Sleep nurse

[zv2010]

I have been trying to sort out my 5 month's old sleep for ages and I am close to giving in and ask for outside help. Has anyone had any experience with hiring a maternity nurse to help with sleep issues, i.e. sleeping through the night, daytime routines, sleep associations etc?

Thanks in advance from one tired mum.

[fordybee]

No I haven't but have you tried www.BabySleepAnswers.co.uk? Just recommended them to someone else on the dummy thread.... I used them and thought they were brilliant - much cheaper than a maternity nurse, if it works maybe worth a go?

[zv2010]

Thanks, maybe I should give them a go.

[randomv]

Hi there

Am PMing you..

[The Nappy Lady]

Snowboarder is worth speaking to as well - maybe PM her.

Xx

[Gussy]

I second BabySleepAnswers as well. Used them with my first to get rid of the dummy and it set us on the right track.

[ljs]

nightnannies

[nunheadmum]

Would thoroughly recommend Night Nannies. Used them with my second when she was 4 months and was sooooooo glad I did. It really helped her sleep and gave us the confidence to deal with later issues as and when they arose.

Not cheap but probably the best money we spent in those early months!

[canadianlisa]

We use this;

http://www.sleepingbabies.co.uk/index.htm

They sent a lovely lady who was a really experienced nanny and nursery teacher. It was not cheap but was worth it as she helped us solve our big time sleep issues- my daughter was waking for literally hours in the middle of the night and it was killing me! She also helped with routines around daytime sleep and feeding.

PM me if you want to speak more.

Lisa

[Saila]

2 mums out of our nct class hired maternity nurses which seemed to work really well for them

they literally solved the problem within a week - it was amazing considering that these woman were struggling to leave the house. i remember visiting one mum on day 4, and she swung the door opening, and shouted with joy 'LOOK!! - I'm wearing make-up!'

the routines they used were the 7-7pm routine which is the same routine as the gina ford routine, but i think it really helped having someone explain sleep associations and help support them through sleep training i.e. letting a baby settle themselves.

however, if you're confident you can do it on your own those webistes, or just reading the gina ford book, - they just repeat themsevles and the core concepts are pretty straight forward to carry out with minimal cost:

1) encourage full feeds and steer clear from grazing which means they can sleep for longer periods

2) always start the day at 7am so then the night feeds fall naturally to one feed at 3am instead of 2 feeds - 2am and 5am - nightmare

3) allow the baby to settle himself. let him settle for 5 mins then if not asleep go in and reswaddle etc. keep repeating using patting etc but dont' pick them up and turn lights on as this just makes things worse. let them settle

4) babies will get over tired if they're awake more than two hours. try and avoid this as over tired is really tough to solve. (we used a dummy in this situation - so if going on a day trip and they can't get to sleep - dummies were a god-send but can cause dependence)

5) rocking a baby to sleep or feeding a baby to sleep could mean you'll be doing that a year down the line... back at work at 1am in teh morning... very tough.

6) make sure they get enough calories in the day for their age and don't over sleep during the day. NEVER keep a baby awake during the day thinking they'll sleep through the night.... see 4)

hope this helps or saves money! cos this is pretty much what they'll tell you

xxxx

[snowboarder]

HI we used Night Nannies too. Happy to tell you more about them if you want, but the only thing I would say if you are looking for outside help make sure you are fully signed up to the philosophy or method that will be used - if your heart's not in it it just wont work. Good luck - wish I'd done something at 5 months - I muddled through ridiculous extremes until 11 months. But I don't think I was really 'ready' until then.

[Ruth_Baldock]

Hiya,

I consulted (via email and telephone) a sleep expert, but finally me and my husband managed to sort out my son's sleep, by training him basically. We tried Pick Up Put Down and shush patting but the only thing that really worked was controlled crying. Not all sleep experts methods will work with your baby and your situation though, bear this in mind, because it didn't for us. We've only JUST sorted out his sleep, and he's 10 months old (started training him when he was 9 months)I think if you're doing to do CC, it's advisable to wait until they're over 6 months old in any case.

