Why hire a Pediatric Sleep Consultant?

Sleep training is not for everyone. Every child is different and every family is a unique in what they believe and how they operate. In the same breath, I can say that I've met far too many sleepless, frustrated parents who are running on fumes because they are up rocking, shushing, lying next to or arguing with their children all through the night for months on end.

Having children introduced me to a whole new world of experiences and a love I never knew existed. It also introduced me to this really great thing called 'mom guilt' (insert tear-streaked, teeth clenching, stress face here). On top of feeling guilty when I couldn't get my daughter to sleep, I felt completely inadequate when others talked about these seemingly unfathomable schedules they had their children on (schedules, you say?). At first I was too exhausted to even try to figure it out and muddling my way through conflicting information became very overwhelming very quickly. In the end, my journey to a good night’s sleep could have come much sooner if I’d had some personalized guidance.

Top 3 reasons to work with a Pediatric Sleep Consultant:

• Straight-Forward Information: Let's be real for a second - you can find anything on the internet, through books and from family and friends. Can you be successful in sleep training on your own using something off the internet? Of course! I sleep trained my son with the help of a book my sister-in-law gave me. That being said, there is also a lot of false and/or conflicting information out there. A sleep consultant has been trained on many aspects of child related sleep-training and can take the guesswork out and provide you with straight-forward information and options.

• Personalized Direction: When sleep training, we need to consider that while there is predicable science to the timing and duration of sleep, sleep environments, lifestyle and parenting styles (and as such, sleep training methods) vary.  The most important thing to understand is that sleep training is not just composed of one element (like scheduling for example)... it's the sum of several parts. A sleep consultant is trained to pull those together and give you straight forward information so you don't have to pick and choose on your own.

• Certification through the Family Sleep Institute: There are many sleep consultants on the internet and not all are certified. Through the Family Sleep Institute, sleep consultants complete more than 250 hours of coursework that includes weekly lectures, case studies, mandatory reading of popular sleep training books, research of popular sleep training methods and additional courses focusing on Lactation and SIDS. The program also includes a practicum with volunteer clients and 6 months under mentorship after certification. Plus, we have to re-certify annually to ensure we're on top of our game! Faculty include sleep consulting pioneers, MD’s, PhD’s and RN's.

Get in touch if you have any questions or want to discuss how I might be able to get you and yours to a good night’s rest!

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