Let's talk about SLEEP! Oh my gosh, I adore this topic. I have mentioned a few times that before I became a mom sleep was one of my top concerns.
I wanted to read, research and prepare as much as I could to tackle this topic. I knew it was going to be hard. Now on the second go I've realized you don't have to learn it all and figure it out on your own.
With my first I did a loose form of sleep training - at the time I thought we were pretty good with it but now I'm not so sure what we did. HA! Hindsight is 20/20.
Fast forward to 4 months postpartum with my second and I am in the weeds BAD. We hit the 4 month sleep regression, we were waking every 2 hours, co-sleeping on and off for weeks (which was lovely in some moments and awful in others). But overall it was not my ideal sleep situation goal. I knew for my own mental health it was time to explore a sleep consultant. (also my best friend looking at me one day and saying "just do it, just bite the bullet & hire them).
To start, I understand the hesitation around hiring someone for this. There are lots of free and wonderful resources + I really do think in motherhood it can feel like you've failed when you need to get help. Deep down I knew it was time we seek out some support.
Enter: Baby's Best Sleep. I've followed Amanda and her team for a few years now - she has amazing resources on her page & her content on sleep and mom-ing in general is relatable and awesome.
Firstly though, I am not here to convince you of anything. Sleep situations are a personal choice. I have seen friends do this all kinds of ways. Everything sleep IMO should be what works for your family. This post is simply for those who'd like to know what a sleep consultant is all about & where I found the most value.
Baby's Best Sleep (BBS) was founded by Amanda Jewson. She's got two women on her team - we worked with Karen. If you'd like to learn more about their team & process - check out their website here. If you want to know about sleep - they are the experts! When you work with their team - it's akin to having a sleep guru accessible to you for 2 weeks straight. I personally loved when Karen and I would touch base every few days and we'd talk about how sleep was going or questions and concerns I had. One week in I had some difficulties with worrying about his hunger cry versus frustration cry - we talked through how to manage that and what was an appropriate number of night feeds for his age and weight. That personal support is where I found immense value!
I also want to be transparent that yes, sleep consultants are in investment. I feel very grateful to have access to this resource! Here's a list of a few other helpful things I found in this process.
THE SLEEP PLAN. It's personalized for you after you fill out a detailed survey. Every mom and baby is really unique so I felt immense value in someone knowing our sleep situation and then giving me a detailed document for how we can achieve success.
THE ORGANIZATION. From the moment I signed on for a discovery call the whole process was seamless. I very much appreciated the clear reminders & calendar invites for all the check-ins. Karen provide me with a sleep tracker that allowed us to easily track day and night sleep for our little one.
THE ONE-TO-ONE PERSONAL SUPPORT - There are no bad questions, no judgements & lots of knowledge nuggets. I felt supported and in control of all the decisions. It wasn't about someone telling me what to do. I felt I was learning about baby's sleep and how I can support my children to have healthy sleep habits. Also, there's a lot of noise out there about sleep and I see strong value in having one experts thoughtful advice to cut through the noise.
THE ACCOUNTABILITY- Honestly I think the reason sleep training was so hard with my first was because I didn't have someone I had to check-in with. It sounds kind of wild but knowing I invested in this service and was accountable to report on it ... really pushed me to stick to the plan. And when I started to have rougher nights, I knew someone was there to help me get back to it. Sometimes if I feel I've failed I altogether give up....
THE RESOURCES - Beyond the personal text support, the check-ins, and follow-ups there are some incredible resources shared. I also have to say there's so much sleep related info out there - sometimes it can be very confusing for new moms. DO THIS, BUT NOT THAT! The advice is conflicting! Working with a person who knows you & your baby.... is really, really wonderful.
So yeah, some great stuff happened for me working with Karen. Niles is sleeping through the night (occasionally at almost 6 months he'll sometimes wake to do a 4am feed). He self soothes like a dream. Most importantly though, I feel really confident with my baby's sleep now. I'm grateful to Karen & the BBS team for their resources and support. This whole process was a big reminder that getting help in motherhood doesn't mean you've failed - it takes a village!