Northumbria graduate and baby sleep consultant partners with Mamas & Papas

Northumbria graduate and founder of The Little Sleep Company, partners with international baby brand Mamas & Papas, becoming their resident sleep expert.

Founded by Imogen Russell, The Little Sleep Company was born in 2022, during her final year of a Psychology degree at Northumbria.

Adopting a holistic sleep approach, The Little Sleep Company helps each child achieve their ‘biological best sleep’. This means working with parents to understand what is causing sleep disruption, how to combat these challenges, and ensure the child gets enough rest.

Representing The Little Sleep Company as Mamas & Papas dedicated resident sleep expert, Imogen offers baby sleep support for parents. From advice on how to navigate naps as the little ones grow older to supporting parents on their own well-being, through blogs, videos and instore materials, Imogen is supporting the Mamas & Papas community along the families sleep journey.

Imogen, a certified sleep consultant, explains: “Sleep deprivation is really tough on families and there is a lot of unhelpful advice online, especially on social media. I’m working with Mamas and Papas to help empower parents, as a well-rested family makes for a happy home that enjoys calm nights and contented days.

“Families often don’t ask for help until they’re in crisis. My aim with The Little Sleep Company is to help support them before they reach this point, with gentle and compassionate strategies, so everyone gets the sleep they need.”

Imogen’s partnership with Mamas & Papas has been beneficial in supporting parents with a holistic approach to all things sleep, for both them and their little one.

Through her video series and blog features, across Mamas & Papas’ website and social channels - including its YouTube and Instagram platforms - Imogen has reached thousands of parents with her expert advice and real-life tips. With guidance at every stage from newborn to toddler, as well as parental sleep, Imogen has covered a vast range of sleep-related topics to provide invaluable support to Mamas & Papas’ customers and wider community.

Claire Rayner, Marketing Director at Mamas & Papas, said: “Our purpose is to inspire and support parents in becoming the best parents they can be; confident, capable and loving life with their little ones, and our Partnership with Imogen enables us to provide our parent community with supportive sleep guidance and information, no matter where they are on their journey. Providing access to specialists across common parenting concerns not only deepens our engagement with our community, but provides a significant platform for partners, like Imogen, to further grow their reach and audiences.”

Sleep support extends across the whole family as The Little Sleep Company understands the impact lack of sleep has on a person. “Less than five hours of sleep a night has a similar effect on your cognitive abilities as being drunk,” Imogen explains. “This undoubtedly has an effect on day-to-day life which can spill into the workplace if not managed appropriately.”

A group of Northumbria Master’s students recently carried out a consultancy project through the University’s Business Clinic, working with The Little Sleep Company on research surrounding the impact lack of sleep has in the workplace. They found that by increasing parental sleep by one hour per night, organisations experienced a rise in productivity by 20%.

The Little Sleep Company is based at the University’s Incubator Hub – a purpose-built office space providing high-quality business support for Northumbria student and graduate entrepreneurs.

Commenting on this Imogen said: “Support from the beginning has been second to none. My mentors are fantastic and have had a big part to play in my recent partnership with Mamas & Papas.”

“There is a network of support and encouragement from all those at the Incubator Hub, including the other businesses who work from there. As business owners, we can all relate to the challenges that come with this which means we can share our learnings and help each other succeed. It’s a super positive environment which is so welcomed for start-ups.”

Graham Baty, Head of Enterprise Development at Northumbria, said: “Imogen has made an outstanding start with the business. Securing such a well known brand as one of her first clients is testimony to the hard work Imogen has put in to researching and developing her idea from its inception. I’m sure there will be further large clients secured in the future.”

Northumbria University is dedicated to supporting current student and graduate start-ups- up to five years after graduation. It has been ranked in the top 10 in the UK for the last 15 years for graduate start-ups based on aggregate turnover, according to the Higher Education Business Community Interaction Survey (2022/23) – and has been placed in the top five for 11 of those years.