Sleep Specialists & Consultants
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Sleep Specialists & Consultants
Nov 2007
I have a one year old with sleep issues. Does anyone know a
good sleep consultant besides Meg Zweiback? Im trying to find
someone in El Cerrito/Berkeley/Albany. I live in El Cerrito and
dont want to drive all the way to Oakland.
Would love to know!
A-
I consulted with Noelle Cochran [noellecochran@mac.com], who does
all her consulting via phone. She is warm, goes with what you
are comfortable with, but let's you know what to expect given
your child and their developmental station. You contact her via
email to set an appointment. She is very busy but will get to
you. Good luck!
kim
Sept 2007
I am posting on behalf of a friend who lives in Pleasanton. Can anyone recommend a sleep specialist
for a 22 month old who has had sleep issues off and on since 5 months of age. They have Kaiser but
have not had much luck there and the recommendations on the archives at BPN are a little outdated.
Thanks
I've had two recent and great experiences
with Meg Zweiback. She understands
children and parents and I felt like she gave us appropriate, sensitive and
reasonable recs to help our toddler improve her sleep. It was well worth the money
and I felt like I ended up learning about my toddler in the process because of the
way Meg asks questions and explains her suggestions. It also helped me to know
that she has been doing this for a long time. She was welcoming and calm and seems
to really know her stuff. Couldn't recommend her more highly!
Anon
November 2006
Our six month old daughter gets up many times per night and struggles with going back
to sleep. We've read many sleep books and tried many methods and nothing seems to work.
We are now interested in sleep consultants in the bay area. Does anyone have any new
recommendations? sleep deprived
We love Vivian Sonnenberg - she is responsible for many happy sleep filled nights in
our home! She truly is the baby whisperer -
Her number is 415-383-0560
Good luck!
Sleep deprived,
We waited until our baby was 9 months old, hoping he would sleep on his own, but no
luck. We read many books (too) before we called a sleep consultant, Vivian
Sonnenberg. She was recommended by a friend, and has been written up in the SF
Chronicle. Although her service was a little pricey, she was worth every penny! We are
so happy and now everyone in the house is well-rested. Her website is
www.viviansonnenberg.com
Good Luck!
Loving our sleep
August 2005
We are looking for a sleep specialist or consultant to help us
address our sleep issues with our 15 month old boy. Is there
anyone who has used a sleep specialist recently who they would
recommend?
a very tired mama
Our son is a year old and was a terrible sleeper.
We went to see Meg Zweiback
(836-1450) when he was maybe 8
months old because he had to be held for a large part of the
night to sleep at all, would wake as often as 20 times, never
slept longer than a couple hours at a stretch. We met with her
twice (and had daily phone consults in between our meetings) and
he got to be a much better sleeper.
Our schedule got really out of wack for 3 weeks and the baby
regressed pretty seriously. When he was 11 months old we took
him back to Meg and she gave us different advice that also
worked. (Initially we tried doing the same thing we did the
first time around but it wasn't working. When we went back, she
told us he was at a different stage developmentally so we needed
to do something different.) Now he is back on track and is
sleeping even better than before. He usually wakes up once
around 3 or 4 to eat and otherwise sleeps about 8-6:30.
It only took 2-3 nights the first time to get him sleeping
well. The second time it took a little more than a week. The
process was painful (lots of crying) but well worth it for all
of us.
Good luck.
March 2004
Hi -- I'm considering consulting with a specialist about my
baby's sleep issues. He seems to be having more difficulty than
is ordinary (he's certainly having more difficulty than my
daughter did), and the situation is not good for him or for the
rest of the family. Despite our efforts at sleep training and
other methods, he is incapable of organizing his sleep. He has
a great deal of trouble going to sleep and staying asleep,
waking every ten minutes or so during naps and every hour or so
at night. I know that Stanford has a sleep clinic that includes
pediatrics. I'm wondering -- has anyone ever used the Stanford
clinic? Or has anyone used a specialist closer to home and
gotten good results? I'm not even sure what sort of specialist
we need -- medical doctor, nurse practitioner, alternative
medicine -- so any recommendations are welcome. Thanks so much.
