In this episode we’re joined by Maria Moreno, a paediatric sleep consultant and motherhood life coach. With her wealth of experience, Maria shares insights on the unique sleep struggles faced by autistic children and offers practical advice for parents navigating these challenges. From personalised sleep plans to sensory considerations, this conversation is packed with valuable information to help families find their way to more restful nights.

Biography

Maria Moreno is a certified paediatric sleep consultant—with a specialization in neurodivergent sleep—and a motherhood life coach dedicated to supporting moms through the emotional challenges of motherhood. She holds a master’s degree in art education and has spent over 15 years working with neurodivergent children, bringing a deep understanding and empathy to the families she serves. After navigating postpartum depression and severe sleep deprivation, she founded Mindful Mother to help families restore rest and balance. She’s also the co-founder of Tumago, a handmade comfort blanket brand designed with sensory-sensitive and neurodivergent children in mind. Maria blends lived experience, professional training, and compassionate coaching to empower overwhelmed moms with practical, personalized tools that bring calm, connection, and confidence to their motherhood journey.

Key Takeaways

Understanding Individual Needs: Every child is different, and sleep plans should be tailored to their unique personalities and family dynamics.

Importance of Routines: Consistent bedtime routines can help children understand what to expect and ease the transition to sleep.

Visual Supports: Utilising visuals, like personalised bedtime books, can aid in preparing children for sleep changes.

Sensory Considerations: Addressing sensory sensitivities with appropriate comfort items can significantly improve sleep quality.

Environmental Factors: Creating a calming sleep environment, including blackout curtains and white noise machines, can help minimise disruptions.

Connect with Maria Moreno

Email - mindfulmotherllc@gmail.com

Website - www.mindfulmother.biz

Instagram - https://www.instagram.com/mindfulmother_sleep/

Facebook - https://www.facebook.com/mindfulmother1

Pinterest - https://www.pinterest.com/MindfulMother_LifeCoach

LinkedIn - www.linkedin.com/in/mindfulmother

Maria's Gentle Sleep Starter Guide for Kids with Autism

https://www.mindfulmother.biz/autismsleep

This guide is designed to help parents gently create better sleep routines for their neurodivergent children, without cry-it-out methods or rigid schedules. It’s full of simple, parent-friendly tools that truly make a difference.

In addition to this free guide, Maria is kindly offering 20% off Tumago handmade comfort blankets with code AUTISMMOM These sensory-sensitive blankets were inspired by Maria's own daughters and lovingly handmade by her family.

https://tumago.etsy.com

Connect with The Autism Mums

https://theautismmums.com/

Follow us on Instagram https://www.instagram.com/theautismmums

Follow us on TikTok https://www.tiktok.com/@theautismmums

Follow us on Facebook https://www.facebook.com/theautismmums

Transcript

Victoria Bennion: [00:00:00 ] today, we're excited to welcome to the podcast Maria Marino, a certified pediatric sleep consultant and motherhood life coach. After our last episode about sleep, many of you reached out with questions about sleep challenges, so we thought it would be great to explore these themes further if you don't know Maria, she holds a Master's degree in art education and has over 15 years experience working with neurodivergent children. After navigating her own struggles with postpartum depression and sleep deprivation, she founded Mindful Mother to help families restore balance and rest.

Maria is the co-founder of Tumago. A handmade comfort blanket brand designed specifically for sensory sensitive children. Her blend of lived experience and

professional expertise empowers overwhelmed parents with practical,

personalized tools to enhance their journey.

Natalie Tealdi: Welcome to the podcast Maria.

Maria Moreno: Thank you so much for having me.

Natalie Tealdi: We would love to know more about what inspired you

to become a [00:01:00 ] pediatric sleep

consultant and motherhood life coach especially for neurodivergent

families, I.

Maria Moreno: I have a master's in art education and I have

worked with kids for over 15 years. Being in the arts or being in

elective class I. I have very single type of kid coming in and out of

my classroom I find that as a blessing

'cause I've been able to work with kids with autism, with kids, with

A DHD, so on and so forth. I have my fair share of experience and I

have always have a special place in my heart because it's just.

Amazing. I love it I became a mom during COVID my little one had

reflux, had a heart condition, had a bunch of things going on at the

same time, and she was a very poor sleeper. She would wake up most.

Five, six times a night for at least the first six months before I

hired my own first sleep consultant.

What was wild to me is that

the pediatrician never really told me anything about a sleep

consultant until I was like, this is really affecting me. My

postpartum [00:02:00 ] depression was

escalating, postpartum anxiety was escalating. Postpartum rage was

starting to pop up. I was seeing blurry.

It was just not great at all.

I hired, a sleep consultant, with my little one by three to four

nights. She was already sleeping through the night. She would wake up

maybe once to eat and then continue.

From there, I realized a huge

change and how beneficial obviously it is to sleep because a lot of

us, tend to take rest for granted. I was, start helping other moms,

giving them like little tips, tricks and whatever. And then a mom

actually told me, Hey, why don't you do this?

Okay. I got into the sleep

consulting and. Then I realized that, where I got my certification,

they also have four neurodivergent kids. And I like this because that

means I can help more families. My nature is to be able to help as

many families and kids because, I have experienced what sleep

deprivation is firsthand and. I can only imagine having, a little one

with autism with anxiety, with a [00:03:00 ]

DHD, so on and so forth. I decided to get my certification because I

wanted to be able to help as many as I can. That is how, mindful

mother became to be,

Victoria:

I like what you say. I don't like what you say about sleep

deprivation, but it took me back 'cause my daughter was a terrible

sleeper too. She'd reflux and I think it was 18 months before she

slept through the night. So I didn't know there were such things as

sleep consultant. So it's brilliant to hear what you are doing. In

terms of, your work with neurotypical children and neurodivergent

children. what differences do you see?

Maria

Moreno: Usually it's a process that it's a little bit

longer and the reason why is because I like to take it step by step.

A lot of people tend to put everything just cookie cutter, and ,

every kid. Doesn't matter who. Every kid is completely different. The

personalities are different.

Their needs are different.

Their family dynamics is different. What their parents also need is

different. So I don't like to sit here and be like, Hey cut cutter

here. This is what [00:04:00 ] you got.

It's fine. It works for every kid. With autism, no, that's not how it

works because I know that there's different spectrums.

I know that, depending on the

texture, depending on the colors, depending on the environment,

depending on everything it's a combination of things, and is one of

the biggest difference that, it's not going to be, two weeks or a

week.

It's gonna be a little bit

longer because it's a prepping work for them to start understanding

what's coming up next and for the family to also be already, okay,

this is what's coming up next, step by step. So that way it's a

smoother transition than if it's just like. Do this, do that, do

this, and just everything is just one to two weeks. That's how we get

more tantrums not very happy families,

Victoria:

yeah, that makes sense. You definitely need the time to get used to

the change. Yeah, I can see that.

Natalie

Tealdi: Can you walk us through what a personalized sleep

plan looks like and how your c