Short of our decision to adopt Oliver, the single *best* parenting decision we’ve made was hiring a sleep coach.

You often hire a realtor to help you sell a house, a coordinator to plan your wedding, an accountant to do your taxes; why should we hesitate to ask for help for the single biggest stress to new parents?

I was skeptical about asking for help for something that our friends seem to have figured out on their own. But as Ollie turned two months and the magical glitter adrenaline of being a new mom started to wear off, the effects of sleep deprivation were taking over my life. We all needed sleep! Despite going through a phase for a couple weeks where he was sleeping 6+ hour stretches at night, his 4 month sleep regression kicked in and we were all feeling like this during the day :

A past bride and classmate of Nate’s, Rachel, had become a professional sleep trainer since we photographed her wedding day. While I first flinched at the idea, it wasn’t long into my insomnia that I was ready to do anything to fix our family! Luckily for me, The Cradle Coach had a sleep training package perfect for us, and it only cost $150. (Shh- Don’t ever tell them how much they’re undercharging for these magical powers!!) That $150 included our personal sleep plan and 3 days of email support from Rachel, which was PRICELESS!

When I first reached out to Rachel, Oliver was about to turn 4 months old and impossible to put down at night. His nighttime “routine” was a ~3 hour disaster of bath time, bottle, swaddling, giving a paci, rocking to sleep, and gennnnnntly putting him in his bassinet trying not to wake him. Without fail, part 2 of this routine would begin about 20 minutes later, where Nate and I alternated going up every 15 minutes to try to calm an inconsolable Oliver. Most of the time, trying to stand over his bassinet, “shhhh” until our mouths were dry, and try to keep his pacifier in his mouth. Every night, I’d cry, and every night, Nate would ask, “can’t we just duct tape his pacifier to his mouth?” (That began as a joke and I think he meant it towards the end!) Short of random ~15 minute catnaps throughout the day, naps were nonexistent and he was so cranky.