Kelsey LeBlanc, BCBA, LABA's Linkedin Analytics

Desk takeover! Talking and typing, just like mama 😊 And drinking a hot chocolate, of course. Because he didn't buy it when I said no drinks next to the computer... "But mama, you always have a coffee while you work!" Touche, kid. Touche. ☕ #Entrepreneurship #WorkFromHome #Family #Parenting ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ ✨ I'm Kelsey LeBlanc 💤 I am a Pediatric Behavioral Sleep Specialist, providing parent consultation, corporate wellness events, and custom employee benefits programs. 🤝 Let’s connect!

I had a conversation with my college-age daughter recently about self-care. We talked about how self-care isn't about bubble baths and massages (though I do love both of those things!) Self-care is just that: taking care of yourself. ➡️ Eating nourishing foods ➡️ Moving your body ➡️ Getting enough sleep While there are so many other components of quality self-care (and self-care can look different for different people), I see these as the bare minimum necessities. And luckily, they give us the most bang for our buck! When these things are in place, not only do our mental health and overall well-being improve, But we also have more energy, focus, and ability to build other valuable things into each day. And for all of us busy working parents, energy and focus are truly invaluable. What is your favorite form of self-care? #Sleep #SelfCare #Wellbeing #MentalHealth #Parenting #HR #DEI #ERG ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ ✨ I'm Kelsey LeBlanc 💤 I am a Pediatric Behavioral Sleep Specialist, providing parent consultation, corporate wellness events, and custom employee benefits programs. 🤝 Let’s connect!

"Why do they keep coming into my bed every night?!" Ever heard of intermittent reinforcement? Intermittent reinforcement is the concept of a behavior being reinforced only some of the time, not all of the time. The crazy thing about intermittent reinforcement is that it is actually STRONGER that consistent reinforcement. Think about slot machines or gambling- knowing that you MIGHT win can keep you playing long after you've started losing. So when it comes to sleep, parents often tell me that they put their child back to bed a dozen times, but then on the 13th time at 4:45am, they were so truly exhausted and it was nearly morning, so they just let their child sleep in their bed for the rest of the night. *Intermittent reinforcement* The child now knows that if they hold out long enough, eventually they will win. And that is a strong little kernel of knowledge. So how do we stop the cycle? Keep putting them back to bed. As many times as it takes. #Sleep #Behavior #BehaviorAnalysis #Parenting ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ ✨ I'm Kelsey LeBlanc 💤 I am a Pediatric Behavioral Sleep Specialist, providing parent consultation, corporate wellness events, and custom employee benefits programs. 🤝 Let’s connect!

It's not a problem unless it's a problem. I say this to families all the time. Aside from safety considerations, there is no right or wrong way for a family to sleep. If everyone is rested and happy, then you are doing it right for you! If what you are doing is not working for you, that's when it's time to reach out. No judgement, and no dictation of what you "should" do. My only goal is to help you create a sleep situation that feels right for you, while keeping the physical, mental, and emotional health of all family members the top priority. What works for your family? #Sleep #Health #Wellbeing #Parenting ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ ✨ I'm Kelsey LeBlanc 💤 I am a Pediatric Behavioral Sleep Specialist, providing parent consultation, corporate wellness events, and custom employee benefits programs. 🤝 Let’s connect!

It's officially March, which means it's both National Sleep Awareness Month & Women’s History Month! These topics intersect in such a personal way for mothers. While the fact that upwards of 50% of children experience sleep problems is an eye-opening statistic, The one that really gets me is this: 😴 Raising a child from infancy through the end of the 18th year results in approximately 645 hours of "lost sleep" 645 hours. That's almost 27 DAYS. And the truth is that while some sleep loss is inevitable, most moms are losing out on exponentially more sleep than is necessary. Because behavior is complex. Sleep problems are complex. And let's face it: we're tired. The good news is that sleep problems are also solvable. And a big part of solving them is simply being aware that solutions exist, and are within reach. So this March, let's keep spreading the word! Because better sleep isn't just about rest. It's about creating the opportunity to thrive, both in the workplace and at home. How are you committing to your sleep this month? P.S. If your organization is still looking for March speakers, I have a few open Coffee Chat spots left at the end of the month. Let’s connect! #Sleep #NationalSleepAwarenessMonth #WomensHistoryMonth #WorkingMothers #HR #DEI #ERG ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ ✨ I'm Kelsey LeBlanc 💤 I am a Pediatric Behavioral Sleep Specialist, providing parent consultation, corporate wellness events, and custom employee benefits programs. 🤝 Let’s connect!

