Almost six months had passed, and each morning I would waken up sandwiched between my 3 and 4 year old boys with no husband in sight. It wasn't enough that it had taken 1 hour to get them to sleep the night before, they just wanted me and were in the habit of getting it. I wanted my life back and my husband back into his own bed!
Desperately, I contacted Diane. I was given a schedule that would take approximately 3 weeks. It now has been three weeks, and I cannot begin to explain how different life is for us as a family. We are now able to kiss our boys goodnight and leave the room right away. My husband and I have our evenings back and can enjoy a glass of wine together, and the best part is, wakening up with no kids in our bed! Everyone is rested and content.
Thank you Diane. From one who was truly too tired and exhausted to think it even possible, you are amazing!
Judith - Ireland
I thought I knew what to do when my 2nd baby girl was born. For the first 6 weeks we called her sleepyhead! But then she came out of the newborn faze and didn't want to go to sleep on her own anymore and nap for no more than 30 mins! I became exhausted as I couldn't rest during the day anymore. The way I used to put my first girl to sleep wasn't working. I was spending hours sitting beside her to keep her asleep and I was missing time with my first born. I didn't want this to continue as I knew babies can sleep better, they just need to be guided or taught, but I didn't know what else to do!
So I called Diane to my rescue! She came to our house and gave us a straightforward guide on what to do and when. It was exactly what I needed as I was getting really frustrated with the daytime naps. My baby was a great sleeper at night but with Diane's advice on routine at bedtime, my baby continues to sleep through the night at 8 weeks! Yes... she sleep 9 to 12 hours straight a night!
Don't wait to get help. Moms don't need to be exhausted when they have newborns. I knew improving her sleep would also improve my health and recovery.
Danielle (Mom to Baby M)
When we first contacted Diane, our 9 month old was co-sleeping and waking 8 times a night. We did read various sleep books and attempted and quit CIO after 3 hours. We could not find a training plan that was effective while causing the least amount of stress and tears for all involved.
Hiring Diane was the best decision that we have made! Within the first 24hrs, night waking were cut in half and throughout our time together (and two new teeth) our daughter was sleeping through the night regularly. Her common sense approach combined with her constant support made sleep training less stressful and gave us the tools to tackle time change, disrupted schedules and teething (among other things).
If you are considering sleep training and are unsure of the method that is right for your family, we highly recommend Diane as a Sleep Consultant. You will not be disappointed!!!
Ben & Nadia
I finally need to set an alarm in the morning!!! The kids are sleeping so well - in bed at 7:00pmand up at 6:30am, for Ashley, and 7:00am (or later!!) for Everett!! No more grumpy pants when they do get up because they are fully rested and ready to start the day!! I don't think I've been to work on time this week and it's a fantastic feeling!!!
The work you do, Diane is truly a gift to families! Thank you, thank you, thank you!!
Stacey
After months of long nights having to rock our baby to sleep and frequent night wakings, a friend recommended Sound of Sleep to us because they had a great experience. We had never heard of sleep training until then but are so glad we decided to move forward with it. Diane is very personable and throughout the process, she was positive, helpful and supportive - we really enjoyed working with her. Because of sleep training, our 5 month old son can now nap and fall asleep at night on his own without rocking; and self soothe himself back to sleep. On the 3rd night of training, he slept 12 hours through the night - something we didn't think he was capable of. As a couple, we got our evenings back, and as a family, we got our sleep back. We feel great knowing that our son is now getting the quality sleep he needs and can do it on his own. It is by far, the best money we have spent on our baby and ourselves to date. Thank you so much Diane - all the best to you!
Charles & Lisa
Sleep training is not something I would have looked into to be honest. As a new mom I thought feeding my 6 month old son every two hours in the night and sleeping supervised in his swing every nap was normal. He was hungry so I fed him and he had great naps in his swing, so what was the big deal?
I was gifted a sleep package from a family member and Diane quickly and efficiently helped me solve the problems I didn't really know I had. I had encouraged my son's bad sleeping habits and accepted the little rest we were getting as "normal."Not only has my son learned self soothing techniques, I'm getting more sleep allowing me to be a better mom for him. Diane is very knowledgeable, professional and kind. In very little time my little guy was sleeping through the night and napping without the need to be rocked. It was truly magical. I am forever greatful. I would recommend her services to anyone. The only thing you have to lose is more sleep!
