My Philosophy

I do not believe in controlled crying for young babies, nor am I a devotee of inflexibly strict routines. These methods may work well for some people, but they are often very stressful, both to child and parent, and may ignore or fail to identify the basic cause of the problem. 

I teach parents to successfully read their baby's cues and non-verbal communication. I then develop a sleep plan that recognises each child's specific needs and natural patterns, and recommend adjustments to the play and sleep environments where helpful.

Depending on your requirements, I will then either provide you with your plan and advise and support whilst you follow it, or I can be with you in person, staying overnight to care for your baby whilst guiding and supporting you through each step, putting a new routine in place over a 29 hour period. Alternatively a consultant-led package is available, during which I observe and then complete the first few days of sleep work for you whilst you catch up on some uninterrupted rest and recover from your own sleep debt before continuing under guidance, leaving you confident to carry on.  

My role is to

• Create an achievable and adaptable bedtime routine that you and your child can rely upon and enjoy.
  

• Help make nap times relaxed and predictable
  

• Provide you with a sleep plan specific to the individual needs of you, your child and your family as a whole– not a cut and paste template in sight!
  

• Develop a ‘what comes next’ guide to the future, in line with your child’s personality and likely development.
  

• Give friendly support, along with the training and the confidence to achieve a good night’s sleep for everyone!

Read more about the support, services and packages I offer here.

Sleep…a basic human need but one which can seem elusive to many parents. Just as you need a good night’s sleep to cope with the day ahead, to recharge your batteries and to allow your body to rest and repair, so your child needs sleep to grow, develop and to thrive. Everybody recognises how vital proper sleep is, but this only adds to the pressure when it doesn’t seem so easy to achieve.

Despite the confusingly large number of manuals and books on the market and trying everything you can think of, the ultimate goal of your baby (consistently) ‘sleeping through’ can sometimes seem very far away.  As a parent in the thick of it, and having probably accrued a substantial sleep debt of your own, it can be very difficult to work out what might be going wrong, and to feel like you can tackle things alone and with the consistency required.

Every family and every child is unique, so books offering a ‘one size fits all’ solution or recommending the dreaded ‘cry it out’ technique may not suit your individual needs. By the time you’ve attempt the third sleep method in a row, your baby may be showing increased anxiety at bedtime and may be feeling confused by the frequently changing tactics. Some of the following comments from mums and dads I’ve helped may sound familiar.

“I’m so tired I could cry, but when I’ve got up and soothed her for the fourth time, there doesn’t seem to be any point in trying to get back to sleep, I can’t relax anyway because I’m just waiting for the next wake-up.”

“I rock and I rock but she’s getting heavier now and just as she’s starting to drift off I have to shift positions, and it all starts all over again.”

“We try to lower him down into his cot in slow motion, but he seems to sense it and wakes straight away.”

“I can’t cope with a strict schedule and I can’t bear to let him cry it out, but I can’t do 5 wake-ups a night any longer...”

“The older my baby gets the longer it seems to take to settle him, and although it makes me feel a bit guilty, I’d really like some ‘me time’ in the evening.”

 “We have to wait until she’s fast asleep before a babysitter comes because nobody but me can put her down, and I have to feed her to sleep.”

“She slept all the way through the night at six weeks and we thought we’d cracked it. Now she’s seven months old and it feels like she’s waking more than when she was first born.”

If you are experiencing problems similar to those described above, I can help.

So what now...?

Take a moment to look at the sleep training packages and help I can offer (these are flexible and can often be adjusted to suit your particular needs). Then send me a text, drop me an email or give me a call. I will be very happy to discuss your concerns and see what kind of help would be best for you. A good night’s sleep is suddenly much closer! 

*Where no serious complicating factors have been identified during consultation e.g. significant silent reflux or ENT issue is suspected. Where complicating factors are suspected, recommendations for referral can be made, and the sleep plan adapted in this light.