I'm so lucky to have worked with so many wonderful families, and couldn't be more proud of them all for their amazing work and for being brave enough for taking that first step! Here are a few testimonials about our experience together.
Testimonials
"Thanks to Shawna, I now talk in complete sentences and wear matching socks (most of the time). In all seriousness, going through the consultation process has been so helpful for our family. We were hesitant to seek advice because we felt that, as parents, we should intuitively know how to coax our baby to sleep better. So I was amazed when we received the personalized "Roadmap" - there was so much practical advice packed in there, both generalizable and customized for our situation. Throughout the consultation and support period Shawna was approachable, positive and reassuring. Two months ago we had a 6 month old who napped 40 minutes at a time, and woke every 1.5 to 3 hours at night. We now have an 8 month old who takes 1-2 hour naps and wakes to nurse once per night. We attribute that improvement in large part to Shawna's program and ongoing encouragement. As family doctors, we would definitely recommend her services to families struggling with baby sleep."
- Sarah Tuck, MD and Colby Burns, MD
"I am writing this testimonial a well-rested mother of 3 girls under the age of 3 (finally!). I certainly could not have said that just a few of weeks ago….and we have Shawna to thank for our good night sleep!!
We recently reached out to Shawna to assist us with our 18-month old twins’ sleep issues. For the last several months, our twin girls were each waking up at least 2-3 times per night (which means I was waking up 6 times per night!), as well as waking up very early in the morning (5am). It was often a struggle to get the girls back to sleep. From birth, the twins were never great sleepers, but we simply accepted that we would have to live with this situation. However, things became unbearable when I went back to work, and the night awakenings got even worse. The sleepless nights were causing significant stress, frustration and exhaustion. The constant disruptions/crying at night were also causing my older daughter to wake up.
From the first meeting with Shawna, I started feeling optimistic and reassured. Shawna was professional, understanding and effective. She designed a personalized sleep program for my twins’ issues which we immediately put into place. Within the first couple of days, we noticed a remarkable improvement. The night awakenings decreased significantly and the morning wake-up time improved as well. Throughout the entire process, Shawna provided support as well as detailed advice and recommendations. Thanks to her expertise, she was also able to adjust the sleep plan to take into account our particular family situation and our children’s needs. And now, just three weeks later, I can happily confirm that our twins sleep through the night (11-12 hours!), and wake up at a much more reasonable time (6:00-630am). I could not have imagined such incredible results for both children in such a short period of time! I would highly recommend Shawna to anyone struggling with any type of baby/child sleep issues."
- Diana T.
"As a family doctor people assume that you know all about baby sleep. Newsflash! Most of us are just as clueless and anxious as all of the other first-time parents out there. With our first child we really struggled through the first year, and up until recently she was still not a great sleeper.
When I found out that I was pregnant with twins I knew that we would need major help in the sleep department in order to survive. I was scared that ‘sleep training’ would involve a lot of crying, which turned out to not be the case at all with the help of Destination Sleep. Shawna’s extensive knowledge, combined with her gentle and tailored-approach led us to the very happy place that we are today. Our 5-month old twins go to sleep happily for 11-12 hours straight at night, and take great naps (at the same time!). Even our older child is sleeping better thanks to a few bonus tips. Now that we are all getting the rest that we need we are able to fully enjoy this precious time – and that is priceless."
-Dr. M. Gardner
"I was very apprehensive about sleep training. I had read all of the sleep books, and I soon realized that the common thread was to withstand some degree of crying. Even with all of this information, I wanted to have a more human resource; someone to guide me rather than paging through a book at a stressful moment. Shawna has offered our family this perfect solution, she made a customized plan specific to our needs and helped us to realize our goals. I was nervous to begin the training, and after a few nights I realized that this was a life changing and very positive process. We had to manage 2 difficult naps, and 2 difficult bedtimes, and in the greater scheme of things, to teach our baby a lifetime skill, this was so worth it. If you are like me, and nervous about the crying I can reassure you that Shawna will be the best guide ever to lead you through this emotional and very important milestone."
-Betsy B.
"My husband and I are so grateful for Shawna's guidance on our baby's sleep journey. Our son is turning 6 months soon and was waking up every 90 minutes at night and was constantly fussy during he day. Despite all the research and resources we were exposed too, nothing we tried worked for more than a couple of days. After working with Shawna, our son is in a much better mood now that he is well rested and learned to connect his sleep cycle.
As for us, went from being stressed, over-fatigued and impatient to having plenty of time to bond with one another and spend quality time with our baby. We saw such a big transformation in so little time. Overall, Shawna is very professional, accessible and empathetic and we're extremely happy with the results."
