4 - 12 MONTH OLD

SLEEP GUIDE
CONTENTS
1. - 2. INTRO

3. LET’S GET STARTED

4. - 14. SLEEP ENVIRONMENT

15. - 30. ROUTINE & ALL YOU NEED TO KNOW ABOUT

YOUR BABY’S SLEEP

31. - 34. REGRESSION OR PROGRESSION?

35. - 44. SETTLING

45. - 47. TRAVELLING

48. - 51. TIPS FROM ONE MUM TO ANOTHER

52. - 56. LET THE FUN BEGIN, IT’S TIME TO EAT!

57. SUPPORT

58. - 60 . FAQS

61. CONTACT ME
INTRO
Hi, and welcome to The Sleep Teacher
tribe.
My name is Kristy Griffiths, and I am
“The Sleep Teacher”. Thank you so
much for choosing me to help guide
and support you and your child as you
try and navigate the tricky and
unpredictable skill of sleep.
I am so excited for you! The fact that
you are here, and have made the step
to purchase this package, proves you
are ready to make some changes and
are determined to get your child and
your family the sleep you need and
deserve.
You and your child don’t have to suffer
from fatigue any longer, you shouldn’t
have to dread bedtime, it should be a
calm and natural process for your
child, but they need to be taught how
to do this. Just like teaching your child
to toilet train or feed themselves, you
need to teach them to sleep, it doesn’t
come naturally.
This program is going to help you
gently teach your child the life skill that
is sleeping (falling asleep and staying
asleep).
I am also a mum, to 3 gorgeous girls
and I know all too well the debilitating
effects of sleep deprivation, I also
know that sometimes the hourly
wake ups or frequent catnapping isn’t
sustainable longterm, and I want to
help. As mums we are the foundation
for our entire family, and without sleep
we cannot function.
My goal is to ensure that parents
aren't suffering from unnecessary
sleep deprivation. Being a parent can be
exhausting and sometimes we will be
sleep deprived, but often a few small
tweaks to your child’s routine, or a few
changes to their sleep associations, can
reduce the number of night wake ups
and help consolidate their day naps.
I understand that there is no
one-size-fits-all approach when it comes
to sleep, every child is different and
everyone’s parenting style is different.
Thats where our sleep teacher programs
are different to other programs, I will give
you options. YOU will choose how you
settle your child in a way that you are
comfortable with. Through years of
working with over one thousand families,
I have found that the one thing that
hinders success when sleep training, is
inconsistency. If you aren’t comfortable
with something, you won’t be consistent
with it.
Unfortunately, there is no magic wand
when it comes to sleep. Sleep training
takes a lot of patience, persistence and
yes again, CONSISTENCY. You will hear
me talk a lot about consistency but I cant
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 Watch
introduction
video HERE!

stress this enough. It really is this simple. The habits or associations your child
currently has, have formed because you have been consistent with them.
If you are ready to make these changes to your family’s lives, then I would
recommend 21 days of consistency whilst you implement your changes.

Your child only knows what they know and it has taken them sometime to learn
this, so naturally it will take some time for them to learn the new changes we
are implementing. Your child probably won’t sleep through the night on night
one, in fact night one will probably be your hardest, but you will notice small wins,
and these small wins are what it’s all about. Bit by bit these small wins will turn
into one big win, and VOILA, all of a sudden you will see your perseverance and
consistency fall into place.

You CAN do this, you are not alone. There are millions of mums around the world
going through this as well. If you would like to connect with other mums that are
currently trying to improve their sleep also, you can chat to our team of sleep
consultants on our closed Facebook group by clicking HERE! You will have 2 months
access to our support group. I will be popping in for a live chat every so often to
answer any questions you may have.

I know this process can be daunting for a lot of parents, but it needn't be.
If consistent and determined, with the right tools you will begin to notice small
changes after a few days (remember it’s all about the small wins).
Sleep deprivation longterm is not healthy for anyone, and if you are feeling the
affects of this then more then likely your child is too. Let’s implement some
changes and improve not only your child’s sleep, but your entire family’s.

GOODLUCK!! I cant wait to hear about all the sleep you are getting after you finish
the program.

Kristy x x

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LET’S GET
STARTED!
There is a common misconception when it comes to sleep training - a lot of
people assume it means you put your child into bed, shut their door and let
them cry and cry and CRY until they fall asleep without returning to check on
them and reassure them. This really, really upsets me. It is so far from the truth
and I feel we have come a long way from this method.

Sleep training includes assessing a combination of factors that could be

contributing to your child’s sleep troubles. Throughout this program you will be
able to take a look at these contributing factors and ensure they are optimal
for sleep.

For example:

• Sleep environment
• Age appropriate routine
• Sleep associations or habits
• Nutrition

Oh, and there will be no leaving your child to cry it out for hours and hours on
end. Our method allows you to gently support, reassure and guide your child
through this process.

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SLEEP ENVIRONMENT
First things first, if we are going to try and help your child (and
yourself) start sleeping better, we need to set the scene and make
sure their sleep environment is optimal. This will help make this
transition as seamless as possible.

Safe Sleep Guidelines:

We have your baby’s safety at heart just as much as you do,

please take the time to read through the below links on the SIDS
website and make yourself familiar with safe sleep guidelines prior
to starting The Sleep Teacher program.

https://rednose.org.au/section/safe-sleeping

https://rednose.org.au/section/safe-environment

https://rednose.org.au/section/birth-to-one-year-old

https://rednose.org.au/section/safe-lifestyle

https://rednose.org.au/section/safe-practices

SOME OF THE KEY POINTS TO CONSIDER ARE:

• Always sleep baby on their back

• Keep head and face uncovered
• Ensure safe cot and mattress
• Place feet at bottom of the cot/bassinet
• Keep baby smoke-free, before and after birth
• Avoid loose blankets, bumper, stuffed animals etc in cot
• No soft surfaces for sleep

CLICK HERE
to see how we
recommend
setting your
babies room up

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1. DARK ROOM
Firstly, let’s get their room super dark!!
We want to ensure that their sleep
space is dark, not just darkish, but
black! If you can sit in there and still
see shadows around the room, it’s too
light. Babies are so easily stimulated,
something as simple as patterned cot
sheets or the shadows on the wall
can be enough to stimulate your child
and encourage them to become
overtired (game over mum!). I don’t
want you thinking you can’t have that
amazing nursery you have been
dreaming about over Pinterest for the
past year, you absolutely can!
I recommend using a Gro-blind on
your child’s window, this way you can
pull it back when it’s time for them to
wake up and let the natural light in.
Alternatively you can blu-tak black
cardboard on your window for a
cheaper option.
The reason I‘m suggesting having
the room pitch black and not just dark
is because we want to ensure that
when your child is settling themselves
or transitioning between sleep cycles
and briefly opens their eyes that
they can’t make out objects around
their room and become stimulated
by them.
Also because melatonin (the sleep
hormone) is produced far more readily
in darkness, and by ensuring their
room is as close to black as possible,
it will help to ensure that they are not
getting exposed to too much light
which produces serotonin - the
awake hormone.
This dark sleep space will not only
improve sleep quality, but quantity
too! A lot of clients ask me if their child
will get day and night confused if we
allow them to sleep in the dark of a
day? The answer is no. I always
encourage you to try and control how
much sleep your child is having of a
day to ensure they aren't getting
there big chunk of sleep of a day vs
at night.
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 4. SWADDLING /
SLEEPING BAGS
Yes, swaddling can be an absolute pain in
the butt, but it is very calming for a fussy,
colicky baby. Swaddling is very important
in the early days as your baby’s startle
(moro) reflex is still very strong. Under 3
months I do recommend using a muslin
swaddle or miracle blanket for a nice arms
down swaddle. I find that even the arms in
sleeping bags offer too much movement
and disrupt sleep cycles before they reach
3-4 months. You can then look at
transitioning to an age appropriate
sleeping bag like a love to dream or
ergo pouch.
Between 4 - 6 months is usually when I
would look at transitioning to an arms out
sleeping bag, purely because that strong
moro reflex has well and truly gone now
and the swaddling can start to become a
very strong association. I have included the
steps I recommend when transitioning to
arms out below. if you would like to use
this as a guide for when the time comes.
Some babies however are happy just to go
cold turkey with the swaddling and
transition to arms out fairly seamlessly.
If you find your baby’s association is still
fairly strong you can look at doing one arm
at a time to make the transition easier for
you both!
Swaddling to sleeping bag transition
-
You can try one arm out for one nap - if
that is successful try all naps for a few
days. Then try 7pm-10pm with one arm
out for a few days. Then try both arms out
for all naps, then try both arms out from
7pm-10pm. Then try both arms out all night
if and when all naps and 7pm-10pm are
successful. If your baby is rolling over onto
their tummy it’s really important we look at
unswaddling them for safety reasons.
Once you have moved to arms out, I would
suggest using a tog appropriate sleeping
bag or sleep suit for toddlers. Sleeping
bags are such positive sleep associations
as they help prompt a baby to know what
is happening and that it’s time to start
winding down for sleep. It will also give you
peace of mind that their little bodies aren’t
cold when the temperature drops in the
early hours of the morning. I find that until
a child reaches at least 2.5-3 years of age
they do not have the ability to find and
replace their blankets overnight and will
often wake because they are cold.
I would recommend using a sleep suit
until this age.
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5. ROOM TEMPERATURE
A room that is too warm or too cold can disrupt sleep for a long time before you
work out what is causing wake-ups. We want to aim for a temperature between
19-22 degrees. Most baby monitors these days include temperature gauges on
them which will help you to keep an eye on your baby’s sleep space. Some classic
signs of being cold are babies sleeping with their bottoms up in the air, early rising
and excess feeding or urination (they do both of these to keep warm).

