Hi, I’m Rebecca
Hi there, I’m Rebecca Shannon, owner of Slumber Bunnies and head sleep coach. I wanted to share a little more about myself and my journey to getting here!
My Background
My background is in education. I hold a Master of Teaching from VCU, and I started out as an English teacher in 2014. I taught 6th grade English for three years before obtaining my endorsement as a school librarian. Since then, I have been an elementary, middle, and high school librarian. So I’ve gotten to work with students of all ages! I still hold a teaching license in VA, and stay active in public school education by substituting. I will always have a huge heart for teachers and their families, because I know how hard teachers work to serve families!
My Motherhood Sleep Journey
I had my first daughter in 2021, and got to experience all of the ups and downs that come with being a working mom. At the time I had no clue what I was doing with sleep! I remember just pushing her in the stroller around and around the house trying to coax her into napping. I never did get my first on a regular napping schedule. At night we would nurse to sleep, and when we weaned from nursing we would rock to sleep. Luckily, she slept pretty well through the night, so we thought if it’s not broke, why fix it? Then around 18 months her sleep started to decline. We were spending hours singing, reading, rocking her to sleep before transferring her into the crib. As she got closer to two years old she began to go to sleep later and later, while waking earlier and earlier. My husband and I had to switch being on “duty” for those difficult nights and mornings. We were losing ourselves, and we were losing each other!
We finally decided to get educated. We found a sleep coaching plan that worked for our daughter. The process for us took about a week, and the transformation was incredible! We could now put our two year old in her crib, awake, at 8pm and she would sleep through the night until 7:30am. It honestly felt like getting our lives back! Which we needed because we were expecting our second child at the time.
As a librarian, research is one of my passions. I became fascinated with infant sleep, and I started to read everything I could on the topic. I also began looking into starting a career as a Sleep Consultant. In the year leading up to my son’s birth, I became certified, and I’m now so happy to be beginning this journey as a work-from-home mom!
My son has been a whole different creature from my daughter. He’s a very colicky baby, and he is extremely alert. Because of my training, I knew the right moves to help condition him to be a better sleeper, so he hasn’t needed any formal sleep training yet. I have learned a whole lot about understanding sensitive babies, and I have done a lot of research on helping sensitive babies like my son, sleep well! All topics I’ll be covering in this blog.
My Sleep Philosophy
My philosophy is that everyone deserves and needs sleep. That includes you, Mom and Dad! It doesn't make you a bad parent if you want to sleep-train your child. There is a lot out there that demonizes the way we choose to deal with sleep as parents. You’re terrible if you sleep train, or your a fool if you co-sleep. The truth is, there isn’t one right way! Your child’s sleep plan should be unique to them; their temperament, development, and specific sleep troubles. Just as importantly, it should be unique to you, as the parents. It should honor your needs as well. The most important aspect of sleep-training is consistency, so I want to build a plan that you can get behind, and truly be consistent with. I will always be straightforward with you about my recommendations, the reasoning behind them, and what you can expect when you adopt a plan (how much crying you can expect, for example!).
The Purpose of this Blog
I’ll be updating this blog weekly to bring you sleep advice and parenting reflections, in hopes of reminding you that you’re never alone on this journey.
