Nested Sleep

Holistic family sleep consulting for babies and children ages 0-18 years.

10/26/2026

No Sunday scaries over here. 😴✨

Because when your child is sleeping well, Sunday night feels a whole lot different.

You’re not wondering:

“Are we going to be up all night?”
“Is bedtime going to be a battle?”
“Will tomorrow morning be a disaster?”
“How am I supposed to function this week?”

Instead, you can actually enjoy your Sunday night knowing your child has the skills, schedule, and sleep foundation to head into the week rested.

And THAT is one of my favorite things about helping families with sleep.

It’s not just about getting your child to sleep through the night.

It’s about giving the whole family back their evenings, their mornings, their energy and a little more confidence heading into Monday. 🤍

If you’re ready to trade bedtime battles for a better week, book a discovery call with me. We’ll talk about what’s happening with your child’s sleep and whether 1:1 support is the right fit for your family.

ParentingSupport SundayScaries

10/22/2026

Nightmares vs Night terrors!

Hi 👋🏼, I’m Kelsey, owner of Dr.Kelsey Alford, NP | Sleep Consultant | Educator | Speaker , and I help working parents develop smooth bedtime routines & later mornings through 1:1 sleep support!

So what is the difference between these two??

A nightmare is a bad dream (most often occurring in the second half of the night) that your child is fearful of and can describe.

A night terror typically occurs in the first half of the night often with screaming and thrashing for 30 seconds to 5 minutes.

Responding😱

For a nightmare you offer validation and reassurance in the moment and if recurrent discuss fears during the daytime.

For night terrors, keep your child safe and try to avoid waking your child. Prevent causing night terrors by getting a good amount of sleep every night.

If either nightmares or night terrors are occurring frequently reach out for help as neither should be a frequent occurrence.

Want to learn more? Comment NIGHT and I’ll send you my YouTube to get the full video!

childsleep sleepexpert nursepractitioner

10/20/2026

Dropping the nap isn’t random. And it’s not something we should decide based solely on a birthday. 👀

I was reminded of this research while at the NIH last week, and it is such a fascinating way to think about nap transitions.

A 2022 paper by Rebecca Spencer and Tracy Riggins proposes that as a child’s brain, and specifically the hippocampal-dependent memory network, matures, their brain becomes more efficient at storing information. That may reduce the buildup of sleep pressure that previously made a daytime nap necessary.

In other words: the transition out of naps may be connected to what’s happening INSIDE the developing brain.

And this is one reason I don’t love advice like, “Your child is 3, so it’s time to drop the nap.”

There is a LOT of individual variation. Some children transition earlier, some later, and the transition itself can take months rather than happening overnight.

So if you’re wondering, “Is my child actually ready to drop the nap, or are we just having a rough nap phase?” that’s a much better question than simply asking how old they are.
Sleep transitions are developmental. They deserve more nuance than a number on the calendar.

And if you’re stuck in the messy middle where your child fights the nap, bedtime is getting later, mornings are shifting, and you have no idea whether to keep offering the nap or let it go, you don’t have to figure it out by trial and error.

👉 Book a discovery call with me. We’ll talk through what you’re seeing, whether your child is actually ready for this transition, and what a personalized plan could look like for your family.

Your child doesn’t need a generic sleep schedule. You need a plan that makes sense for YOUR child.

📚 Spencer RMC & Riggins T. Contributions of memory and brain development to the bioregulation of naps and nap transitions in early childhood. PNAS. 2022;119(44). DOI: 10.1073/pnas.2123415119.

10/16/2026

This week I had the privilege of attending the 2026 NIH Research Conference on Sleep and the Health of Women (SHOW 2026) at the NIH campus in Bethesda.

And I left feeling even more passionate about something I already know to be true: sleep is about so much more than bedtime.

One of my biggest takeaways was that women experience periods of sleep vulnerability throughout their entire lives — from preconception and pregnancy to postpartum, parenting, perimenopause, menopause, and beyond.

As a pediatric sleep provider, I often meet families when they’re in one of those major transition points: pregnancy, the newborn stage, or navigating a child’s changing sleep needs.

But here’s the really interesting part: Mom’s sleep during pregnancy can also influence her baby’s sleep after birth, with emerging research also looking at connections to children’s development and behavior later on.

The more we learn about women’s sleep, the more we understand just how interconnected family sleep and health really are.

So yes, I’m pretty passionate about helping the whole family sleep well.

Swipe through for a few of my biggest takeaways from SHOW 2026. And if your family is struggling with sleep, you don’t have to figure it all out through Google or Chat GPT. I’m here to help bring the most recent evidence into caring for your family!

