Imagine yourself a mother or father, coming home after days spent in the hospital, having just brought a new child into the world. Of all the things to draw worry from as the parent to a newborn, it is not the food, clothes, babysitter, or finances—no. The much-anticipated villain of this narrative is sleep deprivation.
However, this is not your first time figuring out the method behind the madness—the madness being the restless child who cannot seem to fall asleep. Luckily, you took heed to a few sleeping techniques and were able to get your first child to habitually sleep throughout the night. Even better—before coming back to work from your maternity leave, you are able to get your second child to sleep sound throughout the night before turning one.
This is the story of Rachel Turner’s sleep consultation business,
Hello Sleep, one of the only sleep consultations resources available outside of hospitals and health clinics. After multiple conversations with other parents who were curious about how to keep their little ones sleeping throughout the night, Turner immediately recognized the need for sleep consultations in the Grand Rapids community.
“When I went back to work… [my coworkers] were like, ‘Okay, maybe with one kid that happens, but when you have two kids that you’ve successfully done that with, there must be something that you are doing that can help other people,” Turner says. “I think that’s what clicked, is that there’s a lot of parents out there that just need a little bit of support, and identifying the issue; why [their kids] are not falling asleep and trying to eliminate that [issue].”
Subsequently, it was in 2017 when Turner went through an extensive sleep consultant training program called
Sleep Sense, lead by professional sleep consultant
Dana Obleman in Sarasota, Florida. There, Turner, alongside 20 other women, was able to learn about various techniques to create and maintain healthy sleeping patterns for people of all ages, as well as how to develop a business.
Utilizing her training as well as her personal experience, Turner developed Hello Sleep to primarily focus on the sleep of children newborn to 12 years-old.
Upon initial contact, Turner’s mission is to get a feel of the family she is working with before she begins recommending different sleep techniques. Typically, she first calls clients to go through a checklist of criterion: what age is the child, are there any medical concerns preventing them from sleeping, what does a typical night of sleep looks like, etc. Turner then uses that information to create a personalized sleeping plan, working with families for two to three weeks, tweaking it along the way each night to figure out what is working the best. Often times, she works with families remotely, contacting them through either the phone or Skype sessions. However, she does offer in-home consultations for families as part of her services.
“One of the best things, which is another reason I went into this program, is giving mom and dad or whoever it is—maybe it’s a nanny or grandma or grandpa watching the child—giving them that moment to relax at the end of the night,” Turner says. “They never get that alone time or that me-time. Being able to relax a bit and have a glass of wine or read a book, or just sit in silence—giving parents that little bit of freedom and relaxation that they haven’t had in a while.”
Turner can be contacted through her website, where she has an active email and phone number. More information about her services and the pricing can be found there as well. The pricing of her service packages depend on how old the infant is, how often the client wants to check in with Turner throughout the two to three week period, and whether the clients want in-home or remote consultations. The pricing starts at $100, and she offers different payment plans.
Every week, Turner opens up her Facebook page to do live question and answer segments. She recently held a beginners class at Renew Mama Studio, and plans to host more workshops at the end of the month.
Enjoy this story?
Sign up for free solutions-based reporting in your inbox each week.