I love sleep! I’ve always loved sleep. I loved sleep as a kid, a teenager even, and more than ever now as a parent. There is nothing more satisfying than falling into a luxurious deep and blissful sleep at the end of a long day, and then waking up in the morning well rested and ready to start again.
When I had my first baby, my daughter Reilly Sue, teaching her healthy sleep habits was one of my biggest early parenting goals. I read a few sleep books, followed the recommendations that felt comfortable to me, and mostly, I totally lucked out. My sweet baby was a very good little sleeper.
Once I was in the parenting world, I quickly learned how common it was for other parents to complain about their baby’s sleep. There were routine night wakings, prolonged bedtimes, and babies that would just not sleep without endless rocking.
Parenting is hard enough as it is without being unnecessarily sleep deprived. I felt for these parents, but recognized that I was not in a position to help just because my own baby was an easy sleeper. On top of being only a teensy bit educated in the science of sleep, I had no idea how someone who parents differently than me might go about helping their baby. I listened to so many families talk about their baby’s sleep difficulties just wishing I had something useful to offer.
Then one day, a close friend of mine found the solution on her own. She hired a sleep consultant and had extraordinary success. I was so happy for her and so excited by the idea that this was an actual job someone had. I had never heard of a sleep consultant before, but I immediately began my research. I called the sleep consultant my friend had hired, and then called some other local consultants as well. They were all so friendly, happy to chat about their careers, and all sincerely raved over how rewarding their work is. I researched different certification programs, and decided that the Family Sleep Institute was the clear leader in focusing on evidence based sleep science and fully preparing students to work with a variety of families with different parenting styles. Becoming a certified pediatric sleep consultant became my new mission and I am so glad that it did, for both personal and professional reasons.
I was an FSI graduate by the time my second baby, Finny Mitchell, arrived and he absolutely benefited from his sleep educated mom. He did not lean into sleep so easily on his own, but really did thrive when I was able to implement all of my new knowledge.
Starting my own business has been tough in a lot of ways, but the actual sleep consulting work has only been fun and rewarding. Helping just one mom sleep through the night again is well worth all of the hard parts. Knowing that more children are learning healthy sleep habits that directly improve their health and well being is enough to help me fall asleep happy myself.
I love sleep and I love helping families sleep too.