better bedtimes

A gentle, practical guide to more calm & connected evenings for your toddler or little kid- without the battle!

Whether your goal is independent sleep or just a smoother, calmer evening, this guide will give you all the tools and strategies you need to make bedtime the best part of the day in your home.

 

This guide goes DEEP into helping you understand the "why" behind the bedtime struggles you're experiencing. I'll help you identify and understand the main issue(s) you’re having and give you tailored options that feel good to both you and your child.

For parents and caregivers of children 18 months- 6 years

I'll never suggest leaving your child to cry it out- promise! 

parents like you have said:

 you’ve tried it all and it’s just not working.

Bedtime is the most stressful part of your day. It’s taking hours to get your children down and then they don’t even stay there. There’s yelling, bribing, fighting, negotiating, stalling, and crying (from everyone). This isn’t a fun way to end the day for you OR your child and it leads to so much guilt and shame. You wish there was a way to figure out WHY bedtime is such a struggle in your home and you want to fix it but don’t want to leave your child to “cry it out.”

start enjoying bedtime, rather than dreading it.

Why is bedtime so hard, anyway?

Many parents experience "bedtime battles" but not many people realize that there are only a small handful of reasons behind this common struggle. In daily conversations and our 1:1 work with thousands of parents (plus personal experience!), we've found that bedtime battles are the result of one (or a combo) of the four following issues:

  • a separation or relationship issue

  • sleep pressure or timing of naps and bedtime isn’t quite right

  • sensory or temperament reasons

  • sleep associations and routine

As you’ll learn more about, bedtime is hard for our kids for a bunch of possible reasons. But why does it also feel so hard for us? Well, because by the time we're ready to get our kids to bed, we are likely feeling D-O-N-E with parenting for the day. We are tapped out, touched out, exhausted and overstimulated. We have a to-do list a mile long or we really just can't wait to get to the couch and unwind with our partners the way we used to do.

The problem with bedtime is that it's often a battle of two opposing agendas. It's when our children are the most needy for connection and desperate to cling to us, but we're the most emotionally and physically depleted. So what happens? We battle. We fight, bribe, threaten... but then the opposite of what we want actually happens. The more dysregulated we become and the more we start rushing, yelling, threatening to leave, etc., the more they will become dysregulated themselves. This is a recipe for a LONG bedtime routine full of emotion that leaves us all feeling terribly. This won’t work long term for anyone.

 
 

ready for a different way? here’s what You’ll learn:

  • How attachment in infancy and early childhood relates to bedtime

  • How to support your child through separation anxiety, fears, etc.

  • A deeper look at the 4 main reasons bedtime can be so hard for our little ones (and us!)

  • How to regulate yourself and coregulate with your child

  • How to handle bedtime with multiple children

  • How you can use routines, prep, play and connection with your child to set yourselves up for a calm and loving evening.

  • How to create the perfect evening routine for your family

  • Practical tools for bedtime battles you can start to implement right away.

  • Step by Step strategies for teaching your child to independently fall asleep

  • How to change the way your child goes to sleep (i.e. how to stop rocking or laying with your child)

  • How to support your child’s big emotions and what to do if there is crying

  • what to do during common scenarios like your child coming out of their room, taking an hour or more to fall asleep, visitng your bed in the middle of the night,

    & SO much more!

better bedtimes are on the way *

better bedtimes are on the way *

the Better Bedtimes Guide includes:

  • video class to walk you through your options

  • 120+ page guidebook including information on temperament & sensory, attachment, routines, how to connect, the importance of play & silliness, how to gain cooperation without bribes or threats & more

  • concrete, simple & relationship-based strategies to help your child feel safe and secure at bedtime

  • troubleshooting for common issues like leaving the room, stalling and negotiating, multiple children, parental preference, how to stop cosleeping & more

  • bonus: how to stop feeding to sleep guide

FAQs

  • The tools in this guide will fit a variety of ages and stages. The youngest I would suggest these strategies for are 18-24 month olds. Most of the content can apply throughout early childhood. The ideal range for this guide is 2-6 years old.

  • There is no CIO in any of my guides or courses. I’ll never suggest that you leave your child alone with their big feelings. That being said, you can expect some crying when setting new boundaries for the first time, so I can’t give you a “no tears” promise. I can tell you that you’ll learn how to feel confident being your child’s “anchor” and you’ll be prepared for supporting their tears while remaining regulated yourself- which is such a huge part of early parenting!

  • I have so much confidence that this guide will give you some amazing tools to improve bedtime in your home, and if the guide does absolutely nothing for your family (not possible!) I’m happy to buy it back from you within 30 days.

  • This guide likely won’t achieve putting your child in their room at 7pm and saying peace out (I mean, it could….) but that’s not how I define success. This guide WILL help you move towards more independent, restful sleep for the whole family and more importantly will help you achieve a sense of calm and FUN in your evening and bedtime routines. I know it will help you enjoy bedtime with your child, making it a treasured memory that you will both hold onto for the rest of your lives.

I have used these exact methods with my own kids as well as countless personal clients. I know you’ll find valuable information and get tons of reassurance as you work your way through. If you have any questions at all, please feel free to shoot me a message!

rachael, founder of HSB

More about Rachael

Hey! I'm Rachael. I'm an Infant Sleep Specialist, former teacher, and mom of 3. I left my 9-year teaching career when my second child was a newborn, after I decided on a whim to enroll in a Sleep Certification program during my pregnancy. I was terrified of dealing with sleep deprivation again, and was desperately looking for answers that didn't include sleep training. What I found was a whole new passion and career path, PLUS a reinvigoration of my own motherhood journey.

I have loved working with babies and children for my entire life, but it wasn't until I became a mom that I understood just how truly all-consuming parenthood can be. Now in the age of social media, it's so hard for parents to sift through all the different philosophies on things like sleep and to know who they should trust. The information overload is so overwhelming! I get it, and I've been there too. I can promise you that I have tried it ALL with my own kids, and now that I'm a trained sleep specialist with multiple certifications and hundreds of hours of continued education, I feel so confident in my methods and am beyond proud to share them with you!