Winter Slumber

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Winter Slumber provides advice, support, and behavior modification methods to help families teach their child the skill of independent sleep.

We choose techniques that each family is most comfortable with and provide a detailed plan of implementation. Hi, I’m Karen Winter, a Certified Pediatric Sleep Consultant specializing in toddlers and preschoolers (ages 2-7). I help families navigate sleep challenges with confidence, clarity, and a personalized approach that meets both parent and child where they are. With over 20 years of experience working with children, my background includes roles as a 4K teacher, nanny, autism line therapist, and in-home daycare provider—giving me deep insight into child development, behavior, and emotional needs. But most importantly, I’m a mom who has walked the exhausting path of sleepless nights and knows firsthand how overwhelming it can feel when nothing seems to work. That’s why I created Winter Slumber—to provide parents of toddlers and preschoolers with practical, customized sleep support that actually fits their family’s needs. I don’t believe in a one-size-fits-all approach. Instead, I focus on incremental, achievable changes that set both parents and children up for success, while ensuring kids feel safe, supported, and capable throughout the process. I offer a range of options to meet families where they’re at—whether that’s my Raising Restful Kids mini-course, a two-week consultation for troubleshooting regressions, or my three-week transformation program for bigger sleep transitions like moving to independent sleep from bed-sharing. And for those who aren’t sure where to start, I also offer free sleep assessment calls to help guide you toward the best fit for your family. My approach is firm but kind, structured yet flexible, and always rooted in connection. My goal isn’t just to improve sleep but to help parents feel empowered and confident in their ability to guide their child through sleep challenges—now and in the future. If you’re ready to take the guesswork out of sleep and reclaim restful nights, I’d love to support you!

📩 Explore my offerings here: https://www.canva.com/design/DAGBjgHqJrQ/dEIuJ_37mDhFl5GTps6dZg/view?utm_content=DAGBjgHqJrQ&utm_campaign=designshare&utm_medium=link2&utm_source=uniquelinks&utlId=hf61252cec8�

Join my Facebook group, where you'll find the bulk of my content, here:
https://www.facebook.com/share/g/1FVE3vVEFk/

10/09/2026

P.S. And a little bonus update! Since creating these graphics, I've moved the release date UP! 🎉 When Fear Gets Mixed Up will officially be available on Amazon October 29th, not November (as stated in the last graphic 🤦‍♀️)! Ok on to your regularly scheduled caption:

"Mom, I'm scared of the dark."

One of the most common childhood fears... and one of the most confusing for parents. Light on? Nightlight? Insist on the dark?

Here's the shift: there's a whole lot of space, and a whole lot of learning, between "needs the light on" and "sleeps in the dark."

Swipe for how we gently scaffold it.

And this idea, that the goal isn't to erase fear but to understand it, is at the heart of something I've been working on for a LONG time.

In just a few weeks, my very first children's picture book, When Fear Gets Mixed Up, will be released on Amazon!

It gives Fear a job, a personality, and yes... some very large yellow rain boots. More to come on that. 😂

Because I don't want kids to think Fear is bad, or something to get rid of. I want them to understand it.

Sometimes Fear is helping. And sometimes... Fear just gets a little mixed up.

10/05/2026

Last night, as I was praying with Rae before bed, I said something I’m sure I’ve said a hundred times before.

“And God, thank you for making Raelyn so very special.”

When I finished praying, I realized she was crying.
I hugged her and waited, and then she said,
“Mom, I’m crying happy tears because you called me special. You’ve never said that before.”

Wait. What?...
Haven’t I?
Of course I think she’s special. Of course I’ve told her how much I love her. I praise her. I encourage her. I tell her I’m proud of her.
Surely I’ve told her how special she is.

But apparently, not in a way she remembered.
Then she added, “You tell Shiloh she’s special, but not me.” Shiloh is our dog.
😭

I pulled her closer and told her, “Oh, Rae. You are the veryest specialist girl in the whole world to me. I need to tell you that more.”

And the whole thing immediately made me think about a conversation I’d had with my own mom just two days earlier.

