At my core, I’m a coffee-drinking, easy-going-but-sometimes-I-want-to-do-it-my-way-only, goofy German-born gal who lives in the Yukon (think far, far North if you aren't local!) with my two kids and my guy. My family is amazing and drives so much of what I do. That being said, I am no stranger to sleepless nights. Between my oldest, Tehya, who refused to sleep without me by her side until she was almost 4 and my second, Kaelan, who was up every hour until he was 6 months old, I was certain I would forever keep the coffee pot within proximity. When I couldn’t handle my son’s hourly awakenings anymore, I did some research through (very) tired, squinted eyes and found, well... nothing I could stick with or really make sense of. Luckily, my sister-in-law gifted me a wonderful book and I found a way to sleep train him. My sanity, my relationship with my partner and my general quality of life have never been the same.
For the past 5 years, I have been helping clients walk through their prescribed therapy for Sleep Apnea through our parent company, TrueNorth Respiratory. It has been incredibly rewarding to work with adults as they recover some of the quality of life that has been lost through years of sleepless nights. It is amazing how often we overlook or compromise a good nights sleep... at every age!
With TrueNorth Respiratory being a power-house work environment staffed primarily by young women it comes as no surprise that we have a few children in the mix. I'm starting to lose count at this point but I know they out-number us; there are at least 15! You can imagine that the discussion around children and sleep (or lack thereof) has been a hot one over the years. It was with that, that NorthernNights Sleep was born. In order to provide this service, I completed the Child Sleep Consulting program through the Family Sleep Institute and earned my designation as a Certified Sleep Consultant. To receive my certification I completed more than 250 hours of lectures and coursework as well as a practicum. The program also includes 6 months under metorship. The entire process takes one year to complete.
I now have the pleasure to work with parents who are over rocking, shushing, lying next to, arguing with or (insert nighttime tactic here!) their children night after night. I work with them to create a step-by-step customized plan, am there to tackle the details and provide whatever support they need. A recent client thanked me for giving her the ‘gift that keeps on giving’. I seriously couldn’t think of a more rewarding way to spend my days.
When I’m not troubleshooting CPAP therapy or consulting with families about sleep, I can be found camping with my family, having a glass of wine with my man, running, waiting impatiently for the next ‘prize’ to erupt out of one of my Charmed Aroma candles (slower than watching paint dry!) and more recently, cross-country skiing (although all I really do is shuffle at this point, which is why my new motto is to ski in the dark:).
I'd love to hear your story and chat with you about how I might be able to help you. Please don't hesitate to get in touch!
Christina
