PDA

View Full Version : The Sleep Lady- Success Story



colleenfs
01-12-2005, 03:40 PM
Julia has been a terrible sleeper since birth. We've tried everything to get her to sleep better; I've read every sleep book out there; and no one in the house was getting a good night's sleep. (We refused to let her come into our bed.) In November, it had gotten to the point that one of us often had to sleep on an air mattress in her room, just to keep her in calm and make her stay in bed. I still think that a lot of her sleep problems were separation-based.

Finally, we called the Sleep Lady, Kim West. She is a licensed social worker who specializes in children's sleep issues out of Baltimore. http://www.sleeplady.com/ Kim works with out of state clients over the phone to develop a step by step sleep plan. She checks in with parents every few days and coaches us along to ensure that we don't give up or give in too soon. She is not there to ridicule you for past mistakes, but she will help you to deal with the problem at hand and constructively come up with a solution. The process is slow, but it works.

We started working with Kim in early December, and over the course of the month, we saw real progress. Julia has been sleeping through the night and staying in bed in the morning pretty consistently since Christmas Eve. Kim favors a gradual, loving, compassionate approach - no crying, threatening, cajoling, or yelling at the child. It does take time, but it is worth it.

If anyone would like more details, please let me know. If any of you are at your wits end with a child who does not sleep well, I recommend Kim's approach. It is nothing new or earth-shattering (I had seen this approach in several sleep books) but since she checks on you, she keeps you accountable and doesn't let you quit. (Plus, we paid for her service, so we didn't want to waste our money. ) She also just published a new book, which may be helpful too. http://www.sleeplady.com/resource_books.htm

Anyway, just wanted to let you know that we finally have a good sleeper! (And just in time, before the new baby arrives...)

~Colleen
Mama to Julia 1-10-02
Jumping Bean due 7-23-05!
http://lilypie.com/baby4/020110/3/4/0/-5/.png

http://lilypie.com/days/050723/0/25/1/+10/.png

damonlesli
01-30-2005, 08:08 AM
Hi Colleen!

Thank you for your information regarding the Sleep Lady. My son is 6 months old and goes down for the night like a champ but wakes every morning at 3:30am. It is a nightmare to try to get him back to sleep. He usually goes back down around 6am. My husband and I just recently book her new book and have been trying her techniques. We are currently on night 3 of the Sleep Lady Shuffle. However, it seems every night is worse than the previous night. So, we have been thinking about consulting Kim. How long did it take before you were able to work with her? Does she have a long waiting list? How long did you work with her? Any information is helpful.

We are at are wits end. I know he has a good stretch of sleep from 7pm - 3:30am but we are doing the dream feed at 10pm. I work from home in the eveings until 1:30am so by the time I am done working, it is time for little guy to get up and "play".

Thanks,
Lesli
Brayden's mom 7-28-04

ajrivers
08-02-2005, 03:16 PM
Would you mind providing a quick description of her method? I checked the website and it doesn't really say what the "shuffle" entails and I'm overwhelmed with the different theories that are out there.

We have a 5.5 week old that wakes up within 5 minutes of being put down in his bassinet so ends up sleeping on me or the swing. It's ok for now, but once I head back to work I'd like to see if we can get him headed towards fewer night wakings and sleeping in his crib.

Thanks. Amy