To end the month of June with a bang, we are featuring Jennifer L. Schindele, B.Sc., CSSC, a Certified Pediatric Sleep Coach and Consultant of Gift of Sleep Consulting.
Jennifer confided that she was once a sleep deprived new mother. She had been so exhausted and can attest how real the struggle is. She had to take immediate steps on her own to fix her sleepless nights. If she had known that there is such a thing as sleep consultant to help her figure out how to make changes necessary to reclaim her sleep, 6 years ago, she would have gladly paid any amount of money to do so. She was really that sleep deprived and it was taking a toll on her body and her marriage.
As a Pediatric Sleep Consultant she works with families of children from newborn up to the age of 6 with sleep challenges. Together each family creates a step- by-step plan using proven strategies to help their child learn how to fall asleep independently and stay asleep all night long (and nap well during the day).
Jennifer believes that her ability to listen to the needs of the parents and their concerns and also provide one-on-one support through the entire process, so that at the end of their time together they have a well rested family and parents confident in their child's ability to sleep well, is what sets her apart from others in her field. Children are not cookie cutter and there is no such thing as a one size fits all sleep plan. Every family is unique and even though the strategies may be similar from one family to the next, the modifications and implementation of the plan are unique.
All the families she has helped is what Jennifer considers as her biggest achievement. In the past almost 4 years, she has worked with over 200 families across the globe and helped guide them from sleep deprived to sleep revived.
Many of the families Jennifer worked with are just trying to cope and while doing so will do whatever is necessary to get the best sleep possible. The challenge is that at a certain point, those short-term fixes aren’t working anymore and sleep continues to be disrupted and fragmented. And her best advice on how to fix these issues is to take a step back and really evaluate what you are doing to help your child fall asleep and stay asleep. "If it is no longer sustainable for you or your family, then it’s time to look into positive steps to correct your sleepless nights and develop a plan to get you there. This is something that a certified sleep consultant can help you with".
To expand her reach and help as many families as she can in as many countries as she can is her goal for this year.
Jennifer offers many great tips to help everyone sleep better via her newsletter and blog. Check out one of her blog post here
To end this article, here are some parting words from Jennifer: "Sleep is extremely important for our health and
well-being as humans. And for our children, it’s even more important for them to get quality continuous sleep each night because that’s when they grow, it’s where repairs happen on the cellular level and also when our body kicks into high gear to fight infection. Many people hold the popular misconception that when we sleep our brain sleeps. In actuality it’s the opposite. During sleep our brain powers up and runs nightly maintenance of all our bodily functions to make sure that our bodies are running as best and efficiently as they can.
As a certified pediatric sleep coach and consultant, sleep is most definitely my passion and obsession. I have the best job in the world because I witness first hand every day families transform and their lives change because as a whole they are sleeping well. It truly is the best feeling in the world and I am honored to have the ability to help as many people as I can however I can to be better rested."
For more information about Jennifer L. Schindele and Gift of Sleep Consulting, please visit her website at www.giftofsleepconsulting.com or email her at [email protected]
