Meet the Baby Sleep Geek!!

4/7/2014

My first son had many sleepless nights (as in 0 hours of sleep) that left me feeling crazy (literally); I know I'm not alone! I'm a big believer that as parent we have to do whats best for our baby and ourselves and in every family and with every baby that's different. I personally know that I am a much better mom and person when I'm feeling my best (or close to it), which includes at least a few good hours of sleep :-).

That's why I am SO excited to introduce you to The Baby Sleep Geek; I only wish I met her sooner! As a sleep enthusiast, the mission of the Baby Sleep Geek is help every family get the sleep they need to be happy, healthy, and well rested. I love it! Jessica Begley, the founder of The Baby Sleep Geek is a local Maine mom of 2. She also holds a Master's Degree in Public Health, is a Certified Lactation Counselor, is a Child Birth and Health Educator with over 10 years of experience, and is the only Family Sleep Institute Child Sleep Consultant in all of northern New England (NH, ME, VT).

As a child Sleep Consultant, Jessica creates a comprehensive plan that is unique to your family's needs, your parenting philosophy, and your child's temperament. It's more than sleep training. In fact, when you implement her plan your baby will need less sleep training than if you went about it on your own because she sets your child up for success from the start. It's not a quick fix, but creating healthy sleep for life. Learn more about Jessica and the offerings of The Baby Sleep Geek on her Facebook Page.

This is Jessica, Nathaniel (5 yrs- her spirited sleeper and the inspiration for The Baby Sleep Geek), Ana (16 months- her super start sleeper) and her husband Brendan

I am SO excited about what we have in store for you! I'm thrilled that Jessica had offered to do a virtual Q&A with Mainely Mama readers. Here's how it will work:

"like" The Baby Sleep Geek's page on Facebook
Leave a comment on this blog post with any sleep related question you have about a child (infant through toddlerhood).
If you'd prefer to be anonymous you can also submit your question via email through my contact form, and start with Question for The Baby Sleep Geek.
We'll be taking question submissions through April 14th.
Jessica will be back on here with us in about 2 week to tackle as many of your questions as she can. Note that your name will NOT be included in response. Also note that we likely won't be about to tackle every question.

All you sleep deprived moms and dads or expecting parents out there, get your questions ready! Thanks for stopping by! I look forward to having Jessica back with us in a couple weeks, and can't wait to hear what she has to say!

Best,

Rebecca

18 Comments

About Rebecca

I'm Rebecca, a Maine mom of three energetic young boys and wife of a lobsterman, living in my favorite place, the coast of Maine. You'll find me here talking about my parenting journey, mom style, recipes, running and exercise, travel, stories from our life in Maine and so much more! Most days I'm just figuring it out as I go - Thanks so much for stopping by!

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Eliza

4/7/2014 08:16:43 pm

Hi Jessica and Rebecca!

My five month old is most definitely a spirited sleeper! From day one he has fought sleep. As a very newborn, he could only sleep on me. Then bouncing on me or my husband in the ergo. He remains swaddled and still sleeping in his rock and play type chair (macleran foldable reclined chair) which sits in the cosleeper next to the bed. He wakes usually 2-3 times a night still and still likes to nurse. He fights falling asleep so hard, we still have to do a lot of cajoling to get him there. I know he's little but are we creating habits that will be detrimental later? He desperately needs sleep and at this point we will do whatever works to get him there but am curious if you think we should be handling sleep differently? I would love it if we could get to once a night wake ups (or.... none?:gasp!) Thank you!

Ann

4/9/2014 01:54:44 am

I'd love to get Jessica's thoughts on how to determine the right bedtime for a baby. Our daughter is 2 months old and if we put her down around 9-9:30 PM (after bath and nursing), she's sometimes up 45 minutes later wanting to nurse again, then goes down for good between 10:30 - 11:30 PM. She's sleeping through the night so I'm very lucky on that front, but we'd love to shift the bedtime earlier for our own sanity. Any tips? Thanks!

Sarah

4/9/2014 03:52:58 am

Hi Jessica,
I've been nursing my baby to sleep for months but I'd like to have someone else be able to put her down. How do I stop without doing full cry it out?

