This CBS This Morning Sunday feature follows Mommywise founder, Natalie Nevares, helping desperately sleep-deprived mom Arielle sleep train her 11-month-old baby Cooper, and get the whole family caught up on sleep.
“The plan for Cooper included breaking her habit of nursing to sleep and moving her crib out of her parents’ bedroom. The strategy worked. The first night, it took Cooper less than 15 minutes to fall asleep. By night two, Cooper slept nearly 13 hours. After not sleeping an entire night for nearly 11 months, mom Arielle Burnham said she felt elation.”
The Wall Street Journal interviews a Mommywise client who found us “after many sleep-deprived nights spent trying to soothe or sing her 5-month-old daughter Thira to sleep. She and her husband, Adam, had read several books on infant sleep, but ‘they all preached something different,’ she says. Whatever soothing technique Ms. Langer tried, Thira kept waking up several times a night.”
After two days with a Mommywise Sleep Coach, Thira learned to sleep independently. “‘Five months later, Thira is still sleeping through the night.’ Ms. Langer says some of her friends are jealous. They think I’m lying, she says.”
ABC’s Good Morning America interviews Mommywise founder Natalie Nevares about sleep schedules, and discusses a family whose children go to sleep whenever they want – between 9 p.m. and 1 a.m..
“Nevares told GMA, ‘the lack of bedtime may work for this particular family because of their specific circumstance — their children practice “unschooling,” which means they are not tied to a regular school schedule. But it’s not recommended for families who are living within the confines of schedules in other aspects of their lives. All humans, and especially children, need regular sleep,’ she said. ‘Children are always going to fight boundaries and transitions. It’s up to adults to be the leaders. For younger kids, an early bedtime is critical. They’re up by 7 a.m. no matter what,’ she said, ‘and they need 11-12 hours a night.’”
New York Magazine’s Strategist column wants the low-down on the very best baby monitors, so naturally they reach out to get the scoop from Natalie, Mommywise Founder.
“Natalie Nevares, the founder of Mommywise and a sleep-training expert who coaches new parents, says the Nanit is now her favorite of all the cameras she’s used over the years. A feature that she loves is the ability to access its video footage and watch and share clips. Still, Nevares reminds us that any monitor — even one as advanced as the Nanit — won’t be 100 percent accurate. “It oftentimes will say the baby’s awake when the baby’s not awake, but just kind of rolling around in their sleep,” she says. For a more affordable Wi-Fi-enabled monitor that has some smart features, Nevares recommend the Lollipop. Nevares likes that it’s tiny and therefore very portable. Nevares adds that it’s handy for newborns “because you can attach it anywhere, and point it in any direction you want.”
NBC News interviews Mommywise founder, Natalie Nevares, about sleep struggles and sleep regressions during the coronavirus pandemic, as well as Mommywise’s virtual sleep training service:
“A lot of sleep issues are becoming more urgent. Parents are feeling extra stressed being at home with their kids and trying to do their jobs with no childcare,’ said Natalie Nevares, expert baby sleep trainer and founder of Mommywise. ‘With older babies and toddlers who are used to getting higher levels of stimulation during the day, sleep ends up becoming more of a battle. And if a baby hasn’t been sleep trained, then not only are the parents up all night long, but they’re also dealing with a cranky, exhausted baby during the day.’ The pivot to a virtual business model has made Mommywise’s services more accessible to families across the world, at a time when getting babies to sleep soundly is more crucial than ever.”
“Mommywise Founder Natalie Nevares is a sought-after sleep coach in Manhattan who found her calling after being treated herself for depression and anxiety when she was a new mother. Today, she works in her clients’ homes offering day-and-night, hands-on-help for up to 72 hours.
Author Greta Lambert (not her real name) is a former Nevares client. Lambert, who lives in a two-bedroom apartment, was suffering from the effects of chronic sleep deprivation and contacted Nevares with the ‘dream’ of getting her baby and toddler to sleep in the same room, sleep through the night and nap at the same time. She and her husband also wanted to reclaim the sacred space of their bedroom. Lambert said her wishes ‘felt like science fiction.’ Lambert’s ruling after 72 hours of coaching? ‘It felt like I had died and gone to heaven,’ she said.