-Menna, Diegal and Taïmour
"Shawna's advice was a huge comfort to me when I had my third baby 6 months ago. While I knew the basics of "sleep training" from when I had my first two children, it had been six years since I had been in the newborn stage, and I felt rusty! Shawna helped me to figure out the best course of action to get Penny on an age appropriate schedule that would maximize her sleep. She gave me the confidence to know that I was doing all the right things...and when something needed tweaking Shawna was there! No matter whether it's your first or third baby, sleeping can be a difficult battle. I am so thankful to have had Shawna's invaluable experience and advice to help get Penny on a good sleep schedule from the get-go. I only wish she had been around when I had my first two!"
-Jackie L.
"The best thing I did for my daughter's sleep issue was to turn to Shawna for help. My then 17 month old was not able to sleep independently during her daytime naps- or so I thought! After consulting with Shawna, I was able to get a better understanding of what my daughter really needed in order to fall asleep. Shawna was able to personalize a plan for my situation and provided me with invaluable advice. More importantly, the level of compassion and professionalism she shows makes for such a positive experience. I am amazed at how well my daughter took to the changes in her sleep routine. She is a much happier toddler because of healthier sleeping habits. I highly recommend seeing Shawna if you are struggling because sleep is a wonderful gift to give to your baby. Thank you so much, Shawna!"
-Sabrina Ghazal
"I wanted to write this testimony because I was initially very hesitant to get professional help for sleep training my son, but I know now that contacting Shawna was the best decision I could have made, she has changed our lives for the better in an amazingly short amount of time!
When I reached out to Shawna, the only way my son would sleep at night was if he stayed next to me in my bed, after being nursed. He would wake up every hour during the night, and had to be nursed to fall back asleep. It was impossible to put him down alone in his bassinet or in his crib. His bedtime was much too late, since my husband and I had to be ready to go to bed in order for him to fall asleep. He was a happy baby during the day, but he would get overtired and cranky during the evening, which was spent rocking him and bouncing him in order to allow the other parent to cook, eat dinner, and take a shower. During the day, the only times he slept (a few minutes) was on me while being nursed, or in the car, stroller or baby-carrier, and there was no schedule whatsoever. I had read sleep books, blogs, articles, everything, and understood I had created bad sleep associations and the theories behind the different sleep training methods, but I didn’t know how to implement a plan that would take care of all of our specific issues at once, while allowing me to keep night feedings. I was ready to make some changes, but I wouldn’t have had the confidence that I was doing the right thing and I had no clue where to start (day sleep, night sleep, changing the bedtime, trying to establish a schedule, breaking the nursing to sleep association, breaking the association to being in the same bed as us), so it would have been very difficult to follow through.
The first thing that struck me about Shawna was her kindness and her professionalism. She always answered our emails promptly and called at the hour she said she would. I right away felt very comfortable with her. She made sure that we could start the sleep training at the time that was convenient for us, and she came to our house to meet us and to see our son’s sleep environment. Before even getting to a sleep training method, she made us some suggestions that would set us up for success, so much so that after following her advice, our son fell asleep instantly the first time we put him alone in his crib (I even checked my monitor to make sure it was working). She provided us with a very detailed sleep roadmap that perfectly suited our needs and was there to patiently answer every single question we had along the way, while being very supportive and encouraging. With her help, the sleep training wasn’t nearly as difficult as I had thought it would be and we saw immediate results, on day 1. Now, one week post-Shawna, our son sleeps in his own room, takes three nice long scheduled naps a day and sleeps at night for at least 12 hours, waking up most of the nights only for two feedings (which I wanted to keep). When we put him to bed, awake, he falls asleep instantly of within a few minutes, with minimal or no crying. When we are with our son, he has our undivided attention because we have been able to do things like cook, eat, and take a shower while he was asleep. A week ago, we couldn’t have imagined going out for an evening only my husband and I, but thanks to Shawna, we were able to leave the house without our baby for the first time since his birth… and the grandparents didn’t have to do anything because he slept the whole time! Most importantly, we know that our son is well-rested and that he has learned a really important skill that will make his life better for the coming years. Thank you Shawna, it was such a pleasure to meet you and to have you by our side during this process!"
-A private mother who'd prefer to remain anonymous
“Asking for help can be difficulty, especially when it’s about something as personal as the inner workings of your family. Within minutes of speaking with Shawna all my reservations about sharing disappeared, I felt absolutely no judgement, only respect towards my family and our views. The nonthreatening environment she created is what allowed me to be so honest with her (and myself) and I believe that the authentic conversations that ensued were essential in solving our daughter’s sleep problems. I don’t think I could have gotten there with someone other than Shawna guiding me. Our family thanks her every night!"
