Published by Kelly McCarren and Kee Reece Searles
Hosted by Kelly McCarren and Kee Reece Searles, Eat Sleep Repeat is a weekly virtual mother’s group in your ears. It's a judgement and shame-free zone where Kel and Kee share their raw, honest, funny and relatable experience being first time mums, trying desperately to survive.
Listen on Apple PodcastsIt’s time to say goodbye. For now. In the final episode of Eat Sleep Repeat , Kee and Kel are joined by their editor, Madeline, for a little behind-the-scenes goss, the episode that almost didn’t make it to air, and the tiny habits she’s been editing around for years. Then Kee and Kel ask each other the big questions - about friendship, motherhood, confidence, growth, and what they want to leave listeners with after four years in your ears. Thank you for listening, laughing, crying, messaging, and being part of it all. You’re doing it. You’ve got this! LINKS Kelly's Instagram Kee's Instagram You Beauty I'm Wigging Out HOSTS & PRODUCERS Kee Reece Searles @keereece Kelly McCarren @kelly_mccarren AUDIO PRODUCTION Madeline Joannou - Mylk Media See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.
After four years, hundreds of conversations and more than a few opinions that aged terribly, Kee and Kel are looking back at the episodes, guests and listener messages that changed them the most. In this second-last episode of Eat Sleep Repeat, they revisit the conversations that stayed with them, the advice they still use, the topics they never expected to hit so hard, and the moments that made the whole wild ride feel worth it. It’s a love letter to the shitters, the mother’s group so many of us didn’t have, and a reminder that none of us are doing this perfectly - but we’re definitely not doing it alone. LINKS OUR FAVOURITE EPISODES: Kelly Has A Ghost Travelling Europe With A Toddler Will Be Fun (Said No One) When I Have Kids I Will NEVER Do THAT! A Good Old Fashioned Whinge About Toddlers Dear Pregnancy, We Have A Few Complaints Sh*t We’re Getting Done In 2024 Sh*t We’re Getting Done In 2025 (And Everything We Didn’t Last Year) Sh*t We’re Getting Done in 2026 The Wedding Car Was On Fire And all of Season 1, but you can start here.. Emergency C-Section Birth Stories EPISODES THAT CHANGED OUR PERSPECTIVE: “I Ended Up In A Psych Ward” - Postpartum Mental Health When You’re The Only Parent GUESTS THAT STAYED WITH US: Kristy Bryant - My Son And I Shared A Womb Larissa Leone - Why All New Mothers Need Mothering Kate - Wait, What Do You Mean That Toy Isn’t Safe!? Luke and Sassy Scott - How Does Surrogacy Work? Gen Muir - Gen Muir On Catching Your Toddler On The Emotional Climb Gen Muir - Gen Muir Makes Us Feel Like Much Better Parents Chelsea Williamson - My Birth, My Choice: Chelsea Williamson On Doing It Her Way Sara - Fed Is Best: Breastfeeding Doesn’t Always Work Megan - The Dark Side of Postpartum: My Time In A Psych Ward Alice - When You’re The Only Parent Lem Zakharia - You’re Not Entitled To Your Child’s Emotions EPISODES WE’D FORCE NEW LISTENERS TO START WITH: Gen Muir On Catching Your Toddler On The Emotional Climb Gen Muir Makes Us Feel Like Much Better Parents Fed Is Best: Breastfeeding Doesn’t Always Work “I Ended Up In A Psych Ward” - Postpartum Mental Health I Hate My Postpartum Body Are Sleepovers Still A Thing? What It’s Really Like Raising Multicultural Kids In Australia Tricky Family Dynamics HOSTS & PRODUCERS Kee Reece Searles @keereece Kelly McCarren @kelly_mccarren AUDIO PRODUCTION Madeline Joannou - Mylk Media See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.
