Navigating the Waters
A gentle sleep shaping & coaching program
"Before working with Erica, I would spend HOURS bouncing on the ball attempting to get my 5mo to sleep and sometimes it honestly just felt like I was making him more awake and agitated. After just days of support with Erica, he seems to finally be getting "quality" sleep and much more of it! Almost everyone that comes over to visit seems to notice how much happier and well-rested the little guy is! He is so peaceful during his nighttime routine now it’s almost as if he’s enjoying it and knows I’m helping him get the good sleep he needs. I realize that this will all fall into place with some coaching in a couple months when he’s ready. I feel infinitely better about his sleep (and mine) than I did when I first reached out. Erica is truly a sleep magician". Diana, month 5
featured on MAMA GLOW: Read Erica’s article on Demystifying Newborn Sleep
Part 1: Support & Sleep Shaping for Parents
with babies younger than 6mo
Welcome to Navigating the Waters ~ Gentle Sleep Shaping for children 0-5mo.
With a background in Mental Health and Women's Studies, two decades of Pregnancy, Birth, Postpartum doula support, and new parent group facilitation, I educate new parents around normal infant sleep, wellbeing, and the many layers of new parenthood.
What is Sleep Shaping and why is it important for parents and babies under 6mo?
When your baby is this little, our goal is that they learn to enjoy sleep, and that we have a parent who is more confident and connected to their child. During our time together, you'll learn what’s truly age appropriate for this time (specific to your child's month of age), and you will take with you many tools and tips for weeks and months to come. This knowledge is empowering, and catered to you and your unique baby. Our aim is to keep the baby calm and soothed, and to learn to sleep the amount they need!
I will help you find the confidence to trust your intuition as parents and I will give you the tools to increase your sense of well-being, get through the day with more ease, learn what is truly normal, and set your family up for sleep success.
Based on my training as a gentle sleep coach with a licensed mental health therapist and two IBCLCs, and my experience with hundreds of families, I observe that infants 0-5mo will normally wake in the night, for soothing and feeding (how many times depends on the baby, the environment and all the circumstances).
As gentle sleep coaches, we practice more traditional sleep coaching when babies are 6mo+ as their brain is more developed to handle the weaning of most/some/all night feeds, and to learn to fall asleep and get back to sleep on their own day and night.
During sleep shaping, we can do our best to make small changes little by little but we cannot fix what is not ready to be changed at this extremely young age—- your baby’s unique developmental stage and normal infant behavior all play in a role in what’s occurring sleep wise. This is a challenging time for most parents and my hope is to share respectful and science-based info, and to help you move with more ease day and night, before your baby is more ready to learn more and more independent sleep skills closer to 6mo!
With all this in mind, at this stage, you will receive:
You'll also receive:
Update summer 2020: Please note that I am currently not consulting around this age group (0-5mo clients). Instead I have affordable written, supportive materials for this stage of infant sleep and development. Please send me a note on my contact form, to receive these supportive materials.
With a background in Mental Health and Women's Studies, two decades of Pregnancy, Birth, Postpartum doula support, and new parent group facilitation, I educate new parents around normal infant sleep, wellbeing, and the many layers of new parenthood.
What is Sleep Shaping and why is it important for parents and babies under 6mo?
When your baby is this little, our goal is that they learn to enjoy sleep, and that we have a parent who is more confident and connected to their child. During our time together, you'll learn what’s truly age appropriate for this time (specific to your child's month of age), and you will take with you many tools and tips for weeks and months to come. This knowledge is empowering, and catered to you and your unique baby. Our aim is to keep the baby calm and soothed, and to learn to sleep the amount they need!
I will help you find the confidence to trust your intuition as parents and I will give you the tools to increase your sense of well-being, get through the day with more ease, learn what is truly normal, and set your family up for sleep success.
Based on my training as a gentle sleep coach with a licensed mental health therapist and two IBCLCs, and my experience with hundreds of families, I observe that infants 0-5mo will normally wake in the night, for soothing and feeding (how many times depends on the baby, the environment and all the circumstances).
As gentle sleep coaches, we practice more traditional sleep coaching when babies are 6mo+ as their brain is more developed to handle the weaning of most/some/all night feeds, and to learn to fall asleep and get back to sleep on their own day and night.
During sleep shaping, we can do our best to make small changes little by little but we cannot fix what is not ready to be changed at this extremely young age—- your baby’s unique developmental stage and normal infant behavior all play in a role in what’s occurring sleep wise. This is a challenging time for most parents and my hope is to share respectful and science-based info, and to help you move with more ease day and night, before your baby is more ready to learn more and more independent sleep skills closer to 6mo!
With all this in mind, at this stage, you will receive:
- tips to optimize your baby's daytime sleep and what that looks like for your baby’s age.
- an understanding of why your baby's nighttime sleep is not yet organized.
- tips on how to cope with this challenging time, and how to make slow-paced changes that work for everyone involved.
- insight to help your child adjust to a new sleep space with less sleep associations.
- support in moving from bed sharing to baby’s own bassinet/crib
- an opportunity to normalize the struggle and readjust your expectations.
- tips to soothe your baby back to sleep at night, when they have just recently had a feeding.
- a new understanding of why your child might be waking so often.
- help to kick the nurse-to-sleep association if desired
- a nourishing, predictable and consistent bedtime routine that works for your family.
- instructions on how to practice Drowsy but Awake (at bedtime) when your child is closer to 5mo (we are never expecting this to happen prematurely) and tips for a modified approach to drowsy but awake if your child is ready for that.
