Archive for the ‘Announcements’ Category

I hope everyone had a great Thanksgiving holiday! I want to take a moment to thank you for participating in our recent survey about the site’s name, Pick Nick’s Brain. As you can tell, we’ve moved to a new home! We are now The Baby Sleep Site™ located at http://www.babysleepsite.com.

We’re very excited about this change. We know that not everyone will agree with the change, but the survey results were loud and clear that a change would probably enable us to reach many more tired parents, which is the sole purpose of the site. It wasn’t just to be found better in search engines, but also to avoid confusion about what the site is all about. We also hope it’s easier for you to pass along to friends and family, without us getting lost in the crowd.

We’ve added a splash of color to the site and we hope you love it as much as we do! Please take some time to peruse the site and give us any feedback for a chance to win a $25 Target Gift Card just by commenting below, just in time for holiday shopping.

The winner of the $25 Target Gift Card for participating in the survey has been contacted, however, you have not replied to my email. If your email address starts with hello*, please check your e-mail, including your bulk e-mail folder. If I do not hear from you by this Friday, I will choose a new winner, so everyone check your in-boxes. Stay tuned for more opportunities to win gift cards around the holidays!

The move has gone very smoothly and any bookmarks or favorites you have will redirect to the same location on babysleepsite.com. We have also added a new page with the links to all of the sample schedules (also found on the main menu under “Articles” above). There is one complication in the move and that’s if you are a member, please make sure you update your bookmark or favorite to be the new location: http://members.babysleepsite.com because the redirect takes you around and around.

As always, I want to thank you for your continued participation in The Baby Sleep Site™ community (formerly Pick Nick’s Brain)! Please be patient as we find and fix all references to Pick Nick’s Brain, but we appreciate any alerts to problems ASAP.

As I mentioned last week, October is SIDS Awareness Month. I’ve been sending out SIDS facts via Twitter and the Facebook Fan page to increase awareness and it has opened up conversations with some parents who have been sadly touched by SIDS. I wanted to share one mom’s story because it touched me so much. Her son would have been 21 this week and she and her four daughters still miss him. Please read her touching blog post this week here: One Word at a Time.

Just a reminder that the SIDS Awareness Month giveaway will end on Sunday, October 18, 8:59 PM EDT. I am pretty surprised at how few entries there are as you have a chance to win a $75 Target Gift Card, a $50 Target Gift Card, and many other prizes! I am also adding in 3 copies of the book: Caution: Children Should Come With Warning Labels, which was written by the woman mentioned above, Patti McKenna. Any proceeds of the book go towards SIDS research. The Baby Sleep Site™ will donate 3 copies to the giveaway. Please enter now by following this link: Enter the giveaway to win!

In lighter news, the The Baby Sleep Site™ blog is a finalist in TheBump’s first annual Mommy Blog Awards!! I actually read and enjoy several of the blogs up against this one, so it’s an honor to be right next to them. Please take a moment to vote for your favorite MommyBlog (preferably this one!) by visiting TheBump: Vote Favorite Mommy Blogs.

Lastly, there is going to be a pricing change on the website. One thing I remember in college is that supply and demand drives the price on pretty much everything. Since there is only me, my supply is running a little low as the Sleep Helpdesk has been busy and I’ve been putting in some late nights. This is very good news because that means I’m really helping a lot of people, which is my main goal here! I do not expect to get rich and really do want to keep everything affordable, but I’m finding the two e-mail package (now $19.95) is probably priced a bit too low. I spend a good 20-30 minutes on the first couple of e-mail and I’m getting super busy. I know another sleep consultant charges $35 for one e-mail and one quick follow-up. I’m not going there right now. My plan is simply raise the price on my two e-mail package (which automatically includes follow-ups) from $19.95 to $24.95 and my five e-mail package from $39.95 to $44.95. This price change will take effect on November 1st. At that point, all existing customers (either book or Helpdesk) will get a separate, private e-mail of a coupon code for $5 off until November 30th, so you can buy more at the original price. Just a little something for loyal customers. You might want to consider buying services now before the price goes up! Get One-on-One Help for your Troubled Sleeper.

As always, I want to thank you for your continued participation in the The Baby Sleep Site™ community! I hope you are finding all the resources you need. Be sure to e-mail me with any article ideas if there is anything you have been looking for and haven’t been able to find. Go ahead and contact me, now!

Have a great weekend!

