Growing Up with a Mom Who is a Sleep Consultant with Sid Havens
In this episode of the Becoming a Sleep Consultant Podcast, I sit down with a very special guest: my 12-year-old son, Sid! I thought it would be fun to bring Sid on the podcast to share what it’s like growing up in a household where mom runs a busy sleep consulting business while also trying her best to prioritize being present for the family. Sid Havens
Sid shares what he thinks sleep consulting is, his thoughts on balancing work and family time, and even how he helps out with the toddlers and preschoolers who struggle with sleep.
Sid also shares some of his own creative work—a sports newsletter for kids and families who love keeping up with the game—and even gives some encouraging words for kids whose parents are considering becoming sleep consultants. Sid’s insight and humor made this such a joy to record, and I hope you enjoy hearing his take on our unique family life as much as I did! Sid Havens
Links: Sid Havens
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Transcript: Sid Havens
Intro: Welcome to Becoming a Sleep Consultant! I’m your host Jayne Havens, a certified sleep consultant and founder of both Snooze Fest by Jayne Havens and Center for Pediatric Sleep Management.
On this podcast, I’ll be discussing the business side of sleep consulting. You’ll have an insider’s view on launching, growing, and even scaling a sleep consulting business. This is not a podcast about sleep training. This is a podcast about business building and entrepreneurship.
Jayne Havens: Today’s podcast is a little bit unconventional. I’ve never done this before. Typically, I either come on solo or interview other adults. But today I thought it would be fun to interview my 12-year-old son, Sid. I thought we’d talk a little bit about what it looks like to grow up in a household with a sleep consultant, and what it looks like to have a mom who is a stay-at-home mom but also runs a busy business. I want to hear it from his perspective. Before we get started, Sid, welcome. I’m so excited that you’re here. Do you want to tell everybody a little bit about yourself so they know who you are?
Sid Havens: Yeah, thank you. I am Sid Havens. I am in sixth grade. I love sports, so much so that I have my own weekly newsletter. I love hearing about my mom’s business, so I’m excited to talk about it.
Jayne Havens: Okay. That’s great. Before we get started, why don’t you give us your definition, like, what is sleep consulting? What do you think that means?
Sid Havens: So, every time I hear my mom talking to families or to people on how to get your child to sleep, I know that sleep consulting means to help someone who isn’t able to sleep through the night. And the term “sleep train” is what she uses because the families that she’s training, they don’t know how to sleep yet. So she’s helping them through the difficult process, but she’s making it easier for them.
Jayne Havens: Yeah, I think that’s right. Sleep consultants are people that support parents through the process of sleep training, which is teaching babies and toddlers and preschoolers to sleep through the night, right?
Sid Havens: Yeah.
Jayne Havens: So I started working as a sleep consultant, I think it’s been like, I don’t know, seven-ish, six or seven years now. What has that experience been like for you? Do you remember what it was like when I first launched my business? I’m sure it’s different for you now than in the beginning.
Sid Havens: Well, first, I just want to say that there’s a saying that time flies when you’re having fun. I had no idea that it has been six years. That’s like way longer than I thought. And honestly, that segues into my next point: that it’s like the best job for their parent to have. Because they still have so much time for you, and they’re able to help you with homework, or play a game of ping-pong, or do whatever with them. I think that my mom’s business is just so interesting, and I love hearing about her families and how they’re doing. I just love hearing it because it’s so fascinating.
Jayne Havens: Do you ever feel like — you can be honest here. It’s okay for you to be honest. Do you ever feel like having a mom that works is hard? That we don’t get to spend all the time together that you would want, or do you feel like we have a good balance?
Sid Havens: So I do remember the time that my mom was just a stay-at-home mom, and she didn’t have a job. There was so much time. But now it’s really not that much of a difference because most of her work and calls is going on during the day. So really, she still has so much time. And like I said before, it’s the perfect job for my mom to have because she still gets to play with us and do activities with us. And honestly, I feel so fortunate that my mom has started a successful business, and I feel so lucky to be the son of her.
