2015 Best Businesses of Phoenix Award goes to Quiet Nights

Quiet Night’s Sleep Coaching Receives 2015 Best Businesses of Phoenix Award
Phoenix Award Program Honors the Achievement
Phoenix, September 10, 2015 — Quiet Night’s Sleep Coaching has been selected for the 2015 Best Businesses of Phoenix Award in the Counseling & Mental Health category by the Best Businesses of Phoenix Award Program.
Each year, the Best Businesses of Phoenix Award Program identifies companies that we believe have achieved exceptional marketing success in their local community and business category. These are local companies that enhance the positive image of small business through service to their customers and our community. These exceptional companies help make the Phoenix area a great place to live, work and play.
Various sources of information were gathered and analyzed to choose the winners in each category. The 2015 Best Businesses of Phoenix Award Program focuses on quality, not quantity. Winners are determined based on the information gathered both internally by the Best Businesses of Phoenix Award Program and data provided by third parties.
About the Best Businesses of Phoenix Award Program
The Best Businesses of Phoenix Award Program is an annual awards program honoring the achievements and accomplishments of local businesses throughout the Phoenix area. Recognition is given to those companies that have shown the ability to use their best practices and implemented programs to generate competitive advantages and long-term value.
The Best Businesses of Phoenix Award Program was established to recognize the best of local businesses in our community. Our organization works exclusively with local business owners, trade groups, professional associations and other business advertising and marketing groups. Our mission is to recognize the small business community’s contributions to the U.S. economy.
SOURCE: Best Businesses of Phoenix Award Program
CONTACT:
Best Businesses of Phoenix Award Program
Email: PublicRelations@BestBusinesses.biz
URL: http://www.BestBusinesses.biz
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September 2015 Sleep Workshop/ Group Consultation

September 2015 Sleep Workshop/ Group Consultation

Need Sleep? Up coming “Get Sleep” 2 hour Workshop!unnamed
$75 per mom. Dad’s join the mom for free. Babies welcome.We will talk about the 7 steps to better sleep. Specific things to do to get ready for sleep coaching. 3 gentle methods and what scenarios to use them in. This will help you create a sleep plan to get you started towards better sleep. Come to ask lots of personal questions about your situation. Leave with a sleep plan ready to implement. ‘Cry it Out’ will not be a suggested method. Methods are breastfeeding friendly and attachment theory friendly.Here are the Details:
If we get at least 5 pre-registered…
It will be Saturday, … 3pm-5pm
17005 S. 34th Place, Phoenix, AZ 85048How to Join:
Pay with this paypal button on this page.  Payment confirms your spot. Both parents welcome for one fee. We need at least 5 pre-registered to go ahead with the workshop. If we have 5 confirmed, last minute mom’s can be added at the door with cash payment.If you decide to get a personal consultation package after the workshop, your fee will be applied as a $50 credit to the consultation package.If you need follow-up support following the class, you get a discounted rate of $40 for 15 minute call. (Regular rate is $50 for 15 min call)
If you haven’t already,
please friend me if you plan to participate,
please like my facebook page https://www.facebook.com/QuietNights
please follow me on twitter https://twitter.com/GetQuietNights
and please check out my website www.GetQuietNights.com
Feel free to call, text or email me your questions.
602-524-7610 Tracy@GetQuietNights.com
To join a sleep Class, use this Buy Now button.


Tracy Spackman is a Certified Gentle Sleep Coach serving Phoenix and all of North America.

Can you spoil your baby?

It used to be believed that you were teaching a baby to cry more if you picked them up when they cried, thinking that that baby will learn to cry to get attention. The opposite has been proven to be true.
When you pick up a crying child, you are helping them to regulate (co-regulation) and they will, as a result, be more resilient, especially when this attention is given in the first year.

When a toddler, ages 1.5, 2, 3 (or sometimes older too), has a meltdown and is crying, it is often related to autonomy and security. Their idea of independence and having a lack of physical ability to accomplish what they are imagining themselves doing. They need your positive attention, picking them up, responding with love and patience, please don’t feel threatened. It’s not about you.

