Today we’d like to introduce you to Katie Wolber.
Hi Katie, thanks for joining us today. We’d love for you to start by introducing yourself.
I am trained as a classical musician – I have degrees in French Horn performance, and I’m Principal Horn of the Dallas Opera. But those degrees didn’t help me at all when I had my first baby!
My son went from sleeping 8-hour stretches at night to waking every hour, and my husband and I were exhausted. Playing lullabies on the French horn at 3 am seemed like a bad idea. We reached out to a sleep consultant that was recommended to us, and I was so in love with the results that I eventually decided to become a sleep consultant myself. The perfect opportunity came during the pandemic after I had my second child. Opera wasn’t working that year, so I applied to train through the Family Sleep Institute. FSI is the leading sleep consultant training program and offers the most extensive education, with an emphasis on the research-backed science of sleep. Graduates of the program also complete continuing education classes to stay the most up-to-date in the field of sleep consultancy. I attended school online for an entire year starting Fall of 2021 (through Baby #3!).
When I started my Sleep Consultant training, I was already a Child Passenger Safety Technician. Backing up a bit, my husband and I were in a horrific car accident in 2011 – I nearly died. I had extensive injuries, multiple surgeries, and spent 3 months in a wheelchair. After that, car safety became very important to me. When I bought my first kid’s first convertible car seat, I couldn’t figure out how to install it properly, even though I’d read the manual. So, I got my CPST certification in the Summer of 2021 and can now help with car seat installs.
During my time with FSI, I also decided to become a Certified Lactation Counselor. I had had issues breastfeeding my first two children and wanted the best shot with my third, plus be able to help parents who want to breastfeed also feel comfortable sleep training their children.
Alright, so let’s dig a little deeper into the story – has it been an easy path overall, and if not, what were the challenges you’ve had to overcome?
I had a baby while finishing up my sleep certification program and trying to start up my new business. I felt I had bitten off a little more than I could chew. When opera is in season, it can also be challenging to find the time to practice my horn and take on multiple clients- and be a mom to 3!
Appreciate you sharing that. What should we know about Texas Baby Sleep?
Texas Baby Sleep offers child sleep consulting (virtual and in-home options), lactation counseling, and car seat safety installs and advice. I also love doing workshops for parenting groups and local stores.
Many people think that you cannot sleep train a breastfed baby or that it will put your breastfeeding relationship in danger. I’m here to tell you that that is absolutely not true! There are methods of sleep training that do sabotage that relationship, but we would thoroughly discuss what your goals are and make sure that you are comfortable with the sleep training plan, all while maintaining lactation (if you have chosen to breastfeed). You don’t get a cookie-cutter printout of a sleep training method that anyone could find online. If that worked for everyone, we wouldn’t need sleep and lactation consultants!
Unfortunately, the child/pediatric sleep consulting industry is entirely unregulated. Anyone can call themself a Certified Sleep Consultant. Before working with one, ask them where they trained, how long they trained for, and their qualifications. If their website says nothing about where they were trained, that should be a big red flag. Some programs allow you to take a one-day course and call yourself certified. Family Sleep Institute is a yearlong and requires 250+ hours of coursework, weekly meetings, and continuing education. We also have a network of grads and mentors we can go to with complex cases.
As for car seats – know that every seat I have checked has had something incorrect, making it unsafe. Statistics show that at least 70% of car seats are improperly installed. The safety of our future generation is at stake, and I wish more people would find a CPST to help them learn how to use their car seats!
We’d be interested to hear your thoughts on luck and what role, if any, you feel it’s played for you.
The bad luck of our May 2011 car accident is what helped lead me to become a CPST. If it weren’t for that wreck, I’d probably be just another mom with an improperly installed car seat!
You could also say that the bad luck of the pandemic helped me get my sleep consultant certification. I had a lot more time on my hands, allowing me to return to school.
Pricing:
- $375 Basic Sleep Package – two weeks email support
- $475 Premier Sleep Package – two weeks email support plus three 30-minute phone calls
- $775 Gold Sleep Package – two weeks email support, four 30-minute phone calls, Bedtime Text Support, one 30-minute phone call within 6 months, one virtual car seat check
- $40 Virtual Car Seat Check
- $60 In-Person Car Seat Check
Contact Info:
- Website: www.texasbabysleep.com
- Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/texasbabysleep/
- Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/TexasBabySleep
Image Credits
Julia Newman Photography
East Layne Photography
