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.