Well rested mom, Tracy
Diane has really changed our lives! We were at the end of our rope, with countless sleepless nights. We assumed that one of these days our daughter Olivia would magically sleep through the night, like everyone had been telling us. Our daughter was then six and a half months old, waking up every 3 hours, and would maybe take two, thirty-minute naps during the day. Something had to change. We were all exhausted, and our days were really not enjoyable. When Diane found out we were having sleeping difficulties, she was eager to help. Diane asked the right questions and gave us valuable information on how to train our daughter to sleep. It took three days of training and Olivia was sleeping. We are VERY grateful and thankful Diane was there to help. Our daughter, for the most part, sleeps for twelve consecutive hours. I wish I would have known about the program when I was pregnant, because then I would have started the training from the newborn stage. I highly recommend Diane’s expertise to anyone that is pregnant, or is dealing with a baby that simply does not sleep! It will change your life, as it did ours.
Veronique L.
Success!! We have gone from sleeping in the bed with our daughter and multiple night wakings to putting her down to sleep with a kiss and a hug and sleeping the whole night through. A huge heartfelt Thank You to Diane for getting us on this sleep plan and the immeasurable support she has given us to get us to this point. IT WORKS..and now we are all sleeping .
Barb, Steve and Jessica (2&1/2 years old)
I hadn’t slept in 6 months and I never thought my little guy would sleep through the night. I was juggling a 6 month old and a 20 month old and went to bed as soon as they finally went down and had no time in the evenings. I contacted Diane and her sleep plan worked well with our not so traditional open loft room. BEST decision ever! She wanted me to throw the soother away and I didn’t believe it could work since he was so dependent on it. On day 3 he started sleeping through the night and continues to do so. Both of us are so much happier and well rested. Diane is very supportive, encouraging, and really helped with all the questions and difficult beginning. She made a tired mommy gain back time to enjoy both special time with her toddler, husband, and have time to herself. I highly recommend Diane.
Annie
I recently used Diane’s services to help me with my son. He was almost four months old and he could only nap in his swing during the day and at night he would sleep in his crib but he had to be swaddled. I was up three to four times a night because he would get out of his swaddle and he couldn’t fall back to sleep by himself. Each time I would have to nurse him to sleep and it took a long time. I couldn’t do this anymore so I enlisted Diane’s help. She gave us a specific program that addressed our needs. She gave me emotional support and helped me persevere with finishing the program. Her method worked for my son and me. After two weeks of following her program my son is now napping in his crib, he only gets up once to nurse at night and most important he can fall asleep on his own. Thank you Diane for all your help and for answering all of my questions. Your program is amazing and I would recommend it to any parents that are tired of being tired!
Isabelle, Bruce and Alexander (3.5 months old)
Sleep in our family is the most important thing to get us through our day. We thought we had it all figured out. My first son, who just turned 3, was always a great sleeper. Slept through the night at such a young age. No issues. Along came our little girl two years later. She was up hours and hours through the night. We were lost in what to do. Nothing seemed to work. We were totally exhausted and at the end of our rope. Then, an ad posted on my Facebook wall, from Diane. I was sitting on the couch one morning looking at my Facebook wall and totally exhausted. It was meant to be. I emailed her immediately and she came to our rescue. She developed a sleep plan for my daughter. Within two days, my six month old now sleeps two solid naps and 12 whole hours through the night. This has honestly changed our lives. In just one week! This is the best decision we have ever made! Diane gave us the confidence that teaching any child to self soothe, without sleep props is totally possible. Thank you from the bottom of our hearts.
Kelly & Audrey (6 months old)
“We couldn’t be more happy with the results from our personalized sleep plan provided by Diane. Our son was quite young when we started (4 months) we hadn’t envisioned beginning sleep training that early but events overtook us! Since birth we would swaddle our son and rock him to sleep, it worked great! At 3.5 months our little guy started rolling over and the swaddling had to stop for safety reasons. We tried to get him to sleep without the swaddle to no avail, I thought he would never sleep well again! We turned to Diane who not only provided us with sleep solutions to remove the swaddle she also taught us how to put our son to bed without rocking. All of a sudden we had our evenings back and we didn’t have to worry about our son’s safety! As a mother herself Diane’s support, reassurance and empathy sets her apart from others in her field. We would recommend her to any parent in need of sound advice and expertise.”
