Sleeping baby is a healthy one, but …

A sleeping baby is a healthy one, but the road to dreamland is littered with challenges and frustrations, especially for new parents. Ruth Mwende wants to help change that 

Sleep is not just a necessity to a child’s health and development, but also to adults.

Research by the American Sleep Foundation found that 69 per cent of children under age 10 experience a certain kind of sleep disorder that might require attention.

Sleep disorders are linked to other symptoms such as obstructive sleep apnea, restless leg syndrome, parasomnias, which include sleep walking, sleep talking, nightmares and night terrors and bedwetting. The list is endless.

It is while conductingresearch about sleep and babies that Ruth Mwende created a niche for herself as a sleep expert. Her mission: assisting parents put their children to sleep. 

“Interestingly enough, my work started out as a joke from friends who always found my daughter asleep. They thought I had it all together wondering what I was doing differently,” she says.

Mwende had a year of testing the market and was shocked to get emails from mums who sought her help. 

She began taking in bookings one by one, hoping all she had learnt on sleep was going to be effective. To her surprise, it worked. The feedback was amazing. 

Hard first days

“I still wasn’t sure if this is what I wanted to do since I was also struggling with learning the trade and craft. However, after three months, I had the confidence to actually do it.

“About four years now, Mwende takes children from four weeks old up to six years. Parents have to sign a sleep declaration form to help them understand Mwende’s terms of work and what is expected of them.

“They also fill in a sleep intake form that captures the history of the baby and what their current sleep situation looks like. 

“This is then passed to us for assessment as parents wait for approval from me. There are several cases that may hinder a child from being sleep trained such as medically related conditions or special conditions the child presents.

“Upon approval, we set the date when I go to the client’s house or we set up a Skype or Whatsapp video call. I am with one client for two to three hours. I work on my notes to discern the baby’s sleeping pattern and finding the best plan for them.

“Thereafter, I send the parent a sleep plan to show what we intend to do and the programme rolls of the next morning, with me following up daily,” she explains. 

Usually, the first couple of days are pretty hard on the parents because making changes isn’t always easy. Mwende gives them her full attention and once she begins seeing improvement on the expected outcome, she works on a followup up to four weeks. She gives an extra two weeks to fine-tune a few edges as well as advise the client on what they need to do. 

 “Currently, I handle children of up to six years old. I offer behavioural therapy as most children suffer from behavioral issues with sleep. This therapy indicates that while all actions can be learned, unhealthy behaviors can be changed. That means if a child is suffering from a medical sleep disorder, that can be changed,” she adds.

Slowly picking up

Mwende rarely advertises her trade, but runs her platform on Facebook and Instagram, even though referrals have been her biggest source of work.

She relies heavily on track record, reviews from other parents and professionals as that’s how to make people accept the idea of seeking advice from a sleep therapist. She even gets references from paediatricians. 

In severe sleep disorder cases, Mwende refers her patients to a qualified doctor for further assessment. The cost depends on the age of the child. However, the cost runs from Sh10,000 to Sh15,000 and the programme runs for four weeks. 

Mwende is self-taught and studies books and listens to sleep therapists abroad to sharpen her skills. She also has a chat with a mentor on sleep matters online. However, even as she endeavours to be a much sought-after sleep expert in Kenya, she admits that things are not always what they seem. 

“These books talk about one perfect baby who is supposed to meet all the criteria; unfortunately, children are different. What we know about sleep are myths. Our parents taught us that when babies eat they sleep. 

“Sleep isn’t food related. Sleep is a science. Children do sleep. Babies are different and what works on one will not work for another because of  family dynamics and philosophies,” she says. 

While seeking a sleep expert’s advice is the norm in developed countries, it is slowly picking up in Kenya. Resistance is still a problem because of lack of knowledge on how sleep works due to the ingrained myths surrounding it. 

“Yes, there are people who have tried by themselves and it doesn’t work and they still don’t believe what the work of a sleep therapist is. Those I have helped know that it has given them sanity,” says Mwende. 

One of the international consultants Mwende looks up to is Dana Obleman. She says one day, her son didn’t sleep and she had to find a solution. She was a teacher and now she’s a world-renowned sleep expert who has created her own programme and has run it for 14 years. 

However, she faces a lot of disbelief from people, especially since she is self-taught. 

“I started out with non-believers, but now I have a community of good sleepers from the Sleep Academy (Momzy Network). I call them graduates. Sleep training isn’t an easy job, especially when a parent is already exhausted with the process,” Mwende explains. 

Another challenge is lack of consistency. Parents aren’t consistent in following the plan yet their children’s sleep falls apart daily.  

“The change of rules day in day out confuses the baby. Parents who take quick fix solutions don’t keep it consistent and fail. Another challenge is comparing babies. This happens when parents want the same results as the reviews I post. No one child is alike and no household is the same. There is no one solution for all,” she says.