Always use a tog appropriate sleeping bag. This sleeping bag will not only act as
an extra layer, almost like a blanket or sheet that we would use, but it will also
become such a positive sleep association for them.

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6. SLEEP PROPS
OR ASSOCIATIONS
What is a sleep prop or association?
A sleep prop or association is something your little one relies on to fall asleep and
stay asleep. These can form very easily.
Babies learn through patterns and repetition and when they are little newborns
their sleep cycles are much longer and they have the ability to sleep in longer
stretches with a lot of parental involvement. But once they come through the
newborn stage, around 3 - 4 months old, and sleep cycles have shortened, parents
often start to notice them waking a lot more and resisting sleep or become harder
to resettle, when previously it wasn't as hard.

This can be because their 'sleep associations' are now becoming very apparent to
them, and which is why a lot of parents look to start moving away from fully
assisting little ones to sleep and introducing to them a new pattern or way of falling
asleep. There are both sustainable and unsustainable sleep associations.

A sustainable sleep association is something your baby can associate with sleep,
but doesn't involve something or someone to replace it at each waking.

For example:
• A comforter
• A sleeping bag
• White noise
• Thumb sucking
• Dummy - if they are old enough to find and replace this and are not reliant on
you for this.

An unsustainable sleep association is something that impacts your child's sleep

because they have the expectation that it will be present each time they complete
a sleep cycle. This means it requires someone to go and recreate a certain
circumstance time and time again until it is wake up time or a feed time.

For example:
• A dummy - If they are under 8 months they wont have the ability to find and
replace it.
• Rocking/holding to sleep - (There is absolutely nothing wrong with doing this but
just be mindful that your child will more than likely wake after one sleep cycle
looking for this to resettle)
• Nutritive and Non Nutritive sucking - It may be breast or bottle.

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7. ENVIRONMENT
CHECKLIST
•Darkroom
• White noise
• Sleeping bag
• Following safe sleep guidelines
• Introduced a comforter
• Identify what your bub Is associating with sleep and noting whether
It Is sustainable for you or not

With sleep associations it's important to understand that your child

will more than likely require them to settle and then resettle. This is
where some of them can start to have an impact on theirs (and your)
sleep. They will fall asleep on the breast/bottle/ dummy or in your
arms being rocked, then they will be placed into the cot. When they
transition between sleep cycles around 30-LIO minutes of a day and 2
hourly overnight, they will have a partial wake up and subconsciously
think, "I was in mum's arms or sucking (breast, bottle, dummy) but
now I'm in the cot and I want to go back to sleep but I need this
association to go back to sleep". They will cry out as their way of
communicating, and we will then go into the room and offer this
association in an effort to help them resettle. This only cements the
need for this association and continues the cycle. This is where some
associations can become unsustainable. Please note, there is
absolutely NOTHING wrong with assisting your child to sleep in any of
these ways, we are simply highlighting how they can start to impact
sleep in a way that may not continue to work for you and your family.

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8. THE DUMMY
If your child is under 6 months I would recommend removing the dummy
cold turkey. This means throwing them in the garbage, the old “out of sight
out of mind” is really important. It’s very tempting to reach for that dummy at
1,2,3am. So we want to remove any temptation. Yes your child will be slightly
fussy for a day or 2, but then it will be a distant memory. If you choose to
keep the dummy, please be mindful that we cannot expect them to
consolidate their sleep cycles if they are reliant on this and you will have to
manage it for them until they are old enough to find and replace it.

Finding and replacing a dummy - once your baby is over 7 months of age
and heavily reliant on the dummy for settling, we can look at teaching them
to manage this themselves so they are not reliant on you to find and replace
it between every sleep cycle.

More often than not, once we introduce a settling method, our child becomes
fairly capable of settling and resettling without it overtime.

How do we teach them to find and replace it? I recommend using a

comforter similar to a sleepy tot or Kipins if you choose to keep the dummy.
We have to remember that their room is very dark so trying to find a tiny
dummy in a big cot with no light can be difficult. A sleepy tot or similar, is a
great way to help your child manage their dummy. I recommend bringing the
comforter out during their wind down routine. and placing it in their hand.
Every time you do a check in or go over to the cot you will place the
comforter in their hand and guide their hand to their mouth.

This process will teach your child how to find and replace their own dummy in
between sleep cycles. It will take a couple of weeks for them to learn this new
skill so be patient and they will get there with consistency.

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I recommend introducing a comforter after 7
months of age. The reason I suggest this is
because when we try to replace one
association (feeding, rocking, holding etc) we
tend to replace it with another, so whatever
that alternative is, we want it to be sustainable.
A comforter is something that can be used well
into toddlerhood and can be taken anywhere.

When your child starts having sleepovers at

their grandparents etc, all they will need is their
comforter and this will essentially make their
transition to sleeping in a different environment
much more seamless.

A comforter should always be made of

breathable material (muslin is perfect) and of
handkerchief size. Once your baby is able to
confidently display head and neck strength and
lift/turn their head, we should be able to
introduce a comforter.

SOME OF MY FAVOURITE COMFORTERS:

• Klplns
• Muslin wrap cut Into small squares around
35cmx35cm and the corners knotted. This Is a
great way to get at least LI comforters from Just
one swaddle.
• Aden and Anals Musy mate
• Riff Raff (we don't recommend using the
lullaby on these as they stop after LIO minutes.)

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9. WIND DOWN ROUTINE
Babies and children thrive off routine, it is often all that they know! As adults
we have our own wind down before bed, it may be washing your face,
brushing your teeth, reading a book or scrolling through your phone.
Although this may not seem like it, this is your wind down routine.

It is pretty hard to expect a child to go from a brightly lit lounge room that has
had the TV on and lots of stimulation, to then be placed into a cot and fall
asleep. They need to wind down. Especially babies, they can become so
easily overstimulated.

The wind down routine is a very effective tool. But we need to be consistent
with this wind down routine whilst we are trying to teach our child to sleep.

By creating a wind down routine and introducing this into their day, it will
really help your child know what is happening and what to expect next,
SLEEP.

It doesn’t need to be anything lengthy, just something as simple as going into

their room, turning on the white noise, getting into their sleeping bag, having
a story or song and saying your usual goodnight phrase (this maybe “sleepy
time” “time for nigh nighes” etc). When done repeatedly, this should be
enough to prepare them for sleep. This wind down should start at least
10mins before being placed into the cot. The times I have suggested in the
routine are times I recommend being asleep by, not the times I suggest
placing your child into the cot, so we would always start our wind down
earlier in preparation for this.

I recommend doing a similar wind down routine before their lunch nap too,
minus a bath and feed. This means you will still go into their room, pop them
into their sleeping bag and read your story or sing your song and say your
goodnight phrase. You will very quickly start to notice your baby responding to
this wind down, they will start rubbing their eyes or even start protesting.
This protesting is very normal as they get older, it’s because they know sleep
is approaching and they don't want to miss out on everything else that is
going on in the outside world.

WIND DOWN CHECKLIST:

• Bath (night only)
• Shut blinds and use dim lights
• Baby massage (optional)
• Into sleeping bag
• Milk feed in room (night only)
• Book or song
• Turn white noise on
• Goodnight phrase
• Into cot
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10. ILLNESS
I highly recommend not
implementing any sleep training
until your child is 100% well.
I suggest you get the OK from your
GP before starting. If you have any
medical concerns regarding your
child (including snoring).
Please ensure you check with your
health professional/GP/
paediatrician.

Ok, so now we have gone over all

of the environmental factors that
contribute to your child’s sleep,
I would like you to take a week of
ensuring that all of these are in
place before we move on to
making some more adjustments
to their sleep.