Romper interviews Mommywise founder about sleep and teething, and asks, “Do babies sleep more when teething?”
“Alas — not usually. Natalie Nevares is a pediatric sleep expert and the founder of Mommywise, an agency that helps parents sleep train their children. She says it’s very uncommon for children to sleep more during teething. ‘However, if your baby has low-grade fevers, which often present with acute teething symptoms, your baby might seem a bit floppy and sleepier while fevers are present.’ So, similar to if your child had a cold — they might sleep more. But also like a cold, they might be fussy and uncomfortable and keep everyone up the whole night. Nevares says teething can have a big impact on some babes, but then others, not so much. ‘Some babies are hardly fazed by teething and they sleep right through it. Younger sibs with the same DNA often follow the same pattern,’ says Nevares.”
Originally published in 2014, New York Family Magazine shares Mommywise Founder’s candid thoughts about sleep training and parenting in the 21st Century in her piece, “What if She Cries?”
“‘Naturally, the politics of how to teach your baby to sleep in this parenting environment is politically charged because there are so many experts and methods and systems and critics of sleep training in general. New parents haven’t a clue about how to get their babies to sleep through the night—or if they should simply accept a life of child-centered depletion.’
‘On the one hand,’ Nevares writes, ‘All clinicians at Tribeca Pediatrics tell their patients to night wean and sleep train at eight weeks. Their standard clinical advice, led by founder Michel Cohen, M.D., is to put the baby down, walk away, and come back 12 hours later. Along with Tribeca Pediatrics, there are numerous other credentialed M.D.s nationwide who advocate sleep training based on the science-based benefits of uninterrupted sleep, both for the baby’s brain development and parental mental health.”
In a still-popular 2011 article titled, “Mommywise: The NYC Mom Who Helped Sleep Train My Family,” Mommy Poppins journalist interviews Natalie about sleep training and sleep consulting in NYC, simultaneously solving her own family’s sleep issues.
“Natalie, who is amazingly calm and empathetic, identified our problem within seconds. ‘Sounds to me like your daughter’s starting to phase out her nap,’ she said. While this may sound obvious to an outsider, it came as a surprise (and ultimately a relief) to me. Natalie promised that after a few napless days, bedtime would become easier for both of my kids. She even gave me tips on how to shorten our zillion-hour bedtime routine, and how to get my daughter to fall asleep on her own. And guess what: After a few days of not forcing naps, my daughter started going to bed earlier and easier. Some days she even sleeps in until 7am! So now everyone in my family sleeps better, which is Natalie’s ultimate goal.
In April, 2022, Forbes interviewed Mommywise Founder Natalie Nevares in their feature, “The Best Baby Monitors According To Sleep Experts And Parents”.
Although Nanit is hands-down our favorite monitor, Natalie shared a smaller travel option that’s ideal for newborns in bassinets or travel cots. Forbes journalist quotes Nevares, “Convenience and ease of operation are key with this model, which connects to Wi-Fi through an app. “The versatile Lollipop monitor is especially ideal for travel,” says Nevares. “It’s a great option for bringing on trips because it can attach to a travel crib or onto the handle of a car seat, or it can stand on a tabletop.” It attaches with a bendy, wraparound arm—in nursery-friendly colors like turquoise, pistachio or cotton candy—that can be manipulated for the perfect angle.”
In May, 2022, the Spruce contacted us to ask for our opinion about the best crib mattresses. In their feature, “The 9 Best Crib Mattresses for Babies and Toddlers,” Spruce journalist asks Mommywise founder, Natalie Nevares how she shops for a crib mattress: “Firmness ensures that when babies inevitably roll over, they won’t suffocate,” Mommywise founder Natalie Nevares explains. “A crib and mattress do not have the biggest impact on your child’s sleep. Still, creating a safe, comfortable space for your baby is a great way to start. The single most important thing you can do to get your child sleeping well is teaching how to fall asleep independently, without the assistance of any sleep associations or sleep props. Ensuring that your child feels good in their crib and all of the safety precautions are taken only aids in this process.
Nevares adds, ‘Sleep and development go hand in hand. Once they’re getting great-quality sleep, then their development skyrockets.’ Thus, anything a parent can do to improve a baby’s sleep, including finding the perfect mattress, contributes to your baby’s development.”