.995)
Let me tell you, I have about three million followers on social media, so that's been helpful. And I think around 800,000 families have taken my classes. we've done, like we've reached a lot of families and mostly that's just been word of mouth. But our challenge or our next, our goal,

is this next generation, right? These Gen Z-ers are, they're starting to have babies. And so we need to, we need to reach them. And so that's kind of, that's where we're focused now too.

Ramon Vela (57:36.701)
Yeah, I love this. And I don't know if you have it. I don't see it on here. Maybe I'm just missing it. But I would definitely add an affiliate program at some point here because like we talked about before, parents are amazing because when they find a product that they like, and because usually when people have children, they are surrounded

by other parents who have children. And when they find a product, they want to share it. It's like, hey, I found this product and it's perfect and it's great or whatever it is. And so they're like the perfect ambassador. So for those mothers who are, you know, during maternity leave or maybe their stay at home moms or whatever, having being able to benefit also from their recommendations on social media would be great. I think it's a win-win situation.

Cara Dumaplin (58:32.463)
Yes, it's been our affiliate program has been great because you don't need to be a huge influencer. You have influence in your circle. so email us, get the affiliate link, do it because they parents love talking about what works.

Ramon Vela (58:34.396)
Yeah.

Ramon Vela (58:50.598)
wow, okay great. So that's good to know. Anything else on the website, know, so you know, that you want people to know about? And again, for everyone out there, it is Taking Cara Babies. So taking and then the name Cara, C-A-R-A, and then babies.com. Taking Cara Babies is the website. Is there anything else that you would like for them to know about the website or anything else?

Cara Dumaplin (59:19.075)
thing that I haven't mentioned that's important is, you know, I teach these classes, but I understand sometimes you take the class and you need one-on-one support. And we provide that. Once you take the class and you watch the class, if you decide, you know what, I would really like to get on the phone and talk with an expert. I have a whole team.

And that's what they do. They get on the phone, talk one-on-one with parents and like, okay, so you've watched the class, here's where you are. Talk to me, are you struggling? Do you need encouragement? What are you seeing from your child? And they can guide them. So I just want parents to understand that they're never alone on this journey. The class, for about 95 % of our people, that's all they need. But if they want one-on-one support, you can always add that to your package.

Ramon Vela (01:00:11.484)
Well, that's fantastic. Yeah, I think that's really helpful because for some people, you know, it's kind of like what we talked about the babies. You sometimes you, it's for, and now with the parents is that you meet them where they are, right? Not just with the babies, but you meet the parents where they are. And sometimes people need a little bit extra help. And I think that is great that you have that available. So everyone out there, this is amazing. Go to takingcarababies.com. Just so you know, like,

Cara Dumaplin (01:00:13.163)
Okay.

Cara Dumaplin (01:00:29.291)
Thanks.

Ramon Vela (01:00:40.686)
I don't normally always have the baby stuff on the show. I do cover it, but I was just so intrigued by what you're doing and I really feel like this is so important. I I've been a parent, I know how it feels. This is one of those areas where I just felt like it was just like when I saw you come through in terms of like when I get requests for being on the show, I looked at yours and I thought, well, didn't actually, I didn't know you had a physical product.

I knew it was courses. And so I thought, you know what? I don't always do courses here on the show, or online courses, but I felt like what you were talking about is so important that I think we should have you on just to kind of introduce you to our audience. So I appreciate you coming on because I think you're doing great work.

Cara Dumaplin (01:01:09.826)
Okay.

Cara Dumaplin (01:01:31.577)
Thank you so much. such an honor. Can I leave you with one thing? Can I tell you a little behind the scenes secret about taking care of babies? Okay, so people hear or see taking care of babies and I'm the face of the brand, right? They see Kara the nurse, but I wanna let you in on a little secret. And here it is. Like I am surrounded.

Ramon Vela (01:01:39.068)
Mm-hmm.

Cara Dumaplin (01:01:55.737)
by an incredible team of experts. Like on my team, I have a lactation consultant, I have a child life advocate, I have a family and marriage therapist, I have quite a few educators. And these experts have certifications in everything from like early childhood development to childhood mental health to ABA therapy, which is like behavioral therapy. But it's not just their credentials. Like these are...

moms of multiples. These are moms of kids with special needs. These are moms who have one child. These are moms who have eight children. These are moms who have adopted babies. These are single moms. These are step moms. And so I, what I want people to understand is yes, I am the face, but I am surrounded by a pretty incredible team and we come together.

and we share our wisdom and we share our compassion and our life experience. And that is what makes taking care of babies the best for parents. Like they can trust what you're getting from taking care of babies is the best of the best. And I think that's a secret that maybe a lot of people don't know about taking care of babies.

Ramon Vela (01:03:16.924)
Yeah, I think, well, I love that. And that's a perfect ending to this conversation, but I love that. And I'm glad you mentioned that because you're, you're absolutely right. you mentioned the marriage, marriage, counselor there. That's the other part we didn't really get a chance to talk about, but this, you know, we did talk about how this, period of a person's life is so, it's so packed with all sorts of things, emotions, feelings.

Cara Dumaplin (01:03:31.511)
once.

