Hi! I'm Courtney Parker, Certified Sleep Sense Consultant, mom of 2 awesome little girls and wife of an airline pilot! I also have a science degree in biology (why must they call it zoology when it's mostly about the human body?) and I looove my sleep! I also love all kinds of food (especially Thai and Italian) and have played softball all my life.
I've spent the first 15 years of my career working for commercial airlines, so I guess you could say I'm also a travel junkie. Some of my favourite spots are Nusa Lembongan (Bali), Nice (France), Koh Samui (Thailand) and good old Phoenix, Arizona where my parents spend 6 months of the year.
My story began when my first daughter was 6 months old and we were living in Dublin, Ireland. I was on maternity leave and my husband took an overseas deployment to work with a U.K airline for 6 months. Although pretty much everyone thought I was crazy to head off to Ireland with a 9 week old baby (and no family support), we had a wonderful adventure! That is, until sleep deprivation brought us to our rock bottom. We're talking five feedings a night, , placing the sleeping baby in her crib only to wake 2 seconds later, and only napping on the go for maybe 30 minutes at a time. Since my husband needed a good night's sleep to safely operate an airplane, I was often handling this on my own and spiralling into a dark place.
We are SO tired, but trying not to look tired (note the monster energy drink in the stroller)
I began desperately searching every mommy site and reading every book and article I could get my hands on. Eventually, I found Sleep Sense by Dana Obleman and it literally changed our lives! Within 3 nights, our daughter was sleeping 7pm-7am and after a full 4 weeks she was taking reliable 2 hour naps twice a day. WOW! What to do with all the free time? Just kidding, I had no problem catching up on netflix and binging on snacks!
After having another daughter almost 2 years later and seeing the same success with her sleep, I felt the calling to help other families. Looking around, I was seeing so many moms (and dads) that needed help and even some that had accepted that this is what life was supposed to be like! I know families with older children that still won't sleep through the night in their own beds. Did you know that 80% of babies that don't learn healthy sleep habits will still have sleep issues 3 years later?
I researched all of the best Certification programs and signed on to train with Dana Obleman, creator of the Sleep Sense Program in Sarasota, Florida. After intensive training and ongoing mentorship, I am a fully Certified Sleep Sense Consultant!
There I am! Front row, third from the left in the stripy skirt! Be sure to sign up for more great sleep tips at www.guidingnight.com. Thanks for reading!