Introduction: Hey everyone, welcome to my blog! I’m Nomin, and I want to share my journey to becoming Mongolia’s leading children’s sleep consultant. It’s been a road filled with both challenges and incredible moments, but the heart of it all is my passion for helping children and their families find the peace that comes with a good night’s sleep. Today, I want to talk about why sleep health is so crucial here in Mongolia and how my experiences have shaped my mission.
Sleep Health in Mongolia: In Mongolia, there’s a significant gap in the healthcare system when it comes to sleep health. There are no dedicated sleep clinics or specialists to diagnose and treat sleep disorders in children. This means parents often turn to pediatric neurologists as their first point of contact, hoping to find answers to their children’s sleep problems.
Unfortunately, this often leads to heartbreaking misdiagnoses, where behavioral sleep issues are mistaken for neurological disorders such as hypoxia (хүчилтөрөгчийн дутагдал) or intracranial pressure disorders (тархины даралт). As a result, infants and children are frequently prescribed unnecessary medications, sometimes without proper consideration. Many parents come to me after their children have completed the prescribed medication regimen, still facing sleep problems. This clearly indicates that the issue was behavioral or developmental all along. It saddens me deeply to know these children have endured long periods of medication without need. This isn’t the parents’ fault; it’s, in my humble opinion, failure of the healthcare system to provide appropriate knowledge and care for these issues.
Misdiagnosis Issues: It’s incredibly disheartening to see children being misdiagnosed. Imagine a parent seeking help for their child’s sleep troubles, only to be told that it’s a neurological issue when it’s actually a sleep disorder. This misdirection not only prolongs the child’s suffering but also adds unnecessary stress to the family. Sleep problems can significantly impact a child’s behavior, mood, and overall well-being, and without proper diagnosis and treatment, these issues can spiral.
Working with Pediatric Neurologists: During my brief time working alongside pediatric neurologists at one of the public hospitals, I witnessed firsthand the scale of this issue. In just two hours, the neurologist I was shadowing saw 30 patients. That’s just four minutes per child! It’s almost impossible to provide thorough, thoughtful care in such a short time, let alone accurately diagnose complex sleep issues. This experience opened my eyes to how urgent and widespread the problem is. The neurologist later confided in me that about 60-70% of the children she sees are actually healthy, with no underlying or critical neurological disorders. She expressed a desire to have more time to focus on those children who genuinely need her expertise. She also expressed that the patients she sees are usually sent over from the district clinics because the general doctors there cannot give a proper diagnosis for the child’s sleep issues. She really expressed her interest to collaborate however in the end administration did not approve of the request. This conversation took place at one of the public maternity and children’s hospitals in Ulaanbaatar, which will remain unnamed as the hospital has not approved the dissemination of the doctor’s name or my temporary internship there.
Yes, I knew that sleep issues existed but little did I know that it was at this extent. Obviously children’s sleep problems whether resolved or just endured by the family more or less works itself out, which is probably what has been happening for all these families until I opened my consultation services. And even though this is such a common and underserved health issue, there are no pediatric sleep consultants or therapists tackling this head on and the lack of awareness is also a huge problem. Even though I am trying my best to reach more families through my social media channels and collaboration efforts, I find that I still haven’t reached the majority of the population, especially those below the middle income level who frequent public hospitals and clinics because they are free. So, how do I reach these people?
Founding the NGO: The idea to start an NGO separate to my current sleep consultation business actually started ever since my interaction with the above stated public hospital. Whether my much needed support was denied through individual preferences of some administrative staff, or whether their stated reasoning of not being allowed to collaborate with for profit organizations was true, I felt that in order to gain further approval from future health organizations whether it be government or whatnot I needed to have a non-profit. The goal of the NGO is to garner international attention to the issues of children’s sleep health in Mongolia through collaborative projects or grant schemes, as well as to foster more undivided attention to the issue by being a non profit. The political and economic landscape of Mongolia and its people are deeply rooted in the recent democratic shift to open communication and information. Certain topics, subjects, point of views that seem fundamental to people from first nation countries such as sleep health, are not so accepted or acknowledged here. This goes for a lot of issues that signify that Mongolia is very much indeed a “developing” nation.
Success Stories: Helping over 3,000 families has been the most rewarding part of my journey mostly through my Sleep Corner consultation business, however new the NGO is we have so far already done quite a few sessions for mothers and a joint session with Buuvei Urtoo (see below for link to the event). The joy of hearing about all the well-rested child and relieved parents is beyond words. Although testimonials are all in Mongolian, I did my best to translate some of them, you can see some below.
Leveraging Social Media: My go to tactic has been to utilize Facebook and Instagram as much as possible, even more so than my Mongolian website. Again you have to consider the tendency of how Mongolians like to receive their information, whether it be official, unofficial we just love our Facebook don’t we? Websites although everyone knows the importance of having one and developing one into your home on the internet, it is no doubt extremely tedious, and if it’s not user friendly then forget about it. Most Mongolian courses and educational content utilize Facebook pages and groups and some customers have downright demanded that I do my courses on Facebook, and even though I do sometimes use the platform I kept true to keeping my website alive. Even so, I can’t deny the power of social media, basically all of my sales comes from the content posted on Facebook and Instagram instead of let’s say Google search or SEO optimization. I guess it is a territorial trend that is unique to Mongolia, but you know what has fascinated me? The difference in communication style and buying power of my clients that come from Facebook and those that reach out from Instagram. It’s no wonder that most content creators that provide educational information are moving more to catering their Instagram followers, and those looking to reach the power of the masses goes to Facebook. In my case, I’ve tried and tested both, and I although I prefer Instagram, I cannot deny the power of Facebook. These platforms have shaped my Mongolian services to the brand that it is today, and I hope that I can be as lucky moving forward to a more international audience.
Building a Network: Collaboration has been crucial. By connecting with health professionals in children’s nutrition, psychiatry, and neurology, we’ve been able to offer a holistic approach to sleep health. This network has been instrumental in providing comprehensive care and ensuring that no aspect of a child’s health is overlooked. It is a lonely journey, as I’m sure fellow entrepreneurs can relate to but besides the feeling of loneliness, I cannot put into words the power of support from collaborations and the power that it brings to the topic in discussion at the period in time. Sleep is affected by so many factors and it will be a huge underestimation to think that I alone can give a well-rounded consultation to families. Yes, parents are looking for sleep solutions for their child, but there are a lot of factors that could be influencing the sleep problems. I am limited like all professionals to my own field of expertise, and I can only touch base into what could cause some of the sleep problems for example if it’s food related I refer them to children’s nutritionist and dietician B. Nomin (Instagram @Tenuukasmom) and if I suspect there is a neuroligical influence or issue I refer clients to P. Dulamjav (pediatric neurologist and owner of children’s rehabilitation spa: Khairiin Tusgal Facebook page: ) Reliable references have been an amazing part of my journey into establishing myself as who I am today.
My journey has been filled with ups and downs, but every challenge has only strengthened my resolve to help children sleep better. If you’re struggling with your child’s sleep or just want to learn more, please feel free to contact me!
Thank you for reading, and I look forward to sharing more stories and insights with you in future blog posts.