What do you do when a client wants her child's sleep fixed before her business trip...in a week?? You fix it! 7 days. ➡️ Assessment ➡️ Planning ➡️ Implementation And a child sleeping 12 hours in her own bed by the time mom leaves. Done and done ✅ It’s not always possible, but when it is, we make it happen. #Sleep #BehaviorAnalysis #CorporateMom #WorkTravel #Parenting #HR #DEI #ERG ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ ✨ I'm Kelsey LeBlanc 💤 I am a Pediatric Behavioral Sleep Specialist, providing parent consultation, corporate wellness events, and custom employee benefits programs. 🤝 Let’s connect!

What’s your love language? For many of the moms I work with, it’s nursing their child to sleep (or snuggling, rocking, singing...you get the picture). Acts of service. This is a beautiful embodiment of your devotion to your child, and you cannot make me believe otherwise. But if your daily acts of service begin eroding your mental, emotional, and physical health because your child requires these supports constantly throughout the night, it’s time to chat. Many parents tell me they hesitated to reach out because even though they wanted to improve their sleep, they didn’t want to change their style of parenting. As a mother, this resonates deeply with me. So for the record, I will never suggest any significant diversion from your chosen parenting style. If acts of service are at your core, we will work together to honor that and incorporate it into new routines, while also prioritizing your needs. Our kids can’t do it without us. They need us to take care of ourselves so we can take care of them 🩷 Happy Valentine’s Day! #Sleep #Family #Health #Wellbeing #Parenting #ValentinesDay ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ ✨ I'm Kelsey LeBlanc 💤 I am a Pediatric Behavioral Sleep Specialist, providing parent consultation, corporate wellness events, and custom employee benefits programs. 🤝 Let’s connect!

Nightmares and sleep terrors can be easily confused. So what's the difference? Nightmares: ➡️ Are frightening dreams ➡️ Occur during REM sleep (usually during the second half of the night) ➡️ Are followed by a full waking (your child may cry and/or appear frightened) ➡️ Can be comforted (they will be aware of your presence and attempts to comfort them) ➡️ Will be remembered (your child will be able to remember and at least partially describe their nightmare, if their language level allows) Sleep Terrors: ➡️ Are partial arousals ➡️ Occur during non-REM sleep (usually 1-4 hours after falling asleep) ➡️ May look like screaming, thrashing, moaning, talking, and/or crying simultaneously, in a confused or unintelligible way ➡️ Cannot be comforted (they will not be very aware of, or will be agitated by, your presence and attempts to calm them) ➡️ Will not be remembered (once fully awake, they will immediately calm and will have no memory of the incident) Have you experienced nightmares or sleep terrors with your child? #Sleep #Pediatrics #Parenting ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ ✨ I'm Kelsey LeBlanc 💤 I am a Pediatric Behavioral Sleep Specialist, providing parent consultation, corporate wellness events, and custom employee benefits programs. 🤝 Let’s connect!

Anyone remember the "KISS" method from middle school? Keep It Simple, Stupid. (I promise I'm not personally calling any of you stupid!) But simple is key. ➡️ Consistent bedtime routines. ➡️ Consistent sleep times. ➡️ Consistent wake times. It's not glamorous. It's not ground-breaking. But the things that actually work rarely are. #Sleep #Parenting #WorkingParents ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ ✨ I'm Kelsey LeBlanc 💤 I am a Pediatric Behavioral Sleep Specialist, providing parent consultation, corporate wellness events, and custom employee benefits programs. 🤝 Let’s connect!

Catch yesterday's post on consistency? Here's the caveat about consistency with sleep: Yes, consistency is essential (especially in the beginning). But consistency doesn't mean perfection. "Most of the time" works just fine. (And will also help your child become a more flexible sleeper in the long run!) Are you on team "rigid sleep schedule," team "whatever, whenever," or somewhere in between? #Sleep #Behavior #Parenting ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ ✨ I'm Kelsey LeBlanc 💤 I am a Pediatric Behavioral Sleep Specialist, providing parent consultation, corporate wellness events, and custom employee benefits programs. 🤝 Let’s connect!

