Hello everyone, my name is Meredith Kinney and I am a Certified Gentle Sleep Coach located in South Jersey. I have a Communications degree from the University of Maryland, and worked in magazine publishing in New York and Philadelphia before I became a mom. When my children were born, I chose to leave my office job and stay home with them. As a stay-at-home mom, I was very involved in the day to day activities of my boys. I joined a moms group, became friends with the other neighborhood moms, and signed up for lots of mommy and me classes. Now that my boys are older I wanted to "pay it forward" by helping newer parents navigate the tricky world of infants and toddlers. My practice is a judgment-free zone for all parents seeking information and emotional support. I am here to help you coach your baby through age appropriate sleep behaviors, while still fostering a strong parent and baby connection. Once your baby is sleeping well, the rest of the family will be able to sleep soundly too.
BA, Communications University of Maryland, College Park (1998)
Gentle Sleep Coach (2015)
Wonder Weeks Academy (2018)
English
The Gentle Sleep Coach philosophy was developed by Kim West LCSW-C, The Sleep Lady® because she found so many parents had difficulty following through with a sleep coaching program that they feared will damage their child emotionally or filled them with so much guilt they couldn’t follow through. The GSC approach is a gentler alternative for families who emotionally or philosophically resist letting their babies cry it out, or who tried other methods that just did not work out for them. Can you guarantee “no crying” you might ask? No, no one really can. My goal is to have as little crying as possible. I encourage parents to be loving and responsive but to allow the child the room to learn this vital life skill of putting themselves to sleep. The parent responds and stays with their child and offers physical and verbal reassurance without putting the child to sleep. This supports the development of a secure attachment between parent and child. I will work with you to create an individualized, step-by-step sleep plan that will factor in your parenting philosophy, your child’s age, health and temperament, caregiver well-being and the related family dynamics. And most importantly I will support and coach you through the process from beginning to end- for night sleep and naps!