NADIA EDWARDS
  • Home
  • SERVICES
    • NEWBORN
    • BABY
    • TODDLER
    • CHILD
    • RELAXATION & MINDFULNESS
    • ONLINE COURSES
  • ABOUT
  • TESTIMONIALS
  • BLOG
  • Booking
  • Contact

What to do When Things Don’t Go as Planned

9/15/2017

0 Comments

 
Picture
Chances are, if you’re considering hiring a sleep consultant, you’ve done a little bit of reading about sleep coaching.

Alright, truth be told, you’ve probably looked at about three hundred different websites trying to find out how to get your little one to sleep through the night.

And somewhere in all of that surfing, you’ve undoubtedly seen people raving about how their baby started going 11-12 hours a night without so much a peep, within a couple of nights.
​
So you followed the advice, did everything that you were supposed to do, but here it is a week and a half later, and your baby is still howling for you five or six times a night.
So what are you doing wrong?
Well, maybe nothing. The truth is, some babies take longer to develop those glorious sleep skills than others. Some have formed strong associations between their props and the process of falling asleep. Others might have a significant sleep debt that they’re working on, and will take a little longer to get into the swing of things, and some babies, let’s face it, just have a different temperament, and are going to put up more of a resistance when you try to change their routine.

And while they’re all different, they’re all completely normal.

Just like crawling, talking, reading and teething, developing great sleep skills takes some kids almost no time at all, and takes others a lot longer.

So if you’ve decided on a sleep coaching program, I suggest you stick with it, and withdraw from the online conversation for a little while until you’ve given it a chance. Too much advice and too many success stories can cause you to second guess your approach before it’s had time to take effect, and changing things up just as baby’s starting to get used to the routine is one of the biggest saboteurs of sleep coaching there is.

I often recommend people start a journal when they begin making changes. It’s amazing how easily we forget the progress that baby makes in the first little while, because we’re so eager for that “miracle morning” when baby finally sleeps straight through the night. A journal will give you a good look back at just what you were dealing with when you first got started, and it’s important to celebrate those small victories and incremental successes. Seeing progress, however small it might be, can be the inspiration you need to keep at it, even when you’re feeling like things aren’t getting better.

Now, all of this is not to say, “Everything’s fine! You’re doing everything right! Just hang in there!”

Because hey, maybe you’re not! I’m not trying to be critical, but maybe you are actually doing something wrong. And if you think that’s the case, my suggestion is to look first and foremost at bedtime.

When you put baby to bed, what’s the last step in your bedtime routine? Does it involve baby getting some heavy eyelids, or getting just to the edge of falling asleep, before you put them into the cot?

This approach works for some babies, but if you’re having some trouble getting baby to sleep straight through the night, this is probably the thing I’d suggest you tweak.
​
Some babies wake up drowsy and go back to sleep drowsy, so they’re okay with some soothing and drowsiness before they go to sleep. Others, however, wake up wide-eyed and alert in the night. They’re the ones who need to learn to go from fully awake to asleep all on their own.

Although I know it seems counter-productive, if you think this might be your baby’s issue, then do whatever you need to in order to keep them wide awake through the bedtime routine and put them down in their cot before they start getting drowsy. That doesn’t mean, “at the first sign of drowsiness.” Figure out when they start getting drowsy in the routine and make accommodations to get them into the cot before it happens.

After a few nights of this, you should be noticing an improvement, but if not, don’t give up! Babies love to, and need to sleep, and if yours isn’t sleeping well, there’s a reason. We just need to find it, so call me for a free evaluation and we can discuss it further.
0 Comments



Leave a Reply.

    Nadia Edwards


    ​Nadia Edwards is a Certified and Holistic Baby Sleep Coach and uses approaches which are based around a parenting by connection concept and draws on her training with Hand in Hand Parenting, her work as a Relax Kids coach, Early Years Practitoner and training with the National Childbirth Trust (NCT) on Breastfeeding Counselling and Postnatal Care. Nadia also holds a UK degree level qualification in advanced sleep coaching accredited by OCN London at level 5. 

    ​Nadia lives if Fife, Scotland and loves helping babies sleep well. She offers personal in-home consultations along with video for families further afield, Nadia has worked with families all over the UK and Europe

    Book A
    ​DISCOVERY
    CALL

    Categories

    All
    Adult
    Attachment Parenting
    Bad Weather
    Bedtime Routine
    Behaviour
    Co Sleeping
    Co-sleeping
    Daylight Saving
    Development
    Early Rising
    Independent Settling
    Myths
    Naps
    Nihghtwakings
    Older Children
    Parenting
    Play
    Regression
    Relax Kids
    Seperation Anxiety
    Sleep Pops
    Sleep Products
    Sleep Prop
    Snoring
    Swaddle
    Teenagers
    Travel

Site Links

Home
Services
​Nadia's Story
FAQ
Testimonials
​Blog
Booking

holistic sleep coach member logo
relax kids logo
association of professional sleep consultants logo
Picture
Picture
Picture
international association of child sleep consultants member logo
Picture
Picture
Privacy Policy
Disclaimer
Cookie Policy
Copyright​ © - Nadia Edwards 2021, 3 Northbank Road, Cairneyhill, Dunfermline, Fife, KY128RN  |  Sitemap
Photos used under Creative Commons from Mike Babcock, madprime, Lunchbox Photography, phanhop, quinn.anya, V31S70, Neticola, iandeth, Yachichurova, Tammra M, Cultural viewpoints from around the world, pixydust8605, iskir, EraPhernalia Vintage . . . [''playin' hook-y''] ;o, skeddy in NYC
  • Home
  • SERVICES
    • NEWBORN
    • BABY
    • TODDLER
    • CHILD
    • RELAXATION & MINDFULNESS
    • ONLINE COURSES
  • ABOUT
  • TESTIMONIALS
  • BLOG
  • Booking
  • Contact