Beanstalk Sleep Consulting

The end of Daylight Savings Time is right around the corner! On November 7th, the clocks will fall behind 1 hour - there are a few ways you can prepare:

A. Start making changes early (7-10 days before DST ends) to your child's schedule so they are gradually going to bed later on Saturday night (best for 4months+, nappers, & sensative sleepers)

B. Make a bigger shift on Saturday and put your child to bed ~30-60 mins later than usual (best for older kiddos & flexible sleepers)

C. Do nothing! Make the adjustment on Sunday and into the following week

Questions? Drop them in the comments!

Is your little one struggling to fall asleep at bedtime? Waking throughout the night or too early for the day? Their bedtime wake window might need a little tweaking!

Age-appropriate wake windows tend to sync best with our biological sleep clocks, allow for the right amount of sleep pressure to build & align with healthy sleep hormone production.

Consistency (nap schedules, routines) is important but flexibility when it comes to bedtime timing is key!

Hi, sleep friends! 👋

It's been a busy year and I'm especially grateful for having the opportunity to work with many of your families and kiddos! I am booked through the end of 2020 and will not be accepting new clients until 2021 but would be happy to provide amazing referrals - just ask!

In the meantime, I'll be working on content for next year and brainstorming new ways that I can help support families virtually on both sleep and behavior:
🌟 What are you looking for (sleep training, potty readiness, sleep regressions/transitions, bedtime battles, age-appropriate scheduling, etc)?
🌟 Whats the best way to delver this information to you (social media posts, newsletter, FB live, workshops, e-guides, etc)?

Would love your feedback & suggestions! 💕

Daylight savings time ends THIS weekend ⏰! Have you started to prepare ☕️? There are a few approaches you can take this week- read here:

Prepping For Daylight Savings Time — Beanstalk Sleep Consulting Some might welcome Daylight Savings Time coming to an end - an extra hour of sleep! What a treat! But for those of us with little ones who wake at their “usual” time, it could mean a very early start to the day. Daylight savings time will end this Sunday and our clocks will “fall behind” one...

We finally made it back to one of our favorite places - the library! I couldn’t resist the “bedtime stories” aisle and found some great reads! What makes an awesome bedtime book? I avoid titles that focus on monsters/nighttime scaries, fears of the dark, and bedtime stressors and aim for ones that have healthy sleep messages.

Here’s a few favorites:
📚 Yawning Yoga - a series of step-by-step yoga poses and breathing techniques that are perfect for winding down before bed! 🧘🏽‍♀️
📚 How to Put Your Parents to Bed - this is a funny story of swapping roles and kids dealing with stall tactics and bedtime antics instead of the parents. In the end, everyone is exhausted. Sounds familiar, huh? 😉
📚 Time for Bed, Sleepyhead - one of my favs! This book uses storytelling techniques to tire your child’s imagination in order to help them settle down and fall asleep. Super effective in explaining the importance of sleep and how to prep our bodies at bedtime! 🛌
📚 It’s Time to Sleep, My Love - I can’t pass up a good Nancy Tillman book, they are all super sweet and calming! 🤍
📚 How Do You Go to Sleep? This book reinforces a solid bedtime routine and is a great tool when you are working on sleep behavior! 💤

This is important - please take a moment to read, learn, and teach. Let me know if you’d like additional resources or feel free to post your own in the comments!

Talking to Children About Racial Bias ​Parents may better face today's challenges with an understanding of how racial bias works in children, as well as strategies to help them deal with and react to racial differences.

