The Little Winks story
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!
The Little Winks Sleep TEAM
Liz Bine
Liz is a mum to two in Georgia, USA, wife and phenomenal coach. She is the most loving, down to earth friend you’ll ever find. While coaching you’ll often find her saying “well let’s be honest…” because she’ll coach you with humour and honesty sprinkled in such southern sweetness.
Vicki Powell
Vicki is a mama of 3, who you might mistake for Super Mom - parenting, homeschooling and helping other parents along the way. After going through Sleep Sleep Baby (Second baby) and Nurturing Newborns (Third baby), it was a game changer for her after using CIO with her first. She is upbeat, ready to cheer you on and knows her stuff to make sure your baby is sleeping like a champ!
April Huber
The community heart of LWS, she is the one building community day in and day out when it comes to the world of LWS.
A mum to three, wife and the LWS Community Engagement admin, she’s got things happening to make sure parents are feeling all the support.
Zoe Dahl
With contagious laughter and authentic care, Zoe is our Social Media Creator, bringing the team together with her memes. She is a mama to one little boy and joined the team after working with Anna for his sleep. She cares deeply that parents have the tools to connect with sleep help so that sleep becomes simple.
Cory Biederman
Living her best life on her rural property, Cory, is a mom to 2, wife, LWS Coach and your BFF all wrapped up in one.
She loves the science behind sleep so buckle in for the good stuff if you ask why when she’s coaching, and she has incredible empathy & compassion for those she works with!
Robyn P
Robyn is a mama to two boys, wife, LPN, and the Content Manager for LWS. Allowing Anna’s creative mind to run wild, Robyn is able to make sure we have brilliant content on all our platforms.
With a heart for parents to actually enjoy parenthood, you’ll find Robyn always coming up with fresh ideas and helping helping helping!
Julie Bui
A mama of 2 boys, wife, nurse and LWS coach, Julie comes by sleep so effortlessly. She has a knack for understanding what parents need and creating plans that will send them on a clear trajectory to sleep… not to mention she’s the trendiest one of us all!
Rebecca Loree
Meet your new best friend! Rebecca is a fast friend to anyone she meets and her heart to help parents extends to all she talks to. A mama to one, and second on the way, she lives in Switzerland with her husband (she's Canadian, married an Italian... no shortage of fun there!). Rebecca was an independent sleep coach before partnering with Little Winks and learning everything there is to know about our unique approach. She will make you feel safe, heard and hot dang... get your baby sleeping!
Janet Lewis
How do you describe someone who is like the glue that holds everything together? That’s our Janet! A mom of 3, grandma to 3, wife and the Administrator of LWS.
She’s the beautiful face you talk to on the app when trying to find something, she’s got all the lists going in all the places to make sure parents are getting everything they need for success!