Cassandra Manson

4/9/2014 04:05:17 am

As I'm sure many others are wondering, what is the best way to help a baby sleep without nursing? My 7 month old son goes down in his crib on his own with very little issues, but then he wakes up 3 hours later and the only way I can get him back to sleep is nursing him, which basically turns into nursing all night and very little sleep for everyone involved! Thank you!

Zoe

4/9/2014 04:16:23 am

Hi Jessica! My 4 month old daughter slept through the night (7pm-4am) up until last week. Now she is back to getting up every 2-3 hours. She has been napping well during the day, and going to sleep on her own (very drowsy after nursing/rocking). How can I get her to sleep through the night again? I'm back to work now and need my sleep! Thank you!

4/9/2014 06:08:12 am

Hi Jessica,

My 22 month old son wakes most nights. For a while I was so tired, I brought him into bed with my husband and me. We have been able to break that habit and he sleeps in his crib. I go into his room and talk to him. We are down to 5 minutes or less of interaction, but I'd love him to be able to fall back asleep without my aid. He uses a pacifier and rubs his ears for self-soothing, and has a white noise machine. Any tips are so appreciated! Thank you!

Jodi George

4/9/2014 08:22:36 am

Hi Jessica,

My 5 month old has been sleeping through the night for the past month, 7:30ish to 6am-ish. He is pretty easy to put down, good at falling asleep on his own. Our problem? Naps!!! He is so inconsistent, mostly not taking them, or taking a very short one...30 minutes. I gave it my all this past weekend and got his room pretty dark, put his sound machine on, gave him a bottle, and rocked him till drowsy. The second he goes down, he screams. We did this for 20 minutes with no avail. Finally I let him cry and just rubbed his head and it took about 10 more minutes, but he did fall asleep. Only to wake 20 minutes later. I know he is tired, he gets cranky, rubs his eyes, etc. We end up going out and running errands because he always sleeps on the move. How can we get him to nap without having to leave the house every time? Another note, he goes to a small in home daycare (two other babies there), so I do not have much if an opportunity to get him on a napping schedule. Thanks!!

Johanna

4/27/2014 03:08:52 pm

I have the exact same problem. 5 month old, won't nap, screams if I put him in his crib, sleeps 10 hours at night no fuss. He naps in a swing at daycare 2-3 times a day, but won't nap on the weekends....

Lindsey

4/13/2014 12:22:27 am

My son is 29 months and has alsways been a "good" sleeper and only wakes when sick or teething. Lately he has been crying at 2am almost on the dot. As soon as he hears the floor creak(aka us walking) he stops. We go and talk to him but he is wide awake. We end up letting him fuss but it stinks hearing him say mommy and daddy! Any advice? Will he be "scarred" for us letting him cry? This also makes us nervous to ever transition to a bed!

Tyler McGinley

4/14/2014 12:36:59 am

Curious about swaddling and when we should stop? Our 2 month old will only sleep (both at night and naps) swaddled, and just wondering if there is a time that we should wean? Thanks so much!

Bre lynch

4/14/2014 02:05:20 am

Excited to learn about you! We have a 20 month old who was never a good sleeper. We are finally at a pretty good place for bedtime (up once per night for only a few minutes) and naps. I'm due with our second next month and would love to know what the best way to start him sleeping when we bring him home from the hospital? Crib, rocker, cosleeper?

4/17/2014 04:21:24 am

Hello! A friend just recommended that I check out your page. I have a baby boy who is 16 weeks old. He will be 4 months old next week. At around 2 months of age, he began sleeping for 8 hours, sometimes 9 hours straight and I thought I was soo lucky that he slept so well and for so long! But, about 2 weeks ago, he began waking up twice, sometimes 3 or 4 times a night. Last night wasn't as bad, but it was not great! He fell asleep at 8, woke at midnight, ate, fell back asleep until 4:30. I tried giving him the pacifier at 4:30 but it kept falling out and he was back awake every several minutes. I have heard/read that by 4 months of age, babies should not need a nighttime feeding. So, I am worried that by me nursing him, I am setting him up for bad sleep habits. I also just stopped swaddling his arms 2 nights ago, thinking he would be better able to self sooth himself back to sleep...not happening yet! My questions are 1. How do I know if he needs to eat or just needs help falling back to sleep? 2. Why this sudden regression in length of sleep? 3. Should I feed him each time he wakes or is the pacifier ok? Thank you!!

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4/18/2016 08:13:55 am

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