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Did you know that children in India are the secondmost sleep deprived in the world? This sleep loss begins in infancy itself. Children, especially below five years of age, are not simply miniature adults when it comes to sleep. Their sleep structure is completely different. What starts out as waking up frequently at night during their infancy and toddlerhood years, develops into tired schoolchildren who need to be woken up with difficulty in the morning, and are thus not at their full capacity while learning or playing through the day, often overlapping with attention deficit or learning or behavioural disorders.

All of this stems from the core issue of both parents, and society, at large; being unaware of sleep patterns in children. Understanding that sleep patterns and concepts can transform a family's sleep journey and lay one of the building blocks for a child's lifelong physical and mental health, Himani Dalmia decided to delve deeper into these areas, to make life simpler for both babies and their parents.

The beginning of a journey

Himani Dalmia, daughter of VN Dalmia and scion of Dalmia Group, was born and raised in a joint family in New Delhi. She holds a Bachelor's degree in English Honours from St. Stephen's College, University of Delhi, and a Master's in South Asian Literature from the University of Oxford.

Speaking about her journey as a sleep specialist, she shares, "It began a few months after my first daughter, Devika, was born in 2015. Faced with sleep deprivation that afflicts most parents of newborns, I began to read books and articles about baby sleep to find a way to deal with it and to educate myself about sleep science and philosophies. As my knowledge grew, I found myself answering queries on baby's ‘sleep problems' on several parenting groups on social media that I was a part of."

A love for literature

Dalmia grew up in a literary family. Her aunts were writers, academicians, and art historians, with many published books to their names. Both her grandmothers were highly educated for their time and passionate about literature and writing. Her parents created a reading culture very early on in her life. Books and writing were an integral part of her life! "I published my first book-a novel titled Life is Perfect with Rupa & Co.-when I was 24 years old. This was a coming-of-age novel about a young woman born into a Marwari joint family. Though I continued to write essays, short stories and articles for many publications, my next book was Sleeping Like A Baby. In 2022, I wrote a children's picture book titled Thammi's Gift, which was illustrated by Priya Kuriyan and published by HarperCollins. This was inspired from the story of my mother-in-law, pioneering children's librarian Bandana Sen, and has a magical twist. It is a celebration of books, reading and libraries, while exploring some difficult transitions and big emotions for little children," she informs.

The learning curve

One of the biggest business lessons that Dalmia learnt from her illustrious father, VN Dalmia, is to not fear new categories and that of being a pioneer. She worked with him in one of their family companies, Dalmia Continental (which owned iconic food brands like Leonardo Olive Oil) for 10 years. Some restructuring in the business coincided with the birth of her daughters and provided her with a crossroads at which she could change gears and do something that spoke deeply to her at that time, while also giving her the flexibility to be the hands-on parent that her husband, Akash Premsen, and she intuitively are.

The spirit of enterprise is one of the core Marwari traits inherited by Dalmia. Her fascination for the subject of baby sleep could have remained private. However, at every stage, she wanted to take it to the next level. Baby sleep is a multibillion dollar industry in many parts of the world, with thousands of baby sleep consultants, clinics, products and books available. However, India has no such industry. Dalmia was the first entrepreneur to launch a full-fledged practice and go out of her way to engage with stakeholders nationally to open up the frontiers of baby sleep as an avenue that needs exploration and discussion. She has deeply held beliefs about the ethics of baby sleep and, though remaining true to them brings an element of risk, she chose to make it a part of what her enterprise stands for. She moves forward with the confidence which, she feels, comes from a background in building new ideas. Her husband tells her that she also has a strong work ethic, and this could be attributed to her heritage.