I was telling her about everything that has gone into publishing my first children’s book. How much harder the process has been than I ever expected, how many steps there have been, and how excited I am that I’m finally almost there.

And she said:
“Your tenacity is admirable.”
I took a screen shot of it.

Because apparently at 39 years old, a few words from your mom can still hit you right in the heart. ❤️

It made me realize how easy it is to assume the people we love already know what we think of them.
And maybe they do.
But there’s something different about hearing the words.

So today, tell your child.
Not just “good job.” Not another reminder about their shoes or backpack or homework. Not another instruction tucked into the hundred little things we say to them every day.

Tell them something you see in them.
You are so thoughtful.
I love how curious you are.
There is nobody else exactly like you, and I think you’re pretty amazing.

Because apparently we don’t outgrow needing to hear it.
Even when we already know we’re loved. ❤️

10/02/2026

I recorded something today that feels especially personal. 💕

When Rae started kindergarten, school was really hard for her.

You've never guess it now... she LOVES school today.

But that kindergarten year taught me something I've carried with me ever since: sometimes a struggling child doesn't need another trick. They need a team.

This is for the parent who is thinking: Shouldn't this be better by now? What else can I do?

Maybe your next step isn't finding one more thing to try at home. Maybe it's bringing more people onto their team.

I explain what I mean by that in the video below.

If your little one is struggling right now, I hope this helps...
And if you know a mama who's in the thick of it, would you share this with her?

09/28/2026

Last night I had a headache.
And my eight-year-old quietly took care of the whole evening... the shower, the bedtime, even a prayer over me before she fell asleep. 🥹

Swipe through. I'm still not over it.

I've been thinking a lot about independence lately, as I figure out what parenting an eight-year-old looks like.
And last night reminded me:
sometimes we don't know what our kids are capable of...
because we're still doing the things they're capable of doing.

Independence isn't something that appears when they're "old enough."
It's built little by little.
We teach. We practice. We stay close.
And eventually we step back just enough for them to discover: I've got this. 💜

09/21/2026

So this happened.

I was hunting for where some dead bees were coming from (still unsolved, don't worry about it 🐝), peeked under the fridge, and SWORE I saw an animal under there.

Me: “There is a bird. Or a bat. Or a mouse. SOMETHING is under the fridge.”
My husband: “Karen. Stop.”
Well, now I obviously have to know. 😂

After staring under there long enough to convince myself that whatever I was seeing was NOT moving, I slowly tilted the fridge back.

Me: “COME HERE AND LOOK.”
Him: “There is nothing…”
looks
“…HOW IN THE WORLD DID A BIRD GET THERE?!”

A tiny dead bird.
Under our basement fridge.
No smell. No trace. No explanation.
A complete mystery.

But here's the actual reason I'm telling you this.
My daughter was suddenly terrified to go into the basement.
Because if a bird somehow ended up under the fridge once, couldn't it happen again?

Our very nice, newly renovated basement hangout spot had suddenly become Bird Territory.

So we talked about Fear, because this is exactly what Fear does.
He takes one bizarre experience and writes an entire horror movie about it. 😂

So instead of trying to convince her over and over that there would never be another bird, we helped Fear get his facts straight.

Yes, something really weird happened.
No, the basement didn’t suddenly become dangerous.
Fear was just getting a little mixed up.

And eventually, she went downstairs.
Not because we proved nothing scary could ever happen down there… but because she understood what Fear was doing... and she could move forward with that new understanding.

THAT is the kind of confidence I want to help kids build. It’s exactly why I wrote When Fear Gets Mixed Up. More to come about that little guy... 💜
(The bees, however, remain at large. 🫠)

09/14/2026

Unpopular opinion from a sleep consultant:

I'll never tell a scared child to "be brave."

Here's why.

"Be brave" is a command.
It asks a child to feel something they don't feel...
right in the moment they feel the opposite.

At the classroom door.
In the dark bedroom.
On the edge of the diving board.