14
You will notice that I don't offer
programs before LI months of age.
This is because I feel it is important to
just do what you need to do in those
early days and really bond with your
baby. Enjoy that skin to skin time. As a
new mum there is so much to learn,
for both you and your baby. I really
don't like parents putting pressure on
themselves to try and establish a
routine. In all honesty, before this age
you probably aren't going to be
successful anyway. From LI months
when a baby's maternal melatonin
has worn off and they have started to
produce their own sleep hormones,
it's really important we look at starting
to understand their need for a sleep
routine just as much as an eating
routine. It's also a great time to start
making changes to your baby's sleep
as their sleep is now mature which
means it will be easier to form some
kind of consistent routine. I always
recommend following a feed.play.sleep
routine. This ensures your child isn't
feeding to sleep and then depending
on this to settle and resettle.
By feeding on wake up, it also gives
your child time to digest the feed,
rather then going to bed with an
uncomfortably full tummy.
Routine is the most important thing
when it comes to our child's days.
Feeds and sleeps all need routine to
them. Babies and children thrive off
routine (just like we do). I am obviously
all about the routine.
Most parents cringe at the thought of a
strict and regimented routine, they feel
this will dictate their every move and
they will be house bound all day every
day. I can promise you that a routine will
not only make your and your child's lives
easier, but you will also be able to get
out and about in these predictable
awake windows with a baby who is
happy and content from their routine.
There will be no more cancelling plans
because your child fell asleep just before
you were due to walk out the door or
leaving a catch up early because your
child gets unsettled. You will have a
predictable routine to make plans
around. It also allows you to allocate
time into your day to deal with the tasks
of every day mumlife, cooking, cleaning
etc. 100% of my clients who were
reluctant to established a routine have
come back to me and said how much
they love their new "routined" life.
I recommend sticking to these nap
times consistently for a 2 week sleep
training phase. This may mean waking
your baby up at 7am, it may mean
capping a morning or afternoon nap
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and it may mean resettling at the
longer lunchtime nap. All of this
structure and consistency is for
a short period whilst we try to
teach your child to self settle
and consolidate their sleep, day
and night.
I understand that you cannot
possibly stick to a 6.30/7pm
bedtime every night, there are
always going to be late nights,
thats just life. BUT again, whilst
we commit to this for the next 2
weeks I cannot stress the
importance of sticking to the
suggested routine. Trying to settle
or resettle an overtired baby is not
fun for them or you, so by sticking
to the routine we can ensure that
they aren't over or under tired.
Once the sleep training phase is
up and you feel everything has
fallen into place then absolutely
there is flexibility, go out and have
your naps on the go. Just make
sure you get back on track again
the next day. Consistency is key.
There is an exception to this, the
i
morning and 3rd nap ( f applicable)
can be assisted. This means, if
you want to have this in the pram
or carrier etc and get out and
about fo r this then thats fine.
Because they are such sho rt naps
I would rathe r you r child have their
nap then you spending ha f an
l
hou r trying to settle them and
putting all of thei r naps out.
DROPPING FROM 3-2 NAPS:
The third nap drops off anywhere
between 6.5-8 months (usually
closer to the 8 month mark) but you
will start to find it harder and harder
to achiever as they get older. This is
again why we recommend having it
as an assisted nap.
Take this opportunity to get out and
about and get the nap in the pram
or carrier if you can as any nap is
better than no nap at all at this time
of day.
If you start to notice your little one is
having their nap, but fighting
bedtime it might be time to start
trimming this nap down. You may
like to cap the nap and reduce from
30mins to 15mins OR still offer the
30mins but extend the awake time
between the nap and bedtime to 2
hours as opposed to 1.5hours.
Once you have made the decision to
drop the nap altogethe r than we
would t ry to aim for around 3.5 hours
awake time between the lunch nap
i
and bedtime. Once your l ttle one is
tolerating this, then we can work on
slow ly increasing the awake time by
10mins eve ry so often until you have
reached LI hours awake time. (You r
routine should now stay fair ly
consistent until that morning nap
drops around 1L l-18 months.) I know
going from 1.5 hours awake tp 3.5 of
a n afternoon can seem huge, but
the reason we aim fo r at least 3.5
hours awake between the nap and
bedt ime is because if we offe r any
i
less you r l ttle one will treat bedtime
as their 3rd nap anyway.
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The 3rd nap is considered a “forced” nap because a baby does not have a
biological nap window at 4pm so therefore they will be much harder to settle.
This is the perfect opportunity to get out and about for a nice walk and give your
child a nap on the go.

As you can see below, I recommend a feed, play, sleep routine. When our babies
are born we pretty much feed on demand, they wake, they start to fuss and cry
and we feed them, and this works well. As they grow, we can start to believe
that every time they wake or cry that they need to be fed. This can lead to
snack style feeding and very short naps, and when they are having short naps
they can also become irritable and not want lengthy feeds.

So you can see it all works in a cycle. Its important we remain consistent with
this and stick to one big feed on wake up, if they wake early from the nap,
resettle then offer their feed at the next scheduled feed time, which may be
around 4 hourly depending on your child’s age.

When I ask new clients if they follow a routine, a lot of the time they will answer
with, “I just watch for tired signs”. This is a great starting point, however, this can
often end in a child that fights falling asleep and doesn't nap for long periods.
Why? Because often by the time your child starts showing tired signs, they are
already overtired.

The routines I have provided you with below are formulated with your child's
age appropriate awake windows in mind. These are the times your baby should
be ASLEEP again, not placed into the cot.
So if I recommend 12.30pm nap, I would probably start winding down just after
12pm then into the cot around 12.15pm if your child is learning to self settle. If you
do notice any tired signs, rubbing eyes, yawning, pulling ears, crying, blank stare,
fussing and it is earlier than the suggest nap time, start winding them down.
I would rather your child have an earlier nap rather than stretch them out and
they become overtired. Once their night sleeps start to consolidate you will see
them develop the ability to stay awake for longer periods in the day.

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 AGE APPROPRIATE ROUTINES
21 Month Routine: 21 Month Cat Nap:
7AM AWAKE & FEED 7AM AWAKE & FEED

9/9:15AM NAP 8:45AM NAP 1

10AM AWAKE 9:30AM WAKE

10:30/11AM FEED 10:30AM FEED

12/12:15PM NAP 11:15AM CONTACT NAP
15 MINUTES
2:15PM AWAKE
11:30AM AWAKE
2:30/3PM FEED
12PM FEED (try to make
4:30PM NAP sure bub has an
awake feed here)
5PM AWAKE & FEED
12:30PM NAP2
5:30PM BATH
1:15PM AWAKE (attempt 30
6PM FEED mins resettle through
contact/motion nap
6:15/6:30PM BED
2PM FEED

3PM NAP3

3:45PM AWAKE

4PM FEED

5PM NAP4

5:30PM WAKE

6:30PM FEED

7PM BED

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AGE APPROPRIATE ROUTINES

5 Month Routine=

7AM AWAKE & FEED

9:15AM NAP

10AM AWAKE

10:30/11AM FEED MILK or

MILK & SOLIDS

12:30PM NAP

2:15PM AWAKE

2:30/3PM FEED

4:30PM NAP

5PM AWAKE & FEED

SOLIDS or MILK

5:30PM BATH

6PM FEED

6:30PM BED

10:30PM OPTIONAL
DREAM FEED

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 AGE APPROPRIATE ROUTINES

6-7 Month Routine=

7AM AWAKE & MILK FEED

7:30/7:45AM FEED SOLIDS

9:15/9:30AM NAP

10AM AWAKE

11/11:30AM SPLIT FEED 1/2 MILK FEED THEN

SOLIDS THEN 1/2 MILK FEED

12:30PM NAP

2:30PM AWAKE & MILK FEED

4:30PM FORCED NAP (May only be 15

minutes if lunctime nap was good)

5PM AWAKE & FEED SOLIDS

5:30PM BATH

6PM MILK FEED

6:15PM WIND DOWN RITUAL

6:30PM BED (This means asleep by this

time. Try to start the wind down
ritual a little earlier in prepartion
for this.)

NOTE: The 'forced nap' can be anywhere from Ll:30-5:30 even if

15mins. Bedtime will then be 1.5-2 hours later.

20
 AGE APPROPRIATE ROUTINES

8 Month Routine:
7AM AWAKE & MILK FEED

7:30/7:45AM FEED SOLIDS

9:30AM NAP

10AM AWAKE

11/11:30AM SOLIDS THEN MILK FEED

12:30PM NAP

2:30PM AWAKE & MILK FEED

5PM SOLIDS

5:30PM BATH

6PM MILK FEED

6:15PM WIND DOWN RITUAL

6:30PM BED (This means asleep by this

time. Try to start the wind down
ritual a little earlier in prepartion
for this.)

YOU COULD ALSO DO A 1-3PM

NAP WITH A 7PM BEDTIME IF
THIS SUITS.

* It is common at this age for babies to need to extend their awake

time to closer to 3 hours between the morning and lunch nap so if
you find they have started to shorten their lunch nap when going
down at 12.30pm you may like to start pushing it out to 1pm
to help develop the drive to sleep for the longer lunch nap.
21
AGE APPROPRIATE ROUTINES

9-12 Month Routine=

7AM AWAKE & MILK FEED

7:30/7:45AM FEED SOLIDS

9:30AM NAP

10AM AWAKE

11/11:30AM SOLIDS THEN MILK FEED

1:00PM NAP
3PM AWAKE & MILK FEED
5PM SOLIDS

5:30PM BATH

6PM MILK FEED

6:15PM WIND DOWN RITUAL

6:30PM BED (This means asleep by this

time. Try to start the wind down
ritual a little earlier in prepartion
for this.)

22
BIOLOGICAL NAP WINDOW

Our child’s body has what are called “biological

nap windows”, this is the time of day when
their bodies are at their optimal for sleep.

During a biological nap window a child’s body

z
z
temperature and hormone levels adjust in
preparation for sleep.

So, not only will they be easier to settle at this

time, but they should also sleep for a longer
period.

For a baby these nap windows fall between

9-10am, 12-2pm and 6-7pm. This is why I always
suggest aiming for a bedtime between 6-7pm
for most children under 5 years of age.

z
As our child reaches their biological nap
windows they will have a rise in melatonin,
which is produced more readily in darkness.
This is why a dark room is so important.

23
AGE APPROPRIATE
AWAKE WINDOWS
An age appropriate awake window is the time between when your baby/child
wakes to when they should be asleep again.

Why are they so important?

This is because once your little one exceeds this window they will more than
likely become overtired. If our little ones are over or under tired, it is very easy
to get stuck in a pattern of very difficult to achieve and or short naps.
The below table is a "loose" guide and will vary from child to child 15 minutes of
so either side of this guide.

Now, I do want you to be mindful that an awake window will always just be a
loose guide and its more important to follow a routine as opposed to awake
times. I like to think of awake times as a back up, in case your day doesn't go
according to plan and you aren't sure when to put your baby down again.

Our routines have been created using age appropriate awake times and I would
recommend sticking to this vs the awake times themselves and use the awake
windows if your day ever falls off track.

You will notice that the awake times in our routines can vary slightly throughout
the day, especially as your little one gets older. This is because as much as we
don't want our little ones to become overtired, we also need to be mindful that
they do need to develop a drive to sleep to help encourage that longer stretch
of night sleep.

