childsleepsolutions

Hi akc74. I am a child sleep consultant and this is such a common problem!! You say he wakes at 5.45 am on the dot every day which strongly suggests an habitual waking. Have you tried 'wake-to-sleep'? This can be an unpopular method because it involves setting your alarm an hour earlier than the usual wake up time in your case 4.45am!! You go in and disturb him and disrupt his sleep cycle. To do this you just stroke his face, tickle him gently or give him a little shake if he is a deep sleeper. You are aiming to disturb him enough that he rolls over/briefly opens his eyes/bats your hand away...then falls back to sleep (which don't worry, he will do). This disrupts that sleep cycle and breaks the habit of the early waking. It sound insane but it really does work in the majority of cases, mostly where there is a very regular wake up habit and there are no other obvious causes. The other thing I would suggest would be that you avoid the morning nap if at all possible, it woiuld be better, if he is really exhausted, to bring the lunchtime nap forward. As he is waking at 5.45 am and probably missing his last sleep cycle of the night, if you put him down early to 'catch up' you are encouraging this last cycle to become fragmented from the rest of his night sleep and exacerbating the habit. I hope this all makes sense (message me if not) and that is works!! Good luck, Nicola www.childsleepsolutions.co.uk

Clare byham cook is amazing. She does consultations which I have heard are excellent but I just used her dvd and it really helped! Good luck

Hi, I have not been through the same but have heard from friends that zita west has a more holistic approach to things that greatly improves your chances either naturally or alongside assisted methods. Haven't got contact details but she will come up on Google. Not sure if this is what you are after. Good luck, I hope things work out well for you x Nicola

My daughter has a really long tongue too! Maybe you are onto something there!!

Hi there, my daughter was sick all the time when she went onto proper food. If she coughed while eating she would do just as you described and be copiously sick! It happened all the time, I took her to the gp and he didn't even look in her mouth as she was gaining weight and happy. I have no advice I'm afraid on stopping it or whether it sometimes is a medical problem but its always nice to know someone else has had it! She is now 4 and is fine, it gradually started to happen less and less from about 18 months and stopped completely by about 2.5. Good luck, hope its all fine for your LO too. Nicola x

Hi Charlotte, Poor you, sleep deprivation does feel like a form of torture! I agree with Ruth about the dreamfeed, this would at least help you discount hunger as the cause of further waking. Sleep problems are more common in ebf babies but I think this is more due to the comfort they get from the feed rather than the fact breastmilk is thought to be less filling, especially in regard to older babies. When you do breastfeed her in the night do you feed her until she is asleep? What about when you settle her to bed in the evening? If there is a 'prop' that she uses in order to settle and that prop requires your intervention then this is probably the cause of the night waking. If you think that is the case then eliminate the prop and choose a sleep training method (I would suggest something other than ferber controlled crying or cry it out for a 6 month old)to settle her and stick to it. Hope I don't sound like a know-all, I am a child sleep consultant. Don't worry, you are not alone or I wouldn't be in business! I hope this helps x Nicola