For the final Peak & Pit of the series, Kee and Kel are in a reflective mood - but still very much themselves. There’s a birthday decision that brings up more than expected, a post-holiday realisation that hits later than planned, and one of those rare weeks where life is messy but somehow… fine? Plus, comfort food, a new show, and a Sydney outing worth adding to the list. LINKS TO EVERYTHING WE MENTIONED Alice and Steve - Disney+ Recipe Tin Eats Lasagne Recipe Chinese Garden of Friendship HOSTS & PRODUCERS Kee Reece Searles @keereece Kelly McCarren @kelly_mccarren AUDIO PRODUCTION Madeline Joannou - Mylk Media See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.
As Eat Sleep Repeat enters its final few episodes, Kee and Kelly are looking back at where it all began - lockdown lives, new babies, no village, and the hope of becoming the kind of mother’s group they wished they’d had. But this isn’t just a farewell lap. It’s a bigger conversation about identity, friendship, failure, ageing, motherhood, and the strange realisation that you can become a completely different person… and not really miss the old one. HOSTS & PRODUCERS Kee Reece Searles @keereece Kelly McCarren @kelly_mccarren AUDIO PRODUCTION Madeline Joannou - Mylk Media See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.
Kelly is back from Bali, barely recovered and armed with the kind of stories that only come from a very big weekend away. Meanwhile, Kee has been feeling the quiet side of freelance life and finds herself unexpectedly emotional about long weekends, little routines and the strange things that make parenting feel magic. LINKS TO EVERYTHING WE MENTIONED Mobile Skips Tip Toe - BINGE 28 Summers - Elin Hilderbrand Imperfect Women - Apple TV HOSTS & PRODUCERS Kee Reece Searles @keereece Kelly McCarren @kelly_mccarren AUDIO PRODUCTION Madeline Joannou - Mylk Media See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.
New research says almost 60% of Australian parents are experiencing psychological distress. But for Kee and Kel, the most confronting part isn’t the statistic - it’s how familiar it feels. This week, they unpack the kind of burnout that doesn’t always look like falling apart. It looks like getting everyone to school, answering emails, remembering the lunchboxes, swallowing the guilt, and wondering why you’re so snappy when you’re trying so hard. Maybe the problem isn’t that parents aren’t coping, but that they’re being asked to carry too much. LINKS TO EVERYTHING WE MENTIONED ABC - Calls to support struggling parents as national survey reveals increasing psychological distress 8 Signs of You Have Depleted Mother Syndrome and How To Cope Beyond Blue Lifeline - 13 11 14 HOSTS & PRODUCERS Kee Reece Searles @keereece Kelly McCarren @kelly_mccarren AUDIO PRODUCTION Madeline Joannou - Mylk Media See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.
This week, Kelly is personally victimised by a stuffed daycare kookaburra, a scrapbook full of suspiciously wholesome family activities, and the creeping fear that maybe everyone else is doing parenting better. Meanwhile, Kee is finding the magic in small domestic wins, from Facebook Marketplace chairs to the kind of cos home moment that makes you feel like you might actually be getting it right. LINKS TO EVERYTHING WE MENTIONED Let’s Go Fishing Game Mindful & Co Yoga Snap Game HOSTS & PRODUCERS Kee Reece Searles @keereece Kelly McCarren @kelly_mccarren AUDIO PRODUCTION Madeline Joannou - Mylk Media See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.
This week, Kee and Kelly are joined by Lem Zakharia - founder of Bedou, former executive producer of It’s A Lot with Abbie Chatfield, and the creator of the podcast Twice Displaced . Lem’s family story doesn’t fit the neat little boxes we’re used to. She fell in love with her wife Christina, and slowly became a parent to Christina’s two kids -— first from the sidelines, then right in the thick of tantrums, boundaries, bedtime battles and teenage emotional landmines. In this conversation, Lem opens up about step-parenting, queer family life, earning a child’s trust, and the moment she realised being “the other parent” wasn’t something she could claim - it was something she had to build. LINKS TO EVERYTHING WE MENTIONED Lem Zakharia's Instagram @lemzakharia Twice Displaced - Podcast Overshare - Podcast HOSTS & PRODUCERS Kee Reece Searles @keereece Kelly McCarren @kelly_mccarren AUDIO PRODUCTION Madeline Joannou - Mylk Media See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.
