Know Sleep is an Integrated Family Sleep® approach developed by Patricia Flynn MSc BSc, a paediatric and perinatal occupational therapist, author, researcher, and family sleep specialist. In addition to over 20 years’ experience working with families in a range of healthcare settings internationally, Patricia holds postgraduate qualifications and extensive training in family sleep, mental health, early learning, attachment, relationships, infant communication and coaching, amongst others.
"I believe that you are the expert of your own situation and love sharing my experiences and learning to get you the information or support you need and identify solutions that work for you and your family."
If you live in Ireland or Belgium, and your child is aged between 0 and 4 years, you can access direct sleep support for your family. While every Family Sleep Plan is unique, the Know Sleep approach follows a structure that insures parents get both relevant information and flexible, individualised support.
"My journey to becoming a sleep specialist and researcher started with my own experience as a parent.
Being a paediatric occupational therapist, I believed I should have all the answers and before they were born I had great plans for where, when, and how my babies would go to sleep.
When my babies arrived, however, they had different sleep plans – to mine and each other!
I found that there was little to no evidence-based, unbiased guidelines that really recognised our reality, efforts, or individuality. When faced with all the contradictory advice and strong opinions from professionals, friends, and family, I felt totally confused and lost.
What was best for my baby’s sleep? How do I get some sleep so I can stay at my best for my baby??
The only professional advice provided to me as a new mother was on safe sleep and being told that there was a “right” way to settle my infant to sleep and that I was doing it the “wrong” way. This experience, I now know, mirrors that of many other new parents.
The Know Sleep® approach to supporting babies and children's sleep, within their unique family context, is the result of subsequent years of research and learning! approach is the result of subsequent years of research and learning!
Patricia offers training, presentations, bespoke resources and webinars on sleep and the Integrated Family Sleep® approach to health professionals and other interested groups.
Possible topics include:
- Current family sleep research
- Supporting sleep preparation & participation activities
- Understanding the integrated family sleep experience
- A framework for occupation-focused, family-centred sleep evaluation and
intervention (for OTs only)
- Newborn sleep - including babies born early and NICU stays
...amongst others!
Patricia is an accomplished professional trainer with extensive experience in curriculum development, teacher training, university lecturing, participatory and active learning strategies, adult learning, conference presentations, professional workshops, webinars, and in adapting content and delivery according to participants' needs. Her research has been published in the influential international academic journal SLEEP ®: Sleep, zsaf169, https://doi.org/10.1093/sleep/zsaf169
Individual clinical supervision, mentoring, and complex case consultation also available to occupational therapists registered to work in Ireland or Belgium.