At only 32 years old, Lauren Rehme Anderson has already had an eventful life filled with many good things, and a personal diagnosis she never imagined.
Fortunately, her health is now good, and her new business, The Tiny Tracker is thriving. The grassroots idea came along out of necessity, when she gave birth to her fraternal twin sons, Henry and Walker, almost two years ago.
Using her own tracking and sleep training program, Tiny Tracker, a resource to help sleep-deprived newborn parents record daily meals, memories and milestones, she “taught” the boys to sleep 12 hours a night by 3 months of age.
She now operates the business from her Clayton office, located in RISE Collaborative, a workspace for professional women, where she interacts with other entrepreneurs and small business owners.
But when the twins were first born, she was trying to figure out how she was going to figure it all out, when she … figured it all out.
“I was focused on creating an awesome spreadsheet to keep me on track and help me keep my sanity,” she said. Especially with twins, it’s hard to remember who ate what, when, and it’s hard to get them both to sleep at the same time. So I knew I had to do something.”
She ended up with a “Command Center” book that she had bound that would be there to guide her, her husband, grandmas, whoever was in charge. And by keeping track of sleep patterns, breast and bottle feeding, and making small adjustments each day, she had her two boys on a schedule where they were sleeping 12 hours by the time they were 12 weeks old. Pretty impressive. And if her system worked that well with twins, it is also effective with a single child.
Her system began to grow and before she knew it, it had morphed into a baby book, as well, full of milestones and achievements, a place for keepsakes, exercises to perform with baby or babies between naps to promote sensory perception, vision, gross motor skills, communication and hearing, and areas where Mom can schedule and record treats, outings, naps for herself, too, so she stays happy and healthy, along with her babies. And of course, The Tiny Tracker has an overview of sleep training methods, based on the concept that baby tracking can lead to sleep success. As an added tool, she also recommends (and includes in a Tiny Tracker bundle purchase) the book, “The Baby Sleep Solution,” by Suzy Giordana, which is a smaller book that complements The Tiny Tracker.
“I tried to read some of the huge books that are on the market, but it wasn’t going to happen. I like to say my system has the ‘Cliffs Notes’ version that moms can implement right away,” Anderson said. “It’s a gradual process, but tracking everything that a newborn does gives you the confidence to weave in sleep training.”
And if you need help, Anderson is also a pediatric sleep coach, and can help people locally or around the country.
The original Tiny Tracker encompasses newborn to three months. Expansion packs allows going beyond that age. The products are also personalized with the baby’s name on every page, and Anderson said they have become very popular as baby shower gifts, and they can be added most online registeries.
Her background was in prosthetics. After attending Perdu Kanesiology, then Northwestern Finebug School of Medicine, she worked for Prostethic and Orthotic Care, giving people hope with new limbs.
“That and The Tiny Tracker are care-based, and that’s what I enjoy,” Anderson said. “I helped people in a different way then, and now I’m helping moms to take care of their baby and themselves.”
I want to empower and equip. I want to give them knowledge and tools and they will also have a keepsake.
She married her high school sweetheart, moved, quit her job and had her twins, all in a short space of time.
Born three minutes apart, Anderson said the two boys could not be more different.
“Henry is our wild and expressive child (nice way of saying he can get quite cranky!), and Walker is our little curious observer and adventurer. The funny thing is, I could tell they had very different personalities before they were born (I could tell in utero they were very different little guys),” Anderson said. “Henry looks like my side of the family, and Walker looks like my husband, Jack’s, family.”
Walker has been wearing glasses since he was 13 months old. The pediatrician did an early Spot Vision Scan Screening at their 12-month appointment, and they were referred to a pediatric optometrist at Children’s Hospital.
“Since day one, they’ve slept in the same room in separate cribs,” she said. “And they do not disturb each other. I can count on my hands the number of times I had to go into their room during the night that first year after I sleep trained them, because they were such amazing sleepers (or she’s a great teacher).
“I truly believe sleep is a learned skill, and they’ve certainly mastered it. They are still sleeping 12 hours a night, maybe even 13 to 14 some nights when they’re growing!” she added.
Now that they have sleeping down pat, new challenges include communication and toddler tantrums.
“We do some baby sign language, which helps immensely, like ‘all done,’ ‘please’ and ‘more,’ to name a few. Potty training is coming up soon, but I’m not rushing into things!” Anderson said.
But based on her success thus far, she’s bound to figure out a way to make it all smooth sailing.
There’s no doubt that having twins was a life-changing experience, and even helped launch a new business. But rewind a couple of years before, and Anderson had a different type of life changer after she began to notice a lump on the back of her neck, near her hairline. She was told it was fatty tissue or that it was nothing. Soon she realized that if she pushed on it, her she would lose her vision or it would become fuzzy. And she had a headache. When her hairdresser finally said, “This is not right. You need to see a doctor,” A course of antibiotics and an MRI later, she found out it was a Stage 1 meningioma brain tumor that was attached to her brain stem, and it was about the size of a lemon.
“My doctor told me to get my affairs in order. Nobody knew what to do with me, and we went home in crisis mode,” Anderson said. “We sent film to Yale, Harvard, all over the country, and no one could say what to do.”
Finally they found a neurosurgeon, Michael Chicoine, at Barnes-Jewish Hospital that performed a seven-hour surgery to remove the benign tumor, but everyone was amazed at the size.
“It gave me a unique perspective on life and empathy for other people,” Anderson said. “I was only 25 years old, and basically, thought I was going to die.”
She and her family members all wear a cherryall cable diamond bracelet to remind them of the experience.
For more information, to order The Tiny Tracker or schedule Anderson as a newborn sleep consultant, visit thetinytracker.com.
