Seven Reasons Why You Should Not Forget About Baby Sleep Consultants

I’m truly convinced you have consumed lots of posts about Baby Sleep Consultants. They are decidedly popular with writers and readers alike.

Your baby’s circadian rhythm develops between 6 weeks-3 months old. This is your baby’s “body clock” and it’s what causes him to sleep more at night and less during the day. Much of this development is pre-programmed, but there are certainly things you can do now to encourage your baby to consolidate his night sleep. Especially if your 1-2 month old is awake for hours in the night. Whether it’s naptime one or the longer evening version with a bath, feeding and a massage, both signal to your little one that it’s time to tuck in. If you are breastfeeding, caffeine may affect your baby’s sleep. The recommended limit for breastfeeding mothers is 6 cups of tea or 2 cups of coffee a day. For filtered coffee, you should only have one cup a day. Some parents claim that a ride in the car is a sure-fire way to induce sleep. In desperate times it may be tempting to buckle baby in the car seat and drive around the block. Remember that sudden surge in growth during your teens? Well, your infant will go through many growth spurts through the first year. He’ll get so hungry that he’ll pop awake during light sleep to chow down. Newborns often confuse day and night. A set of blackout shades and a white noise machine may help encourage dozing off when it's bedtime.



Overtiredness is that miserable place between tiredness and exhaustion - basically a baby is too tired to fall asleep. Even if they manage to nod off, they wake soon after and struggle to get off again. The more tired the baby is, the harder it becomes to get them to sleep. It’s basically a response to stress hormones and a real catch-22 situation. We know that the sleep problems we see develop around 4 months of age are a result of a cognitive development and therefore not a true regression. This means that if we don’t address why the issues are happening, we can expect to see unhealthy sleep habits and unrestorative sleep for both baby and parent going forward. The longer both go without consolidated sleep, the more overtired they will become. Babies are used to noise in the womb, the sound of white noise drowns out other distractions and can help them sleep. Bizarrely, it can also help to calm them down by blocking out all other stimulation. Try downloading a white noise app - some parents swear by it. Sleep is important for all of us, but especially for babies and toddlers. In the first few years, daily naps are needed to ensure that your child gets all the sleep they need every day. There are multiple approaches to sleep training and a sleep expert will help you choose one that is right for you and your family.

Sleep Deprived? You Aren’t Alone

Beginning weaning will not make a baby sleep through the night. Sleeping through is controlled by hormones and some babies can begin sleeping through the night from 6-8 weeks but some do this much later. Sleep is important for baby's development too. Getting quality Zzzs helps your baby consolidate the many lessons he learned during the day to memory. Research has shown that around 22% of nine-month-olds have problems going to sleep and 42% regularly wake up more than once during the night. Even babies with previously set sleeping patterns can start waking up. Once this happens, it is important to try to identify the cause before it becomes a habit. Sleep regression isn’t something that you can necessarily prevent. All children are different – some babies are naturally great sleepers and stay that way. Others have unpredictable biological rhythms that may lead to more easily disrupted sleep patterns. Sleeping on a sofa or chair with a baby is very dangerous and should always be avoided. If parents fall asleep with their baby they are much safer in a bed than on a sofa or chair. The gentle approach and caring manner of a baby sleep expert allows them to assist you in the most preferable way to deal with sleep regression and to assist you and your family in any way possible.