Katherine, Jon & Miles (4 months old)
It’s 7:30 pm and both our 3-year-old daughter and 10-month-old son are sleeping peacefully while my husband and I enjoy some well-deserved alone time over a glass of wine. More likely than not, we won’t hear a peep from them until the sun is up and it’s time to wake up for the day. As you know, it was not always like this! It seemed as though our friends’ children all slept through the night from the early days but that was certainly not the case at our house!
I remember when we met a few months ago; my husband and I were absolutely exhausted! Our 8-month-old son was still waking 3-4 times a night to feed. In between rocking him to sleep and feeding him, I would lie in bed with my daughter until she finally (FINALLY) fell asleep.
I still cannot believe by the 4th night of following the custom plan you created for him, I was able to place him in his crib while he was still awake and leave the room! I did not think it was going to happen with him! He just rolled over and went to sleep!
That’s when we knew we needed to work together to address the needs of our daughter, who could usually be found awake until 9:00 pm and then creeping into our bed most nights! The custom plan for our daughter was also extremely successful and I’m so impressed with your ability to pinpoint several issues right away that were contributing to her problematic sleeping. I love that we had regular communication so we could troubleshoot. Your willingness to help via email came in handy several times and I always looked forward to our “debriefs” on the phone.
I also appreciated the fluid nature of the sleep plan so that it could be altered over time where necessary. I honestly would have had such difficulty if I was using some sleep book for example. It’s not the same as literally having an expert available to support, help, encourage and troubleshoot. You were able to determine very quickly the issues that were contributing to the sleep dilemma over here!
Thank you so much for your respectful treatment of our family, your support and encouragement, your reminders to stay consistent, and most of all—the greatest gift—showing us how to give our children great sleep skills for life!! I mean this when I say we could not have done this without you. You have helped us carve out “us” time again and we are tremendously grateful! I would not hesitate to recommend ANY parent who needs more sleep to work with you!
The Neal Family (Asher 8 months old, Adele 3.5 years old)
I am so grateful to Diane for her guidance and support in sleep training our daughter.
I was exhausted – a walking zombie! I had never regained my sleep from my first child (who is now 4.5 and still wakes throughout the night!), so when baby number two came along – I was in a constant fog – too tired to function properly.
My daughter was waking every 1-2 hours throughout the night, and would typically only take 20 minute cat naps during the day.
She napped in my arms, in a baby carrier, car seat or swing – but never in her bassinet.
Diane was a guest speaker at a fit mom exercise group I had joined. When I first heard her tips and that babies as young as 3 months can sleep through the night – I thought “ya right!” The very thought of my baby sleeping through the night brought tears to my eyes.
After speaking with Diane and learning more about her techniques and the value of teaching a baby how to sleep, I decided to give it a try.
Working with Diane was the best decision we made – not only for our daughter, but for our whole family.
Diane was very patient and listened well. She put together a customized, comprehensive plan for us to follow for two weeks.
She was very supportive through out the process. It wasn’t always easy and it took absolute dedication, but her phone calls and encouragement kept us on track. I was co-sleeping with our daughter and it just wasn’t working for us. Diane helped greatly with the transition into her crib in her own room.
By the end of the two weeks my 6 month old daughter was sleeping through the night (sometimes as long as 13 hours!) and having good long naps through out the day. Our daughter wakes happy and actually seems to enjoy going to bed! I really never thought it would be possible!
I now have time to relax in the evening. I am getting my sleep back at night and am able to get things done during the day. Its amazing!
I would recommend Diane to anyone who needs help with sleep. Her help has really changed our lives.
We will be working with Diane again to help our 4.5 year old sleep through the night in his own bed. I look forward to having her by our side for this next challenge.
You will not regret making the decision to finally get some rest by way of working with Diane. When she says customized approach she means it…. After filling out an extensive list of questions Diane pin pointed a few minor tweaks and on day two our son went from 1-2 night wakings to sleeping through the night. He also went from taking multiple short naps to two long, restful naps. It has been over a month with no looking back. I can’t tell you how wonderful I feel to be rested and the difference this has made for our family. Even grandparents comment now on how easy it is to put our son to sleep allowing us a night out ourselves every once in awhile. Diane is gentle and realistic, she is prompt with responses even by email and most importantly you get the feeling she genuinely wants to help. One last thing…. This past weekend I heard my husband (who was a self admitted “sleep consultant skeptic”) tell a friend that working with Diane was “totally worth it every penny”. Thanks again Diane!
