In 2018 Little Winks Sleep was established after Anna McMillan, now a Certified Sleep Coach, stepped into motherhood knowing that sleep was crucial. After her experience caring for a little boy in the foster care system, she saw how crucial sleep is for development. Knowing this, when her little baby arrived and did NOT sleep, it became a priority.

After being told to leave her baby to cry until she slept, it didn’t sit right with Anna and she dove deep into the research looking for the body and behavior science behind sleep. From this, Anna then became certified, and opened Little Winks Sleep to help all families have healthy sleep where they don’t need to leave their baby to cry.

Discovering that not only can you work with the body chemistry of a baby, you can also teach behaviours, communication and understanding - it became Anna’s #1 priority to do this in a gentle, safe & baby-centric way, where all members of the family can thrive.

As she continued to help more families, she added slowly and intentionally to her team of coaches, all using the same philosophy to teach babies and toddlers to sleep. As things grew, the team encountered so many babies and successfully taught them to sleep, however, Anna saw the need for change.

When the pandemic hit world wide, we saw a shift in baby’s communication, ability to stay awake or sleep as well as parent coping skills. Encountering one baby in particular changed the Little Winks Sleep Philosophy in a profound way which allowed it to become more baby-centric.

Seeing the need to further incorporate strategies of communication, behaviour and understanding into the relationship, Anna and her team developed their custom approach of Foundations. This is where Little Winks is profoundly different, working with the Stoplight Approach to partner with teaching sleep. This unique approach has decreased crying by over 50%, decreased postpartum mental health struggles with sleep, and allowed a more gentle, smooth transition to independent sleep. Say goodbye to endless bedtimes and tears, and hello to healthy, happy nights and naps!

Since then, Anna’s team has grown to 6 coaches who meet the needs of 1:1 clients, as well as online DIY courses with incredible support, after seeing a need for a more budget conscious and self lead approach for families. Little Winks Sleep now has 5 online courses, Sleep Sleep Baby, Nurturing Newborn Sleep, Navigating Naps, Learning Your Littles and Taking On Toddler Sleep.

The heart of Little Winks Sleep is to boost connection between baby/child and parent and allow baby to feel confident, calm and secure in their sleep. Since opening, Little Winks Sleep has helped over 1500 families to do just that!