31: Sleep Made Easy (with Susie Parker)

Susie Parker had an OK time teaching her first child to sleep, but when baby #2 arrived, she knew her whole life was about to get harder because, as she shares in this episode, “She just stared at me with these beady little eyes and I knew this baby was not going to sleep.” Get ideas on teaching any child to sleep, as well as making time to take care of yourself in the process, too. Susie's upbeat approach to things will have you laughing and feeling like sleep deprivation is survivable.

Susie is a certified Sleep Consultant and founder of Sleep Baby Love Child Sleep Consulting. She is a “been there done that” mom of two beautiful girls who have had her deal with many sleep challenges head on. She can help your baby, toddler and preschooler to learn to LOVE sleep with a great plan and amazing accountability.

Nuggets of Wisdom from Susie:

“Seeing both sides, it does not make you less passionate. It makes you compassionate.”

“Even though you might not agree with a certain parenting style, you can understand that it is a parent's decision, and their decision only, for what they do for their family.”

“I realized that having the support and the knowledge is so important to really just support parents because unless you have all that time where you are holding your baby and Google is really overwhelming. You have to decipher what is going to be best for you and for some parents, when they are Googling, it is just so overwhelming. So, I realized that ‘Wow, through my experience, through my story, through my ability to help my baby sleep better, I can help others.' ”

“They just do not understand so they think that if you are not going to respond to every single cry your child makes you are a horrible parent and you are damaging your relationship and your child will never trust you again. Well, in reality, they are going to be okay, and they are still going to love you, and they are going to smile at you in the morning. And that just happens.”

Some of Susie‘s Favorite Things:

Personal habit: “I am working out again. And I think it is really key. It is nice to have a time in the morning that I have to myself. But it is also great that I am teaching my children the importance of being healthy. ”

Easy meal: No favorite, but Susie is loving a meal delivery service from Madison and Rayne. Food comes to you. You just have to prepare it. “I really like this one, specifically, because my meals have gotten in the table in 10 or 20 minutes, and they are awesome meals.”

Possession: The Amco Serrated Salad Chopper

Susie's Favorite Book: Healthy Sleep Habits, Happy Child by Marc Weissbluth

Best advice received: “Just do your best.”

Susie's Happiness Formula:

“Children sleeping well. A husband who does amazing things around the house. Binge-watching Netflix.”

A Challenge from Susie:

“To any parent of a baby, toddler, or preschooler: If things are crazy in the sleep department, I want you to just think about what is causing that craziness. Once you are able to identify the reasons, I think this helps you decide whether you can take action to fix that.”

Resources

Sleep Baby Love (Susie's website)

Madison and Rayne (food delivery service)

Healthy Sleep Habits, Happy Child Book by Marc Weissbluth

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