A Holistic Sleep Coach is someone who has completed training in a number of areas pertaining to sleep, health & wellness.  

This includes training in child development, parenting, attachment, breastfeeding, nutrition, allergy, mental health, biology, temperament, sensory, as well as social and cultural factors…and more! 

A Holistic Sleep Coach takes a comprehensive, multi-factorial approach, to identifying the underlying root cause (and in most cases causes) of your sleep problem(s). 

Its not about a quick fix, its about finding a lasting solution.

There are many misconceptions about holistic health. 

What it really comes down to is approach. A holistic health approach involves treating the whole person. It is person-centered (i.e. individualized), and evidence-based (which is science talk for approaches that are supported by research). 

The purpose of a holistic approach is to look past the symptom(s), to find and correct the root cause of the problem – all while improving overall health and wellness. 

There are no quick band-aid solutions here!

The process involves an in depth assessment, sleep diaries, education and collaborative discussion.

With Holistic Sleep Coaching, the goal may be to improve sleep, but after we spend some time working together and discovering the root cause of your challenges, you might just find that the solution will benefit you in other ways as well. 

Its something I say all the time – sleep problems are rarely just about sleep! 

Parenting has evolved a lot over the years, and so has parenting support! With so much information available online, through social media, books, and well-meaning family members or friends, it is hard to know what advice to take.  

When you work with me you gain so much more than just sleep support.  You will gain evidence-based knowledge, so you can make informed decisions around sleep and development. You will gain confidence in your parenting abilities, so that you can troubleshoot future problems independently and with ease. 

Any sleep plan that fails to factor in all of the unique parts that make your child who they are, within the context of you as a parent, and the rest of the family…will likely fall short.

I will help you find the right path for you!

I am much more than a sleep consultant. I am a mom of twin boys, and a Registered Psychiatric Nurse, with years of university education and experience working directly with families in the field of mental health & wellness. Additionally, I hold specialized training as a Certified Infant Sleep Educator, and an Accredited Holistic Sleep Coach.

My educational and employment background are important given there are no regulatory or government bodies within the field of sleep. Whether it be sleep consulting, sleep training, coaching or education.. most of the training programs only consist of a few weeks of training, and have no educational prerequisites.

What this means is that pretty much anyone can call themselves a sleep expert – with little to no training, or experience.

Given how significantly sleep impacts our health, I strongly urge you to research your options!

As a Sleep Educator, I help individuals and families to better understand normal sleep behaviour – everything from sleep patterns, and daily sleep requirements, to frequency of night-time awakenings.

We can’t truly correct sleep challenges until we understand what is normal. Sleep Education basics include learning how to read your child’s behavioural cues, and the importance of attending to your baby/child responsively.

The goal is to help you to develop tools and strategies so you can build on your parenting to sleep skills, all while helping to ensure a strong attachment and optimal brain development.

Often this involves incorporating a number of lifestyle changes to help the whole family get more zzz’s. But don’t worry…I’ll walk you though it!

Sleep training and sleep coaching/education share the common goal for families to feel more rested, but they differ significantly in how they arrive at their goal.

Sleep training is quick and very intense..and unfortunately usually the results tend to be short lived requiring repeat sessions. The whole process involves a lot of crying that most parents find traumatic.

While sleep training was once considered best practice, research is now suggesting that it might be harmful. We now know that babies who are sleep trained are not actually sleeping through the night (because its developmentally impossible to do so). They have just been trained to stop signaling (i.e. crying) for their parents. In effect, they learn that there is no point in crying as their needs will be ignored. Instead, when they wake up, they lay alone in their cribs.

When it comes to babies and young children, we know that intensive periods of crying and neglect can have lasting implications for brain health, development, and attachment.

This is why I take a gentle and holistic approach to sleep. My goal is to find you solutions to get more sleep without sleep training and without compromising normal healthy development, and with minimal crying.