People of all ages – including Marilyn, Rhea, and Marilyn’s daughter Gabi – know what it’s like to wake up cranky and moody from a bad night’s sleep. For parents and caregivers, that issue is compounded by having children who are challenging sleepers. While some might choose to let their children establish their own sleeping habits, others might choose sleep training or working with a trainer who can help everyone involved have a better night’s sleep. In this episode, Marilyn and Rhea sit down with infant and child sleep consultant Lamis Benjelloun to understand what exactly is child sleep training, what it can (realistically) do for both parent/caregiver and child, and how to establish better sleeping habits for children. They also discuss “sleep shaming” in the parenting community and how there can never be a golden standard for child sleep.
WRTW is off next week for Eid Al Fitr (Eid Mubarak everyone!), but we'll be back the following week with an all new episode! You won’t even know we were gone.
Lamis Benjelloun is an Abu Dhabi-based Moroccan certified infant and child sleep consultant as well as a certified newborn sleep specialist. She considers herself a sleep nerd because if she’s not talking about sleep, she’s reading about it. Her love for sleep particularly intensified after the birth of her first son, Maher. He showed her what true sleep deprivation looked like, inspiring her to solve the puzzle of child sleep for herself and other families. She founded One2Sleep in 2019 and has since been fortunate to meet many families and accompany them on their journey to better sleep.
Things My Mother Didn’t Tell Me (But My Best Friend Did) is a spinoff of Who Run the World, a production of Reyzin Media. Hosted by Rhea Chedid and Marilyn Zakhour. Produced by Ahmed Ashour. Follow Who Run the World on Instagram and Tik Tok at @whoruntheworldpod.