The Hallam Family
Before I contacted Diane, a 3 hour stretch between a waking was considered a good stretch of sleep, naps were unpredictable and my son relied on a soother or nursing to go to sleep. After working with Diane, we can now kiss my 6 month old son goodnight, awake and all smiles as he falls asleep on his own and we relax into the evening. My son took the full two weeks to settle into his sleep plan but Diane gave us the support, knowledge and reassurance that we needed to help our little one learn to sleep independently. I couldn’t believe how quick she was to respond to any question I had about his sleep plan and she adapted his plan along to way to meet my son’s needs. She really took the time to listen and understand our son’s sleep difficulties and any challenges that popped up along the way. Our son now sleeps through the night, takes restful naps during the day and better yet, we feel confident to know that he has the skills to sleep independently when upsets like, colds or teething come our way! Thanks to Diane, bedtimes are enjoyable and we now have uninterrupted time to ourselves in the evening!
Hannah rested parents of 6 month old
I am so happy that I made the call to Diane at sound of sleep. I would absolutely recommend her to anyone experiencing sleep issues with their babies or children. Diane was recommended to me by another mother who experienced success with her sleep training methods and I am so happy we did it. My daughter is finally getting the sleep she needs and is happier during the day and I have my sanity back after dealing with endless nights and days of her fighting sleep. Diane was more than supportive through the entire process, answering my seemingly endless emails and questions. If I need to I would definitely use her again. We are so thankful for her services.
Dawn and Laila (4 months old)
Diane has been a tremendous help in getting our 5 year to sleep in his own bed. Our son has always had difficulty sleeping from the day he was born.
The only way he would fall asleep is if one of us would lay in bed with him, and quite often end up sleeping with him for the night. He wakes numerous times through out the night and if alone in bed, he would quickly find his way into our room and into our bed. After our second baby was born, it got even worse and our son would not sleep in his room at all. After nearly 8 months of him sleeping in our room we decided to get some help. We enlisted Diane’s services for our six month old baby first.
We were amazed by the results and couldn’t wait to have her help again with our son. Due to our son’s many fears, we weren’t sure what to expect, and wondered if we would ever have our bed to ourselves again. Diane was amazing! She provided us with a step by step plan – customized just for us that would be a gradual, but effective strategy to help our son conquer his fears and teach him to fall asleep by himself. My son loves following the charts she gave him and was really encouraged by her to try his hardest. We realized that having someone on the outside to keep all of us on track was the key to his success. After three weeks, we can now say good night to our son and leave the room. He has learned the valuable gift of how to fall asleep himself and put himself back to sleep when he wakes during the night. We are amazed by the results and so proud of our son! We not only have our bed back, but we also have the evenings to enjoy! We are so grateful for Diane’s help in achieving this! I would definitely recommend her services!
Susan (rested mom to Jeremy, 5 years old)
I want to thank you for helping us in so many ways. We followed the sleep plan you made for Nora for the recommended 2 weeks to a T. No cheating! After 2 nights she sleeps 11 hours overnight and after about 10 days naps have improved. As I write this 4 weeks later she continues to sleep beautifully overnight and has consistent long naps as well. Being so well rested had made us more patient with our toddler which he so very deserves, it has given me energy to start exercising in the evenings knowing that I will get a good night sleep and has made the whole household a much happier place. Due to Nora’s new self soothing skills she also is happier in her car seat and the car. I’ve already recommended you to a few of my friends with newborns and will continue to do so for everyone I meet who isn’t sleeping well. From the bottom of my heart thank you for your support.
One well rested and happy Mommy & Nora (6 months old)
For ten months, we battled with sleepless nights and did everything we could do to make it through the day with such little sleep. Finally we had decided that enough was enough and enlisted Diane’s help. I’ll admit, we were skeptical. What could someone who doesn’t know our little guy possibly have to offer us? We figured our little guy was so set in his ways that it was never going to change. Well, I am so incredibly pleased to say that we were wrong, so wrong. Right away we noticed results and within 4 days, we had a full night of sleep in. That’s right, our son who had not slept more than 4 hours at a time (if we were lucky), is now sleeping all night including two amazing hour and half naps during the day. Diane is supportive and really helps you stick to it, even when you are ready to give up. Thank you Diane, we now have our lives back, time for our daughter and time for ourselves.