Feeling like it's impossible to maintain your child's sleep and wake times 7 days a week, 365 days a year? Try this: The 1-hour rule. ➡️ On late nights, keep bedtime within 1-hour of the usual bedtime. ➡️ On early or late mornings, keep wake times within 1-hour of the usual wake time. By not shifting more than an hour in any direction, it will be easier to get back on track tomorrow. How do your kids handle being off-schedule? #Sleep #Parenting #Consistency ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ ✨ I'm Kelsey LeBlanc 💤 I am a Pediatric Behavioral Sleep Specialist, providing parent consultation, corporate wellness events, and custom employee benefits programs. 🤝 Let’s connect!

If there's one thing all parents worry about at one point or another, it's this: Messing up their kids. This was a recurring theme of a recent "Baby Mixer" I was invited to speak at. Sitting on the floor, surrounded by a group of new moms and their 2-8 month old babies, it seemed this was everyone's fear when it came to sleep so far. "Have I already screwed it up?" So here's my two cents: You haven't messed anything up! From 0-5 months (give or take), your job is to help your baby sleep. That's it. This can mean rocking, nursing, singing, and bending over backwards in any special way that comforts your baby and feels right to you. If you are able to get some routines in place, amazing. They will benefit your baby, but arguably more so, they will benefit you by helping you cope with this truly exhausting stage. And even if your child is older and you haven't "figured sleep out" yet, I promise you, nothing is irreparable. There is always time to turn things around. And a helping hand, if you need it 💜 #Sleep #SleepSpecialist #Parenting #WorkingParents ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ ✨ I'm Kelsey LeBlanc 💤 I am a Pediatric Behavioral Sleep Specialist, providing parent consultation, corporate wellness events, and custom employee benefits programs. 🤝 Let’s connect!

After a great school break, we've reached my least favorite part once again: getting back on our school sleep schedule. Yup, we got lax on the sleep front during break. Although I personally don't love straying too far from the routine, balance is important. Fun was had and memories were made! But now it's time to dial it back in. Instead of stressing, I try to focus on a few key elements until we get back on track: 1️⃣ Aim to move bedtime 10-15 minutes earlier each night, until we reach our original bedtime 2️⃣ Avoid sleeping in. If needed, dial wake times back just like bedtimes 3️⃣ Get plenty of fresh air and exercise each day! Despite a travel day today and another chilly weekend, we'll get in some outdoor time this afternoon and plenty of physical activity over the next few days (thank you double hockey practices...I think?) When all is said and done, we should be back to normal in a few days. If you are struggling to get things back on track or into a better overall routine, send me a DM! A few simple strategies can make all the difference. Do you stick close to the routine or loosen up during breaks? #Sleep #Wellbeing #Parenting ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ ✨ I'm Kelsey LeBlanc 💤 I am a Pediatric Behavioral Sleep Specialist, providing parent consultation, corporate wellness events, and custom employee benefits programs. 🤝 Let’s connect!

Yes actually, you can. This post is a bit heavier than what I usually try to bring to LinkedIn, but I feel that it's worth sharing. In a recent Coffee Chat, several parents jokingly admitted to googling this (or some variation) at some point in their parenting journey. And I can definitely relate. I remember questioning this very thing in the first few months after my son was born. I thought I knew what being tired felt like, but I was VERY much mistaken! For me at least, no level of exhaustion could have prepared me for new-baby-exhaustion. And the crazy (and scary) truth? You CAN die from being tired. While it is unlikely that you will simply drop dead of exhaustion, the possibility of being in a fatal car accident or having a fatal injury increase drastically when you are sleep deprived. ➡️ Getting less than 7 hours of sleep makes it twice as likely to be in a car accident. ➡️ In the US, drowsiness contributes to 21% of all fatal motor vehicle crashes. ➡️ Just one sleepless night can impair driving as much as a blood-alcohol level of 0.1, which is beyond the legal driving limit. I don't know about you, but I have to drive my kids every day whether I'm tired or not, as do so many other parents in my community. And that's scary to me. I don't say any of this to inspire fear. I say it because most of us are aware that sleep deprivation will affect things like our productivity, our overall health, our mood. But there is a lot more at stake. While sleep deprivation is an unavoidable part of the package in the first few months with a newborn, ongoing sleep deprivation presents a true danger to us, our families, and our communities. If you or a parent you love is operating in a state of chronic sleep deprivation, let's connect. Because the risk is anything but a joke. #SleepDeprivation #Health #Safety #Parenting ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ ✨ I'm Kelsey LeBlanc 💤 I am a Pediatric Behavioral Sleep Specialist, providing parent consultation, corporate wellness events, and custom employee benefits programs. 🤝 Let’s connect!

