Families are constantly searching for knowledgeable professionals who can help them understand why their baby or toddler isn’t sleeping and, more importantly, what to do about it.
This comprehensive two-day training will give you the knowledge and practical tools to confidently help families establish healthy sleep habits from the newborn period through age 4.
Whether you are a Newborn Care Specialist, Postpartum Doula, nanny, parent educator, or other newborn professional, this class will help you add valuable sleep-support skills to the services you already provide.
What You Will Learn
• We’ll go beyond simply teaching sleep-training methods. You’ll learn how to think like a sleep consultant—assessing the whole picture before recommending a plan.
• Topics include:
• The science of infant sleep, circadian rhythm and melatonin
• Newborn sleep foundations from birth to 4 months
• Wake windows and recognizing individual sleep cues
• Creating healthy day and nighttime routines
• Sleep environment, light, temperature, sound and motion
• Sleep associations—how they develop and how to change them
• Helping newborns develop independent sleep skills through responsive care
• Feeding, calories and their relationship to nighttime sleep
• Pacifier dependence and other common sleep challenges
• Choosing a sleep approach based on the child's age, temperament and family preferences
• Gentle/no-cry approaches
• Gradual methods and interval checks
• Cry-based methods and appropriate monitoring
• Night wakings and early-morning waking
• Nap problems and nap training
• Sleep regressions and developmental milestones
• Teething, illness, travel and other temporary disruptions
• Co-sleeping and transitioning to independent sleep
• Toddler sleep challenges
• Daycare and changing schedules
• Daylight Saving Time
• What to do when sleep training isn't working—and how to determine why
• Client and Consultant Evaluation forms included
More Than a Collection of Sleep Methods
A good sleep consultant doesn't walk into every home with the same solution.
You will learn how to review a family's questionnaire, determine what the parents actually want to accomplish, identify potential obstacles before beginning, and decide which approach may be appropriate for that particular child and family.
We will work through real-life situations so you can learn how to take the information you've been taught and apply it to an actual family.
You'll Leave With Practical Tools You Can Use
The course includes resources designed to help you move from learning about sleep to actually working with families, including assessment tools, quick-reference guides, troubleshooting strategies and step-by-step sleep-consulting guidance.
You'll learn how to answer the question every sleep professional eventually hears:
“We've tried everything. Why isn't my baby sleeping?”
Instead of guessing, you'll know where to start looking.
