Don’t Hit Snooze on this WAHM Business Opportunity

Sleep Coaching is a business option for mothers who want to maintain their own flexible schedules while helping parents and children, many of whom otherwise would not reap the benefits a good night’s sleep offers. Many current coaches site their career as being “extremely rewarding and exhilarating when they help children get on a path to success.”

Most moms prepare for their babies for months, sometimes even years. Diapers, clothes, classes, books, child proofing, bottles, medicine, toys… the list goes on and on and on.

We moms pour over every book known to man (and woman) so we know exactly what to do in every circumstance that may happen in a baby’s life. We’re ready for labor, midnight feedings, illness, diapering, and doctor’s appointments, but what happens when baby sleeps all day and is up all night? Or worse, when baby won’t sleep at all? Mom and dad’s lives are turned upside down by sleep deprivation, which eventually can affect job performance and parenting abilities, maybe even a marriage or relationship. It can get really frustrating when baby’s sleep problems last through kindergarten or worse, through grade school. Most doctors don’t have good solutions.

To fill this void in the parenting world, a newer field has cropped up in the past decade –

Sleep Coaching

Trained professionals consult with moms and dads in person, by phone, or via Skype to create a workable plan for getting children to sleep. Oftentimes, parents see improvements in as little as 2 to 3 days to a week. Sleep coaches don’t just help babies. Many coaches can help children with long standing issues, including children up to age 6, with gentler methods than the old fashioned “ferberizing” technique, which leaves children in their cribs to cry until they eventually give up.

One of the first programs to teach this profession is from Kim West, LCSW, known as The Sleep Lady to her clients. She is also the co-founder of the International Association of Child Sleep Consultants. The result of Kim’s four month course is a certification as a Gentle Sleep Coach. These Gentle Sleep Coaches help tired parents all over the world who are desperate for help. Dozens of coaches have already graduated from the program and are located in various cities in the United States as well as Ireland, Turkey, Canada, South Africa and the UK.

This is a business startup, so there are costs associated with the training, business setup (such as websites and marketing materials), and ongoing education. Coaches report being able to charge hourly rates of up to $200 for coaching after their initial training is complete. Depending on which education program you choose (there are only a few for now), the tuition ranges from around $2,000 to nearly $8,000.

If you are interested in becoming a Gentle Sleep Coach, visit www.gentlesleepcoach.com for more information. A quick search also found programs by Deborah Pedrick, www.familysleep.com, and Dana Obleman, www.sleepsense.net.