Is your method Cry-it-Out (CIO)?

NO! We do not advocate a cry-it-out (full extinction) approach. We have yet to meet a parent who wants to close the door and just walk away! We use evidence-based approaches to ensure a safe and supportive method for every age of child we work with. We are always happy to write a plan that is gentle, yet also effective and allows your child to develop new strategies.

When is the best age to start sleep training?

While you will find many others that suggest that a child can not sleep until “X” age we just do not agree. While there are some ages that may be more challenging than others, we are committed to helping families improve sleep at any age or developmental stage. While the approach may take more patience or considerations depending on when you start making changes, our coaches are experienced in working with all ages and we will create a plan to meet your child where he or she is at. We always say the best time to start is when you or your child need to make a change. If sleep just isn’t working, we’re here to help! (Disclaimer- if you have options earlier is better in our opinion- the sooner baby is sleeping the sooner you are sleeping too!)

Are results gauranteed?

We compare sleep coaching to that of a personal trainer at a gym and they will not offer refunds, so neither do we. Your body needs and wants to sleep. And that is true for your child as well. Teaching your child requires a full commitment from our client and that includes working with your coach 100% throughout your sleep package. We can not guarantee that you will do that. But if you’re invested in making changes so are we! Our past client testimonials speak to the success we achieve for families every day! We promise that if you are fully committed- you won’t need a guarantee! Trust in your child’s capacity to learn and in your own ability to achieve success! If those other parents can sleep, why can’t you?

How fast will sleep improve?

Results will vary. Every child is different and part of a customized approach means custom results as well. However, most parents will notice significant improvement in the first 3-5 day! Yes, that fast!

Do we need to meet in person?

While we love meeting with our families in person, we work with clients internationally with the same success across the world as we achieve across the couch. We discount our rates for our virtual appointments so that you can benefit from our reduced travel time, but the results will be just as impressive. In-home meetings will happily be arranged with families who prefer us to meet with them in-home. Travel rates will apply for families who reside more than 30-minutes of travel time for their chosen coach.

I was told if I sleep train I won’t be able to leave the house. Is that true?

Practice makes perfect and that means we will need your child to practice sleep in his or her own sleep environment over the initial 1.5-2 weeks. After that, we will coach you to achieving success with sleep on the go! We are moms! We get it! Cabin fever is REAL and you have to live your life! So we’ll coach you to learn how to get out of the house AND maintain your investment in sleep. After-all, it’s not fun to go out only to deal with an overtired grouchy child when you’re back at home. But let’s be real - you matter too! And life is messy! We can’t stop living as parents and we’ll teach you how to thrive as parents with children who sleep!

What happens when the sleep package ends?

Graduation is an exciting day! But it is also a day where parents (and coaches) are a bit sad to say good-bye! And parents are also nervous to manage sleep on their own. We want you to carry on without us but we won’t be far! We offer our past families discounted follow up rates as well as retainer packages (yes, some parents say they never want to think about sleep again without us!) so that you will have support if you need it again! You’ll also be invited to join our exclusive graduate community support group on Facebook where you’ll meet other past Bliss families who are always happy to share what has worked for them. The Bliss village is a special one and we would love for you to join it!

Can I read referrals from past clients?

YES! We love sharing success stories from families we have worked with in the past! And they love sharing their journeys to amazing sleep! These stories are testimonials from families who like you were a bit nervous about investing in a sleep coach. And yet, they often say it was the best money they ever spent! Don’t take our word for it…take theirs!

What makes Bliss better than other sleep coaches?

Nothing. I mean it. You will find a ton of great sleep coaches all over this amazing country. Michelle has had the opportunity to work directly with many sleep coaches all over North America and beyond and she will be the first to say that people don’t go into sleep coaching if they don’t care! Working with sleep deprived parents isn’t exactly a cake-walk. We do it because we’ve been there and we want to help. There is a coach out there for you! If Bliss isn’t the right fit for you, keep calling until you find someone who is. Because we care and what we want for every family is great sleep- however you get there! And at the end of the day, your child is SO capable of learning to sleep that we know that you’ll get there if you just find the best fit for you!

That said, we hope you’ll book a free 20-minute sleep evaluation and give us a chance to connect with you and explain how we work and what we believe we could help you achieve for your child!

BuT my baby is breastfed do I have to wean?

Not at all! The Bliss team is pro-fed when it comes to raising our babies and young children. We won’t judge your choices and we’ll work with you to ensure your baby can sleep no matter how baby eats. Small baby? Big baby? Reflux baby? Spirited baby? We’ve seen it all and what we do well is creating a plan that works for YOUR child. No matter what we need to work around, we promise that we’ll keep your baby’s health and needs in mind when we create your plan.

How quickly can we meet?

Sleep is a funny business! Sometimes it’s as if every parent hits a wall at the same time! But our team approach generally allows us to meet with families within the week! We know that if you’re reading our page it’s likely 2 am and you need help STAT! We’ll do our best to accommodate as quickly as possible!

I was told babies don’t learn to sleep they just learn not to CRY!

It’s just not true. Babies who are tired, cry. Babies who are frustrated, cry. Babies who are confused, cry. Babies who have a need they need to have met, cry. We can all tell you first hand that our children still cry when they need us! But the difference is they often just don’t need us overnight and chose to sleep instead! And when they are sick- they call for us! You’ll always know when your baby really needs you. In fact, you’ll become a better parent when you know that your baby isn’t crying because he’s exhausted! He’s crying because he has a need or he’s sleeping because that is his need! Sound pretty wonderful doesn’t it? Empowered parenting is a side effect of teaching our babies to sleep!

Can I work with Bliss and continue to co-sleep?

At Bliss we won’t judge you for your decision to co-sleep. In fact, owner Michelle McAvoy co-slept with both of her babies for a period of time! But you don’t need a sleep coach to help you learn to co-sleep! :) If you’re ready to teach your child to have life-long sustainable self-led (aka independent) sleep strategies that’s what we do best! We will help you teach your baby or child to fall asleep like we do! By laying quietly, closing our eyes and drifting off into blissful sleep! Trust us…they’ll still need you!

I heard that you don’t like the worD “Sleep training” why is that?

Cringe. There are so many ambiguous words when it comes to sleep. And sleep “training” provokes a really negative vision of a child left alone to cry for hours on end. And while that is one method that we suppose some may try, it’s not at all what we offer. We believe children need to learn to sleep. We need to teach them. Much like we teach newborns that we rock, swing, bounce and feed them in order to sleep, we must then teach our non-newborns to learn to sleep without those strategies that were once necessary to survive those difficult early weeks. We don’t “drop” night feeds; we move the nutrition to daytime. We don’t sleep through the night; we sleep in cycles through phases of wakefulness and less wakefulness. The sleep industry is full of confusing vocabulary and we help parents navigate it. In fact, we believe the reason that so many really smart parents struggle with sleep is that it is “biological, not logical” as sleep guru Marc Weissbluth (author of “Healthy Sleep Habits, Happy Child”) says. We help parents navigate the confusing world of sleep and TEACH healthy sleep habits to their child. And we teach you how to maintain those habits because children shouldn’t “regress” every time you take a trip or they get a cold.

How do I schedule a consultatioN?

We ask that you schedule a FREE 20-minute sleep evaluation if you have not worked with a Bliss coach in the past. This enables us an opportunity to get to know each other and discuss your child’s specific sleep challenges. We are happy to address any questions or concerns you have and then if you’re ready to move forward we’ll talk about scheduling a consultation for your family.