Bridging Sleep Science, Temperament & Individualized Family Sleep Support
Meet Heather Plante, Certified Maternity & Child Sleep Consultant, pediatric sleep professional, founder of Soothing Angels, Canadian sleep-industry leader, mother, and graduate of the International Parenting & Health Institute’s Holistic Pregnancy & Child Sleep Consultant Certification Program.
Based near Edmonton, Alberta, Canada, Heather has spent well over a decade helping families understand their children’s sleep while developing an approach centered around education, temperament, parental reassurance, and individualized support.
Her work begins with a principle that has remained remarkably consistent throughout her professional career:
The sleep approach needs to fit the child and family, not the other way around.
Through Soothing Angels, Heather works with parents to understand sleep science, identify their child’s individual needs, recognize how temperament and behavior may influence the process, and choose an approach aligned with their own parenting style, goals, and comfort level.
It’s a philosophy that has helped establish Heather as a respected voice within the professional sleep field in Canada and beyond.
When Sleep Became Personal
Like many professionals who eventually dedicate their careers to sleep, Heather’s interest began with her own family.
Heather has spoken openly about what her daughters taught her about the impact sleep deprivation can have, not only on children, but on the entire family.
She describes experiencing years of sleepless nights herself before becoming passionate about helping other parents avoid some of the exhaustion and distress her own family had experienced.
That experience ultimately led Heather into professional sleep education.
She studied through what was then the International Maternity & Parenting Institute, the earlier name associated with today’s International Parenting & Health Institute, during 2011–2012.
Today, we proudly recognize Heather as a graduate of IPHI’s Holistic Pregnancy & Child Sleep Consultant Certification Program.
But her education didn’t stop there.
Continuing to Build Expertise in Pediatric Sleep
Heather continued pursuing advanced education within the sleep and family-support fields.
Her professional background includes additional child and maternity sleep-consultant education as well as continuing education addressing areas including SIDS, postpartum depression, medical issues related to sleep, and infant soothing and parent education.
This continuing education has complemented years of direct work with families.
And that combination matters.
Sleep professionals don’t simply work with textbook scenarios.
They work with real children.
Different temperaments.
Different developmental stages.
Different family structures.
Different parenting philosophies.
Different levels of exhaustion.
And sometimes very different reasons for disrupted sleep.
Heather’s work reflects that complexity.
Building Soothing Angels
Heather founded Soothing Angels, a maternity and pediatric sleep consultancy based near Edmonton, Alberta.
Through Soothing Angels, she works with babies and children from the newborn period through approximately age six, offering consultations, customized sleep plans, parent education, follow-up support, and group workshops.
Her work extends beyond simply giving parents a schedule.
Heather begins by teaching families about sleep science and helping them understand how the different pieces of a child’s day fit together.
Her consultations can explore:
Sleep environment
Sleepy cues and awake windows
Naps
Night feeding
Developmental milestones
Illness
Travel
Teething
Temperament
Parental sleep and health
And the different approaches available to families.
That educational foundation is significant.
Parents are not simply told what to do.
Heather wants them to understand why they’re doing it.
Temperament Matters
One of the most distinctive aspects of Heather’s professional philosophy is her emphasis on temperament.
Her work acknowledges that children don’t all respond to change in the same way.
Some are highly alert.
Some are spirited.
Some are intensely determined.
Some need more reassurance.
Others adapt more readily.
Heather therefore considers the child’s personality and temperament when helping parents determine how to approach sleep changes.
That is an important distinction.
Two children of the same age can experience the same apparent sleep challenge and still need very different support.
Heather’s goal is not to fit every child into one predetermined method.
Instead, she helps parents understand the options available and decide what aligns with their child’s temperament, their parenting style, their goals, and their own comfort level.
Reassurance Rather Than Judgment
Another theme appears repeatedly throughout Heather’s work:
reassurance.
Soothing Angels emphasizes that parents have choices.
Heather describes her role as helping families select a loving and personalized plan they feel comfortable implementing. Her services also explicitly state that families do not have to leave their child to cry alone.
But perhaps the clearest evidence of this philosophy comes from the parents themselves.
Testimonials repeatedly describe Heather as patient, compassionate, supportive, reassuring, and nonjudgmental.
One family describes gaining not only sleep knowledge but greater confidence and understanding of their baby. Another says that Heather’s reassurance and support were the most valuable parts of the process. Other parents describe finally understanding their child’s behavior after previously feeling overwhelmed by conflicting information.
This reveals something important about sleep consulting:
Sometimes parents need information.
Sometimes they need a plan.
And sometimes they also need someone who can help them understand what they’re seeing and feel confident moving forward.
Sleep Science as Parent Education
Education has remained central to Heather’s professional work.
Her website includes resources covering topics such as:
Transitioning from crib to bed
Daylight saving time
Sleep routines
Travel and sleep
Nap transitions
Holiday sleep
Sleep across different ages.
She has also contributed sleep education outside her own platform.
In an early guest article for Modern Mama, Heather discussed the importance of routines, sleepy cues, circadian rhythms, and recognizing when babies are biologically ready for sleep.
