My Child Sleep Problems - Where do I even start?

When we're dealing with sleep issues with our children, it's easy to become overwhelmed trying to figure out a place to start. I remember having to tackle so many problems such as breastfeeding, trying to synchronise my twins feeding and sleeping times and how to stop them from waking up so often.

Often, we just give up because we're so tired and it's easier to go back to what we know works, even it's continuing to prolong the problem.

My sleep tip for you today is to not try to tackle everything at once. Pick one very small item and begin to work on that before trying to change anything else.

For example:

Let's say your 6 month old baby is waking up for feeding a few times a night, taking short naps and needs to be rocked in the hammock/yaolan for 40 minutes before every sleep period to get to sleep.

Instead of trying to change everything at once, focus on just one area so that you aren't overwhelmed.

You might decide that you will only address the night time feedings and instead of feeding 3 times a night, you might want to only feed twice a night.

Or, it may be more important to you that your baby takes longer naps so you work on those (or even just the morning one) first.

By breaking down the pieces into small manageable tasks, we can help to eliminate some of the confusion and frustration that can accompany changing sleep habits.

What's one small goal you want to work on this week? Comment below!

Was this article helpful to you? If so, please like facebook.com/sgsupernanny for more sleep tips for baby and kids.

We offer plenty of sleep packages at sgsupernanny.com/private-consultations for those who need more in depth help with their children sleeping needs.

Top 8 Reasons to Teach Your Child to Sleep Better

1) If you are struggling with your child’s feeding sometimes, you will find that once your baby sleeps better, their feeding will improve as well. This is because sleep regulates your child’s appetite and your baby will be less tired and fussy when it comes to eating.

2) With better and longer sleep, your baby will wake up happier. If you find your baby waking up crying chances are, your baby is overtired (as long as they are not hungry).

3) Increase in growth. Babies and children grow when they sleep. Your baby will start to gain weight well when he/she sleeps better.

4) Better communication. For older children, if they are tired, they would prefer to grizzle and whine over speaking. If your child is well rested, then their speech and language skills will improve greatly. 

5) Your child overall well being will improve. Children who foster healthy sleep habits are optimally awake and alert to interact with their environment. These children are self assured, happy, less demanding and more sociable. They have longer attention spans and as a result become faster learners.

6) Your own mental and physical well being will improve with more sleep. Doctors agree that prolonged sleep deprivation is one of the main factors in triggering postnatal depression. A good night sleep will help you function and think better.

7) Being able to feel like a better and more patient parent, the way you knew you wanted to be. Some mommies cried when I visited them and quite often it’s because they are very sleep deprived and they are just at their wit’s end not knowing why their babies just won’t sleep. They would tell me that they feel bad and guilty about being grumpy, impatient and snap easily at their children and their husband. Now I personally don’t think you are failing because I have been there myself but sleep deprivation does make us have shorter fuse and we do blow up at the smallest things. Every time I hear success stories from my clients telling me that they feel much better now that their child is sleeping better and longer, it just warms my heart.

 8) Your marriage and family will grow stronger and perhaps bigger. Sleep deprivation and stress can really test any marriages. So many couples I have met feel their marriages are better and stronger after having taught their baby to sleep well and actually being able to prioritise themselves as a couple in the evening again. And perhaps you might even think of having another baby once you got your baby to be a competent and independent sleeper.

These are very important reasons on why you should get your child to sleep well. If you would like some help teaching your baby to sleep, check out our packages here. We would love to help you!

How my twins got me where I am today...

8 years ago, my twins were born and nothing could have prepared me for their arrivals. Like any first time parents, I was excited and anxious at the same time. My husband and I bought two of everything (almost!) and we were ready to welcome them into our lives. Holding them both in my arms for the first time was a nice and surreal feeling. When we took them home from the hospital, we really didn't know what to expect. Our sleepless nights began pretty much that very same day. If you think one was hard, try having two crying babies at the same time. Who do you attend to first? At one stage, I even have to learn how to breastfeed both babies at the same time. Well if they are both hungry, a Mom's gotta do what a Mom's gotta do right?

The first few months were the hardest as we struggled with settling them to sleep. I remembered one would wake up for feed at 2am and the other at 4am. It was really literally no sleep for me at all those days. Looking like a zombie and having no sleep, I was totally dazed and that really kept me from enjoying my babies. A good Samaritan came along and she told me to read books on how to settle baby to sleep.I realised we needed to do something and make some changes and get them to sleep for longer stretches which led me down the road on this journey of where I am today. Anyway, I started to equip myself with the knowledge and tools required to get my twins to sleep through the night and also teaching them the art of self settling. After 10 weeks onwards, my twins started sleeping through the night and I remain forever grateful to my lovely neighbour, Vania who gave me the precious advice. I paid it forward and helped many of my friends who were struggling with their overtired babies as well. Today, it has become my passion and business to help sleep deprived parents get back their sleep again.

If like me, you are struggling with your baby sleep and you are feeling exhausted and sleep deprived, you don't have to keep on struggling anymore. As a baby sleep consultant, I am here to help you with a private consultation at the comfort of your own home and instead of months of exhaustion, you will soon be getting back your sleep again once your baby is old enough to do so.

Check out our private consultations packages here http://sgsupernanny.com/private-consultations/