SHIP™ · Sleep Health Intelligence Program
Sleep is simple. The training has been missing.
SHIP™ is physician-created pediatric sleep education for the professionals families turn to first. One evidence-based standard, built for sleep consultants, pediatricians, and occupational therapists, taught by a pediatric respirologist and sleep medicine physician.
Why we exist
The pediatric sleep gap
Sleep is the primary activity of childhood. It is also one of the most common concerns parents raise, and one of the least taught subjects in clinical training. Families are left searching, and the professionals they ask were never given the framework to answer.
What clinicians facepediatricians receive training in sleep.
of medical programs provide zero sleep education.
sleep specialist per 100,000 children.
parents of babies report a child sleep problem.
of those sleep problems persist into adolescence.
of parents want change.
These figures are drawn from the research behind our founding work. If you are citing them in your own teaching or writing, contact us and we will point you to the primary sources.
What SHIP™ is
One standard, taught by a physician
The Sleep Health Intelligence Program is a certificate of training in pediatric sleep health. It was created by Dr. Anya McLaren-Barnett, a pediatric respirologist and sleep medicine physician, to close the distance between what the sleep medicine literature knows and what reaches the family in front of you.
SHIP™ is not sleep training advice. It is clinical reasoning: how sleep develops, how it goes wrong, when a sleep problem is behavioral, when it is medical, and when it needs a referral rather than a plan.
What makes it different
- Written and taught by a practicing pediatric sleep physician, not adapted from adult sleep material.
- Grounded in current guidelines and peer-reviewed evidence, with the limits of that evidence stated plainly.
- Built around real cases, so the reasoning transfers to the families and patients you actually see.
- Ongoing access to a physician-monitored community, not a course you finish and forget.
Choose your track
Three routes into SHIP™
The evidence base is the same. The clinical context is not. Each track is built for the decisions your profession actually makes.
Child sleep professionals
For experienced child sleep consultants and allied practitioners
- Ten modules from sleep science to sleep medications
- Primary sleep disorders, medical conditions, and neurodiversity
- Live coaching and group calls with a sleep physician
- SHIP™ certificate and digital badge
Pediatricians
For pediatricians, subspecialists, residents, and fellows
- Self-paced pediatric behavioral sleep medicine, ages 0 to 18
- Monthly live case clinics, recorded
- Clinical templates you can use in practice
- Self-study CME hours, credit category listed on the program page
Occupational therapists
For pediatric OTs and allied health professionals
- Sleep in the context of sensory differences, autism, and ADHD
- Self-study modules with ongoing access
- Expert workshops and journal article reviews
- Physician-developed handouts for the families you serve
The SHIP Compass
What the training covers
The SHIP Compass is the framework the certificate program is built on. It moves from how sleep develops to what to do when it goes wrong, and it is reviewed as the evidence changes.
How sleep develops
The science of sleep across infancy, childhood, and adolescence, and what normal actually looks like at each stage.
When sleep is medical
Primary sleep disorders, sleep in the context of medical conditions, and the signs that call for referral rather than a plan.
What the evidence supports
Behavioral and other approaches to sleep problems, including where the evidence is strong and where it is thin.
Complex and pharmacological
Sleep health in children with neurodiversity, and the realities of sleep supplements, aids, and medications.
Module detail differs by track and is listed on each program page.
The community
A global pediatric sleep health community
SHIP™ graduates practice across Canada, the United States, England, New Zealand, and Australia. They come from sleep consulting, nursing, neurology nurse practice, behavioral therapy, and occupational therapy, and they bring that range back into the community they learn in.
Thirteen practitioners are listed in the public alumni directory so far, with each cohort adding more.
Anita Patel
Owner, Hush Baby Hush
Canada
Who created SHIP™
Dr. Anya McLaren-Barnett
Dr. Anya McLaren-Barnett is a pediatric respirologist and sleep medicine physician, trained at the University of Toronto, with a part-time academic appointment at McMaster University and additional training in pediatric behavioural sleep medicine.
SHIP™ began with a simple observation from clinic and from her own experience as a parent: the families who most needed evidence-based sleep guidance were the least likely to reach a sleep specialist. Training the professionals they already trust reaches further than any one clinic can.
Stay informed
We run free accredited CME events for physicians, nurse practitioners, physician assistants, residents, and fellows, separate from the SHIP™ certificate programs.
Join our newsletter and we will tell you about future CME and sleep health events first.
Governance
Meet the Board of Advisors
SHIP™ is guided by a multidisciplinary board spanning pediatrics, sleep medicine, neurodevelopment research, public health, medical technology, and intellectual property. They hold the standard the program is built on.
For families
Not a professional? Start here.
If you are a parent looking for help with your child's sleep, you do not need a program. You need clear, evidence-based information and, when it matters, a route to the right clinician.
For professionals
Close the sleep gap with us
Pick the track that matches your practice, and bring evidence-based pediatric sleep care to the families who are already asking you for it.