“Parenting is never supposed to be done alone, in isolation. We need each other; we need that constant support and wisdom from women around us who have been there and done it and found a method that worked”.

About Us

The Little Ones™ Story
Amanda Snedden and Nicky Barker met when they were 15 years old and at the same high school in Auckland, New Zealand. Amanda went on to university and graduated in the medical profession, while Nicky completed her first bachelors degree and gained an additional post-graduate qualification in Education. They branched out in their respective fields, traveling, working, achieving a lot of professional success. Some years later, the girls went on to marry and start their families. Fast-forward a few more years and Nicky and Amanda’s “little ones” (their youngest children) were newborns and their close friendship rekindled over their babies and the daily challenges associated with parenthood.

Across the span of their older children (Nicky has 3 kids and Amanda has 2), they had separately dealt with and learnt a heck of a lot about baby sleep. Independently, they had researched, analysed, tried several different methods and routines, assisted countless friends, extended family, colleagues and coffee group mothers with their baby sleep challenges and by the time their newest babies arrived, Nicky and Amanda had cumulatively amassed quite a lot of knowledge!

Between them they had had babies who didn’t sleep, babies who slept too much, babies who wouldn’t settle, babies with pacifiers, tummy sleepers, side sleepers, babies with reflux, colic, tongue ties, allergies, intolerances. Babies who were breastfed, bottle-fed, slept in bassinets, hammocks, swings, strollers, frontpacks, arms. Babies who woke all night, babies who needed to learn to self-settle. And so, naturally, with their renewed close friendship came a 24/7 dialogue about their babys’ sleep patterns and ideas and suggestions about the complex world of baby sleep.

The idea for Little Ones was born.
Nicky and Amanda had used private sleep consultants in the past, so they knew how that area of the baby sleep industry worked and knew there could be a better way that the advice around baby sleep could be delivered and still be relevant as the baby grows. They had strong beliefs and values that all families should have access to affordable, instant, reliable resources, which would provide them with all the information they needed to get their own baby’s sleep on track and would be relevant as their baby grew and changed.

And so the hard work began!

Amanda, with her background in health science, could analyse the scientific side of things, taking on board all the relevant research and experimentation they had both done over the last 5 years. Nicky, being an educator and having studied developmental psychology, understood the behavioural aspect and knew how to effectively convey information to educate people. It was a winning combo.

Their backgrounds in health care and education, amassed real-world experience and the success of their methods was enough to develop their ideas into something tangible.

Months and months of writing, rewriting, reviewing and editing took place before the first version of the Sleeping and Feeding Guides was ready. Quite soon after launching the business, Nicky and Amanda discovered they needed additional products to go hand in hand with their Guides, and the Settling and Self-Settling methods were written and the whole lot was packaged up into comprehensive Sleep Programs.

Every few months all Programs are reviewed and updated according to current research and methods and based on information, frequent questions and common troubleshooting queries within the closed support group: the Little Ones Village.

Once the success of their Programs started spreading, the girls branched out into audio creation and developed their own series of white noise tracks. White noise is an important element in settling your baby and they wanted to be able to give families all the tools they could. You can now find their white noise album, Perfect Sounds for Baby Sleep, on iTunes, Google Play Store and Spotify.

After a good 6 months in the market and having spread outside New Zealand to Australia, the UK, the USA and beyond, Little Ones needed some more team members. The support group had grown so large and Nicky and Amanda wanted it to remain a place families could access advice about the Little Ones methods for free, so they went searching for some like-minded ladies to help them out… The ever-growing Village Team currently consists of 12 compassionate consultants. These wonderful women manage and facilitate the Little Ones Village as certified Sleep Consultants, offering advice and guidance to mothers around the use of the Little Ones Programs. The Village has grown into an incredibly supportive place, housed in the custom-built Little Ones app, where thousands of parents meet daily to help each other on this tricky journey of parenthood.

Just like Amanda and Nicky did, not so long ago.

And the story hasn’t ended yet!
Little Ones is endorsed and recommended by Dr Kate Johnson, Ph.D. Sleep Physiology and postdoctoral fellow in the Department of Sleep Medicine at Harvard Medical School and SRI (formerly Stanford Research International).