Dr. Jean-Victor Wittenberg,(child psychiatrist and Head of the Infant Psychiatry Program at the Hospital for Sick Children in Toronto and Co-Chair of Infant Mental Health Promotion (IMHP) which provides teaching for front-line professionals and develops advocacy initiatives on behalf of infant mental health), recently stated that you don’t need to squelch that behavior. When they are having a meltdown, It’s about them and their development and personal frustration and insecurities. By helping them regulate, offering help and concern, hugs and attention, it helps them know that this world is a good place and you are not going anywhere. You child may be realizing there are relationships outside of yours and theirs and they are insecure about it. You need to fortify that bond for them. 

It’s understandable that you want to teach good behavior but it’s the underlying regulation issues going on under the tantrum that need addressing which will bring about better long term behavior with resilience and independence.

Learning Self Regulation is a long, ongoing process and in the learning period, there is a lot of co-regulation that goes on between caregiver and child to help the child learn to control his/her emotions and modify them, or in other words, to deal with the big emotions that come with the ups and downs of life.

This is why I like gentle methods when it comes to sleep.  The temperaments of babies vary and we as caregivers need to modify our responsive to give them the best chance of good mental health and life success.

Tracy Spackman is a Certified Gentle Sleep Coach
www.GetQuietNights.com
https://www.facebook.com/QuietNights
602-524-7610

6 Things that Cause Early Rising

Early Rising is one of the most frustrating parts of  Baby and Toddler Sleeping Issues.  You have put great effort into helping your child learn sleep skills and even though they are generally sleeping through the night, the early rising is slowly killing you. (I’m being just a little dramatic)
 
Early Rising is when the baby or toddler wakes and can’t get back to sleep well before you are ready to wake up and start your day.  More technically, it’s likely before 6am.  The body’s sleep cycles are different in those early hours and it’s harder to get back to sleep anyway.
Here are the things that typically cause Early Rising and once you have identified the cause, you can work on the solution.
      1.   Lack of day sleep.  Your child’s body has a period of time it can stay awake and when she runs out of energy, she has a sleep window.  If she is not falling asleep by the end of the sleep window, her body produces a hormone called cortisol.  This is the stress hormone.  The fight or flight hormone reaction.  It gives you an adrenaline like burst of energy.  It’s hard to go to sleep for her nap with that pumping through her system and it stays in your system for a while, messing with naps and night sleep.  Often causing early rising.
2.  Too late bedtime.  Similar to Lack of day sleep, missing your bedtime sleep window also causes a rush of cortisol and its residual affect can cause early rising.
3.   Lack of sleep skills from going to bed too drowsy at bedtime. If you used a sleep crutch at bedtime, like rocking or nursing or holding to sleep, your baby didn’t get the practice relaxing their body falling asleep.  She will wake between sleep cycles, that’s normal but she will need you to help her fall back to sleep, especially when falling back to sleep is the hardest in the early morning hours.
4.  Lack of skills from being put to bed asleep.  If you hold or rock or nurse your baby to sleep, they are in a different place when she wakes up between sleep cycles and needs you to help her fall back to sleep.  Again, she has insufficient sleep skills.  She may get more cortisol in the night from waking and needing help and by the early morning hours, just can’t get back to sleep.
5. Tummy discomfort from food issues.  If your baby had a food sensitivity or is having a negative digestive reaction to a new food, that can often manifest in the early hours when sleep is more difficult.  Have you ever woken from a bad headache or a tummy ache? It’s in the early hours that it wakes you over and over again.  At least you can mostly go back to sleep. And as an adult, you likely have pretty good sleep skills. It’s a rough time. 
6.   Developmental milestones like crawling and walking. These are major skills that require brain and muscle changes.  When your baby is working on a new skill, they want to practice this new skill when they wake up between sleep cycles. It’s a very exciting time.  The sooner she masters the skill, the sooner her sleep can get back on track.
  