AGE AGE APPROPRIATE AWAKE TIME

1-3 weeks LI0-60 minutes

Ll-6 weeks 60-90 minutes

7-12 weeks 90 minutes+/-

LI months 1 hour Ll5 minutes

Aim for 2 hours

6 months Aim for 2.5 hours

18 months LI hours+

G years+ 5 hours+

24
OVERNIGHT FEED
EXPECTATIONS
I wouldn’t expect a baby to go cold turkey with
their night feeds, this would be too harsh.
Because your child is now over 4 months of age
I would recommend no more than 2 feeds
overnight. This means you would feed your
baby before bed, around 6pm(ish) then there
would be 2 more feeds between then and their
7am milk feed on wake up.

I would recommend setting your goal as 2

feeds if your child has previously been having
more then this. If they have been having 2 or
less then I would recommend 1 feed.
If they have not been having a feed overnight
but have been waking for a resettle other ways,
then I would not introduce a feed now.

25
HOW TO APPROACH
2 FEEDS OVERNIGHT
If you are starting at 2 feeds then we will set these feed times
at no earlier then 11pm and 3am. So, essentially 4 hourly which is
what we would be expecting of a day for this age anyway. This
is a nice way to slowly regulate all of the calories that your child
has been consuming of a night into their day.

We are not going to be waking our babies for a feed at these

times, we wait for them to naturally wake and then push out
the next feed accordingly. For example, if your baby slept past
11pm and didn't wake until 12.30am, their next feed time would
be 4.30am.

If they woke before their recommended feed time we would

resettle using your chosen settling method until they are asleep
or until it reaches the 4 hourly feed time. Don't feel that you
haven’t achieved anything if your child doesn’t resettle and you
reach their feed time and end up feeding them. This means you
have stretched them to four hourly which is a huge win if they
are not used to doing this. You will notice after a couple of nights
of regulating their calories that these four hourly feeds become
the new norm.

You will know your baby is ready to drop to one feed a night
once they start refusing their morning feed at 7am. If this is the
case, they are over 6.5kgs and you are ready then you can move
onto 1 feed overnight. We do this by reducing down the feed
closest to morning. If you are bottle feeding, I would suggest
reducing the bottle to half of what you normally offer, or if you
are breastfeeding, I would only offer 1 breast as opposed to 2, or
approx half of what you would normally offer. I find timing how
long they normally feed for helps to determine how to break
down the feed if they are breast feeding. After 4-7 nights of
offering a half feed at 5am you would drop this feed. You should
notice your child is slowly starting to show more interest in the
7am feed. You can now resettle at this second feed and move
onto 1 feed overnight when ready. Resettling at this feed time
will be more difficult than normal for the first few days but with
consistency you will get there again I promise, just as you did
establishing 2 feeds.

26
HOW TO APPROACH
1 FEED OVERNIGHT
If your baby is more than ok with 2 or less feeds a night and is not waking in
between the 4 hourly feeds, and is over 6.5kgs then its ok to move onto one
feed overnight.

I would recommend this feed occurs no earlier then 1am. If your baby woke
before or after this time, then you would resettle using your chosen settling
method. When you are confident your child is ready to drop their last remaining
feed and you have got the go ahead from your doctor then you can use the
same approach as above. Reduce down the volume of the bottle or the time at
the breast to half and continue this for 4-7 days. Your baby should then be ready
to just be resettled at this wake up time now. It will take a few days again for
them to regulate their calories across into the day, so just be patient while they
adjust. If you find your baby does not resettle and becomes increasingly upset,
this could be a good indication they are not ready to drop this feed and you
can always reintroduce for a few more weeks and try again when you feel
more confident.

27
THE DREAM FEED
Dream feeds are one of things that either works or it doesn’t, there really isn’t
an in between.
In my personal experience, I don’t find it works majority of the time. There is a
small percentage of babies who adapt ok to it, but for the majority it actually
has the opposite effect.

Our little ones feed so frequently throughout the day, this really doesn’t give
their teeny tummies a chance to rest and digest all that milk.
So what tends to happen with a dream feed is that not only are we waking our
little one in their deepest stretch of sleep (6.30pm-11.30pm) we are also adding
unnecessary wind and calories into their tummies, when there isn’t any need.

These extra calories/wind can build up and cause reflux and digestion problems
over night and as a result, cause more and more wake ups. I suggest letting
your baby naturally wake and feeding at this time if needed. A feed as early as
10pm can also mean the difference between 1 night feed or 3.

So by waiting for them to naturally wake, when they are ready we may see
one feed around 2am or we could feed them at 10pm and see a 1am and
5am also.

If you are going to do a dream feed I don’t recommend doing it past 7 months
as this can start to become habitual by this point, and your baby may just be
waking purely because they are used to the calories, not because they need
them.

28
BABIES SLEEP CYCLES
Babies, just like adults have sleep cycles, although babies are
slightly shorter. A baby’s sleep cycle lasts around 40 minutes
approx and an adults is around 90 minutes. As adults we are able
to seamlessly transition from one sleep cycle to another, babies
often don't develop this ability for sometime. It is developmentally
normal for a baby around 3-5 months of age to catnap. This is
often when a lot of parents will feel something isn’t working with
their child's sleep as they previously got good 2 hour stretches of
sleep and now struggle to get 45 minutes. You may feel like that
good routine and long stretch of night sleep you had worked on is
falling apart. This is all so normal. Although referred to as a
regression it is actually a progression your child is making, as their
sleep is now mature, so without making some changes to sleep
hygiene, these changes are often here to stay.

The graph below explains how your babies sleep cycles are set
out after the 4 month regression. REM (rapid eye movement) sleep
is the light phase of sleep, REM sleep is when we dream and our
minds are still active. This phase of sleep is when you will hear
your child make noises, flicker their eyes open and even make little
smiley faces. Non REM sleep is the deepest phase of sleep, this is
when our bodies restore and repair themselves, you could most
likely go into their bedroom and vacuum and they would not wake
during non-rem sleep.

If your baby doesn't have the ability to self settle and/or is reliant
on a sleep prop to settle, then these sleep cycles will be much
more apparent.

29
 0-10 MIN
Starting to
fall asleep

45-50 MIN
Light sleep,
easy to 10-20 MIN
wake up Getting
BABY’S SLEEP deeper
CYCLE EVERY into sleep
45 MINUTES

30-40 MIN
Coming out 20-30 MIN
of heavy sleep
Heavily
asleep

30
REGRESSION OR
PROGRESSION?
Sleep regressions are a commonly discussed topic
when it comes to a baby’s sleep, and you will know if
your child is going through one.

As tiring and as frustrating as they can be, it’s

important to be mindful that this is actually rather
a progression in your child’s development, not a
regression.

Regressions usually coincide with growth spurts or

developmental milestones such as, walking, talking,
standing, sitting, rolling etc.

Here is a little break down on some of the regressions

you may experience.

4 MONTH REGRESSION:

Unlike the other regressions, which do tend to pass

with time, this regression is actually a more permanent
change in your child's sleep.
Why? Well, you would have probably noticed that your
baby slept fairly well up until this point, only waking
once or twice overnight and napping like a champ of a
day. Now 4 months has hit and they are catnapping
like a boss and waking every 2 hours overnight.
This is completely normal as their sleep is now
maturing. Before this point in time your child had high
levels of maternal melatonin left over from birth.
As this has now worn off and they are producing their
own sleep hormones, you will notice their sleep cycles
emerging and becoming more apparent, around 45
minutes of a day, and 2-4 hourly overnight.

What can we do to help this pass:

• As mentioned above, unlike the other regressions
your baby will go through, this one is more permanent,
so is unlikely to just “pass”. But you can help them
through it by making some changes to their sleep
hygiene and environment. The steps in this guide will
help you and your baby navigate your way through
this developmental progression.

31
8/10 MONTHS:

This regression usually coincides with the dropping of the 3rd nap (around 8
months). What happens is we drop the nap and just assume they can still stay
awake until their usual bedtime. This isn’t usually the case and it can mean we
need to bring our child’s bedtime earlier just slightly for a week or 2 and then
gradually put them to bed 10-15 minutes later, until they reach your desired
bedtime. This usually only takes a week if that. If we just hold them out until their
normal bedtime, then they will only end up overtired and this ain’t fun for anyone!!
When they are overtired they will experience lengthy night wake ups, early rising
and also be much harder to settle due to an increase in cortisol flowing through
their body. So what once was your good sleeper is now experiencing night wake
ups and their routine is out.

Throw all of the developmental milestones they will be going through into the
mix and we have a regression. Developmental milestones can include, crawling,
sitting up, walking, and pulling themselves up on the side of the cot. Our babies
are so excited with their newfound skill that they will practice, practice and
practice some more. Even if it means practicing at 1,2,3 and 4am!! I remember
watching my babies on the monitor on their hands and knees rocking back and
fourth. I would always give them a little bit of space to try and master their new
skill and try and resettle before I intervened. Often it would only take a few
minutes and they would go back to sleep, as more often than not they are doing
it during a light phase of sleep. All of these developmental milestones just make
it a little bit harder for them to stay in a deep sleep and also fall asleep, as they
naturally gravitate to their hands and knees or feet.

Separation anxiety also becomes very apparent at around 9 months and this can
play a part in your child protesting a lot more when put to bed. I often find a lot of
sleep associations form around this time, as a baby is naturally out of sorts you
will resort to getting them to sleep however you can and before you know it, your
child has set you a new little bedtime routine of rocking, bouncing and singing 5
different songs just to get them to sleep, every.single.sleep!!