Little Ones is an accredited and recognised member of the IACSC (International Association of Child Sleep Consultants) and the Little Ones Team is trained in baby sleep neurology and behaviour, age-appropriate settling methods and best sleep practices through our extensive internationally registered training programme.

Nicky and Amanda have also completed "Happiest Baby on the Block" training courses through Dr Harvey Karp, as well as attending conferences in paediatric sleep and sleep medicine in the USA.

For a full list of our references click here.

The team has big plans for the future, more exciting products, more ways to make it that much easier for a tired parent looking for a solution. Despite the growth and success of the company, our fundamental goals remain the same – to assist parents to be more confident in their ability to respond to their baby’s needs. And for everyone to get more sleep.

And from the 300,000+ families they’ve helped so far… Little Ones definitely seems to be achieving that goal.

Awards and Media

  • LuxLife Parent & Baby Awards 2020

    Leading Providers of Infant/Toddler Sleep Nutrition Plans 2020

  • LuxLife Parent & Baby Awards 2020

    Commitment to Excellence Award in Early-Years Health & Wellness 2020

  • Deloitte Rising Star Awards 2019

    Finalist

  • Deloitte Asia Pacific Technology Fast 500 2019

    Ranked 76th in Asia Pacific

  • "Baby sleeping guide Little Ones sweeps the globe, helps more than 100,000 families"

    Stuff NZ, March 12 2019

  • "Harnessing social media essential to keep businesses humming"

    NZ Herald, 19 July 2017

  • "Moving to a fully flexible workforce"

    NZHR News, 12 June 2019

  • "Parents of teens - not babies - most worried about kids' sleep, survey finds"

    Stuff NZ, Oct 27 2020

Meet the Little Ones Team

  • Founder/Director, Chief Brand Officer, mother to Makayla (11), Max (10), and Charlie (7).
    Bachelor of Arts (University of Auckland).
    Graduate Diploma in Teaching (University of Auckland).
    Certificate in Paediatric Sleep

  • Founder/Director, Chief Executive Officer, mother to Millicent (9) and Mackenzie (7).
    Bachelor of Optometry, Therapeutically Endorsed (University of Auckland)
    Certificate in Paediatric Sleep

  • General Manager, mother to Scarlett (7) and Ellie (5).
    Certificate in Paediatric Sleep Consulting

  • Customer Experience Manager, mother to Sophie (7).
    Bachelor of Education
    Bachelor of Education (Christchurch College of Ed/Canterbury University)
    Certificate in Paediatric Sleep Consulting

  • Village Team Leader (Northern Hemisphere), mother to Carrick (15) and Heather (7).
    Master of Arts in Social Science (University of Glasgow)
    Certificates in Mortgage
    Advice and Practise (CeMAP)
    Certificate in Paediatric Sleep Consulting

  • Sleep Consultant (Southern Hemisphere), mother to Domenica (6), Claire (3), and Francesco (1).
    Certificate in Paediatric Sleep Consulting

  • Sleep Consultant (Southern Hemisphere), mother to Isabelle (Izzy) (7).
    Certificate in Paediatric Sleep Consulting

  • Sleep Consultant (Southern Hemisphere), mother to Archer (4), Stella (2), and Harvey (10 months).
    Certificate in Paediatric Sleep Consulting

  • Sleep Consultant (Southern Hemisphere), mother to Nova (5) and Lennon (3).
    Diploma in Early Childhood Education & Care from TAFENSW Certificate in Paediatric Sleep Consulting

  • Sleep Consultant (Northern Hemisphere), mother to Isaiah (5) and Micaiah (3).
    BSc Hons in Biomedical Science from Manchester Metropolitan University.
    Certificate in Paediatric Sleep Consulting

Contributing Authors & Experts

  • Laura Forlani
    Laura is the Director at Your Mind Matters and works as a registered Clinical Psychologist. She completed undergraduate and post-graduate studies at Swinburne University and is also an approved clinical supervisor.

    Website:
    https://yourmindmatters.net.au/

  • Rachel Tomlinson
    Rachel is an experienced psychologist and parenting expert.

    Website:
    www.towardwellbeing.com

    Book:
    https://www.amazon.com.au/s?k=teachin...

  • Emily McRae
    Emily is a Health Psychologist and mother to 3 children.