Years later, her expertise continues to be sought by national media.
A Sleep Expert in Canadian Media
Heather has been quoted by Global News as an Alberta-based sleep consultant discussing how daylight saving time changes can affect children’s sleep, behavior, mood, and daily functioning.
In 2018, she explained how waking during different stages of the sleep cycle can influence how children feel and behave after waking.
And in 2024, Global News again turned to Heather for expert guidance about helping young children adjust when clocks change.
She explained that parents may notice children becoming more clingy, fussy, frustrated, or tearful during the transition and recommended gradually shifting schedules rather than expecting young children to adjust instantly.
That continued media presence, years apart, reflects the longevity of Heather’s professional work.
Leadership Within the Professional Sleep Field
Heather’s impact extends beyond her work with individual families.
She currently serves in leadership with the Association of Professional Sleep Consultants, including as Chief Financial Officer and Canadian Regional Director.
The organization also identifies Heather as founder and director of Soothing Angels and describes her work with families around the world.
This part of her career deserves prominence in the Graduate Spotlight.
Heather isn’t only practicing within the sleep-consulting profession.
She has also contributed to its professional community and development.
Supporting Families Around the World
Although Soothing Angels is based near Edmonton, Heather’s work has extended internationally.
Her professional biography through APSC notes that her services have been sought by families around the world, including doctors and celebrities, and that she has provided personal consultations, workshops, presentations, and community education.
Her testimonials similarly show families seeking her support from different locations, including communities throughout Alberta and families outside Canada.
Technology has allowed a practice rooted in Alberta to reach much farther.
But regardless of location, Heather’s philosophy remains centered around the individual family.
Remembering the Parents’ Sleep, Too
There’s another small but meaningful detail in Heather’s consultation process that I particularly appreciate:
She doesn’t forget about the parents.
Soothing Angels specifically includes education around improving Mom and Dad’s sleep and health as part of its consultation services.
That recognizes a fundamental reality of family sleep.
When a child isn’t sleeping well, the effects rarely stop with the child.
Parental sleep deprivation can affect mood, health, relationships, patience, daily functioning, and the overall experience of parenting.
Supporting child sleep therefore also means remaining aware of the family system surrounding the child.
Giving Back Through Soothing Spaces
Heather’s commitment to children has also extended beyond her professional consultations.
Her APSC biography describes her involvement with the Make-A-Wish Foundation, helping create special “Soothing Spaces” for children whose wish involved receiving a redesigned room.
It is a beautiful extension of a career centered around children’s environments, comfort, and wellbeing.
More Than a Decade of Sleep Support
Heather’s career offers something especially valuable for this Graduate Spotlight:
longevity.
She began her professional sleep education more than a decade ago.
She built Soothing Angels.
She continued pursuing education.
She developed resources and workshops.
She worked with families internationally.
She contributed to media conversations about children’s sleep.
And she moved into leadership within the professional sleep-consulting community.
Throughout those years, the central message behind her work has remained remarkably consistent:
Educate parents. Understand the child. Respect the family. Personalize the approach.
Professional Profile
Heather Plante
Pediatric Sleep Consultant | Certified Maternity & Child Sleep Consultant | Sleep Educator
Location: Alberta, Canada
Founder & Director: Soothing Angels
IPHI Certification
Holistic Pregnancy & Child Sleep Consultant
International Parenting & Health Institute
Professional education completed through the organization’s earlier IMPI era, 2011–2012.
Professional Leadership
Chief Financial Officer
Association of Professional Sleep Consultants
Canadian Regional Director
Association of Professional Sleep Consultants
Additional Professional Education
Advanced child and maternity sleep education
Continuing education in SIDS
Postpartum depression education
Medical issues relating to sleep
Infant soothing and parent education
Areas of Expertise
Infant & Child Sleep
Pediatric Sleep Education
Sleep Science
Child Temperament & Sleep
Sleep Environment
Circadian Rhythms & Routines
Naps & Developmental Transitions
Individualized Family Sleep Support
Parent Education & Coaching
An Inspiration in Pediatric Sleep Education
Heather’s professional journey demonstrates what can happen when personal experience becomes curiosity, curiosity becomes education, and education becomes a long-term commitment to helping others.
Her daughters first showed her how profoundly sleep deprivation could affect a family.
She turned that experience into professional study.
She became a sleep consultant.
She founded Soothing Angels.
And over more than a decade, she has continued educating families, contributing to public conversations about sleep, supporting the professional sleep community, and refining an approach centered around the individual child.
Her work reminds us that there isn’t simply a child with a sleep challenge.
There is a child with a temperament.
A child developing physically and emotionally.
Parents with their own beliefs and comfort levels.
A family navigating exhaustion.
And a larger system surrounding them all.
Understanding those pieces is part of understanding sleep.
💙 Congratulations, Heather!
We are proud to recognize you as an IPHI Holistic Pregnancy & Child Sleep Consultant graduate and celebrate the many years you have dedicated to educating, reassuring, and supporting families through Soothing Angels and the wider professional sleep community.
