WHAT TO LOOK FOR WHEN HIRING A SLEEP CONSULTANT

It’s a new year, and you want to make some changes. The holidays messed up your kid’s sleep. You’re just tired. Whatever is going on in your situation, we’ve all been there. We’ve all been so exhausted that we sometimes forget to shower. (Don’t worry! I won’t tell if you don’t!) Maybe you’re at the point where you’ve given up, and you just need help. Maybe you’re trying to do this all on your own. Both options are completely fine. Let’s go over a few reasons why you might need a sleep consultant.

You’re just literally too tired to deal with it.

Let me be honest here, you can do this all on your own. If you do enough research, buy enough books, and read enough articles, you can do this on your own. *gasp* “Ashlyn! You mean to tell me that I can do your job for you?!” Well, no. I have a lot of training that got me the certifications I have, BUT you can figure out how to sleep train on your own.

The difference in doing it yourself and hiring a sleep consultant to help you is just the amount of work you have to do. A sleep consultant will come in, look at the big picture, and tell you what technique to use, how to implement, and be your go to gal through all of it. A sleep consultant will take out the guessing of everything for you.

You get very emotional when you think about your child crying.

Real talk. Sleep training will always involve some amount of crying. Does it mean you’re gonna leave your child to cry all night long? No. But there will be a few tears.

Maybe you’re like me and you talk a big game, but when it comes time to actually do it, you give in. That was me. I would talk all this big game saying how good we were going to do, and I wouldn’t go in..blah blah blah. When bedtime came, I was in my daughter’s room within like 3 minutes. Your sleep consultant will tell you exactly what to do and expect you to do it. She’ll be checking in on you in the mornings to see how the nights went.

You have no idea what you’re doing, but you know you need to sleep.

This one is pretty self explanatory. I’d say the majority of mamas don’t have any idea what to do when it comes to sleep training. There’s a lot of push back in society when it comes to sleep training. Many people have come out against sleep training, so moms aren’t getting the education they need on it. Your sleep consultant has the knowledge and the training to teach you what to do!

So now you’ve made the choice to hire a sleep consultant. What do you do now? Let’s talk about 3 things to look for in a sleep consultant.

Check around for pricing, but remember that you get what you pay for.

Look around to see who is in your price range. You can always find someone within your budget, but always remember that you get what you pay for. Think of it like any physical good. You wouldn’t spend $3 on an item that originally cost $25 and expect it to be the same quality. In the same way, you wouldn’t spend $300 on an item that only cost $25. If you did this, you’d be getting seriously ripped off. Sleep consultants can be the same way. If you aren’t sure on the pricing, dive deeper and find out who these people are. This leads me to my next point.

Find someone you can become friends with.

A sleep consultant is going to be someone who will be intimately involved in your life. You’ll want to find someone you can get along with and laugh about the crazy things that happen while working together. Think of your sleep consultant like your short term (or long term possibly) BFF. This is going to be someone you talk to every day about your life! You will want someone you can easily talk to and laugh with.

Check around for package offerings.

What I mean by this is, check and see what different consultants offer. Some consultants offer a multitude of things in one package while some offer about 2-3. Both of these options are fine, but think about what you think you will want and use. In the end, you want to make sure that you get your money’s worth. If you spend $400 on a package and only use about half of it, then you didn’t really get all you paid for. Make sure you’re purchasing a package that makes sense to you and has things that you will actually use.

I say all these things to say that you may look at my website and realize that I am not the one for you. That is okay! I don’t expect to be the perfect fit for everyone out there, but let me assure you that the perfect sleep consultant for you exists! Hopefully these things help when you begin thinking about hiring a sleep consultant or begin looking. What are the main reasons you are currently looking for a sleep consultant or began looking? Let me know in the comments!