A former Bonnyville teacher is helping parents around the world get a good night’s sleep.
Shan Roth is a paediatric sleep expert and the founder of Jammy Time Sleep Solutions, a consultation company that helps tired parents learn a few tricks for getting their little ones to sleep.
“It started out as a sleep consulting business for sleep deprived parents, and it’s still that, however, I’ve also branched out into mentoring other moms who are interested in starting their own sleep consulting business,” explained Roth.
Roth worked in the area as a teacher at Notre Dame Elementary School and St. Dominic School.
When the family moved to Calgary after the birth of their first child, Roth struggled to find childcare in anticipation of her returning to work.
“It wasn’t really a great option to go back, so I was looking for a job,” she noted.
After having their second child, Roth knew it would be even harder to transition back into the work force, which is when she decided to blend her love of teaching and passion for children’s sleep and create Jammy Time Sleep Solutions.
“Even when I told my husband he said, ‘you were made to do this,’” exclaimed Roth, adding it’s been seven years since she started consulting and she has never looked back.
Roth offers courses to parents looking for help getting their children to sleep, whether it’s nighttime, napping, newborn, or toddler.
According to Roth, the biggest issue she comes across is nighttime sleep, where a child is up multiple times throughout the night.
”Parents are just wanting to get a better sleep,” she noted.
Other concerns she sees is the amount of time it takes for a child to fall asleep initially, short naps, and babies that will only sleep if they’re being held day or night.
“It also goes over to mom. She starts feeling like she’s a failure and there was something she did to deserve this,” explained Roth.
Parents are also left feeling like their doing something wrong, they’re bad parents, and can even feel guilty for just wanting a good night’s rest.
“Sleep training is pretty controversial, people have pretty strong opinions either one way or another, and people aren’t afraid to tell a parent that they shouldn’t do anything about it or they’ll grow out of it… or that they have to ‘suck it up now, you’re a mom and that’s how things should be,’” Roth detailed. “It definitely doesn’t have to be that way.”
She added, “I want them to learn that poor sleep isn’t a badge of honour... that every baby has the ability to sleep and sleep well, even the baby who’s up 10 times in the night has that ability, you just have to teach them how, and you’re your own child’s best teacher.”
Roth starts with a Five Ways to a Better Night’s Sleep course, which provides parents with background information and education tools.
”They create a plan for their child, and within that plan, they choose the method they’re the most comfortable starting with.”
There are three techniques Roth suggests: sit and support, come and go, and the less frequent option, extinction.
”The most common one is sit and support. It’s where parents start out at the child’s bedside or cribside and gradually remove their support over the course of eight nights,” Roth described. “The second method is more of a come and go, or leave and check, where they’re in and out of the room every 12 minutes or so. That changes depending on the age of the baby.”
Roth avoids recommending the extinction method unless parents are insistent that’s the one they want to use.
According to Roth, this scenario has parents putting baby down for a nap or the night and leaving the room.
All of her courses are offered online, with additional support over the phone and email.
“For rural Alberta, it’s a great option where there isn’t a consultant in the area,” Roth noted.
For parents, the first step is seeking help.
“The hardest part is just making the decision to do something,” expressed Roth, adding for moms, sleep is vital when it comes to their mental health.
“I know postpartum depression and anxiety is getting quite a bit of publicity lately. The biggest contributor to it is lack of sleep from mom. I think a lot of times as moms, we put our needs on the back burner… but we do need to take care of ourselves first.”