Tracy Spackman is a Certified Gentle Sleep Coach.  
Call her if you need sleep help.
www.GetQuietNights.com
602-524-7610

 

Does sleep training really work? Answers from Mom's who did the training…

This was the string on my sleep sisters Facebook page today…
Jen Snell Farrell feeling curious
Has anyone on this site really has success with sleep training!?!? By using Tracy or books? Just curious because I don’t see a lot of success stories. Maybe that is because the sisters with the success no longer check in with this group??
Unlike ·
  • Dylan Ashley Vallino yes I see a lot of success
  • Dylan Ashley Vallino I have worked with tracy
  • Dylan Ashley Vallino she changed everything for us!
  • Linda Van Den Berg Didn’t work with her as I live in Holland, but have taken tips from here that have made all the difference!
  • Sarah Brandt Flores I worked with her and had great success. The second time around I did it on my own and was able to apply some of the things that she’d taught me, and it worked out well again
  • Dylan Ashley Vallino Jen you can give Tracy Spackman a call and she will do a free consultation with you. It was great for me to start with that because it gave me an idea of her knowlege and what i would get, but she also gave me pointers that I could incorperate into our life right then. You can find more information about her at www.getquietnights.com

    I am Tracy Spackman. The Gentle Sleep Consultant…
    GETQUIETNIGHTS.COM
  • Jen Snell Farrell Linda Van Den Berg I bet she could still work with you
  • Dylan Ashley Vallino She can. I’m out of state and talk to her via email and phone and that has worked for us!
  • Lauren Johnson Eastburn Yes! Worked with Tracy Spackman over the phone and followed her plan to get my 8 month old sleeping in his crib (not his rock ‘n play!) for the first time since he was 4.5 months old. He also now makes it from 7:00 PM – 6:30 AM w/ only 2 dream feeds instead of having to nurse him almost hourly to get him back to sleep after a wake up…life changing – and not nearly as bad as I thought it would be!!! It admittedly felt a little intimidating at first, but once we started, it was empowering to have a plan and encouraging to watch him improve SO quickly!
  • Linda Van Den Berg Probably could! But I’m blessed with a good sleeper, so it isn’t required thankfully. I did always have to feed him (bf) once every night and now I’ve learned to disassociate nursing with sleeping, he now goes 7-730am, feed, straight back till 9 or 10am. And he naps twice a day 1.5-2 hours each nap. So no complaints in the sleep department here!
    13 hrs · Like · 1
  • Michelle Leland We were planning using Tracy and found a recommendation for a book on her website so borrowed it from the library and basically used it to success! We started sleep training a month ago from co-sleeping and nursing ondemand our 10 month old. If the book didn’t work we were ready to book Tracy. But last night out LO slept 11 straight in his crib, self soothed and two awesome naps self soothed today so I would say success! This was even with a trip to Australia and mommy going back to work full time. I do think that sleep is a constant battle though as they hit different milestones and teething, etc.
    12 hrs · Like · 1
  • Stephanie Rempel I used Tracy, I wanted to be able to contact someone if I had a question. She’s great! We went from cosleeping – he would only fall asleep if we were there with him, and if he wasn’t too hyper (which we now know is because we missed his sleep window) aSee More
  • Erin Rodriguez I had great success with my (now) 3 year old. He goes to sleep on his own now and sleeps all night without a problem!
  • Rebecca Kuhr Rosen Lauren Johnson Eastburn I’m glad it worked for you too!! . Tracy Spackman was a huge help for us also!!! My 22 month old is now taking great 3 hour naps and sleeping through the night (he was waking every 2 hours). The first few nights were rough but soooooo worth it!
    7 hrs · Like · 1
  • Paula Finch Yup! We had great success!! Sleeping through the night after 3 nights of coaching. That doesn’t mean we haven’t had our struggles, but once he gets better/we return from travel, he gets back into the routine very very quickly!!