32
What can we do to help this pass:

• Introduce a really good wind down routine, make sure this routine is consistent for
naps and bedtime.
• This regression can result in baby refusing naps for a couple of days due to
stamina, if you remain consistent it will come back fairly quickly.
• If you have just dropped the 3rd nap, make sure you move their dinner feed earlier
as we don’t want them falling asleep feeding. This will only encourage them waking
in the night.
• If your child has never been taught to self settle, now is the time. They need to
learn this life skill, just as importantly as toilet training. In terms of regressions, self
settling is usually the only way around these.
• I always stress to my clients going through developmental milestones, practice
during their awake time. Really master this skill while they are awake and active so
they don’t try and master while you’re asleep and nonactive!
• Take into consideration, that sometimes your child does just need a little bit of
space, try not to rush in straight away. A regression will only last a week or 2 but if
we start to rush in and stimulate them, this can create habits or associations out
of nowhere.
• Look at their nap length and time. Is this nap too long is it happening at the wrong
time. This is why I always stress the importance of an age appropriate routine.
• If you do find your days fall apart, and they absolutely will at times, just get back on
track the next day. Don’t assume everything is lost and falling apart, just remain
consistent and you will get back on track.
• I know I’ve stressed a lot of things but an early bedtime is something I will shout
from the rooftops!! If your baby is dropping naps, sometimes it does mean a
bedtime as early as 5.30-45PM. Crazy I know, and clients will often say to me that
their child still wakes at the same time regardless of what time they put them to
bed. I have no doubt this may be the case, but it means they are getting that extra
1-1.5 hours if we put them to bed earlier rather than waking grumpy and overtired
with a sleep debt.

33
12 MONTH REGRESSION:

This regression usually forms for a few different reasons just like
the 8/10 month regression.

There are a lot of mental and developmental milestones

associated with this age. Our babies are usually going through the
developmental milestones such as standing, walking or even
running. Then there are the mental/cognitive milestones such as
learning to talk and understanding their parents and environment
a lot more. These changes can cause a huge regression with
sleep and parents tend to think that now their child is 1 that they
must be ready to go to one nap, when it is often too soon. Babies
obviously have a lot more stamina too at this age so will start to
protest when put to bed, this will result in mum or dad assuming
they don’t need this nap. I usually recommend holding onto 2 naps
until between 15-18 months.

If we drop this morning nap too soon, a baby will become overtired
and if they go to bed overtired it will result in early morning wake
ups. It’s important we also look at the length of our child’s morning
nap before we consider dropping it all together. At this age it
should only be 30 minutes max.

What can we do to help this pass:

• Protesting the naps is usually just a sign of the regression, and it’s
important to remain consistent for 1-2 weeks while it passes.

• Look at length of morning sleep, ensure this is trimmed right back

and isn’t too lengthy, 30 mins max.

• I always express to my clients going through developmental

milestones, practice during their awake time. Really master this
skill while they are awake and active so they don’t try and master
while you’re asleep and nonactive!

• I know I’ve mentioned a lot of things as being important but an

early bedtime is something I will shout from the rooftops!! If your
child is dropping naps, sometimes it does mean a bedtime as
early as 5.30-45PM. Crazy I know, and clients will often say to me
that their child still wakes at the same time regardless of what
time they put them to bed. I have no doubt this may be the case,
but it means they are getting that extra 1-1.5hours if we put them
to bed earlier rather than waking grumpy and overtired with a
sleep debt.

34
SETTLING
Settling is usually where I find most
families (myself included) can come
unstuck. We tend to try something for
a day or two and then because
everything hasn’t worked as quickly
as we had hoped, we change
our approach.
It’s important to remember that our
child only knows how to fall asleep the
way they have been shown, this
maybe rocking, holding, patting, feeding
to sleep etc. and for one reason or
another this is no longer working, so we
need to gently teach them a new way
that is sustainable for the entire family.
This new approach needs to be
consistent. Unfortunately there is no
quick fix, it will take time, patience and
consistency. But you will get there,
I promise! The worst thing you can do
is constantly swap and change your
approach, all this does is confuse your
child, stimulate them and teach them
to cry harder and harder until they get
what they are use d to. This makes the
process much harder for both parents
and baby.
I understand that it is awful hearing
your child cry, I really do, but, I want you
to remember that it doesn't really
matter what approach you take, your
child will more than likely cry. This does
not mean they are hurt or in pain.
Babies cry for many different reasons
when there is change, it maybe
because they don't like the taste of a
certain food, they don't like being in the
car, they don't want to be put down on
their play mat. This is their way of
communicating that they don't like
something, not that there is something
wrong. Even a really good self settler
will often make noises before falling
asleep, it is a baby’s way of winding
down.
Before you start its really important you
listen to your child’s cries, become familiar
with the different types rather than going
into their room at every noise. I know as a
mum it’s our instinct to respond to your
baby if they make a sound, but often we
do this before they actually need any
assistance. This then hinders any chance
they have at developing the skills to self
settle. I want you to stop, listen, wait and
then respond according to their cries.
SETTLING VS RESETTLING:
The most frustrating component of sleep
training would have to be the resettling.
I find successful resettling is actually
harder to achieve then self settling itself.
Why?
This is because a child has to be able to
master a self settle before we can expect
them to be able to resettle. Then even
once a baby can self settle, we need to
reinforce the behavioural pattern of going
back to sleep after a sleep cycle and
resettling, rather than waking up.
It can be quiet tricky teaching your little
one how to consolidate sleep cycles prior
to 5 months, but from this age it starts to
get a lot easier and more consistent.
Now, this will take a lot of patience, but
with consistency (just like the self settling)
your little one will get there. I would
recommend resettling with the same
settling method you used to teach them
to self settle. With this in mind, take a
deep breath, be patient, resettle and
before you know it, your baby will be
consolidating their sleep cycles.
Please be mindful that it can take up to
2-3 weeks of consistency for your little
one to master the resettle.
35
 THE TWO DIFFERENT TYPES OF CRIES I WANT YOU TO
BECOME FAMILIAR WITH ARE:

Protest cry/whinge/grizzle: This type of cry has pauses and is

not at an emotional level. It will escalate up and back down in
volume. This is often their way of winding down.

Upset/emotional cry: An upset/emotional cry comes on fairly

quickly. There are no breaks in the crying, it is fairly consistent
with a high intensity for example, whah-whah-whah and
there are usually tears.

There are a few different methods I use when working with

clients, but the one I find most effective and the quickest is
spaced soothing. This method has lots of benefits such as,
allowing you to stop and start a timer and respond to your
baby according to their cries, with each check in giving them
a little bit of space so they aren't stimulated by you sitting
next to the cot. It works quickly, allows you the flexibility to be
in and out of the room if you have other children to tend to,
and by increasing the intervals, it allows them that little bit of
extra space at each check in rather then opening the door
and stimulating them every 2 minutes. You can imagine
yourself trying to wind down and fall asleep, then every 2
minutes someone comes in, lets the light filter in, checks
you’re ok then walks out, this can be quite frustrating as an
adult, let alone a baby. You would not only become frustrated
but also stimulated.

SUPER IMPORTANT!!
When introducing a settling technique,
I recommend introducing it at bedtime,
not for naps. The last thing we want its
Watch
to go into the night with a child who spaced soothing
has either not napped very well or demonstration
potentially protested their nap
altogether. The drive to sleep is also HERE!
higher at night too, so this will help
ensure the changes we are
implementing are going to be made as
seamless as possible.
Try to ensure naps throughout the day
are as good as they can be and aim to
start winding them down a little earlier
tonight in anticipation that they will take
a little longer than normal to settle.

36
1. After going through your wind down routine, and your baby is ready for bed
(you can get them slightly drowsy but still awake, with your usual approach if you
like for the first few days) kiss your baby goodnight, place them into their cot on
their back, say your sleepy phrase then walk out confidently, don't show any
hesitation as your child may sense this.

2. If your child starts crying, stop and listen, is it an emotional cry? Yes, then start
your timer. No, then give yourself a little job to do while they are settling
themselves. I recommend something nearby like folding some laundry or
unpacking the dishwasher #mumlife huh!! This helps to pass time, rather than
sitting there watching every second pass by on the clock.

3. If your child's cry turns from a protest/grizzle/whinge to an emotional cry, start

your timer. If they start calming down and start grizzling again. Stop your timer.
We essentially want the full 3 minutes of crying then we respond.
For example - if after 1 minute 10 seconds your baby stops crying and just starts
grizzling, stop your timer and restart when they become upset again. This isn't to
be cruel in any way, it is to give your baby that little bit of space they may need in
order to settle themselves. Remember babies will grizzle and chat to themselves
to wind down so if we were to go in during this point, it would only stimulate
them and make the process much harder.

4. When you get to your first 3 minute check in time, go in lie your baby down,
hand them their comforter and dummy (if applicable). Brush your hand over their
forehead and down over their nose, this helps to show them to close their eyes
and use some calming shush-shush-shush sounds. Take this time to vocally
reassure them that you are still close by, and reassure yourself too that you know
they are ok, they simply want to go to sleep, but they don't know how. (This is
where laying them down and brushing your hand over their forehead shows
them what to do = lie down and close eyes). Give them a nice bum or tummy pat
and try to reassure them. This check in is a brief reassurance and the aim of the
check in is to reassure your little one. More often than not, our little ones wont
actually calm down when we do a check in, as they will become frustrated that
we aren't doing what we normally would to assist them to sleep. We want to
keep our check ins brief, around 30-60 seconds max in the room. This is because
the longer we stay the more we will be upsetting them and also making the
process take longer, which will only lead to them becoming more overtired.
Sometimes a little bit of space is where the magic happens.

