Get to Know Me

Hey, I’m Bailey! I’m a mother of 3 (Drake, Georgia, and Maeve), and a wife to my husband, Nathan. I LOVE to sleep. I’ve always loved sleeping. In fact, I remember having to set an alarm clock in high-school for working my 1-10pm shift at the local grocery store. I couldn’t guarantee a natural wake-up by noon to ensure I’d be ready for work on time.

But…this isn’t where my journey with sleep consulting began. In fact, it began over 12 years ago!

When I was a teenager I babysat a lot. There was one family in particular that I loved sitting for. The couple had 3 kids, 2 girls and 1 boy, who were B U S Y. Busy, but tons of fun. The best part of watching them was that bedtime was NEVER a struggle. Mom had a clear, easy-to-follow routine set out for her 3 children. We would follow this routine, and then I would tuck each child into their own bed and say, “goodnight!”

Seems easy, normal, and maybe familiar, but this part was always different than anyone I had ever babysat for before…these kids never got out of bed, never called out for another snack, never even made a peep. They peacefully stayed in bed and drifted off to sleep. I would even watch them, starstruck, on their monitors just quietly laying there for a few minutes before closing their eyes for the night.

What was with that?

I’m the oldest of 5 kids and I knew from first-hand experience in my own family home that kids did not go to sleep that easy. I remember my mom being 9 months pregnant with my 4th sibling. I was 14 at the time and had a lot of responsibility with my siblings around the house. My mom took care of bedtime though - always having to lay down with my 4 year old sister in her bed every single night until she fell asleep. Which always resulted in my mom sleeping uncomfortably in my sister’s single bed with her all night long. 

This changed when the newborn came along. My 4 year old sister now had to learn how to handle falling asleep on her own without my mom laying in bed all night with her. The transition seemed easy at first, but 9 years later and this sister is still struggling with sleep. 

I also vividly remember how dad ‘wasn’t good enough’ when it came to bedtime and routines. My dad is a gentle, wonderful, kind, well-rounded man - but at bedtime, no one wanted him; Mom only. Considering there were 5 of us - I can imagine she felt stretched thin. Although she didn’t show her fatigue or exhaustion, she now tells me that she WISHED there would have been resources for her to seek out when we were little. She just did the best she knew how and wasn’t sure if there was a better solution. She thought that some babies slept well, while others just didn’t.

The questions flooded my mind...

Were these duties of a mother that I was going to have to accept once I had children of my own?

Was I going to have to sacrifice my own comfort and calm to sleep in my child’s bed all night?

Would I be blessed with children who slept well?

I knew there was something to it

Finally, I asked the mom that I babysat for what the heck she did to have her kids stay in bed so well? She responded by telling me that she was a sleep consultant – and taught parents how to get their kids sleeping through the night.

Well DUH. It made total sense now.

From that moment on – I KNEW I wanted to hire a sleep consultant once I had a baby. It seemed effortless.

Life moves on

Fast forward a few years; a marriage, a home, a stable job, and I’M PREGNANT!

During my last trimester of pregnancy, I started getting a lot of swelling in my feet and legs. The pressure was so intense that it sometimes felt like my foot was going to burst. After visiting the doctor numerous times, he instructed me to take a leave until I had my baby.

I had 9 weeks to rest and prepare for the baby. During this time off, I read a TON of books. Books about motherhood, books about breastfeeding, and especially books about birth. Many, many books about birth. Because birth is really the hardest part of the entire “mom” experience, right? HA.

In all of my 9 weeks of prep – not one single book was read about infant sleep. This wasn’t because I wasn’t concerned about it - I just thought newborns slept all the time, but I quickly realized I had not one single CLUE what to do with my newborn baby when I brought him home.

My 40-week mark finally crept around, ever too slowly - and my baby still wasn’t here. We hadn’t found out the gender of the baby while I was pregnant, so I was DYING to know if I was having a boy or girl. 

Finally at 40 & 3 days, labour started. At first it was cramping in my stomach, and I knew I was having contractions. I laboured all day at home (even went out for lunch with a friend - HA) and at midnight I was admitted to the hospital. 

At 9:33am, my beautiful baby BOY was born. What a joy. Drake James joined our family and we couldn’t have been happier.

Once we got home from the hospital, the anxiety and overwhelm started to kick in. How am I supposed to keep this baby alive? Why won’t this baby go to sleep? Why does nursing hurt so bad?

The ever so slight claustrophobia from my newfound duties as a mother were creeping up and it felt like I was being choked. Not because I was regretting my decision at ALL, but because I was in uncharted territory. I had never done this before - let alone recovered from something as physically taxing as birth was. 

On our second night home from the hospital, I called my mom at 2am begging her to come over since I couldn’t do anything to get this baby to sleep and I had tried everything I could think of. Feeding, rocking, swaying, shh’ing, patting, singing, you name it, I did it.

My mom was an angel and she rescued me that night, but it was in that moment, with tears running down my cheeks, that I knew something had to change. I knew sleep was not just important for him, but I also needed it for my mental health.

When Drake was close to 1 month old, I got in contact with a sleep coach, and started with a sleep plan.

Although this process started when Drake was just 4 weeks old, it was slow moving. Progress took a while to show up, but it did come. By the time he was 4 months old, he was sleeping 12 hours straight through the night.

BLISS.

That feeling of bliss that I felt knowing how predictable my evenings had just become, was addicting. I told EVERYONE about my son’s sleep regime and how life-changing it was. The process felt simple - we would do our bedtime routine and we would lay him down in his crib awake and he would drift off to sleep. Boom, easy, done.

My husband and I were in awe. We started going out on weekly date nights, trusting our sweet baby in the care of a babysitter (one of my awesome sisters) because we KNEW that with his developed sleep skills, he could fall asleep with anyone putting him down.

After sharing my experience with others, I realized how many people knew nothing about hiring a sleep consultant. They didn’t even know resources like this existed. And some of those who knew about the resources, had it all wrong...thinking the only method for sleep training was “cry it out.”

That’s how I KNEW I needed to do this as my career. I needed to teach parents how to get their babies sleeping through the night. I knew I needed to make sleep a normality in the life of a parent...because YOU MATTER!

Not only does sleeping better make me a happier mother; but a better spouse, a better friend, and a happier ME!

Wife, Mother, and now Sleep Consultant

What exactly is it that I do? I work with exhausted parents and help them get their children sleeping well, and through the night. I also provide TONS of follow-up support so you’re never left feeling unsupported, confused, or frustrated.

Moms say they find my approach refreshing, easy-to-follow, and they love the daily support they receive from me as we meet their sleep goals.