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VDTruck => Questions => Topic started by: loz12 on Jul 13, 2022, 10:28 AM

Title: Should You Invest In Sleep Consultants?
Post by: loz12 on Jul 13, 2022, 10:28 AM
The concept of Sleep Consultants is complicated. Let us try to make it easier to understand.

At two or three months, you were able to rock, hold, feed, or offer a pacifier to your little one and she would drift off and stay asleep. But as she made her way closer to the fourth month, you may have found yourself preforming these tasks more frequently through the night. 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. When overtiredness does occur, the most important thing you need to do is to calm your baby. Hold, swaddle and feed your baby if it is feed time, sing a lullaby or read a book in a dim lit room. Be prepared for when your baby does go to sleep that they may wake again soon after and need further comfort s the stress hormones created by their overtiredness may still be running high. Just like adults, even when babies have begun to mostly sleep well at nights, there will be times when they struggle to get to sleep or wake again in the night. It might be because they are unwell, 'overtired' or coping with changes. They may also be experiences developmental change. Get to know and watch out for your baby's sleep cues (like rubbing her eyes, fussiness, yawning, looking away), so you can get her to bed before she's overtired -- which makes it harder for her to fall and stay asleep. Your baby may well be hungry but at this age it's more likely he's learned to be hungry during the night because you feed him. You need to try and re-adjust the balance, so he gets more food during the day and less at night, eventually cutting out night feeds altogether. Gradually give him less milk when he wakes at night and more milk and solids during the day.

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Very young breastfed newborns need to feed every 1-3 hours, and sometimes even more, so they may wake very frequently to feed. After the first few months, a baby may not wake as often to eat. 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. A baby bedtime routine can help if your newborn baby's not sleeping. It's beneficial because it gives your baby 'cues' that sleep-time is coming, and helps them wind down and relax. While you have an end goal of teaching your baby to self settle, it's worth noting that this doesn't mean using 'cry it out'.....there are lots of options for teaching babies to settle without feeding to sleep. Choose one that you as a family are comfortable with. Different techniques work for different families, depending on the age of the baby, how quickly you need it to work, what you are prepared to try etc. There are multiple approaches to sleep training (https://thedaddysleepconsultant.com/sleep-training-methods-the-pros-and-cons/) and a sleep expert will help you choose one that is right for you and your family.

Spring Into Action At The First Sign Of Sleepiness

Your infant's mind is popping with new interests and challenges! That's fun, but it may also mean less shut-eye for both of you. You should treat crying during the last hours before the baby starts her day exactly as you would at any other point during the night: Give the baby three to five minutes to calm down on her own before going into the nursery to assist, and then leave the room once things settle down. Just because the baby is awake before the end of the twelve hours does not mean the baby gets to leave the crib. Otherwise, the baby, not the parent, is setting the schedule. If you're not sleeping at the same time as your baby, don't worry about keeping the house silent while they sleep. It's good to get your baby used to sleeping through a certain amount of noise. Babies who enjoy consistent bedtimes and familiar going-to-sleep rituals usually go to sleep easier and stay asleep longer. Yet, because of modern lifestyles, consistent and early bedtimes are not as common, or realistic, as they used to be. As long as your baby can drift off on her own, it's fine to go in to her if she wakes up at night. That doesn't mean you need to pick her up or nurse her, however. Once she's mastered the art of comforting herself, your voice and a gentle stroke should be enough to get her settled into sleep once more. If you need guidance on gentle sleep training (https://thedaddysleepconsultant.com/gentle-sleep-training/) then let a sleep consultant support you in unlocking your child's potential, with their gentle, empathetic approach to sleep.

As unlikely as it sounds, even babies newly home from the hospital can be taught to sleep better. In fact, shaping your baby's sleep is usually pretty easy to do with the right sleep cues. You can start getting your baby used to going to sleep without you comforting them by putting them down before they fall asleep or when they've just finished a feed. It may be easier to do this once your baby starts to stay alert more frequently or for longer. Your newborn baby will need to be soothed to sleep. Your older child should be going to sleep on their own. When kids older than 1 are waking up during the night it's almost always because they aren't falling to sleep on their own (generally because parents stay and cuddle until they fall asleep and then sneak out). Choosing where your baby sleeps is super-personal and might depend on your culture. You might also be absolutely sure that your baby will sleep in bed with you. On the other hand, you might feel like you'd never relax with them in the bed. Baby sleep can be somewhat controversial, particularly with the growing number of social media accounts claiming to be experts in the field. The reality is, no-one is an expert on a baby's sleep other than the parent themselves. 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 (https://thedaddysleepconsultant.com/what-is-the-4-month-sleep-regression/) then a baby sleep specialist will be able to help you.

