Hi, I’m Kate! Proud owner of Sleep Play Grow! I’m a mother of three and a passionate baby, toddler and early childhood sleep expert.
Before children, I was an Accredited Exercise Physiologist with a degree in Sports and Exercise Science. I put this career on hold in 2014 to surrender completely to motherhood. I have always had in interest in how the human body works so for over 9 years now I have naturally been intrigued as to how our children’s bodies develop. SLEEP is major influencer because while their little bodies are asleep, it allows them to grow and develop, build immunity, regulate their appetite, repair damaged cells, transfer short term memories in to long term memories (aka learning and retaining), and most importantly (I think!), regulate their emotions! A number of studies have proven that infants, toddlers and children who have fragmented sleep have a higher level of cortisol in their bodies which means they are more likely to react to minor stressors throughout their days.
I also understand how overwhelming, isolating, and exhausting those early years of parenthood can be, having been there 3 times. I have been stuck in those days, weeks, months where you have a small human attached to you all day, where you fall asleep for what feels like 5 minutes before jumping out of bed to a crying child. But just as sleep is vital for our children, it is too for us adults, and I’m someone who needs a solid 6-8hrs a night to be a decent mother, wife and human! So over the years I have put lots time and effort in to forming good sleep habits in our household.
Once I was out of the “baby fog” the third time around, I found myself naturally helping and guiding friends with their little ones’ sleep and was gaining success and satisfaction out of doing so. Which led me to delving deeper in to the science of sleep, specifically baby and children sleep. I now have a greater understanding of why baby’s sleep, or don’t sleep, the way they do, the different stages of development up until 5 years old, ALLLLL the regressions, and numerous ways in which we can encourage our little ones to sleep independently, depending on their individual needs and personality, and depending on how YOU, as a parent/carer, want to approach sleep issues.
I would love to use all this knowledge and experience to assist you in creating great sleep habits for your family!