Struggling to get through the bedtime routine with your child? Try a visual schedule! Visual schedules: ➡️ Help break down bigger tasks into smaller steps that your child can check off the list ➡️ Make it easier to redirect your child to tasks if they get distracted, silly, or frustrated ➡️ Make bedtime predictable and fun! And even better, visual schedules are easy and inexpensive to make at home. For inspiration or a free printable, just do a quick Google or Pinterest search! Have you tried using visuals? #Sleep #BehaviorAnalysis #Parenting ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ ✨ I'm Kelsey LeBlanc 💤 I am a Pediatric Behavioral Sleep Specialist, providing parent consultation, corporate wellness events, and custom employee benefits programs. 🤝 Let’s connect!

I wasn't feeling great this morning, so I stayed in bed a bit longer than usual. What did my sweet little man do? He crawled in next to me and started stroking my head and cheek, the way he likes me to do when he gets into bed at night. "Sleep Training" gets a bad rap sometimes, But this is the little known secret of teaching your child to sleep independently: You can still give them comfort, show them love, and teach them kindness and empathy, Even when enforcing boundaries. #Sleep #Behavior #Wellbeing #Family #Parenting ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ ✨ I'm Kelsey LeBlanc 💤 I am a Pediatric Behavioral Sleep Specialist, providing parent consultation, corporate wellness events, and custom employee benefits programs. 🤝 Let’s connect!

The absolute best thing you can hear from a former client when things get rough! Business is about relationships, and relationships are about trust. The fact that former clients trust me enough to reach back out when they hit a rough patch, Feels like something worth celebrating 🙌 What wins are you celebrating today? #Entrepreneurship #Sleep #BehaviorAnalysis #Parenting #HR #DEI #ERG ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ ✨ I'm Kelsey LeBlanc 💤 I am a Pediatric Behavioral Sleep Specialist, providing parent consultation, corporate wellness events, and custom employee benefits programs. 🤝 Let’s connect!

Last night, I was the one who cried at bedtime. My 5-year-old came up to me when I was sitting in the rocking chair, sat on my lap, and gave me a big hug. Then he laid his head on my shoulder, and just held on to me. So we rocked. And as I held him, all I could think of was how big he has gotten. How I held him in this same rocker when he was 2 days old. And how soon he would be too big for me to hold. Cue the tears. A few minutes later, he told me he loved me, and I couldn’t think of a lovelier moment. Then we got back to the bedtime routine, and I tucked him into bed and said goodnight. This was such a beautiful moment of validation for the endless cycle of bedtime routines and boundary setting. There is so much to be gained by making bedtime a time that isn’t dreaded by both you and your child. By establishing safety and trust, night in and night out, the door opens for moments like this one. And it’s all worth it. Have you made it to short and sweet bedtimes yet? #Sleep #SecureAttachment #Parenting #Family ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ ✨ I'm Kelsey LeBlanc 💤 I am a Pediatric Behavioral Sleep Specialist, providing parent consultation, corporate wellness events, and custom employee benefits programs. 🤝 Let’s connect!

Piggy-backing off yesterday's post about bedtime routine visuals, here's my favorite trick to get kiddos engaged in the process: A bedtime photoshoot! Kids tend to LOVE this process, because they: ➡️ Get to be the focus and do something special with you ➡️ Feel like they are part of the planning for something new, as opposed to just being told what to do ➡️ Love seeing themselves in photos and other types of creations How do you make bedtime fun? #Sleep #BehaviorAnalysis #Parenting ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ ✨ I'm Kelsey LeBlanc 💤 I am a Pediatric Behavioral Sleep Specialist, providing parent consultation, corporate wellness events, and custom employee benefits programs. 🤝 Let’s connect!

Whenever I have a bad day or am feeling stressed, I hear my dad in my head telling me: "Tomorrow is another day" The older I get, the more I realize he was not only talking about taking a break from worrying or second chances. He was talking about getting a good night's sleep. The fact is, ❌ A sleepless night can trigger up to a 30% rise in anxiety levels whereas, ✅ Deep sleep decreases anxiety overnight by reorganizing connections in the brain As Matthew Walker, PhD puts it, "Sleep seems to be a natural anxiolytic (anxiety inhibitor), so long as we get it each and every night.” Smart man, my dad 💙 What helps when you're feeling stressed? #Sleep #Wellbeing #MentalHealth ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ ✨ I'm Kelsey LeBlanc 💤 I am a Pediatric Behavioral Sleep Specialist, providing parent consultation, corporate wellness events, and custom employee benefits programs. 🤝 Let’s connect!