Jayne Havens: That’s so sweet. You’re such a good boy. Do you want to tell everybody who’s listening how sometimes you help me in my business? What does that look like? Because you actually play, I would say, a supporting role with some of my clients. Tell everybody what you do.
Sid Havens: So I sometimes help my mom with videos that she makes to her clients.
Jayne Havens: Also, I think we should make it clear that we’re talking about kids that are like two, three, four years old. Not babies, right?
Sid Havens: Yeah. So let’s say the child’s name is Susie. Me and my sister sometimes, we make the video. My mom starts it off by saying, “Hey, Susie. I heard you slept through the night all by yourself last night. We’re so proud of you. You have to keep doing it. We’re just so proud, and Coach Jayne is loving the progress.” And me and my sister pop on and we say, “We’re so proud of you. It feels so good to sleep through the night. And if you don’t sleep through the night, you don’t have enough energy to complete the day. So it’s very important to sleep and keep it up.”
Jayne Havens: Yeah, I love when you and Ivy make videos for my toddler and preschooler clients.
Sid Havens: It’s so much fun. I love it.
Jayne Havens: It’s so much fun. I think it’s fun for you and Ivy to get involved in my business, and I think it also has a really positive impact for the families that I support. I think that they’re never expecting. It’s such a nice surprise, right? These families hire me to help them with their three-year-old or their four-year-old who’s not staying in bed at night. And I think never in a million years do they expect to be coached by a 12-year-old and an eight-year-old. These little three-year-olds, they love you guys, right? Like, they want to talk to you guys.
Sid Havens: Yeah, I remember we were in Florida. We were at dinner, and we made a video. When we came back to the hotel, the boy was like, “Can we talk to Sid and Ivy? We want to talk to them more.” Honestly, it’s so funny to me. Because really, we’re doing, I would say, less than 10 % of the work and yet they still think of us as their teachers, and they want to talk to us. But honestly, I just enjoy it so much. I think that it’s a perfect way for me to connect more with my sister and my mom. And I love making these videos. It’s so much fun for us.
Jayne Havens: I love it, too. Is there anything that you feel like you’ve learned about sleep, whether it’s for your own sleep hygiene or just something that you didn’t know before I started working as a sleep consultant that you know about sleep now?
Sid Havens: Well, my biggest trick to sleeping at night is honestly — I think your kids can use this too — I’m not ashamed to admit that I have stuffed animals in my bed. And what I kind of do is, in my brain, I do like a little talk show with them. I say like what’s going on in my life, and I pretend what’s going on in their life. It honestly gets me to sleep very quickly. So I think that that’s a tip. Honestly, I’ve heard my mom say this a bunch of times, and I think it’s great advice. When you’re little, you say, “I love you. You’re safe. It’s time to go to bed.”
Jayne Havens: That is one of my mantras, right? “I love you. You’re safe. It’s time for bed.”
Sid Havens: I hope I’m not revealing too much information.
Jayne Havens: You’re not. You’re not revealing too much information. I think you’re showing that you’re paying attention and you’re learning. I think that’s great advice. That is not secret sauce. That is just straight up good advice, right?
Sid Havens: Another thing that my mom always says, especially for babies and younger kids, is that there’s no magic potion. But if you do it the right way, there’s a pretty, pretty good chance that your kid is going to be sleeping through the night.
Jayne Havens: Yeah, that’s right. It’s not a magic wand to wave. There’s no magic potion. It’s hard work. You have to have commitment. You have to be consistent with the process, right? That’s what I always say. You have to be consistent with the process.
Sid Havens: You have to fully commit.
Jayne Havens: You have to fully commit, and we will see improvement. I’m sure you hear me say that a lot.
Sid Havens: Yes.
Jayne Havens: So I am wondering if watching me grow a business has made you think about wanting to have a business of your own one day?
Sid Havens: I’ll be honest. I’m definitely inspired by my mom, but I still do want to be a broadcaster when I’m older, a sports broadcaster. Honestly, right now, that’s my passion. But who knows? One day, maybe she’ll inspire me even more, and I will start my own business of some sort.