- a clear understanding of a non-cry-it-out approach to sleep coaching for when your child is ready for traditional coaching (6mo+)
- a newfound trust in your judgement and instincts instead of comparing your child to another parent's baby.
- inspiration to take care of yourself so that the intense infant stage isn’t as overwhelming.
You'll also receive:
- a sleep guide written for your baby’s unique stage of development
- an in-depth intake and review so that I can meet you wherever you are on your new parent & sleep journey.
- a 60-90 min deep-dive consultation- we’ll cover manageable goals and start looking at strategies and care
- option to schedule additional support calls
- support in maintaining the nursing relationship and breast milk supply if applicable.
Update summer 2020: Please note that I am currently not consulting around this age group (0-5mo clients). Instead I have affordable written, supportive materials for this stage of infant sleep and development. Please send me a note on my contact form, to receive these supportive materials.
featured on ELLIE: Read Erica’s article Everything You Need to Know About Infant Sleep
Part 2: Gentle Sleep Coaching for children 6 months to 5 years old
“Before returning to Erica for coaching support, my 6mo son was starting to wake up every 1-2 hours, only going back to sleep with more nursing. We were both exhausted and frustrated. I knew I did not want to try cry-it-out, but I was also of the mindset that, given his temperament, maybe he wouldn’t be able to fall asleep on his own and/or sleep through the night until he was much older. Working with Erica’s wonderful guidance and her tailored approach, my son learned to fall asleep independently in just a few nights. I was able to coach my son in a way that was comfortable for me and my son in order to get the sleep he and I both desperately needed, and I had Erica’s help each step of the way. She is one of a kind and I highly recommend her!” Diana, month 7
Receive in depth, hand-held, gentle sleep support and coaching for one full month
This unique offering will take you from where you are, to where you need to go, and more. I'm with you every step of the way as you help your child learn new sleep skills. You will absolutely feel an increase in well-being and confidence, and be able to teach your child with ease and patience. I believe in sustainability and that when you take time on things, they last.
Why a month of care? Some things we work on yield quick results, and others take more time. If you are working on only a couple of small sleep goals, I will create a smaller package for you.
You'll receive:
This is a gentle fading-out sleep coaching approach. This is not a cry-it-out approach. Please read more about my training here.
This unique offering will take you from where you are, to where you need to go, and more. I'm with you every step of the way as you help your child learn new sleep skills. You will absolutely feel an increase in well-being and confidence, and be able to teach your child with ease and patience. I believe in sustainability and that when you take time on things, they last.
Why a month of care? Some things we work on yield quick results, and others take more time. If you are working on only a couple of small sleep goals, I will create a smaller package for you.
You'll receive:
- an in-depth intake and individualized look at your goals, so I can meet you where you are in your sleep journey
- a 60 minute initial consult to kick-off our work together and create a plan for your family
- eight 30 minute support calls to arm you with as much support as possible!
- regular written communication on our shared sleep log, in order to: evaluate progress, provide insight and tips, suggest day-by-day adjustments, and navigate all situations as they arise.
- a personalized look at bedtime routine, bedtime coaching, night wakings, early rising, and nap coaching.
- support in maintaining the nursing relationship and breast milk supply if applicable.
- support in weaning the feeds of your choosing.
- a review of your child's temperament as it pertains to healthy sleep habits and sleep space review.
- a go-to expert for all things new parenthood, whenever you need perspective
- a compassionate gentle sleep coach to keep you moving forward, day by day
This is a gentle fading-out sleep coaching approach. This is not a cry-it-out approach. Please read more about my training here.
featured on AfterThird: Read Erica’s personal story Thriving as a Single Parent
Before working with Erica, I had a lot of anxiety around my son’s sleep habits and schedule. We were looking to get our 2.5yr old son on a more consistent nap schedule and nighttime routine, and what we loved most about working with Erica was her flexible and low-stress approach. Erica was always really kind and encouraging, keeping our adjustments manageable and reminding us that sleep coaching tends not to be linear.” Jeannette
"Erica helped me navigate the emotional changes from leaving a co-sleeping relationship and helped us slowly integrate a new bedtime routine. Within a few weeks, we established a REAL nighttime routine for my youngest (not just lumping him in with the routine for my older two) and he was sleeping, through the night, in his own space." Jessica
“Our son wasn’t sleeping terribly but we knew it could be better. Gentle coaching is 100% the reason our son now puts himself to sleep and sleeps through the night. Erica’s kindness and calming guidance really helped us feel confident in what we were doing everyday. We can’t thank Erica enough.” Denise
"Erica is a thought leader for all things birth related. Her expertise goes back almost 2 decades. She not only helped my child get to bed...she helped me uncover the parent I wanted to be." Jill
"Erica helped me navigate the emotional changes from leaving a co-sleeping relationship and helped us slowly integrate a new bedtime routine. Within a few weeks, we established a REAL nighttime routine for my youngest (not just lumping him in with the routine for my older two) and he was sleeping, through the night, in his own space." Jessica
“Our son wasn’t sleeping terribly but we knew it could be better. Gentle coaching is 100% the reason our son now puts himself to sleep and sleeps through the night. Erica’s kindness and calming guidance really helped us feel confident in what we were doing everyday. We can’t thank Erica enough.” Denise
"Erica is a thought leader for all things birth related. Her expertise goes back almost 2 decades. She not only helped my child get to bed...she helped me uncover the parent I wanted to be." Jill
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