
Hi, I'm Steph
I'm the Founder and Director of Sleep Parenting. As a mom, I know the realities of postpartum life.
My eldest daughter struggled with sleep, and we quickly became overwhelmed. After months of suffering from postpartum anxiety and chronic sleep deprivation, I reached out for help. Our world changed, and a new passion was sparked when I realized that sleep affects everything.
I founded Sleep Parenting in 2018 to educate and support parents looking for an alternative to cry-it-out and stricter sleep training methods when addressing sleep.
Poor sleep is a symptom, not a behavioural issue. No child ever set out to be a difficult sleeper and in fact, every child has the ability to be a great sleeper. As parents, it's up to us to help them reach their full potential.
I know how hard it is because I was there too.
After a less-than-ideal birthing experience with my first child, I returned home with my sweet newborn and a hearty dose of trauma. The challenges started immediately. She would feed for 45 minutes, then sleep for 45 minutes around the clock. For eight days, I could not sleep longer than 20 minutes at a time.
At six weeks, she stopped sleeping at all during the day, so I'd spend my entire day, every day, trying to get her to sleep. She couldn't be settled by my partner or anyone else. Only I would do. And she was still constantly waking throughout the night. I felt trapped.
Her constant crying had us all on edge. At five months, I felt broken and unable to survive any longer. On the brink of checking myself into a hospital just to get some sleep, someone recommended hiring a sleep coach.
The sleep coach told me to let my baby cry it out, and out of desperation, we did. It didn't feel right, but we pushed through. Our daughter started sleeping through the night and about another month later, my fog from severe sleep deprivation lifted, and that's when I began to recognize that there was more going on with my daughter and me. Our challenges continued for two more years.
Finally, the isolation from a lack of support system and mixed messages from the sleep and parenting books I read motivated me to begin my own education and training in infant sleep.
Fifteen months into our parenting journey, I attended an infant airway seminar to better understand how breathing affects sleep. My eyes were opened as I heard my baby being described (to a T) by the speaker. It inspired me to take her to a pediatric ENT, where we discovered she couldn't breathe well through her nose, eventually undergoing corrective medical procedures at age 2.5.
It wasn't until age 6 that we discovered she had a severe tongue tie that nobody had diagnosed.
I was putting together pieces of the puzzle and realizing that at no point did anyone bother to look at our situation holistically. Now I know that she had feeding and breathing issues that impeded her ability to sleep. I also now know that the trauma I experienced during her birth and the sleep deprivation triggered Postpartum Anxiety in me. I had been in survival mode (drowning) and couldn't see a way out.
My experience came full circle; my mission is that nobody else ever needs to experience something similar.
The Sleep Parenting Approach assesses the whole child (and whole family!). As a physiotherapist, I am accustomed to working in a multidisciplinary team. I bring this with me as I assess not only your child's sleep, and the family dynamic, but also screen for mental health, feeding and airway. I do not diagnose medical issues but provide checklists and resources (created with the help of specialists in their field) to help you decide if you need additional assistance from qualified specialists with expertise on issues that are outside my scope of practice.
You should never feel helpless as a parent. And you are not alone in these challenges. So let's create sustainable changes to ensure your family's sleep remains healthy.
Work with Steph
Access as little or as much support as you need, no matter your child's age, needs, OR your budget.
Wanna chat before you commit?
Let's jump on a quick call to discuss your unique sleep concerns and goals, and figure out how I can best support you.
Schedule a FREE 15-minute introductory callLove from families I've helped...

Steph and her Sleep Parenting program has completely changed my life.
I went from living in a constant state of anxiety, anger, fear and tiredness, to feeling competent, rested and empowered. Sleep was the one area of parenting that we just had no idea how to handle. I hadn't felt like myself in months and felt like my sanity, life and relationships were spiralling out of control and that I was getting further and further away from ever getting it all back.
And then Steph happened! The opening online questions of the program only made me more confident that we needed this program in a bad way and I am so glad we took the plunge.
The knowledge we gained on how to parent through the ups and downs of sleep and seeing the progress our daughter has made in becoming an AMAZING sleeper is quite honestly priceless. Restful nights, happy baby, predictable days/nights, improved relationship with partner, family and friends, all of this plus more is what I've gained from this program.
I have and will continue to recommend this program to others because I believe this is the best program out there that accommodates each individual families goals and parenting style.
I will not forget how I felt at the beginning and how far I (we) have come because of this program and because of this I will be forever grateful!
Claire
(Eberle's mom)

Steph is a miracle worker and changed our lives completely.
I was amazed by how quickly we saw results. Our lives revolved around trying to get my son to sleep prior to this program. It was stressful and exhausting for us. We truly didn’t feel anything could possibly help our son sleep well as other programs had failed.
With Steph’s help, my son quickly went from being parented to sleep and sleeping in our arms; to sleeping independently in his crib. We couldn’t believe it!! Our son is a happy and well rested baby and we are able to function better because we are able to rest ourselves.
It was extremely important to us to avoid any cry it out sleep training tactics as it didn’t suit our parenting style. With this program it is completely tailored to your individual goals, parenting style and babies temperament. This helps make the transition to better sleep stress free and something we could feel good about.
Throughout the program we were provided with ongoing support from Steph who is extremely knowledgeable, empathetic and non judgmental in her approach. The knowledge and tools we gained from this program will help us through our ongoing sleep journey with our child. We are better equipped to help ensure he is getting the best quality and quantity of sleep he needs as he grows.
We can’t thank Steph and her team enough for everything they have done for us. They truly have changed our lives completely for the best.
Thank you Steph!!
Sarah
(Connor's mom)

Our daughter's sleep was a mess. No one in our family was sleeping, but we were not desperate enough to let her cry it out. We just knew that it wouldn’t work for us or for her based on our personalities.
Then we met with Steph - and thank goodness we did!
We were able to develop a plan that was specifically adapted for our baby, her needs, and our family as a whole. Soon after our meeting, our bedtime routine moved to a consistent 30 minutes (including nursing!!), and she was falling asleep independently. Shortly thereafter, we were able to put her down for naps – in her crib!!
Steph offered so much support throughout the program that we were able to hit all of our goals, and then some, before the end of our work together.
With Steph and her Sleep Parenting program, not only did we gain essential knowledge about babies’ sleep patterns, needs, and ways of communication, but we gained confidence in our own abilities and instincts.
We know our baby, we know what she needs, and we know what to do to help. Yes, she sleeps and naps so much better, but this program has given us much more than that. We know that when she doesn’t fall asleep like her regular self, something else is up and we can go back to the basics and help her once again.This isn’t going backwards, this is moving through her needs, and it is totally okay.
Everything is okay. Actually, everything is perfect – so imperfectly perfect.
From the bottom of our hearts, thank you.
Elizabeth & Yvond
(Emmelina's parents)