I LOVE to sleep. Like love to sleep, especially in those early morning hours when any small children under your roof may be eager to start their day. So when I became pregnant in 2021 I decided I needed to learn all there is to learn about sleep. At the time we also lived in a one-room cabin - sans running water, which didn’t affect my sleep but did affect my mental state. So I knew that if I wanted to keep part of my sanity over the next 12-36 months, I needed to understand sleep and prioritize it.

From my Montessori background I had learned that the fourth trimester (the first 3 months postpartum) is a critical time to bond with baby. This translated in my mind to co-sleeping or contact napping, which I wasn’t sure was the perfect fit for me. I am a pretty light sleeper and easily disrupted - I basically need to sleep like a mummy to comfortably fall asleep. So my biggest question while prepping for the arrival of baby was how do I meet my own needs for sleep while also honoring my new baby’s need to be very close?

What I happily learned in those early months is that there are SO MANY ways to bond and attach to your child and sleeping together does not need to be one of them. Of course if co-sleeping is your choice and it works for you, great!! I support solutions that work for the whole family and I do hear often that keeping baby close has many benefits for easy feeding and helping parents get more stretches of consolidated sleep. But for me I knew I would be so nervous having my infant close that I would not drift off comfortably. So a bassinet was our solution, with a zippered side that could open right into the bed so he was super easily accessible but in his own space.

This journey began as a selfish way to learn all I could to get my sleep fix during this immense life transition but it ended up being so eye opening that I wanted to share my knowledge with other parents. Sleep is not black and white, there are so many various ways a family can get quality sleep and what works for one family will not necessarily work for another. There is also a lot of overlap with Montessori philosophy. While sleep is chock full of scientific data, wake windows, average sleep needs, and schedules - it is also very much about social and emotional growth, facing our own anxieties and fears, helping our children navigate challenges and supporting them on this path towards growth. Sleep is both a science and an art and it is something that needs to be addressed in a wholesome way not just an hour before bedtime. I love when things come full circle and seeing the overlap between sleep and a Montessori lifestyle has been so fulfilling.

Why Did I Become A Sleep Consultant?

What is a Standing Diaper Change?