I’ve been busy the last couple of months as you can see by the new Members Area and now today I’m excited to announce that there is even more support in the The Baby Sleep Site™ Community in our new forum! The forum is 100% free and a place where you can find other parents who also have challenging sleepers. There is nothing worse than feeling like you are alone and spending time in the forum will show you that you really aren’t alone! The Sleep Helpdesk tends to keep me busy and I’ve put in some pretty late nights getting the Members Area and forum up and running, but I will try to spend some time in the forum to help get it going, but I know that my time will be limited. I hope that many of you will join together for great sleep support! Visit the forum now: http://community.babysleepsite.com

I also wanted to let you know more about the Sleep Coaching Tele-seminar I will be holding next week. It will be at 12:30 p.m. EST on Wednesday, September 30th. A tele-seminar is a group phone call where I will teach attendees about a certain topic and I plan to do these quarterly. The topic this time will cover sleep associations and the various sleep coaching methods available to parents, in detail. It will be the closest thing to a phone consultation without it being one. If you’re interested, please learn more, by visiting the information and sign-up page: Sleep Coaching Tele-Seminar

As always, I hope you are finding everything you need in the The Baby Sleep Site™ community. If you have any questions, comments, or suggestions, please feel free to contact me anytime!

Members, don’t forget about the live chat tomorrow at 9 p.m. EST! Log in to http://members.babysleepsite.com!

I’m very excited to announce that the doors are now open to the new Member’s Area on The Baby Sleep Site™! It’s very exciting for me to give you another way to get the information and support that I wish I had when I was right where you are on the journey to better sleep! I announced it first to my mailing list a few days ago.

Because I know many of my readers have already purchased one or both of my books, I was delighted to offer the first 100 people a special discount for joining. If you still want in, it’s not too late to do so at a discount! There are still 49 spots left who can claim 20% off, using coupon code ADCF65. That means you can gain access to premium content for as little as $14.40, if you move fast! Keep in mind an e-mail is also being sent to all 5,700+ people currently in the The Baby Sleep Site™ Community.

Join the Member’s Area on The Baby Sleep Site™ now!

Here is all you’ll get by joining the Member’s Area:

* Unlimited access to all the e-Book content, which includes Help Your Child Sleep, a Step-by-Step Guide and Mastering Naps & Schedules, and any future books ($72 Value)

* Unlimited access to all tele-seminars (seminars via telephone) new and old. Next one is scheduled for Wednesday, Sept. 30th.

* Unlimited access to real-life case studies. NEW! Sleep Coaching Twins with No Crying! My case studies are actual consultations written to help you formulate your own custom plans.

* Unlimited access to the members-only chat room offering ongoing peer support, along with my advice monthly during a scheduled date and time.

* Unlimited access to members-only articles, assessment quizzes, and more!

* **NEW** 30% Discount Coupon Code for premiere baby care software by Babble Soft – Track sleep, feedings, immunizations, diapers, and more, and share it all with loved ones! Add in milestones and growth in your very own online baby album, too!

Huge Value at an Affordable Price!

You’ll receive access to in-depth premium baby and toddler sleep information by joining the Members Area on The Baby Sleep Site™. Three pricing options are available, based on your needs, and offer you savings over services purchased separately.

Join the Member’s Area on The Baby Sleep Site™ now!

If you have any questions at all, feel free to contact me anytime! I’d be happy to answer any questions or concerns you might have.

Happy sleeping!

I am honored that The Baby Sleep Site™ is now considered an AllTop site! I am featured in the Parenting and Babies categories. This is very exciting as the site is becoming more widely known and I can help even more people with their baby sleep problems.

For those who don’t know, AllTop is a website that collects the headlines of the best sites on the web and categorizes them to make it easy for us readers to find information we seek. It is different than a search engine because it’s more designed to answer the question “What’s happening?”. You might want to know what’s happening in parenting or babies, or you might also want to know what’s happening on Mom blogs or Dad blogs. You can find almost any category you want, even New York City Street Food Vendors or even Bacon!!

Make sure you check the other sites out. I’d love for you to share the blogs that interest you! I am excited that this blog is considered one of the AllTop.

My husband is a teacher and he’s counting down the minutes until he’s out for the summer. I think having almost 3 months off would be so nice! But, I did not become a teacher, so I don’t get them. The only thing I asked of him after our first couple of years of marriage (it’s been five now just last week) is not to complain that he “only has 2 weeks left” of his 3 month vacation!

I thought this would be a good time to tell you what’s coming up on the The Baby Sleep Site™ website this summer. I have a lot planned. Here are just a few things to look forward to and plan for:

* Next week, I’ll be finishing up the last temperament trait in my Baby Temperament & Sleep Series. Within the following two weeks, I’ll provide you with a quiz to determine your baby or toddler’s temperament.

