About Us
In a nutshell
We are Emma and Bek, we have been friends for over 20 years and share a mutual love of food, netball and most importantly, sleep. But, like most parents we have both experienced periods in our lives where our children decided that we should go without it, and like so many we accepted that this was just how it was. Luckily, we each went on our own sleep journeys with our children and ended up at the same place, the proud parents of good sleepers. Realising what a difference sleep makes to both our overall health and quality of life, we have decided to set out to 'make sleep the new normal' for other parents and children who are struggling to get the rest they need.
Emma Riley - Sleep Consultant and Co-founder
Until a few years ago a sleep consultant was not something I had ever heard of, let alone thought I would need. Then along came our first baby. She was a gorgeous little girl and from the moment I laid eyes on her I knew I wanted to do my very best for her and support her in any way that I could.
The problem was that we didn't really know what that meant, we didn't fully understand what she needed and I found myself vocalising that thought on numerous occasions as I rocked her in my arms during the night. I think we were expecting her to teach us, not realising that the only thing we were learning were bad habits and how it felt to be sleep deprived. By the time she reached 14 months I was at my wits' end, I had tried everything; feeding, rocking, co-sleeping, you name it, and still she wouldn't sleep.
Feeling emotional, unorganised and like my brain was nothing more than a ball of cotton wool, I reached out and contacted a sleep consultant. I figured it was worth a shot. And that was it, the moment that my life changed.
We implemented straightforward and gentle strategies and very quickly our daughter began sleeping well, my brain fog disappeared and I had enough energy to enjoy my days with her. The phrase 'not all heroes wear capes' was never truer in my eyes than when talking about the sleep consultant who supported us and transformed not just our sleep but our lives.
Thinking about how many other parents were out there going through the same struggles that we had faced, not realising it doesn't need to be that way, made me realise that I wanted to help. And so I trained as a sleep consultant later that year.
I have not looked back since, I get so much satisfaction from supporting children and their families and love nothing more than welcoming them to 'the sleep club' upon completion of their plans.
With our second daughter I took the lead early on and implemented sleep foundation strategies from birth. By 10 weeks she was self-soothing and sleeping through the night independently.
In addition to my sleep consultancy training I offer a unique background with many years of experience both teaching, in family support services and child counselling.
Bek Dalrymple - Marketing and Co-founder
At 18 most people have sleepless nights because they are out partying, but, as most of my friends were throwing shapes in their student unions, I was yo-yoing back and forth to my son's cot, trying to convince him to sleep. It was a struggle, particularly because it wasn't something I could sleep off the next morning.
I tried to establish a bit of a routine based on the limited information I had back then, but really it was just a pick 'n' mix of tips and tales that I had heard from other people and tried to piece together. And with hindsight, most of it did not work, my son was very reliant on a dummy to sleep and would often need settling in my arms.
I laugh now, remembering feeling like I was handling a stick of dynamite as I would lower him into his cot, holding my breath for fear of setting him off, however it was anything but funny at the time. I would then creep out of his room, knowing exactly which floorboards to avoid and which ones I could rely on to deliver me safely to the hallway, where closing the bedroom door was another mission in itself.
Over the years the thought of having more children was quickly quashed by the memories of sleep deprivation and lost evenings. Until I had a lightbulb moment and realised that there was actually a science behind infant sleep, and that if utilised effectively, sleep deprivation did not have to come hand-in-hand with parenthood.
One of the biggest realisations I had was that we need to teach our babies how to sleep. Despite knowing we need to teach them everything else, sleep was something I thought they were just born knowing how to do. And it was understanding that this is not the case that changed everything for us. Suddenly, the thought of having another baby was exciting and so after a 15 year hiatus I had my second son.
And so, pretty much from day one we started teaching him how to sleep, and it worked. It then took only 15 months to welcome baby number three, something that we would have never considered had we been sleep deprived.
We became those friends that preached about the benefits of sleep training to anyone who would listen, our 'robot babies' (as they are affectionately known) the living proof that it really works. Luckily for me I just so happen to have a best friend who has been on a similar, albeit much quicker and more qualified, journey who I can share this passion with. And so here we are!