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!

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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!

Why is it so important for my child to get enough sleep?

So you may not mind waking up at night for the night time feed because it doesn't take too long for baby to nurse and then fall back to sleep. You wouldn't want to change anything just in case he starts waking up more frequently. But what if I tell you that your 7 month old baby doesn't actually need to wake up for those night time feeds anymore? Would you be able to stop the night time feeds altogether?

Why is it so important that your child learn to sleep through the night and have a good long consolidated sleep without any disruption?

Maybe you’re still a little unsure whether or not my sleep consultation is right for you. That’s perfectly normal. After all, you’ll be making changes to your child’s sleep routine, and you want to be sure you’re doing the right thing!

I just want to share one truth that I learned when I first started this journey of sleep training. The truth is sleep is incredibly important for our children – no matter how old they are! Doctors agree that healthy sleep habits are just as important as a diet and exercise – and some argue it’s even more important.
So why is it that some parents are so concerned about giving their children a healthy diet but when it comes to sleep, they are a bit lax about it?

Here are some facts I found about the importance of sleep for our children.

• Children who sleep longer have higher IQs. (Sleep Med, March 2010)
• Boys who sleep well are at a significantly lower risk for hyperactivity. Sleep deprivation and ADHD  are both overlapping problems. (Pediatrics, November 2009)
• Children who sleep well score higher on all kinds of tests, including math and literacy. (SLEEP Abstract, 2010)
• Babies who sleep well at night consistently perform better on tests designed to assess memory, emotional control, and organization. (Child Development, Nov/Dec 2010)

Based on the scientific studies and our common sense, we can agree that sleep is really, REALLY important for your child not just for you! If your child is not taught the necessary skills to sleep well, you’re putting them at a dramatically increased risk for the things that all parents want to avoid!

I’m not saying this to scare you… I’m just really passionate about how important sleep is for kids – and I think it’s our job as parents to give our children every advantage we can! I do practice what I preach and seeing my children having enough sleep from a young age and waking up feeling refreshed, energetic and happy, that's the best gift I have given to my children since they were babies.

I really believe my sleep program will be able to teach your child these skills quickly and easily, so I hope you will give me a call or email me and give it a go. My success stories so far speak for itself on how effective my program is.

Top 5 Mistakes Parents Make about Sleeping (me included!)

These are common mistakes parents make about their child sleeping and I made the same mistake too with my babies when I was a new parent. Click on the link below to find out more!

http://sgsupernanny.com/top-5-mistakes-parents-make-about-baby-sleeping-sleep-mistakes-baby-how-to-get-baby-to-sleep/

Can sleep deprivation ruin relationships?

"I have no doubt that sleepless nights can bring out the ugly in parents. We have shorter fuses when we are exhausted, and it's completely natural to feel resentful if a partner pretends to (or really does!) sleep through the little night howls."

If you and your partner are exhausted from night wakings or fighting a lot more due to sleep deprivation, then it's time to get help. It might even be that you find that you don't have time to spend with your older children anymore. Contact me now for a free 15 minute sleep assessment to find out if you can use the assistance and guidance of a baby sleep training expert. You will be glad that you did so, because in just a few days, you and your family will be well rested again.

http://www.essentialmums.co.nz/mums-life/relationships/8469722/Can-sleep-deprivation-ruin-a-relationship

Why we all need more sleep?

Researchers from the University of California, Berkeley have revealed that couples who regularly get a full night’s sleep are more likely to have positive, successful relationships. 

It's important that we tackle all these sleep problems early and nip them in the bud before the situation gets worse. If you are sleep deprived, please get help now. 

http://www.telegraph.co.uk/lifestyle/9823934/Why-we-all-need-more-sleep.html

My thoughts on baby sleep training

I have met many parents over the years and while many agrees with sleep training, some are a bit hesitant. The question I always get asked is this:

Does it involve crying? 

To which I have to answer, yes because that is the only way baby knows how to communicate with us. 

Why do some parents shudder at the thought of sleep training?

Does the thought of their baby crying make them feel like bad parents?

Do they already feel like bad parents because their baby isn't sleeping?

There are so many methods of training baby to sleep out there and they all involve some degree of crying. Why? Because like I said before your baby will object to the new routine you are implementing and the only way she will be able to communicate her objection is through crying. Let's face it, no one like changes at first, but after a while you will learn to adapt.

Before I help my clients start their sleep training, I look at the overall picture first. Remember, sleep training is only one piece of the puzzles. Before sleep training can be implemented, we need to assess other pieces of the puzzles.

I believe that when sleep training is implemented on a healthy baby, loving and caring environment overseen by the parents, baby will be able to learn to sleep well and through the night in no time at all.
It's much better to let your baby learn the week long sleep training programme through some degree of crying than endure months of sleepless nights which would result in overtired babies and exhausted parents!

Contact me now if you want your sleep back and ultimately a good night rest for you and your baby. Every night. 

Why is self settling important?

When I was living in New Zealand, a lot of parents I met talked about self settling and how important it is for a baby to learn to self settle. In fact I must admit, self settling was one of the best things I did raising up my twins.

In Asia or more specifically Malaysia and Singapore, I realised that this is not such a popular notion here. Parents here tend to want to carry or rock their baby to sleep instead of implementing self settling method.

But why is self settling so important? Why should you bother with teaching your baby to self settle? Why not just keep feeding them or rock them till they sleep?

Well if you are happy with the amount of sleep you and your baby have, then I guess self settling isn't important.

But if your baby needs more sleep during the night, and you find him or her catnapping a lot and just seem rather tired and fractious during the day, then perhaps learning to self settle is the key solution to your problems. 

Your baby may not feel the direct effects of sleep deprivation, but what about you? Are your physical and mental health suffering due to lack of sleep? Sleep deprivation will make life with a baby much more stressful than they are and it can impact your relationships, your marriage, your work, your outlook and enjoyment of life with your child.

So don't delay anymore. Get your baby to learn self settling technique from young as you know it gets harder as they grow up. If you need any help and guidance in this, please contact me, happy to help you, your family and your baby get that sleep that you all deserved!

You will be surprised at how quickly your baby will learn to resettle himself once you learn the technique and stick with it consistently.