How It All Started
My name is Cassidy Hogan, founder of Hush Baby. I am a proud mother of a three–one boy and twin girls. I pride myself on giving my family, as well as the dozens of other families I have worked with, the quality sleep they need to be happy and healthy. My passion for children’s sleep began when I became pregnant with my first child. Due to my Type-A personality, I thrive on having a reliable schedule to follow. I decided that if I was going to maintain a regular schedule in my life after my baby was born, he was going to have to be a good sleeper. I spent hours reading and studying all of the popular baby sleep books and websites and consulting with friends.
I felt ready! After my spouse and I came home from the hospital, I quickly realized that my son was not the “typical” baby when it comes to sleep. I was prepared for a baby who would sleep 18+ hours per day because this is how the materials I read described newborns! Despite my best efforts, my baby refused to nap during the day. I would often spend anywhere from 20-60 minutes trying to get him to sleep and, if he finally did drift off, he would wake less than 30 minutes later.
The nights weren’t much better. I was tired and frustrated, both with myself and my baby, and I was determined to figure out where I was going wrong. I began digging through my books, re-reading chapters and searching for answers to my questions. I scoured the internet in search of someone who shared my experience and could give me the magic spell to get my baby to sleep. Rather than finding answers, however, I was awash in contradictory advice, half-cocked opinions, and just plain bad information. While I had set out to relieve my anxiety, this research only increased my anxiety. It was too much for my sleep-deprived brain to handle.
The anxiety and frustration I felt lasted through the entirety of his newborn life, and it wasn’t until he was old enough to be sleep trained that we all started to sleep and feel normal again. Sadly, when I look back at those first few special, fleeting months as a mom, I regret that they are a blur of stress punctuated by a few happy moments. After years of studying the way newborns sleep and how they sleep best, I know now that it didn’t have to be this way.