Our family's sleep journey.

Before becoming a baby sleep consultant in Derbyshire I was a first time mum on maternity leave in lockdown, struggling with broken sleep, feeling anxious (not knowing how long our son would sleep for before waking up and I would have no time in the evenings to relax) and not getting a break in the day due to short naps.

We had gone through IVF and had our miracle baby who was loved more than anything but it was 2am and here I was having to feed my baby back to sleep every hour AGAIN, to get him back to sleep. Most nights he would wake every-single-hour. The world was living through a global pandemic and we just wanted our family to be as healthy as possible and knew that meant we all needed our sleep! Gradual, responsive sleep training saved our nights, helped us all get the sleep we needed and kept us all healthy and thriving. He is now at school and sleeps 11-11.5 hours each night.

As both a busy mum of an energetic little boy who's walked in your extremely tired shoes and an empathetic, non-judgemental baby sleep consultant, I am on a mission to make sleep easier to find for working parents who are struggling and need guidance and a listening ear. Maternity leave isn't a holiday- you are providing care for your new baby and adapting and recovering from labour. Throw in sleep deprivation and it can feel so lonely.

If your family's nights are broken, naps are super short, early waking has started to affect balancing life's challenges with caring for your child and the way your child gets to sleep has become unsustainable, this is where I can help you.

Together we will use gradual and easy-to-implement steps right there next to your baby in their cot. No "crying it out" styles, you will be able to reassure them whilst giving them chance to learn how to Fall asleep rather than be Put to sleep (self-settling) and get sleep on track so you and your little one can enjoy longer sleep and thrive together.

My Sleep Philosophy:

Sleep is as vital for our well-being and health as good nutrition and hydration is.

As parents we want the best for our child's emotional and physical development. We are doing our best.

There is no shame in seeking and accepting support in raising our children to be happy and healthy. We shouldn't feel we aren't allowed to say we are finding lack of sleep hard because we are often told things like:

"Well being tired is all part of being a parent!"

or

"They will grow out of it."

We are expected to just struggle on, especially through maternity leave when you are adapting to life as a new parent. As new parents WE need the support and time to recover and rest too.

My approach

I specialise in supporting babies aged 4-14 months to Fall asleep (self settle) rather than have to be Put to sleep, using a gradual and comforting approach over 2-3 weeks.

I design a sleep routine tailored to YOUR family, created to fit YOUR baby's individual sleep needs, rather than a generic "one size fits all" style of support.

When I help families my support is personalised around real information on their baby's sleep, based on my comprehensive online sleep questionnaire to understand your family's current situation and challenges, and the data you provide via an easy to use sleep app to log your baby's sleep and feeding schedule.

This combined information then allows me best help you and your unique baby.

Optimal sleep is created through:

CUSTOMISATION -

looking at how much sleep your child needs over 24 hours, how long they are capable of being awake for and what is going on biologically for their age.

CONSISTENCY -

creating small routines to help your baby know when it is coming up to the time they will be sleeping, maintaining small habits and holding boundaries. Consistency helps everyone to feel trust in situations and our children look to us to know what will happen next and feel more confident and comforted.

CONNECTION -

when your child is given the chance to be autonomous with you by their side they build on new skills.

When your baby can Fall asleep rather you Putting them to sleep should they wake up between sleep cycles (which begin around 4 months also known as the 4 month regression )they can go back to sleep without depending on sleep associations such as; rocking, feeding, contact naps, co-sleeping or using a dummy.

You can provide their nutritional needs AND teach them to self settle to sleep after the feed through the night.

Meaning you can rest easy (literally!) knowing you are meeting your child's needs.

My way of sleep training (Comfort through change) allows you to gradually remove dependent sleep associations as mentioned above, whilst being there with your baby over 2 weeks.

By the end of our time together you will be able to support your child through verbal reassurance, which enables both parents and other child carers to attend to your child in the night and means bedtimes are easier, you get a break at nap times and evenings and everyone can enjoy longer stretches of sleep through the night.