Until then, things that helped us:

-Daytime routine. We had a bedtime routine but no daytime routine.

-Consistency

-Throwing out 'The Baby Whisperer', it was guilt inducing.

-Asking for help, taking help when it was offered.

Good luck!

[Mook]

Hi. There is a Maternity nurse called Alison Scott Wright that is supposed to be brilliant - I know two mums who have used her and rave about her, she also featured in a recent TV program about sleep problems. She has a facebook page, if you search for her on there you'll probably be able to contact her that way. Good luck.

[Saila]

We started sleep training from about 4 wks. We never had to do controlled crying cos he never got into bad habits. It may be that you're fine and could catch things early enough.

Good luck

Xxxx

[Ruth_Baldock]

I agree with Saila, if you can get into 'good' sleep habits now, then you won't have to do any 'training' or unlearning bad habits when they're older-our baby would stay up till 10/11pm with us, or if he went to sleep at 7pm, the moment he woke up he'd be picked up and brought downstairs/in with us. In hindsight, if we'd soothed him for 5-10 minutes, we could have ironed out the problems ages ago.

I used to feed Baby Baldock back to sleep when we were still bedsharing. He didn't need the feeds and eventually he was waking up 10-12 times a night to nurse, again out of habit. Night weaning helped us, but I'm not sure if your baby is a wee bit young for that at 5 months?

[canadianlisa]

I agree with Ruth and Saila have said. Our problem was also not allowing our little girl to settle herself. We always rushed in to re-settle her with the dummying or breast feeding when she stated to make a noise. The plan our night nanny out together for us included getting her on a very structured routine in the day- doing this for one week and then moving on to controlled crying to sort out the night time wakings. We did it when she was 7 months old. It has not been a miracle solution. She still wakes up if she is ill, or teething or if we are on holiday but things are 100 times better. If you are mainly having good nights and good naps it does not seeem like a such an issue.

[zv2010]

Thanks everyone for sharing your experiences. Right now I am really trying to avoid any bad habits to form, this is why I am tackling it at this stage. Luckily my baby goes down easily at the beginning of the night and goes into the cot awake. Recently we have been having issues with more night time and early morning wakenings and the only thing that puts him back to sleep is the boob. Maybe he is just hungry. If we had a bad night it totally affects the next day and I am really struggling to put an overtired baby down for naps.

I'll see how it goes..

Thanks!

[Claire.Hobbs]

Those of you who have had problems with daytime sleep but night time ok...do you have blackout blinds? Not sure if worth investing in this as our daytime naps are getting increasingly difficult at 5 months. It takes ages now to get her to sleep and can't seem todrift off without boob following a few days of extra nursing due to teething. Cc does not work as she doesn't actually cry - she just talks to herself and can go onfor hours!

[Saila]

Yes, we have always used black outs. In fact I never open them. All he does in his room is sleep. Light still gets in but it's much easier

[Saila]

Yes, we have always used black outs. In fact I never open them. All he does in his room is sleep. Light still gets in but it's much easier for him to get to sleep this way

[Moos]

I used them while my son was getting settled into a routine and getting used to having 1-2 hour naps during the day.

However, I ditched them once he was sleeping well during the day, so that he could get used to being able to nap in a room that wasn't totally dark.

[canadianlisa]

Yes we use them and they helped a lot for daytime naps. We (well my Mum) lined our existing curtains. It is not totally dark but is darker. My little girl is a light sleeper, like me and her Dad, and seem to need the darker room to settle. I also thought that if I was napping in the day then I would find it hard to close my eyes in the bright sunshine as well. I do think though that it is better not for it to be super dark so there is an obvious difference between night and day. Naps also went a bit haywire for us at 5 months and then evened out again.