Over the last few years, more and more families are turning to sleep consultants to get their babies and toddlers sleeping. It has become totally acceptable to reach out for help in this area, and to get help with tantrums and difficult behaviour.
Along with this rise in demand, has come a rise in supply. There are now plenty of courses on offer to train to become a “certified sleep consultant”. So if you are a mum with a young baby who has struggled with sleep and used a sleep trainer, a career change may be appealing, especially when there are courses that teach you to become a certified sleep trainer in a few days or weeks. You can even do online courses that can be completed in a couple of hours! It’s not rocket science, so why not? Especially when it means that you can give up your regular nine-to-five and work around your children?
The problem with this new growing industry is that anyone can become a sleep consultant if they do a quick course. You can move from an office based career in finance or IT, having only ever dealt with your own offspring, train in just a few hours, and then go out and offer help to struggling families. But are you really fully prepared for what you will encounter?
Dee is regularly approached by mums who would like to join The Sleep Fairy team rather than heading back to their pre-maternity leave job. Unfortunately it takes more than a course to become a good, competent sleep consultant. Some skills are transferable but you need several years of experience and understanding of children to be able to deal with what you are likely to come across in this job.
It takes more than just following the advice of a sleep consultant to realise that it is your vocation!
The ladies on the Sleep Fairy team all have years of experience working with babies and children. Their backgrounds have brought a wealth of additional relevant experience, making them both suitable and exceptional at this career that they have been drawn to.
Sarah Quick worked as a nanny for several years, has worked as a development trainer, and is a qualified life coach. These are all skills that Dee knew would make Sarah a brilliant Sleep Fairy which is why she invited her to join the team. She is compassionate, patient and a great listener. She understands mum’s emotional needs as well as their babies.
Both Sarah spent several months studying with Dee and observing consultations before they were ready to perform supervised consultations. They later started to see clients alone but still received regular support and supervision from Dee.
Sarah and Dee would not be following this vocation without the previous careers, that have helped them to understand how the complicated little people that deal with on a daily basis work. And thankfully, working in a small team means they have each other to turn to if they get a particularly tricky little monster!!!
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