BCM - How and Why did you start Dream Team Baby?

Dream Team Baby - The minute our first children were born we became semi-obsessed with sleep. We knew our lives were about to experience some major adjustments, but thought we’d be able to handle it if we were able to get sleep. So, we started devouring sleep book after sleep book. By the time our children were six months old we were overwhelmed, exhausted, and still had “bad” sleepers. We eventually did get our children to sleep through the night, but the process was grueling.  We thought, “There has to be an easier way.” Sleep is so important for your baby’s health and your mental well-being yet no one teaches you about it. We felt there needed to be a go-to place for sleep support. So we took a step back and looked at all of the things that affect sleep – nutritional, medical, behavioral, and psychological.  Then we hired a group of experts in each area and they helped us create our approach to solving children’s sleep issues. This “Dream Team” of advisors is the backbone of our company and we consult them regularly.

BCM - Tell us more about Dream Team Baby?  How can Big City Moms benefit from your company?  

Dream Team Baby - Dream Team Baby helps parents of babies and toddlers overcome sleep challenges - sleeping though the night, resistance to a crib, naptime struggles, etc. Our consultants work with families all over the country, both in-person and over the phone.  All children are different, but after our consultations, our clients sleep 11-12 hours at night, plus daytime naps. Everyone asks about our secret sleep potion. Our “secret” is looking at each family’s situation holistically and then giving parents a solid (but flexible) plan that will work for them. The other key aspect is ensuring parents have the guidance they need while they work on sleep issues.  All of our services include two full weeks of individual support and check-ins. And for families in the NYC metro, our consultants will stay overnight to help parents during the first few nights they begin a sleep plan. We like to say that we’re “creating a world of great sleepers, one baby at a time.” But actually when our sleep consultants work with a family, the entire family starts sleeping better – parents and siblings included.

BCM - Both of you have a great dynamic of work together - How did you team up?  Why do you think you work so well together?

Dream Team Baby - Thank you! That’s very nice of you to say. We actually met on the street on the Upper West Side when our babies were newborns. Kira met her husband on the street so she had a good track record of chance meetings on the streets of New York. Anyway, it was becoming very evident that we needed to make friends if we wanted to maintain our sanity as new moms. When we saw each other coming down the sidewalk with babies approximately the same age, we literally (simultaneously) picked each other up.  It can be very intimidating to make new friends, especially when you may not be feeling like yourself. But it’s so important.  We work very well together for a few reasons. First and foremost, we are both very passionate about sleep so we’re united in our mission to help other parents.  We also have pretty different strengths so we’re able to divide up areas of the business pretty easily.  Something will come up and we’ll both say, “Oh, that’s definitely something Conner should do” or vice versa. And last, we’re friends, which can be a double-edged sword for some business owners.  Our friendship allows us to keep communication open, which is so critical in every relationship.

BCM - What advice do you have for other moms who are thinking about starting businesses?     

Dream Team Baby -

1.  Be sure that you love what you are doing.  Getting a business off the ground is really hard work and will be all encompassing for a couple years.  If talking about your work brings a smile to your face and you would be interested in it even if it weren’t making you money, then it will be easier to summon the strength to put passion into it when you hit bumps in the road. 

2.  Try to set boundaries.  Even if you love what you do, try to maintain some balance in your life.  If you have no time for yourself or feel like you’re not giving your family enough time, you could end up resenting the business. Literally write your boundaries down, put them up somewhere you see them every day. Know that you may not succeed in sticking to your boundaries every week, but it’s imperative to have them.

3.  Remember to thank your family on a regular basis.  Once you start a business, it will creep into your family life no matter how well you put boundaries into place.  Even though your partner might be extremely proud of what you do, you may not realize how much they sacrifice to support you in your new venture.  If they start to feel under-appreciated, it might cause additional stress in the relationship which can ultimately impact your business.  

4. Find ridiculously smart people to help you.  We started with a great concept for a business, but we are only successful because we hired incredibly smart and talented people to help us.

Now for the fun stuff  - A little bit about you both....

BCM- What has been your most memorable moment(s) as a mom?

• Conner: My most memorable moment was letting my older son Wyatt hold his new baby brother when I brought him home from the hospital.  I have always been shocked by how much energy my older son has (okay, I have secretly accused him of taking crazy pills behind my back).  I like to say that he came out of the womb ready to play!  But the tenderness with which he leaned over and kissed his new brother on the head makes me weepy just thinking about it.  He aged so much in those few moments.  On one hand it made me so incredibly sad that I would never think about him as a baby anymore and at the same time it gave me a glimpse of the beautiful young man I foresee him becoming. 
• Kira: Gosh. The arrival of my daughter was pretty memorable. We were convinced we were having a boy. All of the old wives tales said I was having a boy. I was carrying like a boy. I felt boy. And so we painted the nursery blue and heavily debated boy names. She was, of course, a girl and we ended up picking her name out of a hat. Sometimes the best things are unplanned! Another memorable moment was when she had just turned two and overheard me telling someone how much I appreciated them. She turned to me and said, “I appreciate you, Mommy!’ I’m not sure she knew what she was saying, but I try to convince myself she did on days I’m feeling overextended.

BCM - What types of activities do you like to do w/ your kids? 

• Conner: Our family is pretty habitual.  If you need to find us on a weekday, it is a pretty good bet that we are either in the park, at the Natural History Museum or at the Children’s Museum of Manhattan.  But my favorite weekly ritual is going to Dim Sum as a family.  Each Sunday morning we load the family in our car and drive down to China Town for Dim Sum.  We started this ritual when our older son was not even 1 year old so now he thinks that Chau Siu Bao and barbequed spare ribs (we call them “bones”) are as common as chicken nuggets and mac n’ cheese. 

• Kira: We love riding the carousal in Central Park and getting dressed up in tutus for pretend ballet class (I’m constantly doing the wrong things in “class,” according to my daughter). But Emilia has recently been obsessed with New Jersey. We see it from our window and say goodnight to before bed. We recently went to the Liberty Science Center in Jersey City and it was amazing - http://www.lsc.org! As Manhattanites, we appreciated all of the indoor space and the truly excellent exhibits. It was a quick drive from the city and a fantastic outing for kids (and adults) of all ages.  

BCM- If you could give another mom or expectant mom one piece of advice, what would it be?

Take one of our expecting parents sleep workshops before the baby comes, and then don’t worry about sleep for at least the first eight weeks!  You can’t make any sleep mistakes the first several months. Just enjoy your baby and relish this special time. Then, after your baby turns four months old you can work on teaching him or her to sleep through the night. And if you’re struggling at that point, don’t give up – give us a call!  Remember, all kids can be great sleepers—even yours.  We want to stress that it is really important that you don’t feel like a failure if you need to ask for help. Getting your child to sleep is one of the best things you can do for your child, yourself and your marriage (and for some, their career).  Too many parents feel that struggling with sleep is a badge of honor, but we haven’t seen anyone who was actually awarded that badge.  And in our experience, the cost of not solving the problems is often very high.

BCM - Name your favorite BCM event to date?

We love all of the new mom luncheons we attend! It’s too difficult to pick a favorite, although we both have huge sweet tooths so the event at Dylan’s Candy Bar does stand out.  At the new mom luncheons, we love to see new babies and moms connecting with one another. Having good mom friends is incredibly central to a happy motherhood.   We met because of our babies, so we always tell moms at luncheons to look around because they could be sitting next to a future business partner!