Featured on Lian He Zao Bao

I have been featured on Lian He Zao Bao with my baby and I shared my job as a baby sleep expert with readers and also sleep tips to get baby to sleep through the night.

It's been a long time since I sat down to blog. Lots have been happening. Where do I even start!

Well maybe I could start by sharing my biggest news, I have given birth to baby number 4, Alyssa my little princess. She was born on the 3rd of August 2016. She weighed a whopping 3.52kg (definitely my biggest baby!). I gave birth to her naturally just using the laughing gas. It was my first time not opting for epidural due to my traumatic experience of suffering from 7 days of epidural headache when I gave birth to my son previously. The labour was intense and painful (super painful!) but my recovery was super quick too as I didn't have any tear which was surprising considering how big she was!

Anyway, I have been busy with her spending the whole month of August doing the traditional confinement, recuperating from the birth and looking after my precious newborn. I joked with my clients that I now can relate to what they are going through much more now that I am back to having sleepless nights and spending most time either feeding or pumping. ;)

This month of Sept has been particularly busy as most of my clients have been waiting for me to finish my confinement so I can go back to work. I appreciate your time waiting for me and supporting my business. Thank you so much for your continuous support.

This is also a special month as I have been featured in not just 1 but 3 news media. I was interviewed by Lianhe Zaobao about my work and I was featured together with my baby girl on the 19th Sept newspaper edition. Expat Living also did a write up on me and I shared about some sleep training tips with their avid readers. Last but not least Singapore Motherhood magazine wrote an article on 12 Ways to Get Baby to Sleep and I contributed my thoughts on some of the ways to get babies to sleep well and through the night. Well there you go, it's been a busy busy month like I said. Tomorrow my baby girl will be 8 weeks old. She is already sleeping through the night consistently for the past 3 nights from midnight to the next morning. At least 5-6 hours overnight. That's probably why I have the energy to sit at my laptop to blog this. :)

Remember healthy sleep habits, happy child! You can start them from day 1!

If you are a sleep deprived and exhausted parent with toddler...do read this

Ever since my son was born, I had never had a good night's rest. He never once slept through the night, as I had been breastfeeding him to sleep since the beginning, he was used to frequent night waking (sometimes every hour) and latching to sleep again. This took a toll on my health over time and I decided, when my son was 20 months old, that we needed help for both of us to sleep better at night. 

After much research, I found Zoe and engaging her help was one of the best decisions I have made. Within a night, my son was weaned of his night feeds. He was also able to sleep in his own bed in his own room instead of co-sleeping with me. Although we saw some success in the first couple of nights, sleep training a stubborn toddler proved to be tougher than I had imagined. The subsequent nights that followed were hell as there were times when my son went through sleep regression. It took a lot of determination from my husband and I to persist with the plan, and I broke down several times in the process. 

However, Zoe was very encouraging and assuring, and most importantly, she was there to answer my questions, address my fears and comfort me at all those times when I needed it. That was what sleep training books and all those information online could not provide at the critical times. More than two months on, my son has been sleeping though the night consistently on most nights and finally, we can both get the good night's rest that we deserve. My son's teachers have also noticed that he has been making marked improvements in his learning in the past two months! I attributed it to having sufficient sleep that led to better concentration in the day. My most heartfelt thanks to Zoe for making this possible, when this had been unthinkable just a couple of months back. I highly recommend Zoe to parents who need help in sleep-training their children! 

Angela, mother of one.

Another success story

People used to tell me babies, when they are tired, will sleep by themselves. I wished this was reality. 

When my boy was 10 weeks old, I realised that he wasn't sleeping by himself and if he was, I was nursing him to sleep, rocked him on a swing, or carried him around in a baby carrier. As first time parents, we thought that this was 'normal' as we have also met other parents who did likewise. We also observed that he refused to be put down during evenings, be it on a chair or the cot, and wanted us to carry him around. He would also cry and fuss during feeding time then. Both my husband and I thought that he was a high need baby. 

When he turned 14 weeks old, his naps suddenly shortened to 30 minutes and I knew sleep regression has caught up with him. He was also waking up 4-6x a night. Initially, I thought he was going through a growth spurt but it was happening almost every other night! In addition, he did not want to feed in at least 2 of those wakings.

With insufficient sleep, I was exhausted and frustrated. I was unable to interact well with both my husband and my son. A friend recommended me to approach Zoe for her guidance in sleep training and we are glad we made this decision. Zoe was clear in her instructions, gave us sound advice and encouragement, and was always there to clarify our doubts and the misconceptions surrounding sleep. Her experience and knowledge are indispensable to the success of our son's ability to sleep independently. 

I have read several books on sleep training but they gave conflicting procedures. Zoe's personalized sleep training program was effective, well-defined, and concise. By the second night, my boy was sleeping through the night (after a dream feed). By day 7, he's taking longer naps (1.5h to 2.5h) and he looks more well rested than before. He was also breastfeeding properly, no longer snacking by the hour.

I highly recommend Zoe to parents who need help in getting their babies or toddlers to learn the skill of sleeping. We cannot thank you enough for being a blessing to our family. Thanks a lot, Zoe! 

Geraldine, happy mommy of one

SG Supernanny's Sleep Tip of The Night

SG Supernanny’s Sleep Tip of The Night: 

If you find it challenging to get your child to nap well, the first area to tackle is their sleep debt. If they have been missing a lot of sleep for even a few days, then it is likely that they are overtired and resisting settling down for naps because of this. Make sure their naps are well-timed and that bedtime is very early. This will help them to start catching up on their sleep and over time, allow them to fall asleep easier for naps.

Testimonial from a lovely client

I first engaged Zoe when my little one was 3.5 months old. She was cranky, angry and never seemed to have a good night's rest. My sleep was as affected as hers. Putting her to bed was a tiring routine. Zoe's tireless encouragement helped me through the most difficult phase of parenting. Through her guidance and advice, my husband and I are able to successfully execute a sleep routine tailored to her. Our LO is now able to sleep through the night and nap without much effort. She wakes up cheerful and her parents are now less sleep deprived. I am a happy mummy and I can't recommend her enough!

Dr Peggy, Happy mommy of one