Inese Carter founded Bluebell Sleep Consulting after her own experience of disrupted nights showed her how valuable compassionate sleep support can be. Drawing on her background in paediatric nursing and training as a certified responsive sleep consultant, she helps families navigate sleep challenges with gentle, personalised guidance. As a mother herself, Inese understands the realities of family life and is passionate about helping parents feel heard, reassured and confident. Here, she talks to The Natural Parent Magazine about the inspiration behind her work, the challenges she has overcome along the way, the pros and cons of running her own business, and her hopes and dreams for the future.
The passion: What inspired you to set up your business?
My journey into sleep consulting began with a deeply personal experience that changed the way I understood motherhood, sleep and the importance of having the right support.
When my daughter was just 10 months old, she experienced a frightening medical emergency during which she stopped breathing. It was an incredibly distressing experience for our family.
Following that event, her sleep changed dramatically. She began waking every 40 minutes throughout the night, and despite my background in paediatric nursing, I found myself feeling exhausted, overwhelmed and unsure how to help her.
For five weeks, I tried to understand what was happening and find a way to improve her sleep. Eventually, I reached out to a sleep consultant for support.
That experience made me realise something incredibly important: even parents with medical knowledge and experience sometimes need someone to guide and support them.
It also gave me a much deeper understanding of how emotionally challenging sleep difficulties can be, particularly when a family has experienced a frightening medical event.
My background in paediatric nursing had always given me a passion for supporting children and their families, but my own experience as a mother inspired me to take that passion in a new direction.
I decided to train as a certified responsive sleep consultant and founded Bluebell Sleep Consulting, combining my professional knowledge with my personal understanding of the challenges parents face.
Today, my mission is to offer gentle, responsive and evidence-based sleep support that respects every child’s individual needs and every family’s parenting choices.
I want parents to feel heard, understood and reassured, knowing they don’t have to navigate difficult nights alone.
The launch: How did you start in the beginning?
I began by investing in specialist training in responsive sleep consulting while my daughter was a baby, building on my existing paediatric nursing knowledge and experience.
Alongside my studies, I completed additional safer sleep education with The Lullaby Trust and worked closely with families through practical case studies. These experiences allowed me to develop my skills and see how personalised, gentle sleep support could make a meaningful difference to family life.
After completing my certification, I officially launched Bluebell Sleep Consulting.
I built my own website, developed my services and began connecting with parents through social media, local family events and educational workshops.
Starting a business while raising a young daughter has certainly been a learning experience, but every step has brought me closer to creating the kind of support I wish every exhausted parent could access.
The innovation: What was the biggest breakthrough for you with your business?
One of my biggest breakthroughs was seeing the positive changes experienced by the families I supported during my training.
Watching a baby become more comfortable sleeping in their cot, seeing a toddler develop a more peaceful bedtime routine or hearing a parent say they finally felt confident about their child’s sleep reminded me exactly why I had chosen this path.
It reinforced my belief that improving sleep doesn’t have to mean leaving a child to cry alone.
Another important milestone was completing my certification in responsive sleep training. It gave me the confidence to combine my clinical background with my specialist sleep knowledge and establish Bluebell Sleep Consulting.
I am particularly proud of creating an approach that combines evidence-based guidance with compassion, flexibility and respect for each family’s parenting choices.
Yin and Yang: How do you balance work and family?
As a mum to a three-year-old daughter, balancing motherhood and running a business is an ongoing learning experience!
I try to organise my working hours around family life, making the most of the couple of days a week my daughter spends at preschool while keeping our time together a priority.
Of course, there are days when things don’t go according to plan. Running your own business means wearing many different hats, from supporting clients and developing sleep plans to managing a website, creating educational content and attending events.
I’ve learned that balance isn’t about getting everything perfect. It’s about being flexible, setting realistic expectations and remembering why I started my business in the first place.
Being a mother also helps me connect with the families I support. I understand that real family life can be unpredictable and that sleep advice needs to work within it.
The drive: What challenges have you overcome?
One of my biggest challenges has been building a new professional identity while adapting to motherhood.
I originally trained and worked as a paediatric nurse in Argentina and later gained experience working in children’s wards and neonatal care in the UK as a nursery nurse while waiting for my PIN be registered.
Moving into sleep consulting meant investing in additional education, developing new skills and learning how to run a business from the ground up.
Building Bluebell Sleep Consulting has involved much more than becoming qualified. I have had to learn about website development, marketing, social media, business administration and how to reach the families who may benefit from my support.
It has also taken determination to build a business while caring for my young daughter.
Although there have been challenges along the way, I am proud of what I have achieved and excited about what lies ahead.
For better or worse: What are the pros and cons of running your own business?
The greatest reward is having the opportunity to make a positive difference in family life.
There is something incredibly special about hearing from parents who feel more confident, reassured and rested after receiving support. Knowing that my work can help parents enjoy their children and feel more comfortable with their parenting decisions makes everything worthwhile.
I also love the flexibility of running my own business. It allows me to develop my career while remaining present for my daughter during these precious early years.
The biggest challenge is that, as a small business owner, you are responsible for everything. Alongside working with families, I manage the marketing, website, administration and day-to-day running of the business.
Establishing a new business also requires patience. Building awareness, earning trust and reaching new clients takes time.
However, I genuinely enjoy the process of creating something meaningful and watching it gradually grow.
Hopes and dreams: What next?
My dream is for Bluebell Sleep Consulting to become a trusted source of gentle, evidence-based sleep support for families across the UK and worldwide.
I want to continue supporting parents of babies, toddlers and preschoolers through personalised one-to-one consultations, educational resources and practical workshops.
I am particularly passionate about helping parents understand normal infant and child sleep, reducing unnecessary anxiety and showing families that there is no single approach that works for every child.
I would also love to develop more opportunities to collaborate with nurseries, maternity services and other professionals who support families during the early years.
In the future, I hope to expand my educational resources and make reliable, compassionate sleep information accessible to even more parents.
I am also looking forward to furthering my education through advanced studies in infant and child sleep, deepening my knowledge and expertise so I can continue to provide families with the highest standard of evidence-based, compassionate sleep support.
Above all, I want Bluebell Sleep Consulting to be a place where families feel supported rather than judged and where parents know they don’t have to navigate sleep challenges alone.
Visit bluebellsleepconsulting.uk to find out more, and connect with Inese on Facebook, Instagram and Linkedin.