    I think a lot of us that have done coaching are just hanging around now, chiming in when we can!
    7 hrs · Like · 3
  • Melissa F Mathis We used her and had GREAT SUCCESS! I highly recommend her.working with her changed our life
  • 6 hrs · Like · 1
  • Paola Segnini Tracy was the only one who could help us. My daughter is very strongwilled and she’s now sleeping through the night.
    6 hrs · Like · 1
  • Natalie Dell I had tried so many things without success. Within a week of getting help from Tracy Spackman, our baby was sleeping through the night with dreamfeeds. She helped us so much!
    5 hrs · Like · 1
  • Kirsten Colley-Lussier Yup, I got help for both my kids, one at 9mths one at 26 mths. Both times the plan worked but it wasn’t easy.
    5 hrs · Like · 1
  • Danielle Harris Had great success and only wish I had reached out sooner. I used tips from this page and Tracy‘s website in addition to tips I read in The Baby Whisperer. I didn’t start until 15 months, got down to one wake up a night and I was ok with that because I was grateful for the extra sleep. I finally tackled the last wake up at 20 months and my son has been STTN for 2 months even with a slight hiccup with our holiday travel.
    4 hrs · Like · 1
  • Melissa DiGianfilippo We used Tracy recently and have seen major changes with our 2 year old daughters sleep routine
    4 hrs · Like · 1
  • Michelle Leland Erica Rondina Somerville it’s was the Sleep Lady one by Kim West. We tried No cry sleep solution without much help, and Dr Weiss blyth Healthy Sleep Habits, happy child. But the Kim West one was great as we didn’t want to do cry it out.
    3 hrs · Edited · Like · 1
  • Jen Snell Farrell Alright alright!!! Hahahha thanks everyone! I will be callingTracy Spackman
    6 mins · Like · 1
  • Jen Snell Farrell Paula Finch Lauren Johnson Eastburn Melissa F Mathiswhat age was ur LO when you sleep trained?
  • Tracy Spackman I’m going to take that book off my site. LOL Just kidding!
  • Tracy Spackman All of you need to post your comment on my testimonials on my website and on Yelp if you are a yelp user! Thanks for all your great comments.
    • Alexia Ber We had great success with Tracy. My LO went from bed sharing most of the night and waking up 4-6 times a night to sleeping in the crib and waking up once.
    • Amy McGrath We were also successful with Tracy ! We have a 3 1/2yr old who is the only kiddo in his preschool class who still naps religiously and has had impeccable sleep habits since we trained with her. We followed his routine to the T and it worked wonders. We came to her desperate for some help and needed more guidance than the books can provide. Now, with all I learned I am fairly confident I can handle what’s coming when my new bundle gets here in March. But I love that this group is here for support and tips from mamas and Tracy! Already posted on yelp and website.

Is Cry It Out the Only Option? NO! You have gentle options!

happy twins
There seems to be a lot of pressure on moms to have a quiet, sleeping through the night baby at a very young age. But in fact this is just not normal. It’s not about weight, or even weeks, it’s about developmental readiness and temperament.
In and around the 4th month of age there is a lot of cognitive development. Some babies may be ready as early as 18 weeks and others need more time to grow and bond. Follow your heart and do what you feel is best for your baby. Bond, nurse, co-sleep, wear, whatever feels safe and right. It doesn’t matter what culture, neighbors, sisters or mothers in law say about it.
The range of what a baby can do it very broad. Some babies are naturally good sleepers. Others have a difficult time shutting down their minds to sleep. Talk to your doctor and still listen to your intuition. When he says babies wake a lot at night, he’s right. And some babies wake more than others. If you are sleep deprived and going crazy, try motion naps in the stroller, swing or carrier and part of the nights in a swing laid all the way back. Does co-sleeping work for you? Would room sharing help? Be responsive.

Many mom’s get repeated advice to just do Cry It Out.  There are many articles and posts about the negative effects of Cry It Out.  If that’s just not for you, rest assured,
you have other options.  The No Cry Sleep Solution is a long, slow drawn out, baby step plan that works for many families.  But for some families it’s too long.  The Good Night Sleep Tight book by Kim West is great if you have an older baby.  For younger babies, it’s too visually stimulating and not responsive enough.  There are methods of camping out where you sleep in your baby’s room. Methods of touching and shushing.  Methods of Picking up and putting down.  So many methods.  What is right for you?

I have found that there IS perfect combo of methods that works quickly and easily but definitely takes more effort than Cry It Out.  Where is this book?  It’s not written. It’s a combo made specifically for you child’s temperament and age.  You get that from a gentle sleep coach. That’s the advantage of a sleep coach, she will tell you what to do, work with you to find the fastest and most gentle approach, tailored for your child’s needs and his parents goals.
If you are at your wits end and just need a plan, I can help. I may just help you have reasonable expectations or there maybe a few things you can do to help your baby sleep longer stretches until your baby is ready to do more. But if you are fine, keep doing what you are doing. If you don’t have a problem with the waking, it’s not a problem. I can’t believe how fast they grow. Get past the 4 month vision changes and brain development and then see how you are doing. It’s so fun when baby can see you from further away. The increased perceptiveness is exciting for your baby and very distracting. So much of the world to see. Get to at least 18 weeks and re-evaluate. If you can hold off until 6 months, even better but I understand if you can’t get that far.
If you wonder if you have realistic expectations, I can talk to you about that for free. I speak on that subject regularly at the local moms groups, hospitals and baby stores and on Facebook groups. Let me give you some coping strategies.
Take a few minutes of my time for free. 602-524-7610. Call, text or message me to set up a free 5-15 minute call. I’m here to help. If you know you are ready to make major changes and just want someone to give you step by step instructions that fit with your family goals, book a consultation and we will get you all sleeping in no time.
Tracy Spackman
Certified Gentle Sleep Coach
602-524-7610
www.GetQuietNights.com
https://www.facebook.com/QuietNights

