Get to Know Me
My Story
Hi, I’m Beth! I live on the Wirral, Merseyside with my husband and 3 children. I first developed a fascination with baby sleep after the birth of our first child in 2008. She was born prematurely and spent some time in NICU. Although this was a challenging time, I was thrilled to be a mum and tried so hard to do everything right. I put my baby first all the time and made sure she put on the weight she needed to by feeding her constantly, day and night.
She was thriving and the health visitor was very happy with her progress. I was reluctant to admit that I was struggling with sleep deprivation as I thought that was how all new parents felt. My daughter had developed a need to be fed to sleep and enjoyed the feeling of being held through the night. As the weeks went on, I found it harder and harder to sustain and realised I needed to sleep train her. I read and researched and set about making the changes. The nights slowly got easier, and a daytime routine eventually emerged. It was life changing! We could plan days out and spend evenings having a meal knowing our baby was happy sleeping in her cot upstairs.
As a military wife, routine and predictability at bedtime was important to me. I would often be parenting alone so when our second baby came along, I was pleased to have the tools I knew would work to keep everyone happy and getting enough sleep. I was so surprised when my third baby was born, and he was not a ‘good sleeper’. My confidence was knocked because I couldn’t help my little boy get the rest he needed. He cried a lot during the day, took a long time to settle at bedtime and woke up a lot in the night. It seemed as though he would only sleep if he was being held or pushed in his pram. After he was diagnosed with silent reflux, I realised he was uncomfortable most of the time and would need extra comfort and care. Again, we had lots of sleep associations. He needed to be held a lot, especially for sleeping. I felt out of my depth as my familiar methods didn’t help him. I decided to seek advice from a sleep consultant and it was the best decision I could’ve made. Her advice and knowledge was just what I needed. I made the changes she suggested, whilst taking reflux into consideration, resulting in much better nights and a happier baby. Our whole family was happier after the help and guidance I received from the sleep consultant.
Although there were some difficult, sleep deprived moments, I wouldn’t change a thing! Sleep training was the right decision for our family and now I can use my experience and knowledge to help you. I trained to become a sleep consultant with The Sleep Consultant Academy gaining a certification with OCN London.