Raising Littles

I can’t say enough wonderful things about Marni. She became like family helping us navigate our little guy to sleep. We started working with her while transitioning our little man to his crib. Because he was having such a terrible time, my husband and I were having to take shifts sleeping in his room. He also wasn’t taking consistent naps during the day. We briefly tried some of the “cry it out” methods but it proved too traumatic for us. Then he started teething. We were feeling pretty hopeless. Marni helped us take a deep breath and develop a customized plan we were comfortable with-non-traumatic sleep training. I felt so much better knowing I didn’t have to let him cry it out to get sleep. She recognized and helped us see some of the barriers to his sleep issues- from developmental growth stages to crib avoidance, to teething to us not being consistent. Marni helped us get him (and us) some sleep. She went above and beyond what we ever expected of her. I wish I could just give her a big hug!

To say I was desperate for sleep would be an understatement ! As a mother of 5, I developed all those bad habits I always said I would never do. I had been in survival mode for roughly 10 years as my oldest is 11 and my youngest is 15 months. I read book after book about sleep training and different methods but I could never seem to find the right fit for us. When my older kids were babies , I did whatever it took to get them to sleep. Sometimes laying on the floor of their bedroom , falling asleep on the couch , rocking chair , our bed , you name it . We would survive one stage and then the next, all the while not realizing 1) how exhausted I was , and 2) that my kids didn’t know how to put themselves to sleep. After my youngest was born , my husband and I vowed to teach this one to sleep. Fast forward a year and we were struggling . I trolled social media pages for suggestions or help with how to get my 1 year old to sleep. That’s where I found my lifesaver, Marni . After answering some questions and setting up a phone call, I knew I was headed in the right direction . Marni was so kind, gentle , understanding and didn’t judge me one bit . I felt comfortable immediately . She walked me through the steps of how to teach my son to sleep. I didn’t believe her when she said “there is light at the end of the tunnel and you will sleep again!” I wrote down her advice word for word and vowed to begin our gentle sleep training that night. To our surprise , the first night wasn’t terrible . There was some crying but I was there to let him know he wasn’t alone. As the days went on, things became easier . I watched my son learn to self soothe in ways he couldn’t before . The “shuffle “ was our new routine and my son learned to like it. After about a week , he began to not even fuss one bit about going down . In fact , he would point to his bed when he was tired and push me away as if to say “ok I’m ready , just put me down.” My follow up call with Marni was even more helpful. She explained what to do with setbacks of illness, teething , vacations etc . I can’t even begin to say how thankful I am for Marni . She gave me my life back. My husband and I actually have time to ourselves at night . I would recommend her to any parent , new or veteran , like me that is desperate for sleep.

Marni is extremely knowledgeable and most importantly compassionate and filled with patience which is so needed when you are struggling with a child that has challenges around sleeping! Her approach is always delivered from a space of love and her techniques are amazing! Hands down the BEST gentle sleep coach there is!!

Marni brought clarity and peace to our household during this quarantine! Her easy, thoughtful and decisive approach to baby sleep made the process feel natural and inevitable. She provided a flexible framework for establishing healthy habits that we adapted to our needs with our newborn. She also helped us with the dreaded transition from swaddle to sleep sack when our little one started rolling around three months old.
I particularly appreciated how she helped us understand what not to worry about, which in a world where there seems to be no end of advice and input, is very valuable. This kept us focused on the bigger picture and allowed us to prioritize the things we cared about.
I recommend Marni to anyone interested in learning healthy, customizable and clear tools to navigate life with a baby!

We were in a very desperate place when we first contacted Marni. Our son was waking up several times a night. We were having to rock him to sleep. During the day, he was fussing all day long and unhappy (we found out later because he was tired!). From the very first phone call, we were met with kindness and understanding. When Marni came over to our home for our first in person visit, she was confident that we could use the skills she was about to teach us to turn things around with our son. We started to implement these skills immediately. She advised us to start with self soothing techniques during nap time. It was only a few short days before our son started to grasp these skills. After some time, we started to apply these skills at bedtime. We started using Marni a little earlier then her usual clients when our son was four months old so technically we weren’t “sleep training” him. Our main goals in the beginning were to get to a point where we no longer had to rock him repeatedly to get him to sleep. To teach him that he had the ability to do it himself. After several months of work, some sleep regression, he really got the skills pretty mastered. At six months, we started the real sleep training called “The Shuffle”. This method worked wonderfully for us. So much so that when we moved into a new house, our son didn’t skip a beat! We were afraid we would have to start the shuffle again but we didn’t. He is now independent in his crib and able to completely put himself to sleep. I’m not sure how we would have made it through this time without Marni’s guidance. There were late night calls filled with tears and self doubt that I know all parents experience, but we had her reassurance and expertise to get us through set backs that felt like we couldn’t rectify. I tell anyone who will listen, hiring Marni was the best decision we have made for our family. Our son is happy, we are rested and our home is just an overall better place for us all.