My rough start as a mom 

Almost two years ago, my family officially welcomed a new member, baby Anton. Many moments, both highlights and hardships, stick with me from the first months of Anton’s life: the excitement of our first skin-to-skin contact, the heartbreak of having him taken away for isolation and phototherapy just a day after he was born, and finally, at 12 weeks old, the relief of the first night that he slept on his own.

During those first 12 weeks of Anton’s life, I clearly remember that he would only stop crying when I held him, and could not sleep without being in my arms. I couldn’t go anywhere or do anything because, every time I tried to put him down to sleep, he would wake up within 30 minutes. I had to rush just to eat or shower so that I could be back as quickly as possible to help him sleep again.

A lack of trusted support

Before Anton was born, I had read a lot of books and joined several Facebook groups about raising children and training them to sleep. When the things I learned there didn’t work, I even contacted a few sleep training programs to seek help, but most of the people there had not gone through any formal training, making it hard to trust their recommendations. There were several other red flags, too: they talked about “golden ages” to train my baby to sleep in order to push the immediate sale and made guarantees about Anton’s sleep before knowing anything about his nutritional and health status. They even boasted about the results they got from having babies sleep on their stomachs, which the American Academic of Pediatrics (AAP) warns has a high risk of causing Sudden Infant Death Syndrome (SIDS).

Sleep training changed my life forever

Finally, though, after a period of perseverance and using various methods that I found safe and appropriate for my son, he finally started to fall asleep on his own. It was an incredible relief - I finally had time to myself again, and the tendonitis in my wrists from holding him all the time subsided quickly. Putting Anton to sleep became simply a matter of turning off the lights, putting him in the crib, and walking out of the room. He started to sleep longer and eat better, and was more active after getting quality rest. I began to sleep more deeply, too, and was able to enjoy time with my husband and friends again. Raising him suddenly became fun, rather than a burden.

Since experiencing this, I started to share what I had learned with friends and relatives around me. As I started helping more families, I felt a drive to pursue this field as a career. I gave up my position as a Director in the world’s largest fashion corporation after almost a decade with the company and began training to become a professional pediatric sleep consultant. I studied intensively in a US program run by medical practitioners to ensure that I could help families while also offering scientifically and medically sound advice. I am proud to be the first certified professional pediatric sleep consultant based in Vietnam.

What I want to offer

And so Sleeping Bee was born, with the hope of being a companion for parents to answer all questions and put aside all doubts about their child’s sleep so that they can have the confidence to enjoy every moment with them. I focus on 1:1 consultations rather than classes or group consultation becaue each family is unique. For each child, I will create a detailed plan unique to the child’s age and temperament, as well as the lifestyle of the family, because I believe that the best method for the child is the one that is best for the parent too.