If you have a baby, toddler or child the chances are at some point you’ve had a pretty terrible night’s sleep. There is no way to truly describe that feeling of sleep deprivation without actually experiencing it! I remember thinking that my body was, at one point, purely running on coffee and adrenaline (but why is the coffee always cold?!).
If the terrible sleep continues and you want to make some changes, it can feel pretty scary. A mixture of reading on the internet, family conversations and chatting with parent friends can be confusing and often contradictory and you might not know where to start.
You can make some simple changes if you feel your current sleep routine and situation is not sustainable for you. If you’re happy with what you’re doing and you feel satisfied with your sleep, then don’t change anything!
If you do want to make some changes, here are some good starting points:
Darkness
Darkness stimulates your body to make Melatonin, the sleepy hormone. One of the best and easiest changes you can make is to make the room dark, as dark as you possibly can. There are wonderful products out there that you can use but if that’s too complex, simply sticking some brown paper or tin foil to the window works just fine! You should use darkness for all sleep (naps and nighttime sleep). You’re baby/child won’t confuse day and night.
Look at how your baby or child falls asleep
If you want to make changes, then there are various approaches available to you. This might be moving away from co-sleeping or feeding to sleep or just making little tweaks to the timings. We can fully support you with any changes you are comfortable making!
Simplicity
A good starting point is not making the room too stimulating. The more stimulated you are, the less likely you are to fall asleep. Look from the perspective of the child in the cot or bed and see what things are in the room which might be distracting. This might be lights, walls decals or a cot mobile.
If you are tired of being tired, and you’d like some personalised support with making changes, then check out our website. We have information in the form of our free blogs, sleep guides and our 1:1 sleep packages with a consultant.