Routines for older babies (four months onwards) can be helpful and let your bub know it’s sleep time. Starting with feed, quiet play nappy change, cuddle, then placing your child when drowsy in the cot is best. If you’ve tried to settle your newborn to sleep in their cot and haven't had any luck after 10-15 minutes, settle them all the way to sleep in your arms and try again next time. This will prevent them from becoming overtired, as an overtired baby will definitely struggle to fall asleep. By the time they're 5 months old, about half of babies will be more or less sleeping on their parents' schedule, while the other half will still be up too early, fighting sleep or waking more often in the middle of the night, according to the AAP. In other words, topsy-turvy sleep patterns might be your norm for a while. Since most babies can block out disturbing noise, you don’t have to create a noiseless sleeping environment, yet some babies startle and awaken easily with sudden noises. For these babies, oil the joints and springs of a squeaky crib, put out the dog before he barks and turn the ringer off on the phone. The first months of a baby's life can be the hardest for parents, who might get up many times at night to tend to the baby. Each baby has a different sleep pattern. Some start to sleep "through the night" (for 5–6 hours at a time) by 2–3 months of age, but some don't. If you need guidance on ferber method then let a sleep consultant support you in unlocking your child's potential, with their gentle, empathetic approach to sleep.

All Babies Are Different

If you have a baby that has suffered with colic or reflux, their digestion can be an issue which can irritate and cause tension for them when trying to sleep. Baby massage can aid baby digestion therefore easing them to sleep. When learning how your newborn prefers to be soothed (whether it’s bouncing on a yoga ball, being taken into a dark room with loud white noise for a break from any commotion, or hanging out in a swiftly moving swing or bouncer), it is wise to try and avoid relying on feeding. If your child has started weaning, ensure a good balanced diet. If there are sleep problems, ensure they are not intolerant to any foods. Wind, bloating, cramping, skin problems, grey areas under the eyes can all be indicators of an intolerance. A sleep cycle is the term used to describe the natural internal process we all have, otherwise known as our circadian rhythm, that enables us to sleep and wake at routine intervals. Newborn babies spend approximately 50% of their time asleep in REM, and experience only two sleep stages: REM and non-rapid eye movement sleep. Change your baby’s nappy before the nighttime feed to minimize arousing them. And unless your baby has pooped or soaked through their nappy, you probably don’t want to change them at all in the middle of the night, to keep them in that sleepy state - especially if they’re only waking to feed. If you're looking for a compassionate, effective and evidence-based approach to sleep or just advice on one thing like 4 month sleep regression then a baby sleep specialist will be able to help you.

In warmer weather, you can dress baby in a sleeveless and legless onesies for bed, or just a nappy and singlet. For cooler weather, a full suit will keep baby warm. Your baby’s sleep cycle (the full circuit from light to deep to light NREM sleep - plus a bit of REM) lasts only sixty minutes. So about every hour, she’ll enter light sleep or even briefly wake and make a short moan or squawk. Unless she’s wailing, give your little friend a few moments to soothe herself and dive right back into sleep. If she’s swaddled and you’re playing a rough and rumbly white noise, she should settle within thirty seconds. Remember, getting your baby to sleep through the night isn't a measure of your parenting skills. Take time to understand your baby's habits and ways of communicating so that you can help him or her become a better sleeper. If you have concerns, talk to your baby's doctor. Babies who have a consistent bedtime routine sleep more, wake less during the night, and wake up happier each morning. A bedtime routine, which can last anywhere from 15 minutes to an hour, gives your child time to relax and transition the body into sleep mode. Missing sleep can soon turn you into a drooling, dribbling mess, so try and share the burden with your partner. When your baby is old enough to sleep right through without a feed, your partner can really make up for lost time. Sleep consultants support hundreds of families every year, assisting with things such as gentle sleep training using gentle, tailored methods.

Settling Babies Down

Your baby may have been sleeping beautifully for weeks or even months, and then – perhaps just when you were wondering if it’s too good to be true – suddenly everything changes. When people talk about sleep regression, they are usually referring to when your child starts waking up during the night and has trouble falling back asleep. If your baby falls asleep in a car seat, stroller, swing, infant carrier, or sling, you should move him or her to a firm sleep surface on his or her back as soon as possible. So you've stepped past delirium and are about to completely lose your mind from lack of sleep. Don't worry, all new parents have been there. You can get additional facts on the topic of Baby Sleep Consultants on this Wikipedia entry.

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