My Parenting Journey

Hi, I’m Nicole, an Internationally Certified Infant and Toddler Sleep Consultant and mother of two.

My passion for sleep began after the birth of my first child. I remember feeling completely out of my depth when I was sent home from the hospital, and in the weeks and months that followed, I became utterly exhausted.

My daughter suffered from colic and was often unsettled as a result. I was incredibly sleep deprived, unsure how to settle her and struggling to find my rhythm as a new mum. When I shared my exhaustion with people around me the responses were often things like “it’s normal,” “it will pass,” or “sleep when the baby sleeps.” But my daughter only napped for around 20 minutes at a time, often only on me, making that advice almost impossible to follow.

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By the time my daughter was four months old, the sleep deprivation had become overwhelming. My husband was working long hours and I didn’t feel like I was thriving as a mother. I knew something had to change.

I began researching sleep myself, purchasing sleep programs, reading research articles, and learning as much as I could about infant sleep. I started implementing changes that respected both my daughter’s temperament and my own parenting style.

Within two weeks, everything began to shift. My daughter went from catnapping during the day to taking 1.5 hour naps, and her nights improved from waking every 1.5–2 hours to sleeping stretches of six hours or more.

As I started to get more rest, the change in our home was incredible. I felt happier, clearer, and more present as a mother. I felt empowered and confident again. My daughter also became calmer and happier throughout the day.

I began sharing my experience with family and friends, but the more I spoke about it, the more I realised that many parents didn’t truly understand what sleep support was. Because of this, many were hesitant to seek help.

There seemed to be a common belief that sleep support meant something harsh or rigid, when in reality it can be gentle, responsive, intuitive, and holistic.

Seeing so many parents struggling with exhaustion, believing sleep deprivation was simply something they had to endure ignited a deep passion in me to help educate and support families.

 

My Certification

I decided to pursue formal training and became an Internationally Certified Infant and Toddler Sleep Consultant.

During my studies I learned about the science and biology of sleep, infants and toddler's developmental sleep needs and the many different philosophies surrounding sleep support. I also studied and continue to study a wide range of evidence based research.

This training, combined with real world experience supporting families, has provided me with a deep and well rounded understanding of infant and toddler sleep and my experience working with hundreds of families has allowed me to appreciate and understand the individuality of sleep support. 

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My Business

Today, it is my passion to provide families with the knowledge, tools, and support needed to help their babies and toddlers sleep well in a responsive and holistic way.

I am deeply committed to changing the narrative around sleep support, helping parents understand that supporting healthy sleep is not harmful. In fact, research shows that healthy sleep plays an essential role in a child’s development, attachment, and overall wellbeing, while also supporting parents’ mental and emotional health.

In 2022, I launched my sleep consulting business. By late 2023 it had grown so significantly that I made the decision to leave my corporate career to focus entirely on supporting families through Thrive Sleep Consulting and I haven’t looked back.

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Since then, I’ve had the privilege of helping hundreds of families improve their little ones sleep and restore balance to their homes. I continue to develop new resources and support options so that more families can access the guidance they need to achieve healthy, restorative sleep and thrive.