* I will be starting a Breastfeeding & Sleep Series sometime this summer that will go over all of the unique challenges nursing moms might go through when it comes to their baby’s sleep.

* I will also be working on a Nightmares and Night Terrors series, too.

All of these will be FREE right here on my blog.

* Another thing you should be aware of is I will be on a much-needed vacation July 25th through August 3rd, with minimal e-mail access (if any at all). I’ll send a reminder to my helpdesk clients as it gets closer as you parents are those who will miss me most.

* Come see me on Facebook on my new fan page! I just uploaded some pictures of my family. I thought it would be nice for you to see my happy family even after our sleep deprivation challenges.

* Lastly, I will be having another giveaway on the site for Father’s Day. Last time we had parents win gift cards on Amazon, a free e-mail consultation, and a free subscription to Babble Soft. I’m gathering the prizes for the Father’s Day giveaway now, so watch for entry information. They are so easy to enter, it’s silly not to at least enter!

Thank you for your continued participation in the The Baby Sleep Site™ community! I hope you are finding all the resources you need. Be sure to send e-mail to asknicole [at] picknicksbrain [dot] com with any article ideas if there is anything you have been looking for and haven’t been able to find.

So, what are YOU doing this summer?

P.S. Just a quick reminder that today is the last day to get a copy of my new e-Book, Mastering Naps & Schedules for 25% off, which includes 2 e-mail consultations, 40+ sample schedules, planning worksheets and a 100% guarantee. Click on this private link that will expire at 11:59 p.m. tonight EST.

Becoming a mom was one of the best moments of my life, but it has also been more tiring and challenging than I ever could imagine! Everyone tells you your life is never the same, but until you go through it, you just don’t “get it”. Of course, the fact your life is never the same is a good thing. I can’t imagine my life without my kids and I can *barely* remember what life was before I had them (okay maybe a little sometimes lol).

I have had many parents tell me they feel silly for obsessing so much or thinking or worrying too much about this or that, especially about sleep and schedules. And, I always tell them “You are not alone!”. Not only have *I* been there, but so many other parents are right where you are too RIGHT NOW.

One of the most challenging parts about being a mom is figuring out what my boys need, especially when they were babies and couldn’t talk (although even when they can talk it doesn’t mean they (or you) know what’s wrong either!). Is he crying or cranky because he’s hungry, tired, over-stimulated, cold, hot, or what? I also struggled so much with my son’s sleep that it became somewhat of an obsession. I had an Excel spreadsheet tracking his sleep and I’d make little notes about feedings, thinking that maybe what he was eating was affecting his sleep.

I am a very analytical person, so this is just what I do. I wanted to “see” how he was sleeping and see if I could figure out any patterns. What was I missing? What was his schedule? Why did he wake up last night? What happened yesterday? Did he “forget” to poop yesterday and that’s why his tummy might be bothering him? How could I gain more insight into my baby?

Well, Aruni Gunasagarem (she is amazing!) took it a few steps further than I did and recognized that she was not alone in wanting to gain insight into her baby. After I started this website, Aruni reached out to me and we got to know each other, and now I’m very pleased and excited to announce that I have now become the VP of Product Development for Babble Soft, her other “baby”. With Babble Soft’s online software, Baby Insights, it’s easy to do what I was trying to do with my little Excel spreadsheet. It helps you track schedules and keep track of feedings, etc. I wish this software existed years ago! (Not to mention how easy their baby books would have been with Baby Say Cheese!)

One of my first tasks at Babble Soft has been to bring a mobile web application on board and we have done just that! Now, using your iPhone (and soon your Blackberry or other cell phone), you can enter your baby’s information, even when you are out and about or your spouse can see what baby is up to from work and feel that much more a part of her day. It has been really exciting to be a part of Babble Soft and to help parents parent in the Web 2.0 world, where paper and pencil just doesn’t cut it anymore. Babble Soft also has a survey right now where you have a chance to win up to $450 in prizes, just in time for Valentine’s Day! Please stop by and fill out the quick survey and buy something nice for your sweetie.

One last thing is if you have enjoyed hearing me “talk” about baby sleep, you might enjoy hearing me talk about other topics, too! At Babble Soft, we just started a new blog where we will write articles with parenting tips and advice, and not just about sleep! Don’t miss any posts and sign up now for free updates!

Thank you for letting me share my news with you! I’m very excited!