Two Rested Parents
When my second baby turned 3.5 months, I was hoping he would start to sleep better, however, he was still waking up about 2-4 times a night. My first child started to sleep better at 7-8 months and through the night at 10-11 months. I felt that it would be the same with this second baby and that if I wanted to see a change, I had to do something about it. There was no point in waiting for the miracle night! I found a mention of Sleep Sense in a book about children’s sleep, which eventually led me to Diane’s website.
Talking to her on the phone, then meeting with her and reading the sleep plan made me feel more confident. I felt I knew what I had to do and that I was not alone. My baby learned to fall asleep on his own quickly. After 2-3 nights, he slept 11 hours at night in a row! I truly believe that babies need to learn to fall asleep independently and Diane helped to quickly make that a reality for us.
Working with Diane was one of the best decision I have ever made! She is simply amazing. She is very competent and knowledgeable, optimistic, professional and very supportive. She was there with us 100%. I would not have been able to do it by myself. I would have doubted myself all the time and I would not have been consistent. Diane was there to keep me on track and gave me great advice.
Now both baby and I are sleeping well and the days are much more enjoyable. Sleep makes all the difference!
With deep appreciation from a rested happy mother and baby.
Gatineau, QC.
Parents in Gatineau
Before contacting Diane we were getting up 4-5 times a night to rock our 6 month boy back to sleep. We though he needed us to fall back to sleep. It was getting harder and harder to get him to sleep and we were all feeling worn out.
Diane created a sleep plan for our little boy and helped us stick to it even through a few rough nights. By the end of our 10 days with Diane our boy was sleeping 10-11 hours through the night and so were we! The whole family has been much happier and well rested. I would encourage other families out there to use Diane. At first I thought we had failed because we needed help, but working with Diane we learned that sleeping is a skill your baby needs to learn. Diane was great to work with and I would recommend her to any family out there wanting a full night sleep. We wish we would have contacted her sooner!
Stephanie
Diane has brought an easiness (yes, EASY!) to our family that we never dreamed possible with a 2.5 year old toddler and 4 mos old baby. Her plan accommodated our family’s needs and expectations and the results have been amazing! No more soother, no endless rocking/nursing baby to sleep, no shhhing our toddler constantly and no more babywearing naps has been liberating!
I am so pleased to not only have a bedtime rhythm that I can manage solo, but also quality time with our toddler while baby naps, and have been able to maintain a strong supply while exclusively breastfeeding.
There is a definite sense of calmness to our days that definitely wouldn’t have existed had we not hired Diane to help us reach our youngest to sleep independently We are all well rested, relaxed, and finally able to just enjoy our girls!
I am forever grateful for Diane’s expertise and support, and I am so happy I didn’t wait to hire her!
"After three long months of holding our baby around the clock for her to sleep, my husband and I were at our wit's ends. We felt we had tried everything to get her to sleep and navigating the myriad of advice on the Internet, sleep books and well meaning friends only left us more exhausted and extremely confused. Buying a sleep package from Sound of Sleep was hands down one of the best purchases we have ever made in our lives. Diane was extremely knowledgeable, patient and understanding as we worked through the sleep plan and was always available when we needed clarification or just some moral support. We really appreciated that the plan was tailored to our unique situation and was adaptable to our feedback. By the second night, our daughter fell asleep independently with limited night wakings and just a few short weeks later, we put her down in the evening and wake up to big smiles 12 hours later!
My husband and I use to feel like two ships passing in the night as we took shifts bouncing on an exercise ball in the dark while our daughter slept on us in her baby carrier. Now, we get to enjoy our evenings together and can enjoy sleep (oh sweet, precious sleep!!) in our bed. We wake the next morning energized and ready to enjoy a day with our beautiful baby girl. I feel like I can be a better mother to her now that I am rested and get a bit of time to myself.
I am forever grateful to Diane for teaching our daughter how to sleep and am so pleased that we taught her this skill at such a young age. The difference this has made to our family is immeasurable! Thank you!!"