Combatting the Negativity Around Sleep Training with Tara Dakin Sauer

Tara Dakin Sauer, LMFT, PMH-C is a CPSM graduate passionate about the impact of infant sleep on parental mental health! Tara’s therapy practice, Renew Psychotherapy, specializes in treating trauma that occurs or resurfaces during pregnancy or postpartum. Tara's consulting business, a Renewed Momma, merges her expertise as a newborn care specialist, sleep consultant, and perinatal mental health professional to provide trauma-informed sleep programs that are uniquely tailored to meet the needs of moms experiencing significant anxiety.

Tara is also excited about combining her knowledge and skill set related to both maternal mental health and infant sleep to help other sleep-based postpartum professionals feel more confident in supporting their clients’ mental and emotional well-being. This newest part of her business is dedicated to providing education, resources, and collaborative care services to support sleep consultants, NCSs, and postpartum doulas in being able to more holistically promote the physical and emotional wellness of both babies and parents!

On this episode of the Becoming a Sleep Consultant podcast Tara and I discussed how to best combat the negativity surrounding sleep training.

Tara shares:
- That the intense mom shaming that happens on both sides of the sleep training debate is almost always rooted in a parent’s insecurities about their own choices they are making for their family.
- That a parent’s discomfort with the crying during sleep training is often less about the child’s discomfort and more so about the parent’s own discomfort with the noise.
- As sleep consultants its most important to show up to these conversations with confidence. When you truly believe that the support you are providing your clients is what is ultimately best for the child and the family as a whole, it’s way easier to navigate these conversations.

Links:

Psychotherapy Website: https://renewpandc.com/
Sleep Consulting Website: https://arenewedmomma.com/
Blog Post on Internal Family Systems (IFS): https://renewpandc.com/2023/03/18/introduction-to-internal-family-systems-therapy/
Resources for Postpartum Professionals: https://arenewedmomma.com/resources-for-postpartum-professionals

If you’d like to learn more about becoming a Sleep Consultant, please join our Facebook Group https://www.facebook.com/groups/becomeasleepconsultant

CPSM website: https://thecpsm.com/

Book a free discovery call to learn how you can become a Certified Sleep Consultant here: https://jaynehavens.as.me/CPSM-Inquiry