Happy Friday! Embrace your inner toddler a little bit this weekend! 😉

Yes! 🙌🏻

Too often, I see children reprimanded when they're not able to control their behaviours and emotions. They’re expected to remain calm and happy, not get upset, not display anger, and quickly calm themselves down if they do get angry or upset. If they can’t do this, they may be referred to me for "self-regulation difficulties". ⠀
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Here's the thing. Self-regulation is a developmental process. Just as we wouldn’t expect a child to run before they can walk, we cannot expect children to self-regulate until they’ve experienced co-regulation time and time again. And unless a child has had it modelled enough, and their brain has developed enough, they will not achieve regulation on their own.⠀
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Have a think - when was the last time you heard a 3 year old say “I’m so angry my sister hit me! I need to calm down. I’m just going to take myself to the kitchen for a drink of water and do some deep breaths”.⠀
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Co-regulation begins from birth. When babies are unsettled and we cuddle them, rock them, feed them - we are helping them to regulate.⠀
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When toddlers are angry that they can't have the toy they want, and we empathise with them, sit with them, get them a drink - we are helping them to regulate.⠀
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When preschoolers are upset because they're not ready to leave their playdate, and we listen and help them take deep breaths - we are helping them to regulate. ⠀
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Self-regulation only BEGINS to emerge around 4-5 years. And whilst some 4-5 year olds may be able to regulate themselves, others may not be able to. Both are within the typical range of development. ⠀
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True self-regulation is not fully established until our mid-twenties. Even then, we often turn to others to help us feel better when we are feeling low. And we are often quite happy to help other adults feel better when they're feeling low, however when children need our help, we may be reluctant to give it, perhaps in fear that we will stunt their emotional resilience (amongst many other understandable but unfounded fears).⠀
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When we ask a child to regulate themselves before they're ready, we risk shaming them, affecting their self-esteem, and affecting their relationship with us. Co-regulation needs to come first.

You may not be able to help your child regulate 100% of the time, and that’s okay. Just know that they may not be ready to do it themselves.

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EXCITING ANNOUNCEMENT!

Hello, friends & Beanstalk followers! As a Mom of two littles, I've learned that parenting can be a really tough gig but we don’t need to see ourselves in crisis when seeking answers - sometimes we just need a few tools and supportive guidance to get things back on track. If you are finding yourself in a similar position, I'm here to help!

As you may know, I'm currently studying to become a Child Behavior Specialist through The Early Years Inc. program. With graduation approaching and completion of the program's final requirements, I am looking to offer two FREE parenting consultations to families who are looking for tools & support to address common behavioral issues, such as:
- Understanding developmentally-appropriate behavior at your child's age
- Setting rules & boundaries without yelling
- Promoting positive parenting tools that invite cooperation from your little ones
- Picky eating & potty readiness
- Other specific behaviors that might be impacting unity within your household (hitting, difficulty sharing, tantrums, & conflicts around sleep, just to name a few!)

If you (or someone you know!) are interested in working together, please email me at [email protected] and provide the following information:
1) Your full name, phone number, and email address
2) The name(s) and age(s) of children we will be helping
3) Please list the issues you would like to discuss

Once selected for a one-hour session (virtual only, given the current situation we are facing), you'll receive an intake questionnaire to be completed prior to our call. After our meeting, I'll provide a detailed recap of our session and the tools we've discussed so that you can start working toward positive changes with your children.

Looking forward to hearing from you! As always, it's a privilege to work with you and your children - thank you!

Check out the newest blog post on navigating sleep while quarantined at home:

Helping Your Child During COVID-19 — Beanstalk Sleep Consulting Have you noticed a change or “regression” in your child’s sleep during this pandemic while quarantined? Perhaps your own sleep is suffering as well! These are challenging times and with that comes stress, anxiety, and uncertainty which can impact our sleep. Here are a few common challenges I.....

We are excited to a part of this effort to support our frontline workers!

Sleep support is being offered virtually so there is no need to be local, but there are plenty of amazing FSI grads world-wide who are participating if you are looking for someone in your area!

Giving Back - Family Sleep Institute [cs_content_seo]Giving Back to Our CommunitiesIn a worldwide effort to support the healthcare workers on the frontlines and those families most affected during this COVID-19 pandemic, many of our incredible graduates are offering services at reduced or no cost. Here is a list of graduates who have v...