This week, Kee and Kelly are having one of those weeks where everything is technically fine… but also absolutely not fine. Kee has a moment in Pilates that feels bigger than Pilates, Kelly survives a truly cursed medical appointment, and a very bold preschool sickie attempt hits a little too close to home. LINKS TO EVERYTHING WE MENTIONED Too Good To Go Kia Abdullah - Author Off Campus - Prime Video Is It Too Early to Bitch? - Grace Rouvray HOSTS & PRODUCERS Kee Reece Searles @keereece Kelly McCarren @kelly_mccarren AUDIO PRODUCTION Madeline Joannou - Mylk Media See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.
What if the person you chose to have a baby with didn’t have to be the person you were in love with? This week, Kee and Kelly are deep-diving platonic co-parenting - from friends having babies together, to co-parenting apps, to the families choosing to raise children outside the traditional romantic relationship model. And the more they unpack it, the more the question becomes less “is this weird?” and more “did we just make parenting harder by doing it all in a nuclear family?” LINKS TO EVERYTHING WE MENTIONED Impact - Mixed-Orientation Marriage Mamamia - I'm a straight woman happily married to a gay man The New York Times: In Search of a Platonic Co-Parent Elective Co-Parenting Study HOSTS & PRODUCERS Kee Reece Searles @keereece Kelly McCarren @kelly_mccarren AUDIO PRODUCTION Madeline Joannou - Mylk Media See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.
This week, Kee and Kelly are deep in the trenches of mornings that start with tantrums, bedtimes that end in battle, and the very confronting moment your child starts repeating your own parenting back to you. And honestly, the mirror they hold up is brutal. LINKS TO EVERYTHING WE MENTIONED Play School: Rainforest Rangers Remarkably Bright Creatures - Netflix Crash - Netflix HOSTS & PRODUCERS Kee Reece Searles @keereece Kelly McCarren @kelly_mccarren AUDIO PRODUCTION Madeline Joannou - Mylk Media See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.
Kelly was pretty sure she was one and done. Mostly. Probably. Maybe. This week, she’s feeling unexpectedly clucky, and Kee is helping her unpack the very messy middle of deciding whether your family is complete. There’s the body clock, the fear of regret, the cost of another child, the trauma of postpartum, the sibling guilt, and the strange grief that can come with closing a door you’re not sure you wanted open anyway. LINKS TO EVERYTHING WE MENTIONED ESR - Should I Have Another Baby? The Cut - I Feel Bad I Don’t Want A Second Kid HOSTS & PRODUCERS Kee Reece Searles @keereece Kelly McCarren @kelly_mccarren AUDIO PRODUCTION Madeline Joannou - Mylk Media See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.
Kelly finally made it to Paris… and it somehow managed to be even more magical than she imagined. But not every part of the trip went smoothly, with one travel moment pushing her completely over the edge. Meanwhile, Kee’s week spirals into full party-prep chaos thanks to a mystery illness, missing decorations, and the very intense politics of four-year-old pass the parcel. LINKS TO EVERYTHING WE MENTIONED Shrinking - Apple TV TRTL Travel Pillow Medik8 Amandaland Season 2 - Stan Kids Playing Pass The Parcel HOSTS & PRODUCERS Kee Reece Searles @keereece Kelly McCarren @kelly_mccarren AUDIO PRODUCTION Madeline Joannou - Mylk Media See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.
A Mother’s Day comment from the Minister for Women lit up every group chat in Australia: are we really being told the earlier our babies go into childcare, the better? Kee and Lize unpack the guilt, the impossible maths, the daycare scramble, and the quiet truth so many parents are living with - childcare isn’t the problem, but having no real choice is. Because “just go back to work” hits differently when the village is expensive, waitlisted, or doesn’t exist. LINKS TO EVERYTHING WE MENTIONED Our Kids Our Choice: Expand the CCS Parents Work Collective - Give Parents One Year HOSTS & PRODUCERS Kee Reece Searles @keereece Lize Ratliff @lizaratliff AUDIO PRODUCTION Madeline Joannou - Mylk Media See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.
