When should you hire a certified pediatric sleep consultant?

If you have a baby or toddler who is having sleep challenges, the chances are good that you've tried finding a way (or many ways) to help your child sleep better. Maybe you read a book, called a family member, talked to a friend, discussed it with your child’s doctor or looked into working with a certified pediatric sleep consultant.

I've talked to so many exhausted parents who’ve said that they were thinking about calling me for quite some time, but were hoping that things might get better on their own. Some have even thought that it might be too early or too late to contact me. One of the questions I'm often asked is, when is the right time to make changes to a child’s sleeping habits?

In summary, it is never too early to start. In more detail, the ideal ages are between 4 months and 14 months. By deciding to work with a pediatric sleep consultant, you’re ensuring your child develops healthy sleep habits. At these ages, children quickly learn independent sleep skills without too much of a struggle. They are young enough that they haven’t developed many hard-to-break habits. They haven’t stepped into the stage of the temperamental toddler, and are past the newborn phase - allowing them to sustain longer stretches of sleep.

If you are the parent of a child older than 14 months with sleeping challenges, do not worry! I work with this age group often, and it is still possible to teach them independent sleeping skills. It might just take longer and require a slower process (think of their journey sleeping soundly more like a long distance race).

If you have a newborn, their ability to sleep for long periods of time is still maturing; however, there are things you can do to affect healthy sleep habits. It is a different process, but it will make a big difference once baby is ready to start sleeping longer.

In most cases, children’s sleep challenges do not get better on their own until the child is around five or six years old. That is a VERY LONG TIME to have a sleep-deprived family.

If you have a little one, at any age, that isn’t sleeping well, don’t keep waiting for it to get better on its own. There is help! I believe every family deserves to be happy, healthy and well rested.

Contact me at thesleepagency@gmail.com for a free 15 minute consultation. I have several different programs to fit your family’s needs.