‘A baby sleep coach helped us get our lives back, now I’ve become one’

A mum-of-three was so amazed how a sleep coach helped her family get their lives back that she decided to become one herself. Joanna Smith and husband Luke found themselves in the same boat as many new parents, struggling to maintain a normal family life while battling the tiredness that comes with a newborn’s slumber patterns. But after seeking help from a sleep expert, baby Ada - who is now two - began changing her ways, which transformed the Smith’s lives.

“When I had my youngest we went through the challenging newborn phase, but then we hit the point of around three months when things seem to settle and you think ‘this is amazing, they’re sleeping for seven hours’,” said Joanna, who is also mum to 10-year-old Mae and Laila, eight. “You may have heard some parents say that when the baby hits four months sleep regression starts. That’s exactly what happened for my daughter, it was particularly challenging as she was awake every 20-25 minutes.



“It was tough. I had two kids already, it was coming up to Christmas and I remember feeling completely burnt out.” It was then that the couple felt like a change had to be made, unaware how it would also have a knock-on effect on Joanna’s career.

“We decided to find a sleep coach and it was the best thing I’ve ever done,” she added. “It was literally life changing. She went from walking every 25 minutes to sleeping through, and self soothing herself rather than having to do the rock and the feed.

“I could put her down in a cot, say ‘night’ and that was it. We got our lives back. “It’s that knock on effect.

We were able to give the other children more of our time. If you’re spending a lot of time trying to get a child to sleep you’re not paying attention to the other children.” After seeing an improvement in her own family’s life balance, Joanna, 40, decided she wanted to help others and turned her back on her career in marketing to set up her Jo So Sleepy business, which launched in August.

As part of her training Joanna had to undertake five case studies - including a family with a newborn and a single mother who was struggling to get her three-year-old to get a good night’s rest. “They were all massive transformations,” she said. “A girl at three was a little more challenging as at that age they are a little more controlling, but I’m passionate about giving that feeling back to other people.

Sleep is so important.” Joanna works remotely from her Helpston home, using phone conversations or Facetime to ensure clients from all over the country can be reached. The importance of routine, consistency, ensuring the sleeping environment is right for the child and understanding sleep cues are just soem of the topics covered.

And when the signs are spotted and followed, they can have lasting effects. “She (Ada) is still a really good sleeper now,” Joanna added. “It means I can have a couple of hours in the day to help with the business.

” You can find out more about Jo So Sleepy by visiting www.jososleepy.com or visiting @jososleepy on Instagram.

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