Lugo-Candelas C, Hwei T, Lee S, Lucchini M, Smaniotto Aizza A, Kahn LG, Buss C, O’Connor TG, Ghassabian A, Padula AM, Aschner J, Deoni S, Margolis AE, Canino G, Monk C, Posner J, Duarte CS. Prenatal sleep health and risk of offspring ADHD symptomatology and associated phenotypes: a prospective analysis of timing and s*x differences in the ECHO cohort. Lancet Reg Health Am. 2023 Oct 9;27:100609. doi: 10.1016/j.lana.2023.100609. PMID: 38106969; PMCID: PMC10725065.

Rebecca M. C. Spencer, Tracy Riggins. Contributions of memory and brain development to the bioregulation of naps and nap transitions in early childhood. Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences, 2022; 119 (44) DOI: 10.1073/pnas.2123415119

Dr. Claudia Lugo-Candelas work at Columbia University

Dr. Jennifer

10/01/2026

7 YEARS → 7 DAYS 🎉

Today officially kicks off the 7 Years of Nested Sleep celebration!

Seven years ago, I started Nested Sleep with a simple goal: help families get better sleep with evidence-based support that actually works in real life.

Seven years, hundreds of families, countless workshops, approximately one million sleep questions 😂, and SO much learning later…here we are!

For the next 7 days, I’m celebrating the families, the science, the workshops, the lessons I’ve learned, what’s coming next + sharing a few special surprises along the way. 👀

But first, thank you.

Thank you to every family who has trusted me, referred a friend, attended a workshop, shared a post, opened an email, or simply followed along.

A small business doesn’t get to seven years without a whole lot of people on the other side of it.

💙 And this celebration is happening exclusively through my email list! Each day through October 7, subscribers will get the celebration, special offers and surprises.

Head to the link in my bio to join The Nested Parent and follow along!

09/24/2026

Eldest daughter energy is apparently thinking I should start another business, write a book, learn Japanese, take up a new hobby, reorganize my entire life… all at bedtime 💤

And honestly, I probably would do all of those things if there were more hours in the day.

But here’s the thing I’ve learned about sleep:

I can only have these big, slightly ridiculous thoughts when my brain has the capacity for them. When you’re exhausted, your brain is busy surviving.

What do I need to do next?
Who needs me?
How am I going to make it through bedtime?
When can I finally sit down?

There isn’t a lot of mental bandwidth left for dreaming, creating, problem-solving or thinking BIG.

When you’re rested, there’s space for that.

Space to have the ideas.
Space to be creative.
Space to think beyond the next thing on your to-do list.
Space to actually feel like yourself again.

And maybe that’s one of my favorite things about helping parents get better sleep. It’s not just about getting through the night. It’s about what your brain has the capacity to do when it isn’t running on empty.

Anyway, excuse me while I go add “learn Japanese” to my to-do list. 😂

09/22/2026

No need to be spooked out by sleep problems this Fall 🍁 Now booking sleep support for October start dates. Book a free discovery call to learn more about sleep support with me!

09/21/2026

Something exciting is coming to Nested Sleep 👀

This October marks 7 years of Nested Sleep, and I wanted to do something a little special to celebrate.

So I’m giving myself a little creative challenge:
7 years. 7 days. One pretty awesome celebration.

I’ll be sharing all the details with my email subscribers first, including a special anniversary offer that I really think you’ll want to know about if better sleep is on your fall to-do list.

If you’re not already on my email list, now is a very good time to join!

Head to the link in my bio to subscribe, and I’ll see you in your inbox 📥

05/26/2026

Were you up past your child’s bedtime last night?? Getting back on track can sometimes be as easy as putting your baby or child to sleep at their typical schedule. Other times they are overtired, jet-lagged, or used to sharing a room with parents for a week or more!

When these things are at play then a reset is needed. This comes up often with my clients too so I decided to create a post travel reset guide to get your kiddo back on track. It has all the tips you need for how to get back to smooth bedtimes and later mornings with your baby or child.

Ready for a post travel reset? Comment RESET to grab my free guide!

babysleep childsleep MemorialDay

05/22/2026

Before kids, a day trip or weekend trip meant throwing your wallet and lip gloss in the car and heading out the door.

Now? diapers, extra clothes, endless snacks, nap timing calculations, & wondering if your toddler will fall asleep 5 minutes before you get home!

But good news: family day trips can absolutely still be fun (and even restful) with a little planning 🤍

I just shared a new blog with tips for:

✔️ aligning naps for smoother travel days
✔️ the best timing for drives based on your child’s age
✔️ helping babies & toddlers sleep in new environments
✔️ my favorite travel sleep tools for family trips

We’re headed to the mountains of Colorado, but whether you’re beach-bound, visiting grandparents, exploring a new town, or just surviving a longer car ride this weekend, these tips can help make the day feel a whole lot smoother.

One of the biggest reminders? Sleep does NOT have to be perfect for a family trip to be successful. A little flexibility and preparation usually go a long way ✨

Read the full blog at the link in bio!

And if you’re traveling this weekend, tag so I can follow along!

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