Kee is joined by Lize Ratliff while Kelly is living her best life in Paris, and this episode has the full motherhood spectrum: the tiny sentence that makes you feel like you might actually be doing something right… and the 6am meltdown that brings you straight back to earth. Because motherhood can be a beautiful birthday moment one minute, and grapes in the wrong bowl the next. LINKS TO EVERYTHING WE MENTIONED Flik Flak Switch Watch for Kids Holme Beauty Base Primer Secrets of The Bees - Disney+ HOSTS & PRODUCERS Kee Reece Searles @keereece Lize Ratliff @lizaratliff AUDIO PRODUCTION Madeline Joannou - Mylk Media See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.
Mother’s Day sounds simple enough… until it isn’t. This week, Kee and Kelly get into the joy, grief, pressure and weird expectations wrapped up in one very loaded Sunday. From wanting to be celebrated, to complicated relationships with mums, to the small moments that can make the day feel beautiful, brutal, or both. LINKS TO EVERYTHING WE MENTIONED A History of Mother’s Day An Ode to “Other Mothers” - Kee Reece HOSTS & PRODUCERS Kelly McCarren @kelly_mccarren Kee Reece Searles @keereece AUDIO PRODUCTION Madeline Joannou - Mylk Media See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.
A chaotic work week, a Facebook Marketplace find of dreams, and a cat emergency that made Kelly look like she’d fled a crime scene - just a regular week really. LINKS TO EVERYTHING WE MENTIONED Maison Balzac The Everything Bottle Yesteryear by Caro Claire Burke HOSTS & PRODUCERS Kelly McCarren @kelly_mccarren Kee Reece Searles @keereece AUDIO PRODUCTION Madeline Joannou - Mylk Media See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.
There’s a word for the strange, disorienting shift that happens when you become a mum and realise you’re not quite the same person anymore: matrescence. In this episode, Kee and Kelly unpack the science behind how motherhood changes the brain, and hear from the shitters about what changed for them too: bodies, friendships, work, confidence, rage, softness, identity, and the sudden inability to hear a story about a child without crying. LINKS TO EVERYTHING WE MENTIONED Make Matrescence Mainstream It’s hard to describe what it feels like to become a mum, but it has a name: matrescence Pregnant women's brains shed grey matter to prime them for motherhood, study suggests HOSTS & PRODUCERS Kelly McCarren @kelly_mccarren Kee Reece Searles @keereece AUDIO PRODUCTION Madeline Joannou - Mylk Media See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.
One wrong move and it’s game over. This week, Kee and Kelly get real about the phase no one warns you about: relentless four-year-old whinging, clinginess, attitude, and the kind of morning meltdown that can start with honey being in the wrong shape. Underneath the chaos, there’s also the quieter ache of motherhood - watching your kids grow up in real time. The independence, the big feelings, the sudden realisation that your baby isn’t such a baby anymore. If you want to play along each week (and read other parents’ peaks/pits), come join the Facebook group: https://www.facebook.com/groups/eatsleepshitrepeat/ LINKS TO EVERYTHING WE MENTIONED The Remember Balloons - Jessie Oliveros Metalia Studios Philé Quilted Robe Kelly's Mother's Day Gift Guide LOL: Last One Laughing UK - Prime Video HOSTS & PRODUCERS Kelly McCarren @kelly_mccarren Kee Reece Searles @keereece AUDIO PRODUCTION Madeline Joannou - Mylk Media See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.
For years, Kelly thought she was just a bit dizzy, a bit tired, a bit dramatic. Then she discovered POTS, a little-known condition that can leave you lightheaded, foggy, faint and feeling absolutely awful, especially after pregnancy. In this episode, she breaks down what POTS actually is, how she finally joined the dots, and why so many women might be brushing off symptoms they’ve been told are “normal.” Because sometimes the thing you’ve always shrugged off as “just how I am” turns out to be something else entirely. HOSTS & PRODUCERS Kelly McCarren @kelly_mccarren Kee Reece Searles @keereece AUDIO PRODUCTION Madeline Joannou - Mylk Media See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.