Jayne Havens: Okay. That’s fine. You don’t need to start your own business. I was just curious to see if maybe you had caught the bug, but I guess not.
Sid Havens: I’m definitely like catching inspiration. I just have always loved sports, so maybe I’ll start a sports kind of business of my own. I don’t know what that is yet, but maybe I’ll take a combination of those. I don’t know, but we’ll see.
Jayne Havens: Sid, what do you tell friends who wonder about what I do for work? How do you explain my business or what I do?
Sid Havens: Honestly, I know that my best friends definitely have an idea of what my mom does. But if I’m telling someone new, I just tell them that if you have a little kid in your family or you know someone that doesn’t sleep through the night, my mom helps them get back on track and get sleeping through the night and, if they don’t already know, teach them how to sleep through the night. She coaches them through that process with a bunch of different helpful solutions and ideas.
Jayne Havens: That is a great, great answer. So a lot of our podcast listeners — some people who listen to this podcast are already sleep consultants, so they’re already doing the work. They know what it looks like. But there are also plenty of people who listen to this podcast who are thinking about becoming sleep consultants. I would imagine most of them, not all, but most have kids of their own. Potentially, they’re working other jobs, or they are home with their kids. Everybody has busy lives. What would you say to somebody who’s thinking about becoming a sleep consultant? Would you encourage them to do it? What are your thoughts on that?
Sid Havens: Well, honestly, I love this job for my mom. Because, like I said earlier, she has so much time for us. But honestly, since I’m a kid, I’m going to kind of pitch this to the kids who are a little unsure of what their mom is about to do. I want you to share this podcast episode with your kid, and I want them to see that their mom or dad will still have so much time for them and to love them and do whatever they want. Well, not whatever they want with them, but do activities with them and love them.
Honestly, I’ve said this so many times today. It’s such a wonderful opportunity for you because it’s such a successful business. And it’s a great opportunity for us as kids because our mom or dad has so much time for us.
Jayne Havens: Well, I think that’s perfect. I think we should end here because I want to have enough time to go down to the basement, play a little ping-pong with you before, right?
Sid Havens: Yeah.
Jayne Havens: Before you get to your homework. So we’re going to wrap this up, so we can go play. But before we do I always give my guests a quick opportunity to pitch their own businesses or whatever they have going on. So why don’t you share with everybody your website and a little bit about what you’re up to?
Sid Havens: Okay. I’m so excited. So if you’re interested in sports or you’re interested in getting interested in sports, go to sidsrundown.com. It will prompt you to put your first name and email. Tell anyone you know that like sports or is interested. I put out a newsletter or sometimes even a podcast like this with one of my friends or family members on Mondays.
Or if it’s a podcast, there’s a chance that it will be on a different day. But I will definitely talk to you guys about that when you sign up. Honestly, the perks, I’ve had so many great emails from people that I don’t even know telling me that this is their new Monday routine, looking at 7 AM in their inbox and they find my email. They love reading it every week. Honestly, it’s my chance to chase my dream of becoming a broadcaster or a sports writer. And it’s your chance to pick up more knowledge on whatever sport or sports you’re interested in, and you can hear it from a kid like me.
Jayne Havens: Sid, thank you so much. You articulated what our life looks like, I think, beautifully today. So thank you. I hope you get a ton of new subscribers to your email list. Thank you again for taking the time to do this interview with me. Let’s go play some ping-pong.
Sid Havens: Yeah, and as I say on my newsletter, keep swinging for the fences.
Outro: Thank you so much for listening to this episode of the Becoming a Sleep Consultant Podcast. If you enjoyed today’s episode, it would mean so much to me if you would rate, review, and subscribe. When you rate, review, and subscribe, this helps the podcast reach a greater audience. I am so grateful for your support.
If you would like to learn more about how you can become a certified sleep consultant, head over to my Facebook Group, Becoming a Sleep Consultant or to my website thecpsm.com. Thanks so much, and I hope you will tune in for the next episode.