A Client Story: Moving Away from Rocking to Sleep
I’m going to do something a bit different in this post and share a client story through my own words and my clients.
When E reached out to me, she was tired, anxious, and at a loss for how to improve their sleep situation. Her 2-year-old daughter, S, needed to be both bounced and rocked to sleep, and it had become physically exhausting, stressful, and unsustainable. S also had a bedtime that kept creeping later and later, and E was unsure how to support a healthy circadian rhythm for S. They’d gone as far as seeing a sleep medicine physician who had mostly offered them melatonin and not much else. It didn’t feel like the answer to E.
As I do with all my clients, our solutions weren’t just about the sleep behaviors. We explored sensory needs, emotion coaching, sleep hygiene, new sleep tools, and a gentle, gradual path away from motion to sleep. Along side all of that was education, validation, accountability, and the ability to adjust our plan when life threw in some bumps in the road. As it happens, the path to better sleep wasn’t a straightforward one, but we got there. It was beautiful to see E’s confidence grow and anxiety reduce over the time we worked together.
Here’s what E had to say about our work together.
Our family struggled with sleep for the first two years of my daughter's life. She had trouble falling asleep without assistance, trouble staying asleep, trouble napping - you name it. I was perpetually anxious, stressed, and exhausted. I read so many sleep books and blogs and not only did nothing really help, but each failed attempt at improving sleep (and especially, getting my daughter to fall asleep on her own, without being rocked) left me feeling more anxious and more like a failure. All of these experts seemed so certain that I should have long ago been able to pop my daughter in her crib, leave the room and not need to return to her until morning. But none of their methodologies worked to help us get to this magical place of sleep independence. I knew I needed some real, individualized help but was really skeptical that I would be able to find anyone whose methods were going to be truly gentle and compassionate and would also work. Finally - mercifully - I stumbled upon Kim's website, and for the first time I felt hopeful that this magical unicorn of a sleep consultant existed.
I am so glad I reached out. I can't recommend Kim highly enough for anyone who finds themselves in need of knowledge and support in improving sleep for their families. In working with Kim I never felt judged or criticized, I only felt supported and encouraged, and having the guidance of such a knowledgeable expert gave me so much more confidence in navigating the transitions we needed to make. With Kim's help my daughter's ability to fall asleep unassisted improved dramatically. We are enjoying much more peaceful nights, and I am experiencing so much less anxiety about sleep - and really about parenting in general. My sincere hope for any other parents who are struggling with nighttime parenting is that they find someone like Kim to offer the caring support she offered to our family. Kim, we cannot thank you enough.
If this sounds like the type of support you need, reach out! Schedule a free, family sleep intro conversation and let’s talk about how I can help!