by Hanna Nakano
Since our beginnings in 2016, founder Lola Sanchez-Liste has helped hundreds of families get the sleep they need and deserve, through one-on-one consults and through education. When Rockin’Blinks launched in 2020 – the number of families helped leaped to the thousands thanks to our online community, virtual consults, and our commitment to using our digital space for sleep education.
If you’ve read anything on our website, you know Lola is committed to sleep hygiene. As a consultant, she supports families by educating parents on the amount of sleep their children actually need and helping create solid sleep routines for the whole family.
Sleep, or the lack of it, is a major issue facing humans across the board now more than ever. In our busy culture, so many of us do not make enough space for self-care in the form of sleep. Getting good sleep does not come magically in one day. Getting good sleep is taught and learned.
Lola is a certified sleep consultant through the Family Sleep Institute and a mother of two – to say she knows her stuff when it comes to babies and sleep is an understatement. We wanted to give you a chance to get to know the person behind our name a little better, so grab a cup of coffee and join us for a conversation with Rockin’Blinks founder, Lola!
Q: Lola, first things first. Coffee or tea?
A: Coffee without a doubt. Black and no sugar. I am still hopeful I will give up this habit one day.
Q: As a sleep consultant, your life is perfect and your kids sleep like angels, right? 😉
A: Ha! 100% no. I am a human mother, with a human partner, and with human children who will complain when they want to stay up later, they feel afraid of the dark and sometimes have nightmares. Even though I advocate for a better balance between couples when it comes to bedtime and overnight waking, I am still the one who is in charge of this 99% of the time at my house.
However, sleep is not negotiable in our family. I feel the impact of lack of sleep immediately on my energy and mental health. And I am very aware of how much not sleeping enough affects my children. The importance of healthy sleep is something I am proud of passing on to my children. They sleep well at night, and it gives me peace of mind knowing that they are well-rested when they go to school in the morning.
Julia and Tomas, Lola’s children, wearing Rockin’Blinks pajamas.
Q: What sparked your passion for sleep education?
A: As a first-time mom I thought things were going to be easy for me. I did the work. I went to newborn care classes, stayed super fit all through my first pregnancy, and prepared mentally, I had this idea of the mom I wanted to be. However, my experience was far from being this romantic once my first daughter was born. I immediately felt the symptoms of postpartum anxiety and entered an unknown world that actually took the joy out of motherhood for a while.
I accepted the sleepless nights of newborn days but as months passed by and I could not find answers that made sense from the traditional healthcare providers, I started researching sleep myself and eventually got certified as a sleep consultant. This was just the beginning of a much deeper and longer journey, where most of my learning has come from understanding families’ and parents’ challenges – and why it’s so difficult to access essential sleep information and put healthy sleep habits into practice.
While my beginnings as a sleep coach were centered around baby sleep, I discovered that sleep challenges last way past the toddler years when there are no guidelines for families and no clear information about how to establish healthy sleep habits. Getting good sleep does not just “happen one day”. We need to create the routines, boundaries, environments, and schedules for it to happen, and these change as our children grow.
Lola with 2 weeks old Tomas.
Q: Do you have a bedtime routine?
A: My own personal bedtime routine gets shorter and shorter. I get into my pj’s, brush my teeth, and go to sleep. I am looking forward to a time in my life when I will be less exhausted at the end of the day and be able to wash my face and read a book at bedtime.
Q: What’s your number one favorite thing about your new sleepwear line?
A: The Rockin’Blinks collection is made in Peru of 100% Pima cotton. I am from Latin America and wanted to make sure that this collection was made in a county of a region I love and is related to my roots.
Peru has an amazing Pima cotton and a strong industry and experience making pajamas. It was a long journey to end up discovering the right factory for this collection, but I am super happy with the results.
Our patterns are delicate and gender-neutral, inspired by the Northeast region of my own country, Argentina. We have more colors and patterns coming soon!
The best thing is that every item includes some basic sleep information that will help parents understand the sleep needs of their children’s age.
Q: Who is your top played on Spotify right now?
A: These days I actually choose silence when I am not with my children ha! I feel that I have so much overstimulation – from kids, work, the world! – that I need silence when I am alone. But I am addicted to Shazam when I listen to something I like at a cafe or store. I discovered William Onyeabor this way and I find myself playing it when I need a little bit of background energy.
Read more about Rockin’Blinks and Lola’s story, here.
