Monday, January 23, 2012
Filed under: Baby Sleep, Sleep Training, Testimonials
I recently received a testimonial from a lovely family whose life has been transformed for the better by a good night's sleep. Hearing that a child is more happy is one of the most common - and rewarding - things I hear after sleep training. It's so great that child and parents are now more rested and more happy! Here is what Oksana had to say about sleep training her daughter, Veronika:
"After almost a whole year of being without sleep at night and proper rest in the day time I felt physically worn out. I can’t thank Dawnn enough, she created a new daily routine and sleeping program for our baby and changed this situation completely. Our beautiful daughter now sleeps through the night and she became a much happier child.
Thank you so much Dawnn! We will highly recommend you to any parents who need a sleeping consultant."
Learn more about how I can help you - with sleep, potty training or more - from my services page.
| Posted by Cheeky Chops at 4:27PM |
|
|
|
|
Wednesday, November 23, 2011
Filed under: Baby Sleep, Vancouver
I will be taking part in Modern Mama's Essential Series on Sleep on December 7th at 10am in Vancouver. The breakfast event will join together moms to meet and learn about sleep in infants and toddlers. For many parents, sleep is a dream - but it doesn't have to be! I will share some information on infant sleep and will be answering questions on-site.
You can bring your kids along to the event - on-site nannies will be available so that you can listen to the talk.
Wednesday December 7
10am – 12pm
$35
$30 Membership card holder
Nanny Service $10
Rocky Mountain Flatbread
1876 West 1st Ave
Register for the event here.
| Posted by Cheeky Chops at 1:41PM |
|
|
|
|
Friday, November 18, 2011
Filed under: Baby Sleep, Sleep Training, Testimonials
I just got an update from Marie about life after sleep training her youngest boy, Julien. Julien is the third child in the family, but the first to love being in bed thanks to his early sleep coaching. Many children who learn sleep skills early are ones who find their beds a welcome experience as they grow up. Here's what Marie had to say:
"I really want to thank you for your help with Julien's sleep training! Julien is 6 months now and he is a very good sleeper....a lot because of the sleep training. He sleeps until 6:30-7:00 every morning and takes very good naps. I am so happy to have been able, because of your advice, to extend his naps. He still often wake up after 40 minutes but falls back asleep within 5 minutes. Unlike my 2 other sons, he likes to be in his bed awake... maintly, because I teach him to fall asleep by himself without any props. Often, I don't realized in the morning that he is awake... I just see him on the baby monitor looking around!!! I also know when I put him in his bed around 12h00 that I have a good 2h00... which is fantastic!!!!
Your advice was so precious. You also gave me confidence that I was doing the right thing... and this was very important for me. I have now a confortable routine with Julien but I am also very flexible with this routine. He was sick at the beginning of October and I had to give him milk during the night (he was so congested...) but as soon as he got better... I did some sleep training and he was again sleeping through the night within 2 nights!!!! I am a happy, rested and confident mother... a big thanks to you!!!!"
This is what I hear the most often from my clients, and what makes me so happy as a sleep consultant and parenting coach: the ability to give parents confidence.
| Posted by Cheeky Chops at 5:40PM |
|
|
|
|
Wednesday, June 15, 2011
Filed under: Baby Sleep, Sleep Training, Testimonials
I'm starting a new feature on the blog here to regularly showcase some client sleep stories. I've had the privilege to work with over 1,000 families in my years as a sleep coach and have heard many touching stories about how lives were changed by everyone in the family getting more sleep.
This first story is from a client who had twins, which is always quite a bit harder on the parents (as you can expect)! As you know from my earlier post, newborns can be taught sleep skills right away. "Sleep training" is more about breaking sleep crutches and re-instating a routine and sleep schedules, though you can start a routine and sleep schedule at any age. In this case, I was able to help the mom help her 8-week old twins learn to sleep for longer periods of time.
On Life Before Sleep
"Life before sleep training was exhausting. My twins were 8 weeks old and rarely slept for more than 3 hours at a time. We had officially gone through all the family we could recruit for help. We bought a couple books, but they just seemed to leave me with more questions than answers. One of them had some stats that scared me....
Time frames that twins started to rest for 5 consecutive hours:
7% less than 10 weeks
22% 10 to 12 weeks
41% 3 to 6 months
19% 6 months to 1 year
7% more than 1 year
At that point, I decided I wasn't going to magically beat the odds. I needed help."
On Sleep Training and Life With Sleep
"A friend reccomended Dawnn to me. The first week involved quite a bit of crying. My husband questioned my efforts a couple times wondering if this was really a good idea. Although there was very little peace in the house before, it seemed even less at the start of the sleep training process. But Dawn had said it would get worse before it got better, so I was prepared for some resistance.
I'm happy to report that it didn't take long for my husband to change his tune. After 1 week, the girls were noticably easier to manage (day and night!). After 2 weeks my house was running like a well oiled machine. It wasn't long before they were both sleeping through the night. At 3 months of age, my twins go to bed at 7pm, have a quick dream feed at 10:30pm, and sleep right through to 7am. Not only have we beaten the odds, we stomped on that 5 hour barrier.
With a full nights sleep, I'm a happier, better mother!"
---
It was great to be able to help this family get to sleep at this age - the babies were growing and developing well and just transitioning into a different developmental stage of sleep. It's a great time to set up those routines and schedules - to respond to your tired crying baby by teaching them how to sleep!
| Posted by Cheeky Chops at 9:30PM |
|
|
|
|
Tuesday, May 24, 2011
Filed under: Baby Sleep, Dawnn's News
Last week, I did a guest interview on CBC's "On The Coast" program, The Parent Project. The topic at hand was How To Get Your Child To Sleep.
The segment takes us into a real-life and common scenario where a typically good sleeper hits a regression where bedtime becomes difficult and there can be difficult wake-ups during the night as well. There's a recording of the child begging to sleep with Mommy during the night, which is never a fun situation to be facing.
In this situation, the child is 2.5years old and has just suffered some ear infections, possibly leading to this regression. As you hear when I come on at about the 5 minute mark, share that you can't change the fact that they're waking in the night, you never want to change something, but what you can do is change their expectations of what you'll do through the night.
Listen to the interview here.
| Posted by Cheeky Chops at 7:59PM |
|
|
|
|
