Eps 53: Rebecca Michi Breaks Down Sleep

Episode 53


My guest today is Rebecca Michi, a children’s sleep consultant and mother of two daughters. In her work with families over the years, Rebecca found that sleep issues were a common problem. This realization led her to specialize on the subject and offer coaching help to many parents. I’m thrilled to get her insights into this issue—and( let’s be truthful),haven’t we all had some pull-our-hair-out moments? Whether you’re a brand new parent or the parent of teens, Rebecca has great tips to share.

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Takeaways from the show

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  • Temperaments and sleep patterns are unique to each person.
  • Rebecca’s average client is 8 months old!
  • Most children need help falling asleep and STAYING asleep.
  • Her philosophy? Support parents in their parenting style
  • Unique family dynamics
  • Sleep: Why it’s a very basic need
  • Sleeping “through the night” is usually defined as 5 consecutive hours AFTER midnight.
  • “Good sleeper” or “bad sleeper”
  • At bedtime, focus on relaxation and physically slowing down.
  • Other bedtime routines can be singing songs, reading books, and quiet play.
  • Negotiables and non-negotiables about bedtime
  • Giving children SOME choices gives them healthy empowerment.
  • Teens’ sleep patterns change (but they STILL need 8-9 hours!)
  • Limit evening electronics and bright lights (use incandescent bulbs)
  • Rebecca shares the guidelines for number of sleep hours needed, from ages 0-3 months to 13 years.
  • It’s normal to wake 2-6 times each night.
  • The goal for your child? The ability to get themselves back to sleep when waking
  • Don’t make sleep or the bedroom a means of punishment!
  • What does Joyful Courage mean to you? “It means going forward on your parenting journey, even when it’s unknown, and trying to enjoy it! Look at it in a positive way.”

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Transcription

Casey O'Roarty 0:00
Joyful courage, parenting podcast episode 53

Hey listeners, welcome back to the podcast. I'm so glad that you came to listen in yet again this week, I'm really excited about my guest. Her name is Rebecca Mickey, and she is a sleep consultant, and she's local to my area. She's out of Seattle, and we've met at a variety of different functions for people who love to work with moms, and have been talking about getting together for a podcast for a long time, and today's the day I'm so excited and well, you know, this is the story that I tell about sleep. So both of my kids co slept. We had a beautiful crib that my stepmom lovingly bought for us as soon as she found out that we were pregnant. It was gorgeous. And the the what do you call it? The not banking, the bumpers, Bumpers is that we call it. They're really cute. We had all these great, cute sheets for it, and stuff the animal, blah, blah, blah. It was really cute. And then we had our babies, and they never slept in the crib. They always slept with us. I was a super nursing mom, and it seemed really strange to me to think about my babies in a crib, in another room, or even in my room. We had really we lived in a really small house anyway, so they just slept with us, mostly by default, and that worked for us. That's what we did. It worked for me and my husband and Ken. I just I will never forget all of the comments that I would get from a variety of people about my kids sleeping with me, one of which was, you'll never get them out of your bed. Case, and I'm happy to report both kids sleep independently in their own rooms. I can say goodnight, walk away, close the door. It's done. So for anyone out there who has chosen co sleeping and is getting a lot of flack from people around you, just know that it's it's all good. Make the right choice for your family. And something that I always said about both about nursing and about co sleeping was, we're gonna do this as long as it's working for both of us. Meaning, you know, when I started to feel uncomfortable, not uncomfortable, but like ready I made. I made changes. I took action. And you know, when the kids are ready, I also watch for their cues, and when they show signs of being ready for something, you know, we take action then. So anyway, that's my sleep story. And my kids were not great sleepers. By the way. They woke up a lot. They hated sleeping on their backs. Yeah, it was. It was a crazy, like, five year stretch of very little sleep for me. One shoulder always kind of tweaked, because I would always have it my arm up because they'd fall asleep nursing anyway. I really could have used Rebecca back then. You're gonna love her. She's great. She's got a great English accent, which is always fun to listen to, but she's got some really great advice, and is really wise around the ways of sleeping, both with babies and toddlers, and we're going to talk about older kids as well. So I hope that you enjoy it. I know bedtime can feel crazy sometimes, and you're going to hear a lot in this episode about ways to make it less crazy. After the episode, you're also going to hear about a new program that I have coming out in August, which is free, free, free, free, and it will help with bedtime too. I'm telling you also at the end of the show today, I'm going to talk about this week's webinar. I have a webinar going live on Wednesday for people who pre register. So I'm going to tell you about both of those things after the show, but for now, how about we get to the content and meet Rebecca. All right, see you after

Hey there. Rebecca, welcome to the podcast.

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