Let’s set the scene: It’s 2.30am, you’re woken from a lovely deep sleep by a not-so-inconspicuous little person jumping into bed with you. Amongst the heavy breathing, random elbows to the ribs, balancing on the bed edge and limited doona, you manage to salvage what little sleep you can until morning. Sound familiar? Why? * Their room may…

Read More

Introducing a new baby to the family can be a huge transition for everyone. With the sudden shift in family dynamics, parent’s attention, and the shake up to day to day life, it’s no wonder many older children struggle with feelings of insecurity, sadness, anger, frustration, confusion, hurt, and loss. And, for us as parent’s to…

Read More

Children of all ages seek comfort in movement (rocking, car, carrier), sucking (breast, bottle, dummy) and closeness (touch, holding, parental presence) to fall asleep, and back to sleep when they wake from a nap or overnight. Although these actions are helpful when satisfying neonatal reflexes during the fourth trimester, a child’s ability to sleep independently…

Read More

Whether you opt for cry it out, no cry, or no sleep training at all, is a personal decision, and one which should be made for the ‘greater good’ of the whole family in mind. It can be a contentious topic, so let me first start by stating: whilst I don’t endorse cry it out professionally,  personally,…

Read More

Catnapping, or consistently short naps in the first six months (usually between 20 to 40 minutes), albeit developmentally normal, can be extremely frustrating for parents – who often recall that they spend their entire day settling and re-settling their babies for sleep – usually unsuccessfully. This is, in fact, a natural daytime sleep pattern from…

Read More

Just when many of us finally feel we are getting some predictability with our newborn’s sleeping patterns…. BANG! Along comes the four-month sleep regression! In Wonder Weeks language, this equates to Mental Leap 4, which starts between 14.5-19.5 weeks. If you are experiencing this, you may find some comfort in knowing that this developmental leap is Universal. Frustration, exhaustion, tears,…

Read More

The process of dropping naps can be an exhausting, frustrating and lengthy one for some parents – taking anywhere between a few weeks to a month (or more). Variables will include your child’s age, activity levels, developmental stage and temperament (among others). It is not uncommon at these times to experience sleep regression such as;…

Read More

This week’s question comes from Lauren who asks:  “I have a 9 month old (8 months corrected) who still needs to be held/rocked or fed to sleep. Any ideas or tips on how to gently transition him to self settling? ” Additional links: https://sleepplaylove.wpengine.com/breakingsleephabits/ https://sleepplaylove.wpengine.com/getting-routine/ https://sleepplaylove.wpengine.com/when-can-my-baby-self-settle/ Pantley’s Gentle Removal Plan Instructions (for feed to sleep): https://babyparenting.about.com/od/sleeping/a/nightfeed_2.htm

Read More