As a mum of two young children, Mia Dixon understands how difficult it can be to deal with sleep-deprivation. She believes that a healthy sleep routine is essential for a child’s development and their emotional wellbeing, and is passionate about helping parents achieve this. Taking a personalised and compassionate approach to sleep, she works closely with parents to create a plan that suits their child and aligns to their parenting style, ultimately creating healthy sleep habits for the whole family. Here she talks to The Natural Parent Magazine about the inspiration behind Celebrate Sleep with Mia, how she balances work and family life, and her hopes and dreams for the future.
The passion: What inspired you to set up your business?
As a parent to little ones, there is often an expectation that sleep deprivation is simply part of the package. Society tends to portray it as a normal aspect of parenthood, suggesting that we should just accept it, as it was a choice we made, and wait for our child to eventually sleep through the night.
Being sleep deprived was a mindset I was willing to embrace, especially since my eldest started sleeping through at around six months, which seemed like a significant achievement compared to what other parents were going through.
However, everything changed when my son came along.
Unlike my daughter, he struggled immensely with sleep. Despite my best efforts, I couldn’t seem to find a solution that worked for him. The sleep deprivation became overwhelming, and I found myself in survival mode, desperately trying to care for two young children.
Alongside this challenge, I was contemplating my return to work as a primary school teacher, and the thought of juggling a demanding job and caring for two children while being sleep deprived seemed daunting.
During this period, I began researching ways to help my son sleep better. There was so much confusing and conflicting advice out there, I didn’t know where to start. I was reluctant to start sleep training as I had read misleading information about how it can cause psychological damage to him and impact our relationship. But I was at breaking point and started with my training to be a sleep coach – I had to do it. So after reading the module on how to do the sleep training and having chosen a method, I went for it.
The first night my husband and I did it was so hard, and I got to a point thinking why am I doing this? The next day after I was able to regroup, I had a chance to rethink my plan, make small tweaks to how we were going to go ahead and the following night it went much smoother. We had gone from feeding him to sleep about 3 or 4 times during the night to responding with a quick cuddle and he was back to sleep. This was how it continued going for a few weeks, him just needing a quick cuddle to help him resettle but I was still getting up and not sure what to do next.
I finally plucked up the courage to ask one of the sleep coaches on my course what they would suggest I do and just like that after following their advice within a couple of days my son was sleeping through the night!
After this experience it further cemented why I chose to be a sleep coach. I want to assist as many parents as I can in helping them to support their children to learn how to sleep, in a manner that aligns with their unique parenting style. I want to eliminate the guesswork and uncertainty that often accompanies this journey, allowing parents to regain control and live fulfilling lives instead of merely surviving.
Thus, Celebrate Sleep with Mia was born out of the desire to provide parents with the tools, guidance and support necessary to help their children learn healthy sleep habits. I aim to create a space where parents can find solace, knowledge, and personalised strategies tailored to their family’s specific needs.
By empowering parents to prioritise their child’s sleep and wellbeing, I hope to enable them to reclaim their peaceful nights and CELEBRATE sleep again!
The launch: How did you start out in the beginning?
At the beginning, I looked for opportunities to refine my skills as a sleep coach by assisting friends with their children’s sleep, which was an invaluable experience and helped me gain the confidence I needed to start putting myself out there. In addition to supporting friends, I stay actively engaged with my local community to establish connections. Attending mummy and baby groups has provided me with a platform to connect with parents, while also conducting sleep workshops in primary schools and nurseries to equip parents with practical steps to promote healthy sleep habits in their children.
Simultaneously, I have dedicated effort towards cultivating my presence on Instagram, providing parents with regular and valuable sleep tips. As I continue on this journey, I am excited to expand my reach and offer support to even more families.
While I’m still at the beginning, I am steadily building the foundation of my business, connecting with parents, and providing them with the tools they need for improved sleep and wellbeing
Image Credit: James Bedford Photography
The innovation: What was the biggest breakthrough for you with your business?
One of the main reasons I have decided to become a sleep coach is that I still vividly remember the overwhelm I felt when I had my daughter. She was my first born and I had no idea what I was doing. It’s a role that not many of us will ever be fully prepared for.
Sleep was not talked about much during my NCT classes – only that I will be getting very little of it and this was the same advice I got from other mums. Not once did anyone say that yes, it will be hard as newborn sleep is very disorganised, BUT there are steps you can take to help them and when they are around 19 weeks old, they have the ability to learn how to sleep – with your support.
This lack of sleep awareness or education is so common with the families I have helped, that my work ends up helping their whole family get the sleep they deserve.
I am continually humbled with the thanks I get from first-time parents who are so anxious about ‘getting it wrong,’ as well as second-time parents who are so desperate to help their child sleep so they can have the energy to still run around with their first born.
Helping parents with their overwhelm when it comes to how to support their children learn healthy sleep habits and achieving it, is an amazing feeling!
