Pediatric Sleep Consultant Advanced Program

Yes, they are are available for questions and guidance throughout the course of study. That is an important aspect of this program. If you have questions, need clarification, or wish to discuss specific topics, you can easily contact your teachers via Canvas, our easy-to-use learning platform.

After each case study exam, you will receive constructive feedback to help identify your strengths and where you can improve. Use this feedback as a guide to help you grow and improve your skills. And if you have questions about that feedback, feel free to ask the teacher who provided it. 

We are here to help and support you. You will have the right tools to succeed as a sleep consultant.

In our programs, you will study all the internationally recognized and safe sleep training methods. These methods can be generally grouped into three core categories: “Let Cry”, “Maybe Cry”, and “No Cry”. 

There are many parents who cannot bear even the thought of their child crying. To help those parents, you will study many "No Cry" methods. The most famous method in this category is "Fading." We will review this approach in detail, and you will learn how to adapt it so it can fit the needs of any child. You will study the methods and tools of Elizabeth Pantley and William Sears. They focus on a caring, child-centered approach to sleep. These methods are based on step-by-step plans that can be tailored to the sleep patterns of every child. Alongside that, you will also study Professor McKenna's tools and techniques, which you can use with parents who are supporters of the attachment parenting style.

In situations where parents are severely sleep-deprived and have difficulties following their babies' cues but still want to actively help their child learn to sleep, 'Maybe Cry' methods can be very helpful. Here, you will learn about the Chair Method, where parents sit next to the crib in a chair, moving the chair further away each night until the child can fall asleep on her own. You will also learn about the Pick Up, Put Down method, which offers another alternative. This sleep training method involves going through the child's normal bedtime routine and putting her to bed drowsy but awake. If the child starts to cry, the parent picks her up and provides emotional support.

There will also be cases when parents need to change their child's sleep patterns as quickly as possible. The parent is experiencing severe exhaustion and lacks the resources for a long sleep training process. Methods in the "Let Cry" category can help in these cases, and you will learn how to implement and adapt them. You will learn about the "Extinction" method, "Check and Console," and any combination of the above, including the famous Ferber method.

In addition to all of that, you will learn how to choose the right sleep training method while taking into account the child's age and temperament and aligning it with parents' expectations. This is essential because all children are different, and you need to know how to adapt the sleep training methods to help any child in order to be a successful sleep consultant.

And yes, there will be families who do not want to use any sleep training methods but still dream of a full night's sleep. You will learn how to help those families too. You will learn how to help parents teach their children to sleep through the night without using any sleep training methods. There are many ways to help the child learn that without using any traditional sleep training techniques.

We consulted multiple external experts, including pediatricians, and other healthcare providers. The consensus was clear and unanimous!! It is unethical and beyond the scope of a sleep consultant or coach to address these medical conditions! Our role is to offer advice on behavioral sleep issues related to sleep associations and sleep-wake rhythms in healthy children.

Consulting on medical sleep problems is a matter that should only be handled by professionals with medical degrees and specialized training in sleep medicine. The sleep patterns and challenges of children with such conditions differ significantly from those of typically developing children. These children, in most cases, require specialized medical intervention and tailored therapies. Healthcare professionals like pediatricians and neurologists go through years of schooling and clinical experience to solve issues like this. Advice on bedtime routines, sleep associations, and sleep-wake rhythms works excellent for healthy children. However, for children with special needs, this advice could be inadequate or even harmful!

Given our external experts' insights and our ethical considerations, we decided not to include those subjects in our program. We fully agree with them that offering a certification in such a sensitive and specialized field would be irresponsible and unethical. In many countries, this would also be against the law!

We firmly stand by this ethical guideline! We do not offer courses on this specialized topic, and we assert unequivocally that sleep consulting for children with any medical condition should be conducted solely by qualified medical experts who have undergone rigorous training.

Yes, working part-time as a sleep consultant is not only possible but also common, especially when you are starting out. The role offers a significant degree of flexibility, allowing you to set your own schedule based on your availability and needs. This makes it an ideal option if you are looking to ease into the profession while maintaining another job or managing other commitments.

As you find success and satisfaction in helping families improve their sleep, you might decide to transition into full-time work down the line. Either way, the choice is yours.

There aren’t any set deadlines for the exams. The program is designed to be self-paced, allowing you full flexibility in your study. Although we have a formal start date for each semester, such as September 19, 2023, for the fall semester of 2023, there are no set end dates for assignments.

Every week, you will receive learning materials on Canvas, our learning management platform. You are free to complete the assignments according to your own schedule.

There isn’t a final exam. 

Instead of stressing over a final exam, our students have manageable tests and case studies throughout the program.

The goal of our program is to help you build new skills, not pass an exam. This hands-on approach allows you to apply what you have learned in real-world situations, preparing you for a successful career as a sleep consultant.