Baby Sleep Consultant in Scotland & UK

All young babies to wake up regularly throughout the night. Many infants are fed through the night until they’re about between 10 & 12 months old. That said, when your baby is used to receiving a feed, they comes to expect a feed when they wake up. If this does not happen, they start to cry. It then begins to becomes increasingly difficult to get them to fall asleep without it. The same is true of rocking or cuddling your baby back to sleep. Once they expect it, they aren’t going to learn how to fall asleep on their own.

The issue of “crying it out” is a hotly debated topic. I believe in a sensible approach. In all my programs we address crying by asking you look at the reason why your child is crying. Crying always has a request from your child behind it. OUr roles is to work out exactly what it is they are asking us facilitate for them. We work together with gentle methods to help your child learn sleeping skills and support them through this development. In addition, many parents aren’t comfortable with listening to their little ones cry. With their child howling until they fall back asleep. So I do not ask this of you ever. Ultimately, in my program I always prioritize the wishes and preferences of the parents while keeping your baby’s personality and disposition in mind and offer methods which are based around a no cry methods.

Definitely, this could happen. For there are certainly children who learn to sleep better over time. Especially if they have a good bedtime routine and aren’t developing bad habits along the way. However, there is a whole other side of the situation. If they don’t, their bad sleep habits can follow them for a long time. Many adults who have bad sleep habits were once babies and children with bad sleep habits. At the end of the day, this is how I think about it… If your child is sick, would you just wait for it to go away? Or would you take them to the doctor and proactively work to remedy their illness? The latter, of course! And, knowing how important good sleep is to the health and development of your little one, why would you take a wait and see approach when there are viable solutions – like sleep teaching – available to you? Of course, every family is different and some have heard negative things about sleep training. Nevertheless, studies have proved its effectiveness and many pediatricians recommend getting help from a certified sleep trainer if your baby is struggling to sleep well.

Not every baby is going to struggle long term with their sleeping. Which is why parents should absolutely try to remedy the situation on their own. If you read my blog or my free hints and tips, there are a lot of good things to try to straighten your little one’s sleeping out. But when is it time to seek out help from someone like me? When you feel like you’ve tried things on your own and it’s not working. Especially if you’re feeling worn out and desperate. Like I mentioned above, the methods that I use are proven to work and generally have a 95% success rate. So you know that there’s a solution here. It’s just a matter of getting in touch and moving forward when you recognize that you need help.

While it ultimately depends on the personality of your child, as well as how bad the situation currently is, most parents I work with generally start to see great improvements within a few days. Night 5 is often when there is a major turning point in nighttime sleeping. That said, it sometimes takes up to a few weeks. I always make sure to prepare parents for realistic expectations. Also, if your baby is struggling with taking regular, consistent naps throughout the day on top of their nighttime sleeping problems. Naps might take a bit longer since I prioritize getting the nighttime sleeping habits straightened out first.

Usually between 4-6 months is the best age for sleep training because babies at that age have developed the tools needed to organize their own sleep. It’s much easier for them to fall asleep on their own compared to newborns. They tend to be more flexible than toddlers. That said, there are plenty of things that parents of newborns can do to set their babies up for great sleep habits. Parents with toddlers can also get great results with sleep training, although it tends to take a little bit longer.

Co-sleeping is one of those things that is not necessarily bad to do here and there as long as you follow the SIDS guidelines. The problems may occur when your little one begins to depend on it to fall asleep. When it becomes a persistent habit like this, it can lead to other problems. Such as your child not being able to sleep independently at all. It can also hurt your family dynamics, including causing a lack of alone time for you and your partner.

Absolutely! While I do in-home sleep training and many parents find that valuable, the majority of what I do – including developing a step-by-step plan for your little one and regularly following up after we get started – can be done via phone or skype. Also, even if you don’t live in either the UK or Cyprus, I might be able to accommodate an in-home visit depending on your location as I offer services in other countries at various times due to my travel. Just get in touch to find out!