"Be brave!" quietly says: the way you feel right now is the problem. Hurry up and stop feeling it.

But a scared kid can't flip a switch and feel brave on command.
None of us can.

So here's what I say instead:
"This feels hard. And you can do hard things."

One demands a feeling.
The other reminds them of what's true... while letting the fear be there.

(And to be clear, I love the word brave. I'll tell my daughter "wow, you were SO brave" all day long, after, when she's calm. That's naming who she is. Completely different from ordering her to summon it mid-panic.)

Fear isn't the enemy.
We don't need kids to stop feeling it.
We just want them to know they're safe, and capable, even when it shows up.

If you'd like the exact words I use when fear shows up at bedtime, they're in my free guide. Just comment "FEAR" and I'll DM it to you.

09/08/2026

A hard truth I learned this summer 👆

Turns out one of the most loving things I can do is step back and let her do the hard thing herself.

Tell me: what's one thing you’re working on letting your kiddo do on their own? 👇

08/31/2026

New shoes.
A new classroom.
A teacher they’ve never met.

New is exciting.
New also wakes Fear right up.

Because Fear's whole job is to keep us safe. And when something is unfamiliar…
he starts wondering if maybe it isn’t safe after all.

So if bedtime has gotten harder as school gets closer...
your child isn't going backward.
Their brain is simply trying to make sense of a lot of new, all at once.

You don't have to make the newness disappear.
You just help them move through it.

"It makes sense that this feels a little scary."
"I think Fear is getting a little loud right now."
"And remember... you've done hard new things before."

Little by little, new becomes familiar. Fear gets quieter. And confidence grows.
Because your child discovered they could handle it.

If back-to-school jitters are starting to show up at bedtime,
I made something for exactly these moments.

When Fear Shows Up at Bedtime:
https://winterslumber.systeme.io/fear-free-guide

08/24/2026

For years, people have asked me why I don't recommend monster spray.
Or checking the closet.
Or proving there's nothing under the bed.

The funny thing is... I've never really had a quick answer.
I just knew there was something about those approaches that didn't sit quite right with me.

Over time, and especially while writing my newest children's book, I finally found the words for what I'd been feeling all along.

It isn't because comforting children is wrong.
It's because I don't want children to believe they're only safe after someone else proves it to them.
I want them to slowly begin believing it themselves.

That's the gentle shift these slides are about. 💜

If you'd like the full explanation (and the exact words I use with children), I put it all into my free guide... When Fear Shows Up at Bedtime.

Click the link below to grab your copy:

https://winterslumber.systeme.io/fear-free-guide

08/17/2026

Raelyn, my daughter, was nervous.
The police were coming to her summer school class to talk.

On the drive to summer school she looked at me and said,
"What if I get scared?"

Somewhere along the way, Fear had decided they were probably going to talk about robbers. He had already written the whole story. It was going to be scary. She wasn't going to like it. Something bad might happen.

So we talked about Fear.

Sometimes he hears one little piece of information... and fills in the rest of the story himself. We reminded him what was true.

Learning about safety doesn't mean something bad is happening. Sometimes we learn things simply because it's helpful to know what to do.

Then I dropped her off.

That afternoon, I couldn't wait to hear how it went.
"How was it?"
"Fine."
"What did they talk about?"
"Stress."
😂

Then she proudly showed me the D.A.R.E. ruler and pencil sharpener she brought home. 🤷‍♀️

Apparently Fear had written a much more dramatic lesson plan than the police ever did.

One of the things I love most about giving Fear a name is that it gives children somewhere to put those really big stories their brains create.

Instead of becoming the fear... they can notice it, talk back to it, and remember what's true.

I've watched that simple shift help with bedtime...
storms...
doctor appointments...
and now even a visit from the police.

If your child has been telling themselves some really big stories lately, I'd love to share my free guide with you.

When Fear Shows Up at Bedtime. Grab your free copy by clicking the link below:
https://winterslumber.systeme.io/fear-free-guide

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Menomonee Falls
Menomonee Falls, WI
53051

Website

http://winterslumber.com/

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