Summer is most notorious for bringing disruptions to our children’s sleep. Between vacations, later evenings, and long hours of daylight, many families make peace with some sleep disruptions for their little ones.

We know that once the vacation is over or the nights become longer and darker, most family members (hopefully) fall back into a predictable and appropriate sleep routine, especially if older kids are in school and adhering to a bedtime and waketime all week.

However, I find that Fall often brings its own set of challenges for baby and child sleep. Let’s talk about those today!

Stay the Course

First and most importantly, no matter the sleep disruptions, I always recommend that families stay the course in pursuing their sleep goals or sticking with the framework that is working for their family. You could even call this my mantra as a sleep consultant: stay the course!

Keep the big picture in mind and steer your child’s sleep in that direction, even if it’s a little up and down over time. No matter what you’re working on or dealing with, be it a ‘sleep regression,’ a time zone change, an illness, or a late-night family event, keep your goals in mind.

Make exceptions as needed or as appropriate (life happens!) but be aware of when things should be getting back to normal. For example, after a child has recovered from an illness, don’t let those middle-of-the-night exceptions you rightfully made become the new norm.

Continue reading “Dealing with Fall Sleep Disruptions by Audra Juraska” →

This morning, I walked around Greenlake with my dear friend B.  We do this every couple of weeks to catch up and talk about life in general.  She just started a business several months ago and frequently talks about how busy her work is keeping her. 

On top of running a retail store, she stays very busy doing (amazing) interior design work.  Then after she closes up shop each day there is kids’ activities, dinner, helping with homework, putting kids to bed, and tidying up her house before working more and then collapsing into bed so she can do it all again the next day. 

Sound familiar? I know I can relate to crazy schedules!

Continue reading “A Fall Stroll and Mommy Mental Overload” →

There are so many things to consider when hiring a nanny!  The obvious things include job duties, work hours, and pay rate. While it’s impossible to imagine every aspect of the relationship with your nanny, here are eight things not to forget about when hiring a nanny.

Guaranteed Hours

This is a big one for nannies and is considered a standard practice in the industry. 

Guaranteed hours means that you and your nanny agree upon a set number of hours (normally around the typical hours worked in a week) that she is paid for in the event you end up not needing her for all of those hours.  This is important so your nanny can rely on a guaranteed income. 

It’s not fair to the nanny to not get paid if a parent chooses to not have them come in during regularly scheduled hours when the nanny is willing and able.  Keep in mind it’s not legal to bank these hours! 

By offering your nanny guaranteed hours, your nanny will feel appreciated and you will be doing the right thing. Click here for a great article from the Nanny Counsel on guaranteed hours.

Continue reading “Eight Things to Consider When Hiring A Nanny” →

Two and a half years ago I found myself facing the childcare conundrum. 

I was headed back to work after maternity leave and I was having a hard time finding a part-time nanny.  I wasn’t having luck on Care or Sittercity and I didn’t want to go through the expense of working with an agency in Seattle. 

When my genius idea of joining a local nanny group on Facebook was shot down (alas, I couldn’t join because I wasn’t a nanny), I decided to create my own group for nannies and parents to connect.  (I wish this option was available years ago when I was putting myself through college as a nanny!) 

The Nanny Parent Connection was born

I never could have imagined the group would grow to the nearly 19,000 members we have today!  It has been truly amazing to watch this dynamic community evolve. 

As with any group that grows tremendously it’s been an interesting experience to figure out how to handle the challenging situations that have arisen.  People started turning to me as a source of information since I ran the group, so I had to educate myself quickly! 

I actually had a group member recognize me in the Costco food court, while I was pregnant-hangry and inhaling a slice of pizza…probably not my finest moment ever! 

Continue reading “Welcome to the Nanny Parent Connection (and to my blog)!” →