 

Ready to transition out of the Swaddle?

This is a common question:

Hi Tracy, you came and spoke at my breastfeeding support group last week and I had asked a question about when and how to transition from the swaddle. My daughter will be 14 weeks on Wednesday and loves sucking on her hands. I think she finds it soothing. She still has a little of the startle reflex but she is gaining control of her hands more and more every day. I had asked you at the group meeting how to transition out of the swaddle but I forgot what you said — something about starting with the dominant or less dominant hand out first and for how long? If you could remind me, I would be so thankful!
 
It’s a great question, I’m happy to help.
If you want to take it slow then start with the least dominant hand out first. Do that for up to three days and then take out the dominant arm keeping the body wrapped tightly from the chest down. Do that for about 3 days and then transition to a sleep sack.
 
 If you want to go faster just go cold turkey and switch to the sleep sack.  You will need to offer lots of extra support over three days while she gets used to it. You will have to do lots of extra pick ups at bedtime and lots of pick ups in the night. Between three and four months is a great time to do it.  She needs to practice controlling her body and develop muscle control in the bed time atmosphere of her crib or wherever you’re putting her down to sleep.
 
Tracy Spackman is a certified gentle sleep coach with GetQuietNights.com .

Is Cold Turkey Night Weaning the best option?

Is your baby waking at night because they are hungry? 
twins, babies, darkness
That’s the first question.  The second question is, Does your baby need to eat at night?
If your baby is under 6 months old, the answer is PROBABLY! Like the baby in this picture, she needs to eat at night.
If your baby is under 9 months, you should discuss this with your doctor and  your lactation consultant.  Many babies are ready to go all night without eating by 7 months old but each baby is unique and eating is more important than sleeping.  Many mom’s choose to do a night feeding past 12 months.  That is just fine.
If you have determined that your baby does not need to eat at night and he is eating out of habit, and you choose to make a change, then you can take gentle steps to wean your baby from night feeding.  
There are 3 common ways to go about night weaning.  One of them is to go cold turkey and just stop feeding them.  This is not my favorite way but it depends on the age of the baby. When you stop feeding at night cold turkey, your baby will still feel hungry.  And he will need extra attention and support as his body gets used to not getting those calories at that time.
Have you ever gone on a diet or changed your own eating patterns?  Let me tell you my potato chip story:  A few years ago, my husband and I would have all 5 of our children in bed by 7 pm. (Sounds heavenly, right? It is!) We would sit down to watch a show we had recorded on the DVR and relax together.  After the show, we would pull out a bag of potato chips (salt n vinegar is our favorite) and eat the whole bag together while we watched another show. (sometimes it was plain ripple chips with homemade sour cream onion dip.)  Well of course, after a few months of doing this stay home daily mini-date, we started to regret the potato chip fat factor.  So we decided to stop.  We heard somewhere that you shouldn’t eat after 8pm or something like that.  We stopped cold turkey.  The craving for the potato chips at 9pm was unreal!!  I wanted to get in the car and drive to the store to get some, I craved them so bad.  Ugh.  It was awful.  Was that my body telling me that I needed potato chips?  Should I be listening to my body cravings?  No.  My body doesn’t need potato chips. What was happening to us is called a blood sugar spike.  My body was used to getting those calories at that time regularly.  It takes about 3 days to undo a blood sugar spike like that.  And after 3 days of no potato chips at 9pm, I stopped craving them at 9pm.  I never crave them when I’m shopping in the store so I just stopped buying them unless we are having a party.
So if you go cold turkey in taking milk out of your child’s night time responses, it takes about 3 days for their blood sugar spike to smooth out. Please be more responsive and attentive if you choose this method.  They are experiencing real feelings of hunger that are uncomfortable.  I know.  I have been there.  A hug, snuggle, your presence, your attention can help support them through the transition. Come when they call for you.
The other ways to wean night feedings are with dream feeds (my favorite method) or with gradual diluting.  Those are a whole other subject for blog posts or consultations.
Every baby’s scenario is different and there are no cookie-cutter solutions.  Age, temperament, past sleep experience and bedtime crutches make a difference.  
As a gentle sleep coach, I look at the situation and create a plan unique to that family. Call me if you need help.  Free 15 min initial evaluation.
Tracy Spackman
Certified Gentle Sleep Coach
602-524-7610
Tracy@GetQuietNights.com                     Email
 www.GetQuietNights.com                       Website   
http://www.facebook.com/QuietNights     Like me on Facebook
 http://getquietnights.blogspot.com/          Follow my blog
@GetQuietNights                                      Follow me on Twitter
 
