5 Reasons to Work with a Gentle Sleep Consultant
Sleep deprivation is one of the hardest parts of parenthood.
And just to make things more complicated, there are many, many, MANY harmful myths about infant and toddler sleep out there!
As a gentle sleep consultant, I love helping parents figure out how they can get more sleep in ways that feel respectful and developmentally appropriate. My sleep work revolves around building habits in the context of a loving relationship, without “cry it out” methods.
If you’ve never worked with a gentle sleep consultant before, it can be hard to know what kinds of things we might be able to help with. If you’re curious about when a gentle sleep consultant might be able to help you, here are some examples:
1. You’re expecting a baby and want to know what you can do from the beginning to get off on the right foot, sleep-wise.
I love talking with parents prenatally about ways to help their baby learn to sleep well, and in a way that works for their family. Learning what to expect and what you can do to help steer things in a helpful direction can help parents feel so much more confident before welcoming a baby!
2. You want to understand the reasons why your baby does certain things (waking up frequently overnight, seeming to need a rigid nap routine, etc.)
A lot of my work with clients is education - learning the developmental and biological reasons why things are happening can be SO helpful! I can’t tell you how many times I’ve heard a sigh of relief from a parent after demystifying certain behavior from a child development and sleep biology lens.
If you’re feeling frustrated by confusing sleep behavior, a gentle sleep consultant might be able to explain what’s going on!
3. You want to get more sleep and you want to bedshare.
I help many of my clients learn about safe bedsharing options. This can be a beautiful way to get more sleep if it feels right for your family! If bedsharing is attractive to you but feels intimidating, or you want to make sure that you’re going about it in a purposeful way, we can work together to make sure you’re comfortable about how to proceed.
4. You want to get more sleep and you don’t want to bedshare.
Bedsharing definitely isn’t the right answer for everyone. We can work together to figure out what kind of physical sleeping arrangement will be a good fit for your situation and your goals. Remember, a huge focus of my role as a gentle sleep consultant is nonjudgmental support!
5. You want more sleep, but you don’t want to lose your milk supply.
This is a real concern for many bodyfeeding parents. Not all sleep consultants/sleep trainers have much (or any) experience with lactation support. As a lactation professional, this is always top of mind for me when working with nursing parents! Finding a balance between maintaining supply while also reclaiming some autonomy for yourself overnight is possible with help!
