How to know when your child needs to sleep
“Sleepy cues” are how your baby communicates with you that they are tired and want to go to sleep. Paying attention to early sleepy cues can make a huge difference in a successful nap! As a child sleep consultant, this is often an area that I work with parents on the most. I often say that the equation of sleep is catching early stage sleepy cues + paying attention to the timing of sleep = sleep success.
Overtired Baby? Here are 5 methods to Soothe Her
Something that we often hear from well-meaning friends and family is to avoid the perils of ‘spoiling’ our babies. I cannot stress this enough - you cannot spoil a newborn. There is no such thing as bad habits at this stage as long as everyone is safe. Do not worry or feel guilty about holding your baby too much or being too reactive to their cries. I’ll say it again - you cannot spoil a newborn, you cannot hold them too much. It’s our job as their caregivers to meet their needs and to help them to adjust to life outside of the womb. So soak up all of those tiny baby snuggles.
Overcoming Sleep Training Fears
If you are feeling nervous about sleep training your child, I completely understand your fear and trepidation! I was in the exact same position a few years ago when I was considering sleep training my firstborn. I must have read hundreds of blog posts and articles on how to get my baby to sleep as well as at least 4 books. Sleep was all I could think about but I just wasn’t getting any. And of course the next thing I knew, the feeds on my socials were flooded with advice from both camps. Each sharing their emotionally driven feelings on the subject rather than sharing evidence based research. Here’s the thing, not everybody needs to sleep train! However, healthy sleep is so important for every member of the family. And I know that I am certainly a better mum when I am getting good sleep. Hopefully these points help you to decide if it’s right for you and your family.
Navigating Newborn Sleep
This is a picture of me as a one week old mum, I had no idea what was ahead of me! Fast forward to now, as a child sleep consultant, I work with many parents with their newborn sleep schedule. When it comes to infant sleep, the information that is at our fingertips is endless. It can feel so overwhelming as a new parent attempting to wade through the masses of information to find reliable, tried and tested, and most importantly, safe sleep advice. Below are 5 tips to help set your little one up for a lifetime of healthy sleep.