Sleep Deprived in Oakland
I have had similar sleep patterns with my 3month old dauther in
the day time. Night time is getting better. We have been seeing
an osteopath regularly since her birth and this is helped
tremendously. The one I have been seeing is moving and I am
looking for another currently. I can't say enough about the
benefits of osteopathy, especially for newborns and children.
It has done wonders for her digestive issues and sleep.
Monica
2001
We're looking for someone who can help us deal with our son's sleep issues.
We've received conflicting advice from our pediatrician and other
professionals, but it doesn't seem to matter anyway since he still has a
tough time sleeping through the night, and he seems unable to put himself
back to sleep by himself (and sometimes with our help). Does anyone have
recommendations for anyone who specializes in sleep disorders? (And yes,
we've read four books and tried everything from attachment style to Ferber
and beyond - with no success.) Thanks in advance.
There is a sleep disorders clinic at Stanford you might contact. You could also talk to a
developmental pediatrician if you haven't already. Good luck!
Melissa
We engaged Meg Zweiback
both when my son was a wakeful baby and for dealing with
"big boy
bed" freedom. She is great -- analyzes the issue and provides a "prescription" that
worked well for
us in both cases. I strongly recommend her. Her number is 836-1450.
Kathleen
The sleep consultant we worked with is Rachel Biale. She works only by
phone, which actually turned out to be preferable. She likes to work with
both parents, and working by phone makes it much easier to coordinate. Her
method of sleep training is similar to Ferber, except that you stay with the
baby. It's helpful for those of us who just can't close the door and not go
in, and the baby is not alone. But it is just heartbraking to stay with your
baby while he screams, and NOT pick him up. Rachel individualizes her
approach for each family, so I can only speak to what she had us do. We let
Eli cry in his crib for 10 min without touching him, just talking to calm
him. Then we tried patting and touching to soothe him, without picking him
up, for another 10 min. If he was still crying (which he always was), then
we picked him up and soothed him, and when he was calm, we put him down and
started all over again. Also, my partner and I took turns. Even though this
didn't ultimately work for us, we did find it helpful. Rachel worked with us
within our limits, instead of saying that the method demands certain
procedures, like most of the books out there do. In the end, we decided that
we weren't making enough progress quickly enough to be able to continue. But
this is a procedure that has worked well for many parents.
My daughter had bad sleeping problems, and in the end, I found I had to rely on my
own maternal instinct. I talked to many professionals, I tried almost all suggestions and
read every book I could get my hands on. My best contact
was the UCSF Sleep Program. Unfortunately, no one can give you just the right answer
and no particular method is guaranteed to work. After years of trying to follow other's
ideas of dealing with short sleep cycles, movement and sound sensitivity I stopped
listening and followed my own instincts. I have tried to make sleep/night a safe and
secure place. A time of security and a positive experience. It is important to remember
that the current ideas of what I child should
sleep like is not only a generalization but is the "in" trend of thinking for our times.
When you look back in history, or at other cultures, you can see that the ideas of how
children should sleep and how the parents handle it vary greatly. It is also helpful to
hear what other parents experience with their children. The longer I dealt with the
problem the more commonly I heard about other's problem situations. You must also
remember that every family has different limits on what they will handle. Some keep
their children up late, others want the child asleep early. Some parents get up and sit
with the child, others bring the child into their bed.Everyone sleeps differently. Some
fall asleep quickly, others take time.
Some people are 'light' sleepers, other's heavy. I suggest you look at your sleep style and see if it matches
your child's in any way. My situation has still not completely resolved itself but it is
much better. Ndevent
July 2002
RE: 8 month old standing in crib, exhausted
We worked with a very intuitive baby coach named Sarah
Swales, 652-0774. If you want to get away from the
one-size-fits-all formulas, I highly recommend inviting Sarah
over to meet you and your child. She picked up on things
about my son's sleep style that I wouldn't have noticed, and
she offered me and my husband great support.
We had major sleep challenges (including standing in the
crib), and we've worked through them all in gentle baby
steps with Sarah's help. We met with her 3 times and spent
a few hundred dollars in the process. Totally worth it.
Other people in my moms' group have consulted with
Sarah, so I know for a fact that she is not giving us all the
same solutions.
EM
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