I want to give something back to my readers in the The Baby Sleep Site™ community and will be announcing a FREE holiday giveaway contest beginning on 12/1, so stay tuned!! I am still figuring out the prizes and if you have any suggestions, please feel free to email me! The next part of this e-mail might directly affect just how many prizes I can offer.

If you’ve been considering sleep consulting services or my e-Book, Help Your Child Sleep, a Detailed Guide, this part’s for you.

One of the toughest things about my website has been the price of my e-Book. Experts tell me that if I price it too low no one will buy it because they will think it’s bad before they even read it. Price it too high and well, no one will buy it because it’s too expensive.

I made this website to help people with their baby’s sleep problems and now I need to figure out the psychology behind how people purchase things on the internet and why people are more willing to spend $19.95 rather than $20. I would give it away for free, but I do have to pay for the site somehow and would like to make a modest living, if I can (maybe one day I can quit my day job…we all have those dreams, right?).

So, I decided, why not have a Black Friday sale? Now, I know that typically you go out (some of you in the cold) and stand in a really long line to get a great deal on gifts for the holiday season (or non-gifts that you or your family need). I’ve done that, too!

Well, you can take off your robe and pretend you’re in line in the cold, if you want, but why not shop for something really important right from your computer, in your slippers?

That’s right. I’m suggesting that you buy the gift of sleep for you and your family!

So, this Black Friday, November 28, 2008 my services will be 50% off (Coupon “BLKFR08″) and for the first 50 people, I will sell my e-Book for only $15! That’s 50% off my regular price!

This is a win-win situation. I can help more people with their baby’s sleep problems, make a little holiday cash (I’m not trying to retire to Fiji or anything) and you can get my e-Book for much cheaper without thinking it sucks before you even read it!

After the first 50 people, I will sell the e-Book for $19.95 (because there must be some psychology behind it) for ONE DAY ONLY, Black Friday! After that, the price will go back to the normal price of $30.

Ordering on the internet is nerve-racking sometimes. So, here’s my guarantee. If you purchase my e-Book and you are not fully satisfied, you have 2 choices:

I will refund 100% of your money
or
You can get 3 email consultations from me to help you through your problem

Now, I have a sister site, www.babysleepswell.com, and I typically price my e-Book the same on both sites because I never want anyone to feel cheated, but at the same time, I want my regular readers to get first crack at the cheaper price. So, my plan is to open up The Baby Sleep Site™’s sale beginning at midnight Eastern Standard Time before I update my sister site at 8 a.m. That gives my regular community a full 8 hours head start and won’t get in the way of you standing in line in the cold at Best Buy, Circuit City, Nordstrom, Macy’s, or that little mom and pop comic book store.

Honestly, it probably won’t matter anyway. I don’t expect 50 people to buy the e-Book in the first 8 hours or even all day. But, just in case, I wanted to do this. I’ve just never done this before and the internet is so unpredictable. Most people will probably be in line with donuts and coffee somewhere getting the next gadget that Sony or Microsoft or Nintendo has out this year (or is there?). Maybe the Blackberry Storm…

So for those of you who are ready — and only if you’re ready, I’m seriously not trying to push you here, if you want to get better sleep out of your babies or toddlers and think my e-Book can help, do visit my website at midnight, EST on Black Friday.

Thank you for your continued participation in the The Baby Sleep Site™ community!

I am now offering a pamphlet on shifting your baby or toddler’s schedule. This is designed for those parents who have already mastered most of their child’s sleep problems, but their baby or toddler is simply waking too early in the morning or going to bed too late at night. Your child is getting all the sleep he needs, but the schedule does not seem to fit in with the family. I recommend only attempting a schedule shift once your baby or toddler is already sleeping fairly well and he is old enough to withstand some over-tiredness without too much trouble. For babies very sensitive to becoming overtired this might not be until 8 or 9 months old. For those not very sensitive to over-tiredness, this can be as soon as 6 months old. Toddlers are usually ready and should be no problem to shift.

Learn more about the Shift Your Child’s Schedule pamphlet, now!

I am pleased to announce that I have a new FREE guide available on my website titled Nick’s Brain, Picked! Five Ways to Help Your Child Sleep Through the Night.

This guide is an e-Book detailing the five primary ways you can help your child sleep all night. To get your free guide, simply fill in your name and e-mail address and push the button (I hate spam as much as you do and will NOT sell your information!).

“At first I thought this was another harsh ‘baby training’ website, but now I see this site is an invaluable resource for parents who want to find their own way to help their child sleep better. 5 Ways to Help Your Child Sleep Through the Night has helped me begin to get better sleep for my child.”
–Elizabeth, France