The Importance Of Routine

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. As your baby gets older you will find their appetite through the day increases meaning they are less reliant on night feeds. Between 6 months and 9 months, and is weaning, babies can start the process of filling themselves up more from day feeds and be less reliant on their night feed, so can become one less reason for your baby to wake in the night. If baby is still waking multiple times during the night after 6 months, it could be more habitual and less about hunger. Naturally, since your baby wakes frequently in the first two months, so will you. And that's a problem because when you wake frequently, you end up getting twice as much light sleep and just half as much deep, restorative sleep. That's why you may still feel exhausted when you wake up in the morning. (This can be especially tough if you slept poorly the last months of pregnancy or are recovering from a C-section.) If your infant snores or chokes at night, try relieving his breathing with a cool mist humidifier and placing a folded towel under the mattress, to raise his head two to three inches. But if the noisy breathing continues, call your health-care provider for advice. Whether its something specific like sleep regression (https://thedaddysleepconsultant.com/sleep-regressions/) or really anything baby sleep related, a baby sleep consultant can guide you to find a sleep solution as individual as your baby is.

In the beginning your baby may nap three to four times per day, but by toddler or preschool age your child will start to nap less and less until nap time is completely phased out. Most newborn babies are asleep more than they are awake. Their total daily sleep varies, but can be from 8 hours up to 16 or 18 hours. Babies will wake during the night because they need to be fed. Being too hot or too cold can also disturb their sleep. By three months, your baby's shreds of sleep are increasingly woven into longer naps and nights. He's getting better at being soothed back to sleep (by himself or you) and not erupting into tears. Yet some aspects of your infant's slumber are similar to those in the first months. For example, both newborns and three-month-olds nap a lot and sleep about fourteen out of twenty-four hours each day. Babies may not be able to create their own sleeping and waking patterns. Surprisingly, not all babies know how to put themselves to sleep. And not all babies can go back to sleep if they are awakened in the night. At the beginning, your baby's bedtime routine may simply involve snuggles and a lullaby, followed by a quiet bedtime story, before putting him in his crib on the brink of sleep. A sleep consultant will take a holistic approach to create a sleeping system that you can manage and one which takes into account ferber method (https://thedaddysleepconsultant.com/ferber-method-sleep-training/) as well as the needs of the baby and considerations of each family member.

Watch Out For Those Long, Late Afternoon Naps

Try and ensure that your baby takes their day naps in their cot too rather than in prams or car seats which are not ideal, regular nap zones. The more naps they have in their cot, the better bedtimes will be. Many of us didn't actually realize how important sleep can be pre-baby. Now, with child(ren) in tow, we can pretty much all agree, that sleep - and encouraging your child to become a good sleeper - is crucial for both your little one, and for you. Well that, and also a decidedly fast-acting caffeinated beverage for those rough mornings-after! A baby's startle reflex, also known as the moro reflex, can cause babies to startle awake when they are placed in their cot or cause them to wake between sleep cycles if they are not swaddled. One can uncover supplementary facts about Sleep Consultants in this  NHS (https://www.nhs.uk/every-mind-matters/mental-health-issues/sleep/) entry.

Related Articles:

 A Well Planned No-Nonsense Guide To Sleep Experts (https://rearingmotivation.blogspot.com/2022/06/a-well-planned-no-nonsense-guide-to.html)

 Here's What Industry Insiders Say About Baby Sleep Trainers  (https://fridaymisgivings.blogspot.com/2022/06/heres-what-industry-insiders-say-about.html)

  Advice For Forming An Opinion Of Sleep Specialists  (https://saturdaybythefireside.blogspot.com/2022/06/advice-for-forming-opinion-of-sleep.html)