5. When you leave the room after the first check in, more often than not, your
child will cry immediately. If this is an upset cry, start your timer and repeat the

37
above process, only this time we move onto the second check in time of
5 minutes.

6. After we have completed the first 3 check-ins for the day, say, 3,5,8
minutes each check-in after this is 8 minutes for this settle. We do not go
any higher than this interval for this settle.

7. We repeat this process until your baby goes to sleep or for 1 hour of a day.

8. If your baby falls asleep, and wakes and needs resettling, we would start
back at the beginning of the check-in times for that day, i.e: 3 minutes.

Overnight you use this method to resettle your baby if they wake,
or until they were due for a feed.

THESE ARE THE TIMES I RECOMMEND FOR SPACED SOOTHING FOR

A 4-6 MONTH OLD BABY:

Check in Day Day Day Day Day Day Day

intervals 1 2 3 LI 5 6 7

3
2

3
3

LI
I
3

5
5

6
I 6

6
6

6
5- 5
LI LI 1- 6-1-6 6

LI LI 5 5 6 6 6

THESE ARE THE TIMES I RECOMMEND FOR SPACED SOOTHING FOR

A 7-12 MONTH OLD BABY:

Check in Day Day Day Day Day Day Day

intervals 1 2 3 LI 5 6 7

5
3

5
5

8
I 5

8
8

10
l 10

10
10

10

8 8 10T10 10T10 10

8 8 10 10 10 10 10

38
You can also use these times starting back at day 5 if you find your child's sleep
falls off track after a regression or illness etc.

It’s very important we respond to our child according to their cries and don't
over-stimulate them. Always use your instinct. If the check-in time is up and you
are just about to go in and they stop crying then just wait and listen as they may
be calming down and we don't want to open that door and upset them. If it is
more than 10 seconds reset your timer to the start of that interval when they
start crying again.

CONTINGENCY PLAN
Obviously every baby is going to respond differently to this and so is every parent,
so I wanted to give you a few different scenarios to help if things don't go
according to plan.

• If your baby has been standing or sitting up for 30 minutes and is not actually
upset, just grizzling / protesting / babbling, then go in and lay them down and
show them what to do, as they may not know to lay down if they are used to
being placed in the cot asleep.

• If your child is becoming increasingly upset by settling in the cot and not calming
down by this, and you’re not comfortable, then pick them up for a quick cuddle to
try and calm them down. Once they are calm, place them back into the cot, hand
them their comforter, say your sleepy phrase and leave the room. It’s important
you only spend a few minutes holding them as the longer you hold them it will
make the process much harder as it only confuses them.

• What happens if I have been trying this for 1 hour during the day and they aren't
asleep? Get them up and give them a sleep in their pram or car until as close to
3/3.30pm as possible. Don’t feel disheartened by this if they haven’t gone to sleep,
this is all new to them and they will slowly pick up on how to fall asleep in their
own bed. Your small win for today, is that you tried. Give yourself a high five!!

• What happens if my baby wakes after one sleep cycle or less? I recommend
trying to use your same responsive settling for 30-40 minutes or until as close to
nap time as possible. For example. Baby asleep 12.35pm, baby awake 1.15pm -
then use spaced soothing for 30-40 minutes. If your baby is not asleep after this
time, it’s safe to say, they probably aren’t going back to sleep, so please get them
up, have a snack and drink and take them for a drive or pram sleep or finish the
nap on you if you think they will.
It is really important to understand that often a baby will wake after one sleep
cycle when we are trying to teach them to self settle. This is because we cannot
expect them to be able to resettle if they cannot self settle yet. Mastering of the
resettle can take up to 3 weeks. Just be patient with your child. Especially if they
have been used to catnapping. This is something new that they just need to
learn. If we continue to just get our child up after one sleep cycle, we are just
reinforcing this behavioural pattern of getting up. This is not fun longterm.
39
ALTERNATIVE
SETTLING
METHODS
Obviously consistency is essential if we
want to get results. However, you aren't
going to be consistent if you are
uncomfortable with something.
Babies respond differently to different
methods depending on their
temperaments and everyones parenting
style is different. To accommodate this
I have included two other settling
methods you can use if you feel you or
your child will not respond using spaced
soothing.

40
PICK UP
PUT DOWN
Please understand that pick up put down is an in the
room method and does require a lot of patience. It can
take up to 2 weeks for this to fall into place, so it is easy to
become frustrated with the
process. However, it absolutely does work, you just need
to be consistent and patient.
Did I mention patient? Because this is an in the room
method, it allows you to be next to your child throughout
the entire process.

Because you are going to be next to your child’s cot, I

would recommend a floor cushion or something you can
get comfortable on, rather then sitting on the floor.

The reason I suggest sitting on the floor, is because this

encourages the child to come to your level and lie down.
As opposed to you standing over the cot, which will only
encourage them to sit/stand up.

41
1. Once you have completed your wind down routine, lay your baby in their cot
on their back and say your goodnight phrase.

2. If your baby doesn't seem to fuss or cry, then take a step back and wait until
you are 100% sure they are asleep.

3. If your baby begins to cry, don’t immediately rush over to them. Just give them
a few seconds and listen to their cry. This will help you determine if they are just
fussing or if they are genuinely upset and need you to comfort them. If they are
starting to cry, go and place your hand on them and use your voice, touch and
proximity to try and calm them down. Try shushing or some quiet reassuring
words like, “its ok darling, mummy’s here. It’s time for nigh nighes”. Remember to
remain calm and confident, this will help reassure your child immensely.
I recommend trying this for approximately 1 minute.

4. After a minute or so, listen to your baby’s noises. Are they working up in their
cries and becoming more emotional, or are they working down and starting to
have pauses and grizzle rather than cry?

5. If they are working up with their cries, pick them up and calm them down in
your arms. You can do this by holding them over your shoulder and patting their
bottom or rubbing their back or cuddling them in your arms with some patting.
Whichever works best. (If your baby has a strong feed to sleep association, JUST
for the first 3 days it is ok to give them a quick feed to calm them down, but NOT
to put them to sleep). It’s really important that the aim here is to calm them
down, not get them to fall asleep in our arms. Once your baby is calm enough to
go back into the cot, lay them down.

6. If they don’t seem upset, just take a slight step back and see if they fall asleep.
If they begin to fuss or cry, repeat the above steps until they are asleep.

7. Leave the room when you are 100% sure they are asleep.

8. This process will lessen overtime and you will find it requires less pick ups, less
touch and less vocal reassurance. Our aim is to gradually back off how much we
are assisting our child to sleep. For instance you may find the first few days you
need to pick up 15 times. But by day 4 you only need to pick up 5 times.

9. Once your child is comfortable going into the cot awake (approx 1 week after
introducing pick up/ put down) and has understood this concept, it is best to then
move onto the spaced soothing as your baby is most likely becoming stimulated
by you in the room now as opposed to needing you there to reassure them
continually.

* If your baby cries in your arms and isn’t calming down when you pick them up,
try this for 3-4 minutes max before returning them to the cot and giving them
some space to settle using your voice and touch. The picking up is more than
likely too stimulating for your babies temperament.

42
This method is also an in the room method and is a slower process than spaced
soothing. It suits a parent who is able to remain calm and likes to be next to their
child through the process. This technique will suit a baby who responds better to
proximity and less picking up/touch.

It's important with this method to know that your child will still have some upset
around the new way of falling asleep. It may seem that because you are in the
room with them it might lead to less tears than other settling methods. The truth is,
no matter which settling method you choose, you are moving away from their
'normal' therefore it is natural to have some uncomfortable days and nights until
your little one has time to establish a new way of falling to sleep and become
comfortable and familiar with this way just like they have before.

We always start with less and add more in if needed. Start with just sitting next to
the cot and use some nice calming vocal reassurance to let your little one feel your
presence. If after a few minutes your little one is still very upset, add some touch.
Add in some touch by patting their bottom or their tummy. Give this a few minutes,
if it does get to the point where a pick up is needed, remember that the aim of the
pickup is to reassure your little one, not to put them to sleep. Pop them back in the
cot after a 'reset' cuddle and try again. If the pickups/cuddles and touch seem to
upset your little one more, then a little bit of space might make all the difference.
Continue to sit by their cot using your shushing, but instead of patting them, try
patting the mattress as this usually acts as a focal point for them and allows them
to bring their attention to this, rather than the fact we have removed their sleep
association.
Please be mindful, we are not expecting your little one to settle instantly without
any protest, this is all new to them (and yourself) and we want to remain calm and
help teach them a new way to do this by gradually backing off each association/
doing less each night than the night before. This takes time and patience and the
confidence to know that they can fall asleep in other ways, but it doesn't happen
overnight. Take a deep breath and trust the process. You have got this.

DAYS1-3:
Spend the first 3 days sitting next to your child's cot. Place a cushion next to the cot
for you to sit on and get comfortable. Use your voice, touch and proximity to try and
calm your baby and settle them until they eventually settle themselves to sleep
with your presence and reassurance. Stay in the room until they fall asleep and
enter a deep sleep, approximately 10 minutes.

If they stand up, lie them down. Or try tapping the mattress to show them to lie
down. If after 5-10 mins they are becoming increasingly distressed you can pick
them up for a cuddle and to help calm them down. Then place them back in the cot
and repeat the above process.

43
Remember to remain super calm and relaxed as you do this, and remember, it's
ok for them to cry, you know they are ok, you are there with them supporting
them. They are simply frustrated as they want to go to sleep and don't know
how. You will notice as the days go on, your child will get better and better going
into the cot awake.