-Michelle and Simon Decoste
"After 8 months of sleepless nights, my husband and I decided to seek some expert advice. After meeting with Shawna, we knew we had chosen the perfect sleep consultant to help put an end to our constant state of exhaustion. Shawna was not only easy to engage with, friendly and sympathetic to our situation, but her calm demeanor and accessibility at all hours made working with her a truly seamless experience.
Shawna provided us with an achievable sleep plan and did not hesitate to answer any questions or concerns along the way. After one week of working with Shawna and implementing her plan, our daughter slept through the night and has been ever since. Thank you Shawna for helping us out of what felt like an insurmountable state of sleeplessness. We will definitely recommend you to anyone we know in search of a sleep consultant."
-Andrea and Brad S.
"When our youngest turned 4 months old, the sleep situation in our house turned very desperate. My infant, who I had been co-sleeping with, all of the sudden wanted to nurse around the clock and her daytime sleep became one catnap after the next. At the same time, my toddler who had once been a champion sleeper, would take literally hours to put to bed, only to wake up multiple times through the night. And naps? Forget it.
The 4 of us were desperate for a good night's sleep but my hubby and I were hesitant to seek the help of a professional. I had heard from friends that unless we were willing to Cry It Out, a sleep coach would be of little help. Wow, did Shawna ever prove us wrong. She was patient, thorough and sensitive to our parenting style. Shawna walked us through different sleep training options and helped us choose the methods that best suited our family. She then crafted custom sleep plans to help our 2 little girls get the sleep they so deserved. She even helped us navigate the process with daily check-ins and phone, text and email trouble shooting.
One month post-Shawna, I can tell you that the difference is night and day. Naps and bedtimes are so much more enjoyable. My eldest is back to sleeping through the night (a blissful 11-12 hours) and my 6 month old wakes up once for a quick feed (I chose to keep one nighttime feeding).
Now that everyone is sleeping, the chaos has subsided! The kids are happier and so are we. Heck, my hubby and I even get a couple of hours to ourselves every evening. Now we just need to figure out how to fill them!"
-Jennifer Z.
"Shawna was referred to me by numerous friends with babies who had been struggling with sleep training. As this was my second child sleep training was not new to me but the complications of sleep training with a toddler in the next room and with the unique issues that were presented by my son, I was feeling like I needed a bit of support and guidance that books and websites couldn't provide for me. I was not looking for a whole program but just small changes here and there to our routine.
When I spoke with Shawna she was not only so patient with me as I rambled on about all my questions and problems, but she was also very open to providing me with as much or as little support and guidance as I wanted. Based on our discussion, Shawna was able to identify the problems and provide me with concrete solutions on how to fix small things in our routine that would help my son get the sleep he needed (and me too). She had information and tips that I had never thought of and she gave me a structure to follow depending on the approach I was comfortable with. Within a week we had gone from two hours of crying at bedtime to 10 minutes.
Working with Shawna was a complete pleasure and I felt like she understood my frustrations and her calm nature allowed me to regroup and tackle my sons sleeping head on. She also made it clear she was there for follow up support if need be and made sure she had answered all my questions before ending our session. She was quick to respond to any of my emails or texts and made herself available to me based on my schedule. I really cannot recommend her services enough. Thank you Shawna!"
-Tina K.
"I was so happy that I called Shawna when my baby was only 4 months old. I didn't hesitate because this was my second one and I remember going through the same erratic sleep behaviour from 3 to 6 months with my first child. It was very frustrating because my babies slept pretty well at night up until three months and then regressed dramatically. To add to the frustration, all the advice I read on-line and what people were telling me, was that babies began to sleep longer un-interrupted stretches beyond 3 months of age. I reached out to Shawna almost right away because I didn't think there was a need to suffer like I had with my first child. As for Shawna, she was on point and she was fast! She did a thorough analysis of the situation and then quickly came back a a detailed plan that was specific to our baby and our family needs. Now our baby is 7 months and he's sleeping way more than I am. I'm wondering if Shawna does sleep plans for adults. If you're having sleep issues and you don't have enough sleep to know which road to take, I recommend Shawna at Destination Sleep. Don't wait to get your 'life' back. Thanks again Shawna, our family is so much better off!"
- Lisa Blouin
"As a first time mom, one of my biggest fears was that my baby wouldn't sleep...ever. So I decided to take Shawna's "Expectant Parents" seminar to learn any tips and tricks that would help us to start out on the right foot. When my daughter Delaney was about 8 weeks old, I began implementing the tips that I had learned in Shawna's seminar and before I knew it, Delaney was sleeping 5-7 hour stretches at night. I fully have Shawna to thank for this. Her guidance and clear-cut advice were what got us there! Furthermore, when I contacted Shawna with some follow up questions, her reassurance and understanding were a huge source of comfort."
-Courtney Rose
