I am a mother of 5, wife of 27 years, and grandma to a precious little boy. During my down time, you'll find me hanging out with my husband, 2 of my adult daughters, and one teenage son who still live at home. I love being outdoors, cooking, and watching Netflix.
I am well known for my warmth, compassion, and ability to connect with others. I am an outstanding mentor and coach to mothers and entrepreneurs.
I educate women so they can provide guidance to mothers on optimizing sleep for their babies and toddlers, using our Baby-Centered™ Sleep methods and tailored solutions.
I offer support to sleep coaches and consultants, assisting them in cultivating confidence, building thriving businesses, and solving complex cases.
I am extremely devoted to my life's purpose: blessing mothers with a life of peace, presence and alignment by helping them sleep well, fine-tune their intuition, and elevate their confidence.
I am also the host of the Sweet Slumber Podcast: Baby-Centered™ Sleep.
Over the past 7 years, I've poured myself into developing the unique Baby-Centered™ Sleep approach, designed to support various temperament types, honed through extensive parenting interactions and consulting.
I believe it's vital to support the well-being of infants & children while improving sleep.
The focus should be on fostering independence (not by force). And helping babies and toddlers sleep as well as they are capable of (not sleeping perfectly.)
My students and I look at the big picture by...
screening for sleep disorders & underlying health problems, then help parents find support
relying on holistic principles
fostering independence & security through playful activities & nurturing, intuitive methods
recommending solutions based on each child's temperament & individual needs
supporting infants'/children's development & well-being
focusing on attachment, connection, and responsive parenting
helping parents & little ones thrive!
Meredith's Background...
Meredith grew up in northern CA (mostly) and met her husband at BYU-Idaho in 1996. They were married that same year! Her family has lived in Utah, Texas, Illinois, Wisconsin and now reside in the Cedar Rapids, Iowa area. Meredith's 5 children were born in 4 states!
Meredith has always been passionate about working with children, from being a babysitter and a nanny to teaching preschool in Utah for a couple of years.
When she started out as a new mother, she stayed home with her kids and ran a daycare. After 15 years of childcare, she worked as a teacher's assistant for a few years with children ages 4-12 with behavioral challenges or disabilities. Meredith also volunteered as a children's teacher and leader in her church since she was 16 years old.
Meet Meredith's Family...
Meredith's grown up kids are 16, 18, 20, 22, and 24. Her oldest son made her a grandma! Sawyer is 1 1/2 years old and full of spirit and love!
Meredith has always loved being a mom. It was her first true calling in life! She believes that motherhood is one of the hardest jobs but the most rewarding. And it sure is easier when they sleep well!
How Sweet Slumber Began...
As Meredith cared for young children in her in-home daycare and her own kids, she learned how to help them develop strong sleep habits. She enjoyed her unique gift, because of the joy it brought people.
In 2017, Meredith was introduced to a woman who needed help desperately. She didn't know how she could go on raising her 2 month old babies because their sleep habits were so terrible and they were so fussy and demanding. The woman was very sick & had severe postpartum depression. Meredith was very concerned so she took care of the babies for a little while and worked some magic! Their sleep, eating habits, and energy transformed within days. This experience changed both the mama and Meredith's lives. Meredith discovered she had a calling to fulfill.
Meredith's Early Sleep Coaching Experience...
Meredith opened "Sweet Slumber" in the fall of 2017. For the first 8 months in business, Meredith worked with clients in their homes in the Cedar Rapids area. Supporting families hands-on helped her figure out how to share her intuitive knowledge and gave her valuable insight.
Eventually Meredith met a popular Instagram influencer named Melanie Darnell from California (@fitmomma4three). She chose to work with Meredith out of a pool of interested sleep consultants because of her background. Melanie's toddler's sleep quickly improved and suddenly... Meredith was working with families across the globe! This was the gateway to coaching worldwide clients using Zoom.
In 2019, Meredith created the "Baby Centered™ Sleep System" and started her Facebook group "Baby-Centered Sleep" with parents from over 100 countries!
Meredith's Recent Work...
For the last 5 years, parents from every continent have worked with Meredith to solve their difficult sleep problems. These children often had challenging temperaments and/or health problems. She discovered that many babies and children needed a peaceful approach, even tear-free methods, to sleep better. With God's help, Meredith successfully created the Baby-Centered™ Sleep solutions and methods that are geared specifically towards different temperament types!
In 2020, Meredith created The Sweet Slumber Podcast™ to reach people who want validation, peaceful and responsive sleep solutions, and insight on difficult sleep struggles.
In the summer of 2021, Meredith began training medical professionals and birth-world experts from 4 countries to help them understand her approach and give them more tools.
In January 2023, Meredith introduced an in-depth training program for everyone wanting to learn her approach or become a sleep coach called the Baby-Centered™ Sleep Coach Certification Program.
In the summer of 2023, Meredith discovered a new passion for mentoring and guiding sleep consultants/coaches in getting their businesses thriving. Now she spends most of her time teaching students and mentoring her clients and only works with parents on the side.
Would you like to become a sleep coach or consultant?
Learn our responsive, temperament-led, intuitive approach for optimizing sleep. Become a Baby-Centered Sleep Consultant/Coach so you can solve sleep struggles and change lives!
Learn how to help others using a unique, healthy, and powerful approach that you and your clients will love!
We can't wait to meet you & share our passion for this work with you!
Certified Baby-Centered™ Sleep Consultants
Madalina Brencus: Sleep Coach & Resident Doctor of Pediatric Psychiatry
Madalina is a medical resident in Child and Adolescent Psychiatry in Romania. She always loved being around children and spent time helping her aunts by babysitting for them. She is also a certified sleep coach through the Baby-Centered Sleep Coaching Program. She has completed a university sleep program as well.
After Madalina became a mother to her daughter Taisa, a passion grew for helping children sleep better and helping parents understand their children's sleep needs. She wanted to support struggling mothers after experiencing sleep deprivation and anxiety as a new mom.
It all started when Madalina reached out to Meredith at Sweet Slumber for help, she discovered the world of gentle sleep teaching and supporting babies' needs during times of intense development. It became Madalina's number one goal to teach parents to follow their intuition and understand what their babies needs are.
Also, Madalina developed a passion for sleep research and science and is currently working hard to learn everything she can on this topic to bring the knowledge to parents in her country.
Lisa Falkenstein: Sleep Consultant, Doula, CLC (Lactation Counselor), Newborn Care Specialist, & Infant Massage Instructor
Lisa has been working with families for over 20 years in various capacities. Her passion for newborns and infants began at a young age with babysitting and then becoming a part-time nanny while pursuing her degree at Kent State University in Family Studies.
Lisa has worked in social work as the director of a community center working with families. After having children of her own she decided to become a postpartum doula and newborn care specialist working with newborns and their families. Supporting families as they grow, transition and learn is her focus. Her passion continued to expand and she became a certified lactation counselor (CLC), certified infant massage instructor and certified sleep consultant.
After working many years in the field, with overnight newborn and infant support Lisa saw the need for infant education and support around sleep. She then began her sleep consultant training through three organizations (including Sweet Slumber) that provide her with a wealth of education, various philosophies and methodology . Her methods are based on the family's parenting philosophies as well as the child’s temperament. Providing security and developmentally appropriate sleep plans are important to her.
Her goal for every family is to provide them with resources, education, empowerment, and support to ensure the family is on their way to being well rested and confident!
Check back soon to see other certified Baby-Centered™ Sleep consultants.
Listen to our podcast here!