    Website:
    https://www.thewellhub.co/

  • Tara Sofair
    Tara is a Dietitian (APD) from Australia with 5+ years of experience working in Nutrition and Dietetics. She is a mum to two boys with big appetites!

The Little Ones™ Values & Philosophy

Our company values govern the way we run Little Ones, from making the big decisions, right through to the way our wonderful staff interact with our customers and with each other.

We Value:

  • Creativity
  • Integrity
  • Positivity
  • Honesty
  • Empowerment
  • Compassion
  • Family


Our Philosophy:
At Little Ones we follow an holistic or "all-round" approach to sleep. This means we understand the intricate relationship between day sleep, night sleep, awake windows, calorie intake and settling ability, and we focus on how these elements interact to lead to good sleep.

By making small, manageable changes to multiple areas of your little one's day (and night), we are able to greatly improve sleep in a gentle, responsive, age-appropriate manner.

The key areas we focus on through our Sleep Programs are:

Awake windows
Ideal nap structure
Suggested feed times
Settling/self-settling
Sleep environment

Between 0-3 Months
At this age, settling your baby completely to sleep if needed is absolutely fine. Using a swaddle, white noise, dark room and time to wind-down will help your little one learn it is time to sleep.

Between 3-6 Months
After 4 months, we focus a bit more on self-settling. If your baby can't self-settle we recommend gradually reducing active settling and allow them the chance to fall asleep independently. Following our Self Settling methods in conjunction with the Sleeping and Feeding Schedules will help your baby learn to self-settle.

Over 6 Months
Your little one is now very aware and any changes you're making to their sleep method can be met with some protesting. Self-settling is important now and you can guide your little one to independent sleep, through a form of sleep training, to aid in better napping and overnight sleep. Following our Self Settling methods in conjunction with the Sleeping and Feeding Schedules will help your baby learn to self-settle more effectively than simply "sleep training" alone.

What our lovely customers are saying...

  • Charlotte Jacobs

    "I cannot thank you enough. We were really struggling with getting baby to nap anywhere but on us which was making it hard to look after my toddler and manage her jealousy & night wakings were frequent. Since putting the schedule in place, she has dropped to only 1 night feed and she naps in her cot; all it needed was schedule tweaks & tips rather than “sleep training”. I now get time to spend with my other daughter who is no longer insanely jealous but a proud big sister and we are a very happy family."

  • Sylvia Wright

    "I cannot thank you enough. We were really struggling with getting baby to nap anywhere but on us which was making it hard to look after my toddler and manage her jealousy & night wakings were frequent. Since putting the schedule in place, she has dropped to only 1 night feed and she naps in her cot; all it needed was schedule tweaks & tips rather than “sleep training”. I now get time to spend with my other daughter who is no longer insanely jealous but a proud big sister and we are a very happy family."

  • Julia Simms

    "This is a guide every expectant new mum should have from day one. Despite reading a lot on baby sleep before giving birth, putting this into action when exhausted from birth and a new born is a whole other ball game. I've already recommended Little Ones for three expectant mums, as I wish I'd had the guides to hand from day one. Babies are tricky little critters! And Little Ones has taken all the knowledge and thinking for new parents, and placed it into a easy to digest, supportive service. Love the videos, so many topics covered and I really trust Nicky and Amandas advise as experienced parents."

  • Catherine de Cuba

    "Bought the program as we started going through the 4 month sleep regression. We’ve been using now for a month and it has made a huge difference. Our little one puts herself to sleep and is able to self soothe most of the time! Love the wide variety of methods presented and the flexibility offered by this program. Didn’t want to do a harsh cry it out type program, and this ended up being a great fit for our family!"

Within our App, you will find:

    • Our secret formula for sleep success
    • The key to great naps
    • What foods to offer your baby at each age and developmental stage
    • The perfect age-appropriate daily sleep & feed schedule for your little one with notifications
    • Sleep, feed, and diaper tracker to record your baby's daily habits
    • How to help your baby sleep through the night
    • Self-settling methods that do not have to involve crying
    • When and how to start solids with your little one
    • How to easily settle your baby to sleep
    • Support available from Certified Sleep Consultants in our Little Ones Village and 24/7 instant answers with our chatbot Lee.