 
 

DIY Wake up Lights-Instructions (Because Toddlers don't Tell Time)

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A Wake up Light is a special light or device to help your child know when it’s “ok” to get out of bed in the morning. 
Toddler’s don’t tell time but they do understand “lights on” or “lights off”.  Lights on means it time to be awake.  Lights off means it’s time to sleep.
You want a wake up light that is dark at night, not glowing. It’s better to sleep in the dark if you can. Many wake up lights you purchase at the store have night lights on them that glow all night so I choose to make one myself.
You can make one yourself, too. You probably have everything you need already in your home. Use any small lamp that you have.  A pretty Mayan salt lamp or a cute Disney lamp or an old ugly, stored in the garage meant for the next garage sale lamp.  It’s even fun to use a small green bulb (found in the outdoor Christmas lights section of your hardware store or in your storage Christmas lights box) or a chandelier light bulb. If the base of the bulb is too small for your lamp, you can get an adapter piece (also found at the hardware store -guys already know this) that screws into the lamp that changes the base size.

Plug the lamp in to the wall through an appliance timer (also found in your storage Christmas stuff, or the hardware store or in the hardware aisle of the grocery story $3).  This is like the one you would use for your outdoor Christmas lights.  Set it to go on at the wake up time like 6am or 7am.  Everything you need you may have at home already or can be found for low cost at your local home hardware store. If you can use a green bulb, you can teach your child that green means go! Talk about the light at bedtime and again in the morning to reinforce what you expect.  “When the light is dark, it’s time to sleep.  When the light is on, it’s time to wake up.”  The light shouldn’t be bright enough to wake her up but it will be a signal that sends a clear message for when she does wake up.  If she wakes before the light come’s on, and she can’t get back to sleep, stay with her until it comes on to reinforce the meaning of the light.
Tracy Spackman
Certified Gentle Sleep Coach
Helping children sleep better one family at a time.
602-524-7610
www.GetQuietNights.com

Is your baby "Playing you"? And other crazy comments.

Parents get crazy advice. Have you ever been told that “Some babies just don’t sleep“?
That’s so crazy! Babies desperately need sleep and may need special help learning sleep skills. I helped a family of 6 kids not sleeping and their doctor told their mom that her kids just don’t sleep. –As if it was natural and normal!  I had her kids sleeping in about 6 weeks.
Have you ever been told “Your baby is playing you.”?  “So let him cry it out.”
Manipulation is far too complex an emotion for a baby. (That’s more of a teenager thing.)
It’s just ’cause and effect’. Your baby has figured out that when he does this, you do that. So gently change your response and they will change their behavior.  If your baby cries that way and you come running, they have learned to cry that way to get you to come running.  It’s not a bad thing at all.  At night, starting with bedtime, gently change how you respond depending on the situation to get a different behavior from your child.
It’s not rocket science. It’s behavioral science.  It’s always great to be there for your child but you don’t have to give them everything they want.
My kids want chocolate for breakfast. Yeah, I don’t think so.  But I am definitely going to be giving them breakfast, just not the one they think they want.  Except maybe on their birthday.

Tracy Spackman is a Trained and Certified Gentle Sleep Coach specializing in sleep for alert kids of ages 4 months to 8 years old.
 
Tracy Spackman
602-524-7610
www.GetQuietNights.com
https://www.facebook.com