DAVS4-6:

At 3 day intervals we are gradually going to move your cushion further away
from the cot. I suggest moving your cushion approx 1-2 meters away from the
cot. This will now be your new settling position, day and night! This means we
have now progressed from voice, touch and proximity to just using voice and
touch occasionally.

Soothe your baby using your presence in the room and vocal reassurance.
Try some calm, quiet talking, shushing, singing or humming. Whatever you need
to do to calm your child. If you find that they don't calm down with just vocal
reassurance and need to be picked up and calmed down, that is fine, just try and
ensure this is now only every 10-20 mins as we are trying to gradually back off
how much we are assisting them to sleep. Remember, it's normal for them to
protest all over again because we are now essentially weaning off another asso­
ciation, just as we were on day 1.

DAVS7-9:

You will need to move your cushion a little further away, ideally you should now
be at least in the middle of the room. From here you are JUST using voice and
your presence to soothe. No touching or picking up. By now your child will be
familiar with what is happening and should be comfortable with this. Again, your
child will protest probably more so than they did when you tried to change your
usual way of doing things on days 1 and LI. This is completely normal and you will
most likely see things speed up after this. Hang in there mumma, you have both
come so far.

DAVS10-12:

This is the exact same approach as days 7-9, only this time you have moved your
cushion to the bedroom door.

DAVS13-15:

Move your cushion outside of the bedroom door and open it slightly at intervals
when needed to use your voice to reassure with a brief sshh. Just to offer a
reassurance you are close by.

Overnight, if it is a resettle time and not a feed time use the above approach,
sticking to the exact same approach you have been using for the day.

44
TRAVELLING
Travelling can always bring a little
anxiety with it. You may have finally
got your little one into a good sleeping
routine and now you’re going away, will
this all fall apart?

Well, the truth is, sleeping in a strange

place can always bring with it a little bit
of a restless sleep, even for us adults.
So, yes it can mean some disruptions,
but it doesn’t mean your good sleep
pattern will fall apart.

Try not to stress too much about

sticking to your normal way of doing
things, travelling at the best of times
can be stressful, let alone throwing a
baby in the mix. If you find you need to
feed or rock your little one to sleep or
use a dummy, even though you
normally don’t. Please don’t let this
worry you. It will keep the peace and
restore calm, and remember, you will
get back on track when you are home
again.

We want you to enjoy your holiday so

here are our tips for making travel as
seamless as possible:

1. LAY SOME GROUND WORK

BEFORE YOU LEAVE:
Try to get your baby on a consistent
nap and bedtime routine before you
travel. It will make the adjustment a lot
easier if they are use too consistency. If
your little one will be sleeping in a
travel cot while away, it’s a good idea
to get them used to this new sleep
environment for a few days before
travelling. I recommend using the
travel cot at home in their familiar
bedroom for 5-7 days before leaving.
All babies are different and some won’t
need this little warm up, but some will.
Try to plan ahead your travel times, if
45
you can time naps around the times
you will be in the car, this will make it
a lot less stressful. You may like to
have one nap in the car then a break
and some milk/solids, then another
nap then a break etc. Don’t feel you
have to be in the car for 5 or 6 hours
straight, break the trip up, it will be
easier for everyone involved.
2. WHAT SHOULD WE PACK?
Your porta cot that you have been
trialling at home.
Your comforter. As discussed earlier
on, a comforter is like your little ones
piece of home. It will make adjusting
to a strange environment a little
easier. You may even like to pack a
second one in case it or your
luggage goes missing.
White noise! You may like to use
your phone with an app or take
portable device with you. This will
help to act as a buffer for all those
unfamiliar noises that may go on
and it will also help for any naps you
are having on the go.
set their circadian rhythm. Then a
couple of hours before bedtime, try
to bring them inside, while trying to
make your accommodation nice and
dark, this will help get those nice
sleepy hormones flowing.
By encouraging this exposure to the
dark for an hour or 2 before bedtime
it will help set your babies circadian
rhythm also. Lets try this for 2-3 days
if possible, then your baby should be
fairly well adjusted to their new
Timezone.
Continue with your normal wind
down routine you have done at
home leading up to the trip, all these
sleepy cues will be familiar to your
baby and will help your little one
know what is happening.
Aim for some naps out and about
while away, this will ensure you are
spending your entire trip locked in a
hotel room. It will give you some
freedom, and also give your baby a
change of scenery. After all, you did
come to have a holiday!

Black out blinds. These will be your

best friend. It will make naps a lot
easier to achieve if they can’t
become stimulated by the
unfamiliar environment you are
trying to achieve a nap in. It will also
help your little one adjust to a new
time zone if there is a difference, as
the nice dark sleep space will
encourage the production of
melatonin (the sleep hormone).

3. TRY TO ADJUST TO THE NEW

TIMEZONE YOU ARE IN AS
SOON AS YOU CAN.
When you wake in the morning, take
your little one outside and expose
them to the sunlight, this will to help

46
4. ONCE YOU GET HOME, THINGS MAY
FEEL LIKE THEY HAVE GONE PEAR
SHAPED, THIS IS SO NORMAL.
Please remember your little one will be
adjusting again, especially if they have been
in a different timezone, so allow up to 2
weeks to adjust.

Just like we did when arriving at our

destination, I recommended waking your
little one in the morning to start their day
and adjust naps and bedtime to suit your
timezone back home. I also recommend to
try and spend a little down time once home,
try not to schedule in too many catch ups,
just focus on getting those naps back on
track and this will also help with night sleep.

If you find 2 weeks has passed and things

aren’t improving, it might just be a matter of
going back to basics and using your chosen
settling method again for a couple of days.
This will just prompt your baby to be able to
self settle again and remove any
associations that may have formed while
you were away.

47
TIPS FROM ONE
MUM
TO ANOTHER
EARLY RISING
There are a lot of contributing factors to
consider when it comes to early rising:
• Your baby’s sleep environment - are there
external noises causing these wake-ups?
Alarms, birds, traffic? This is where white noise
will become your best friend.
• Their room temperature, are they too cold?
This is where a tog appropriate sleeping bag
will really help. Remember to take into
consideration the drop in temperature in the
early hours of the morning.
• Are they overtired/undertired? Going down for
the evening overtired is one of the most
common reasons our child wakes early. Going
to bed overtired means going to bed with
excess levels of cortisol (the stress hormone)
which is what causes the early rising.
• Is their morning nap too early? If your baby is
having their morning nap too early or for too
long, this can cause early rising. Why? It’s
because their little bodies know they will be
getting their nap at this time and as their
awake windows become bigger they start to
wake earlier and earlier.
• Are they waking due to hunger? This is
understandable, as it has likely been around 12
hours since their last feed, so naturally they are
probably starting to get hungry. However, we
know they can do it, just like we can.
Try ensuring they have sufficient feeds in the
day (including protein when
it’s safe to introduce) and
make sure they aren't falling
asleep during their bedtime
feed and not finishing it.
If you find your baby is
consistently waking at 5/5:30
am regardless of being due
for a feed, I suggest treating
this as you would a night
wake-up and attempting to
resettle with your responsive
settling, as it is so close to
their morning feed at
6:30/7am. If resettling has
been unsuccessful and you
have both had an early start
to the day, don’t bring the
whole day forward. I suggest
holding the first feed off until
6:30/7am. Body clocks are set
by 3 things: food, light and
social interaction.
So we want to try and restrict
these things if your child does
wake early. If your child does
wake really early, which is
bound to happen one day or
another, I suggest trying to
resettle as you would
overnight. If they don’t fall
back to sleep, rather than
bringing their whole day
forward by a couple of hours,
offer a bridging nap.
48
BRIDGING NAP
A bridging nap is a 10 minute nap to help keep their day on track without them
becoming overtired. I recommend aiming for a bridging nap around 7am if your
child has woken before 5.30am. This will then help them make it through to their
morning nap without getting grumpy.

You may find the morning nap gets pushed back by 10-15 minutes also but
that’s completely fine, it’s much better than the entire day being out by a couple
of hours.

You may also use the bridging nap whilst trying to teach a catnapper to
consolidate their sleep cycles. If they wake early and don't resettle, this may call
for a bridging nap around 2.30pm for example. This bridging nap is not a
long-term solution, it is just a quick fix whilst we are trying to sleep train, because
let’s face it, trying to sleep-train a child who is overtired is not fun for anyone.
A bridging nap can be an assisted nap, which means you can hold them or feed
them to sleep etc. Don't worry about this undoing your hard work you have
already put in, this is just a small assisted nap and will be much better than the
alternative of an overtired child.

SLEEP LOG
Now that you are starting to implement some changes into your child’s day, it’s
important we keep track of this. A sleep log is the perfect way to do this. This will
become your bible. It will not only help you keep track of your child’s day, but it will
also help you keep track of the progress they are making. It will allow you to
pinpoint those “small wins” I spoke about early on. For instance, your small win for
day one might be that your baby stayed in their bed all night. This doesn't mean
they slept all night, it just means that instead of you bringing them into your bed,
you resettled them and they stayed in their own bed all night!! This is a huge win!!
Celebrate this and give yourself and your baby a pat on the back you should be
very proud. I have attached a sleep log example for you. Please don't feel you
need to format it on an excel spreadsheet, please, no mumma’s got time for that.
I suggest just keeping it in your “notes” on your phone or a notepad on your
bedside table so you quickly jot down your notes in the middle of the night.

