Frequently Asked Questions

Learning about sleep cycles can help you understand your child's sleep needs and steer you towards  implementing an age-appropriate routine.

In newborn babies there are just two stages in the sleep cycle, these are rapid eye movement (REM) and deep sleep. During REM sleep you may notice your baby twitching, their eyes might move around under their lids and their breathing might accelerate. During deep sleep your baby will be very still and quiet.  You will probably find that regardless of which of these stages your baby is in they will sleep soundly irrespective of environment and length of sleep.

At around four months old your baby's sleep starts to look more like yours as it develops into a four-stage cycle. During this development your baby will experience lighter stages of sleep, may wake more easily and, if they are not able to self-settle, a baby that was once a good sleeper may appear to 'regress'.  So in short, a baby who has been taught to self-settle should not 'regress' during this transition. But for babies that haven't been taught this skill they will likely struggle.

Visit the 'UNDERSTANDING SLEEP' page of our website for more information.  

In line with NHS UK guidelines, an 18 month old should be getting 13-15 hours sleep in any 24 hour period. We recommend that this consists of one 12 hour night time stretch and one day time nap.

If your child is not sleeping for the recommended length of time for their age then we can work with you to create and implement a bespoke plan that will get them on track.

Visit the 'SLEEP & HEALTH' page of our website for more information.

Our sleep training methods are predominantly rooted in self-settling and independent sleep, meaning they are not usually a great fit for families who enjoy co-sleeping. We never pass judgement on how you and your family choose to sleep, we respect that as with all parenting decisions, there is a wide range of differing information and opinion on what is ‘best’. But choice really is the key word here.

If co-sleeping is a choice you have made because you believe in its benefits and it feels like the right thing for your family, then we are not here to persuade you otherwise. As long as you are following safe practice (https://www.lullabytrust.org.uk/safer-sleep-advice/co-sleeping/) and everyone in the family is well-rested and happy then we don’t see it as our place to try and convince you to change something that is working for you. Where we can offer support is through advising on things such as establishing a bedtime routine and how to best schedule nap timings etc.

However, if you have come to the end of your co-sleeping journey or are only doing it out of desperation and it is not an active choice you have made, then we can help.

It can often be the case that co-sleeping starts as a quick fix for getting some much-needed sleep whilst managing frequent night wakes and feeds. But often, as time progresses, co-sleeping can impact on your child’s ability to link sleep cycles, meaning they, and you, can start to miss out on restorative sleep.

And because your child’s sleep associations also grow stronger over time, long-term co-sleeping can make it harder to move them into their own room when the time eventually comes. So, if you know that co-sleeping is not your long-term plan, the sooner you can support your child to sleep independently, the easier the transition will be for them. 

Visit the ‘SUCCESS STORIES’ section of our website to see how some of our previous clients have found this transition.

Absolutely!

It is a common myth that you can’t sleep train your baby whilst breastfeeding, or that breastfed babies don’t sleep as well as bottle-fed babies. But the good news is that however you chose to feed your baby, there is no difference in terms of their ability to sleep.

This is because the act of sleeping is not linked to the act of feeding, other than in the sense that in the early days your baby is unlikely to sleep well if they are not feeding well, but again, the method in which they feed by is irrelevant.  Where feeding plays its part in sleep, or lack thereof, is when a baby has developed a feeding to sleep association. This is very common in the families we support, and usually sees a baby waking up several times during the night looking for a feed to re-settle even when they no longer require a feed for nutritional benefit.

Our Sleep Transformation Plans teach your baby to fall asleep without any sleep prop so that they can link sleep cycles on their own without needing you to resettle them. By creating a consistent environment and developing this skill themselves there is no cause for them to become alarmed or distressed.  And if your little one still needs to feed during the night then you are still able to both sleep train and feed them overnight.

During our Sleep Foundations Plan we teach you how to treat feeding and sleeping as two separate entities, just as they are for us as adults, so that in the early days there is never an association formed between the two. 

For those worried about the impact that sleep training could have on their breastfeeding bond, it can actually have the opposite effect. When Mum and baby are sleeping well both parties enjoy the experience more and there is less chance for that feeling of resentment building up meaning the breastfeeding relationship is more likely to continue. And, by removing those unnecessary sleepy night-time feeds, it can make your baby more effective at feeding when they are actually hungry.  If you would like to know more please get in touch or book in for an INITIAL CONSULTATION.

In a word, no. If your child is not sleeping well at night it is unlikely that keeping them awake during the day/evening will extend their night time sleep. In fact, overtiredness is likely to make it more difficult for them to sleep well. As counterintuitive as that may sound, there is a logical explanation.

Overtiredness activates the release of cortisol and adrenaline (stress-hormones), making it harder to settle to and stay asleep. Whilst not exclusive to overtiredness, some common signs that may indicate your little one is overtired are:

• Short nap lengths

• Struggling to make it to bedtime and lots of crying during the teatime/bath time routines

• Excessive giddiness at bedtime• Difficult to calm

• Fighting sleep excessively 

• Waking within the first few hours of going to bed at night

• Waking for extended periods of time throughout the night

• Routinely waking very early to start the day

And unfortunately, this often creates a vicious cycle, the more stress hormones, the less restorative sleep, the less restorative sleep the more overtired they become and the more stress hormones they will produce. 

We work with parents to help establish a circadian rhythm that enables stress hormone production to drop during the night and peak after your child wakes up. Our plans are based on NHS guidelines tailored so that your child's 'wake windows', the period of time they are awake in between sleeps, are based on the recommended needs for their age.

If you would like to know more, book in for an INITIAL CONSULTATION and we will be happy to answer your questions.