Ramon Vela (01:03:46.161)
physical feelings. mean, there's so much going on during this time period that, then, you know, on top of that, relationships, because this is a hard thing. mean, going through this is for new parents, this is news. I mean, this is like something different. It's a new dynamic in their relationship. So I love the fact that you have someone on staff who is thinking about those things, because this is a...

an important time and a difficult time for people and a beautiful time. It's like all of the stuff, all of the above.

Cara Dumaplin (01:04:18.031)
It's a beautiful time and it's also hard and people will write in, like, Kara, you saved my marriage. And I'm like, okay, I didn't save your marriage. I helped you sleep. And when we sleep, have, our relationships get easier, right? But still when I see that, it's like the greatest gift. Like sometimes I just stop and think, who am I that I get to help?

Ramon Vela (01:04:35.942)
Mm-hmm.

Cara Dumaplin (01:04:48.687)
her and him, like, I just stand in awe. Just amazing. So I love what I do. I hope you see that.

Ramon Vela (01:04:56.73)
Yeah, I definitely do. This has been fantastic. I want to be respected for every time. this has been, I know there's so many different things we could have gone and talked about, but I think we did a pretty good overview of everything you're doing and why you're doing it and why it's so important for you. And I love the stories. I mean, from what we've covered, I love your Grannadish story, which is an amazing story. And...

Cara Dumaplin (01:05:01.583)
Okay.

Cara Dumaplin (01:05:06.639)
Yeah.

Ramon Vela (01:05:24.692)
I love the steps that you take, the courses that you have in terms of like the different phases and groups and so forth. And people can go to takingcarababies.com and take a look at the products that they have, the collections, the sleep training, the Swaddle, of course, the product and so forth. By the way, the Swaddle, is it only available on your website or is it available anywhere else?

Cara Dumaplin (01:05:47.503)
Okay, well let me tell you this, right now it's just available at takingcarababies.com, but Target recently named me the face of their baby registry. So if you go to target.com and you register, you're a new parent who is signing up for a baby registry, there's taking care of babies. And so I think we're just weeks away from the swaddle being at target.com. So that's very exciting for us.

Ramon Vela (01:06:14.682)
Yeah, that's fantastic. All right. Well, we'll be on the lookout for that. then everyone else, this is, like I said, this is an amazing product for all sorts of different reasons. mean, one is just Kara's energy and excitement and passion and what you're doing. it leaps off the screen. I'm, you know, it's very apparent for people and I love that.

Um, and then of course, just the knowledge that you provide and the help that you give people again, this really is an important time in a person's life and a mother and a father's life. And it could be difficult. It can be beautiful. It could be all of the above. And, um, and I'm glad that someone's there to help them through this because the sleep component of it, um, is really just, you know, so important because it would lack of sleep.

can be grumpy, you can be angry, you can also not make clear decisions because you're sleepy and you're not thinking straight sometimes when you've had a long period of time with lack of sleep. so that can affect, go ahead.

Cara Dumaplin (01:07:23.343)
We know that it leads to postpartum depression and anxiety. We know that marital discord, sleep impacts every part of who we are. And we know that a sleep deprived brain functions like a drunk brain. It really does. And so if I can help parents sleep, if I can help babies and toddlers sleep, I can change lives in the best way possible.

Ramon Vela (01:07:40.795)
Hmm.

Cara Dumaplin (01:07:51.779)
That's my mission. I'm on a mission to do it.

Ramon Vela (01:07:55.549)
Yeah, and I love that. then you took the words right out of my mouth. This is so important for all the reasons that we just talked about. So if you're having a baby or if you just had a baby or if you know someone who's having a baby, definitely recommend them to listen to this podcast, but also go to takingcarababies.com is the website and go in to check that out. I think it's definitely what we refer to on the show as a brand, a product worth buying.

Brand worth supporting because there's so much to love and support about what Kara is doing and definitely go check it out So I normally by the way, thank you so much. I was gonna start ending the show Thank you so much for being on the show

Cara Dumaplin (01:08:40.024)
My pleasure. Thank you.

Ramon Vela (01:08:42.064)
Yeah, and it's really our honor. Everyone out there, go to the website. We're going to have that link and the link to the social media on our podcast description, which you could find on Apple and Spotify, pretty much anywhere you listen to podcasts, simply type in the story of a brand show and you should be able to find it. I always say, as I end the show, I always say, stay sane, stay safe, stay healthy. And one way of doing, I think all of the above, if you are an expectant parent,

If you already had a baby, just had a baby, or you know someone who is having a baby, then this is a great way for you to stay sane as well as healthy. And so go check it out. Go to takingcarababies.com is the website. Check it out. Sign up for the newsletter because that's probably the best way to keep in touch with the brand and where the products are coming out and what's available and where it's going to be available and all that great stuff. Sign up for the newsletter.

And then beyond that, everyone, one last thing. We've all been going through a lot of stuff since the pandemic. There's geopolitical wars, there's politics, there's the economy, there's all sorts of things going on. And some of us, many of us feel a little stressed out just simply watching the news. And of course there's others who are affected financially by things. Let's just do ourselves a favor. Let's just remember that everyone is going through something.

And if we can simply be a little kinder to each other, you know, that person in front of you on the road who might not have put their turn signal on or that person at the grocery aisle who may have gotten in line before you did, whatever, let's just be a little kinder to each other and remember that everyone's going through something. And I know we can make this human experience a better one. Beyond that, thank you from the bottom of my heart for listening to another episode of the story of a brand.