It’s funny how things happen. One minute I’m talking about writing a sleep training blog for our lovely Toddlekind readers, and the next minute, I meet Lise Dullaerts, a huge fan of Toddlekind playmats and a Baby slaapcoach (for the non-Dutch speakers among us that’s baby sleep coach).
I was delighted when Lise kindly agreed to sit down with me to discuss all things sleep training, including tips for how parents can manage during the holiday season.
I was delighted when Lise kindly agreed to sit down with me to discuss all things sleep training, including tips for how parents can manage during the holiday season.
The first thing I noticed about Lise when I met her was how gentle and calm she was. Clearly, those are key criteria when working with babies and their sleep-deprived parents! But as she explains, becoming a sleep coach has been a journey of time and experience.
“I started my career, over 15 years ago, as a midwife working in neonatal care and specializing in developmental care. Eight years ago, I wanted to do something more and started as a baby planner who helps families prepare for birth and their newborn. But soon after I started, a lot of parents came my way for help with crying and sleep problems. I started to experiment with what I knew from my studies in newborn developmental care, and spent eight years researching everything there is to know about sleep. The theoretical knowledge of sleep is all the same, but the approach varies between countries and the different coaches.
For me, the key is to look at each child independently, as well as the need(s) of the parents. My job is to support in a caring and loving way, and I made my own methods within what I like to call ‘sleep guidance’ instead of ‘coaching’ which for some people has bad connotations”.
... the key is to look at each child independently, as well as the need(s) of the parents.
“I started my career, over 15 years ago, as a midwife working in neonatal care and specializing in developmental care. Eight years ago, I wanted to do something more and started as a baby planner who helps families prepare for birth and their newborn. But soon after I started, a lot of parents came my way for help with crying and sleep problems. I started to experiment with what I knew from my studies in newborn developmental care, and spent eight years researching everything there is to know about sleep. The theoretical knowledge of sleep is all the same, but the approach varies between countries and the different coaches.
For me, the key is to look at each child independently, as well as the need(s) of the parents. My job is to support in a caring and loving way, and I made my own methods within what I like to call ‘sleep guidance’ instead of ‘coaching’ which for some people has bad connotations”.
... the key is to look at each child independently, as well as the need(s) of the parents.