TIME ACTIVITY
7am Awake and milk feed 180mls

7.30am Solids 1/2 cup baby cereal and apple puree

9.20am Put into cot

9.28am Crying - applied spaced soothing, check in (3 mins)

9.34am Crying - applied spaced soothing, check in (5 mins)

9.38am Asleep

10.10am Woke Baby up

10.30am Morning tea Banana

49
TRANSITIONING FROM COT TO BASSINET

How do you know when it’s time?

Well apart from the obvious sign of their head and feet touching
the ends.

There are other signs to look for such as:

* Are they getting out of their swaddle more then they were before?
* Are they waking earlier?
* Waking more frequently overnight?
* Are they over 3 months?
* Becoming more fidgety in their sleep?

These are just some of the signs I would take as it’s time to move out of
the bassinet and into the cot. The bassinet is not as stable as the cot
and as they get heavier this can create more movement in bassinet, the
constant stimulation can easily wake and startle a little baby when
transitioning into a light phase of sleep, hence the more frequent night
wake ups and restlessness.

There are a couple of slow approaches to transitioning. You can start by

moving the bassinet into your babies room for naps and as they get use
to sleeping in there of a day, you can start naps in their cot.
Or alternatively just start with naps in their cot of a day whilst still
sleeping in the bassinet of a night in your room.

50
ROLLING & TUMMY SLEEPING

When your little one first starts to roll it can catch you by surprise. Not to
mention, make you extremely anxious. There really is no definitive age
that they will start rolling, but as a “loose” guide, you could expect to see
this developmental milestone occur around 3-6 months.

Firstly, the most important thing to consider when your little one does
start rolling, is unswaddling your baby. If they are still swaddled they will
not be able to use their hands and arms to push and lift their face up
from the mattress.

Once unswaddled (remember to check our tips on unswaddling in our

sleep environment chapter above), if your little one is still having trouble
rolling both ways and can only roll back to tummy, but then gets stuck, I
would recommend a lot of tummy time practise during awake times.
Try to teach them by using their favourite toy or dummy etc. Ensure you
practise rolling both ways. This is super important. It is normal for your
little one to get a little bit upset and startled when they first start rolling
in their sleep. They may cry and need you to go in and assist them for
the first few nights, this is completely fine. Try to offer some reassurance
and a nice back rub to help get them calm.

We just don’t want them thinking that every time they roll onto their
belly they need to get upset and cry out for help to roll back, we really
want to try to help them master this new skill, without it becoming a
huge deal. Try to give them a little bit of space before rushing straight
into the room also, this will just give your baby a chance to hopefully
reposition themselves and get comfy.

This process of learn to roll can take around 1-2 weeks. If your baby can
only roll one way, then whenever you notice them asleep it is
recommended you gently roll them back onto their back. Once your
baby has mastered rolling then it is safe to allow them to sleep on their
tummies as per rednose guidelines.

51
LET THE FUN BEGIN,
IT’S TIME TO EAT!
Alicia Edge and Kerryn Boogaard -
Accredited Practising Dietitians

Alicia and Kerryn are not only dietitians, but also mums themselves. They know all
too well the challenges we can face when it comes to feeding our babies nutri-
tious food. I am so happy to be able to provide you all with this information that
Alicia and Kerryn have compiled exclusively for The Sleep
Teacher.

If you would like more information from Alicia or Kerryn you can contact them at
www.cutechaosnutrition.com

4-12 MONTHS – FIRST FOODS

Introducing your baby to the wonderful world of food is a significant moment in

family life. This time evokes all of the emotions (we feel the nerves, excitement,
enjoyment, suspense and of course a farewell to clean floors). Amidst the dirty
hands, messy faces and glorious play, there are some incredible gains to be had
with how those first foods are introduced.

It’s something that can forge your baby’s relationship with food, it can be a time
that is often met with confusion, anxiety and overwhelm. So let’s simplify the
process of introducing food and de-stress this significant moment in your family
life.

When is my baby ready for solids?

Current recommendations suggest starting between 4-6 months. Of course, as

with all things baby, this is a guide and to be honest, you will know when they are
ready for food as you won’t be able to keep it away from them!

Here are some signs that your baby is ready:

• They can sit upright with minimal support with good head and neck control;
• They have lost their tongue thrust reflex (babies thrust their tongue forward to
prevent choking and help them latch, this starts to diminish at around six
months);
• They are able to grab, hold and move objects to their mouth;
• They have a keen eye on your plate of food!

52
Finger Foods vs Purees?

Often baby-led weaning (BLW) and spoon-feeding are discussed as mutually

exclusive (i.e. you have to do one or the other), however there is no right and
wrong here. You can absolutely do one, or the other, or both. The most
important thing is to choose an introduction to food that fits with you, your
baby (BLW doesn’t suit all babies) and your preferences.

For this reason, aim to understand the two different approaches prior to starting
solids so that you can enter the introduction to food with confidence and ensure
that your baby has every opportunity to explore the different textures and
flavours of the foods as they grow. Spoon-feeding provides an opportunity for
infants to develop their oral skills and can also assist with an increased iron
intake as they wean. BLW promotes a greater participation in family meals,
encourages development of fine motor skills via play and also improves
exposure to family foods.

We will focus mainly on the introduction of finger foods here to help build your
confidence, encourage exploration and support in building a strong relationship
with food for your baby.

First finger foods

Letting your baby self-explore foods for the first time can be one of the most
exciting and fun times in their little lives, but we understand that you may feel
nervous. This phase takes a lot of patience. Remember that it is normal for
babies to touch, squish, feel and throw without swallowing any food for a
while - even a few months. They will continue to be gaining everything they
need via their milk feeds and any puree you are providing, even if only a small
amount gets swallowed (the proof will be in the nappy!).

Remaining calm and patient as they explore will pay off. As you give them the
opportunity to explore the individual textures and flavours, you are helping them
accept more and more foods while also building a positive relationship with food.

53
5-7 MONTHS

(big range depending on when your baby shows readiness signs)

At around six months babies are unable to unclasp their fists to be able
to eat smaller foods. You will need to serve foods as large chunky
‘fingers’ or ‘wedges’ or spoons of soft/mashed foods (that they can feed
themselves). Food should be wide enough for bub to easily hold, and
long enough to stick out of their fist to chew, suck and explore.

Start by offering a variety of seasonal fruits and vegetables, such as:

• Well steamed chunky sticks/wedges of zucchini and carrot;
• Well steamed whole beans and broccoli florets;
• Roasted, chunky sticks of potato, sweet potato or pumpkin - use a
quality oil such as an extra virgin olive oil;
• Spoons of mashed potato;
• Wedges of avocado;
• Steamed wedges of harder fruits such as apple and firm pears;
• Banana fingers;
• Whole or chunky sliced strawberries;
• Wedges of stone fruit;
• Large fingers of melon.

As confidence builds (yours and your baby’s), start bumping up the

variety of foods offered including:
• Strips of meat for them to suck and chew – they don’t have to swallow
the meat as the juices provide an excellent source of iron.
• Toast fingers with nutritious toppings such as hummus, cottage
cheese,
ricotta cheese, avocado, scrambled egg, nut butter and mashed baked
beans.
• Small spoons of yoghurt and porridge.

54
7-8 MONTHS

At around seven months, you will notice that your baby start to unclasp
their fists to grab and eat smaller foods, and they may start to develop
their pincer grip. This means they can start to manage more than just
‘fingers’ of food.

You will notice the variety of food you offer, and the way you serve it,
organically changes without you even thinking about it or planning it.
This is one of the great parts of letting your child lead the way, they
show you what they can manage. You may find that your bub starts to
build confidence in managing the following foods:
• Peas – great pincer grip practice!
• Cooked or canned legumes such as kidney beans (drain and rinse);
• Handfuls of rice (disclaimer – there is mess!);
• Pasta shapes that are easy to hold such as spiral and penne;
• Mince & rissoles;
• Scrambled eggs;
• Sandwich fingers;
• Grated cheese;
• Mixed meals such as Bolognese, curries and slow cooked meat dishes.

55
WHEN TO OFFER FOOD?

There is no need to go straight into three

main meals per day. Slowly build this up,
often starting at breakfast or lunch when
baby is happiest and you have some time.
Initially, the best time to offer food is after
your baby has had their milk feed, as this will
ensure they are still getting all the important
nutrients from milk (this should still be the
main nutrition source) and also aren’t
overtired or super hungry when getting to
the table.

As your baby gets older, you will find that at

around 10-12 months you will start offering
food prior to their milk feed as their awake
times lengthen and the amount they are
eating increases. Your baby will be great at
mindful eating and telling you if/when they
have had enough – encourage that!

Remember it is your role to decide when

and what your child eats, and your child’s
role to decide if and how much they eat.

Introducing High Allergy Risk Foods

The most recent recommendations

encourage us not to withhold allergy risk
foods such as nuts, egg, dairy, wheat and
fish/seafood (however individual guidance
should be sought if there is a high risk of
allergy or your child has severe eczema).
Aim to start including these foods from
6-8 months and continue to include them
in their diet regularly.

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SUPPORT
Being a mum can be very daunting. With so much
to learn and so much advice given to you, throw in
some sleep deprivation and it can very quickly
become extremely overwhelming. If you feel like
you are struggling emotionally, please seek support.
Whilst we do have our Facebook support group to
help answer any questions you have, you may find
you need more help and advice on an
emotional/mental wellbeing level. There are a lot
of different options to ensure you have a shoulder to
cry on when you need it most (majority of them are
24/7), please take advantage of them if you feel you
need it or speak to your doctor.

PHONE SUPPORT:
Breastfeeding Helpline: 1800 Mum 2 Mum
(1800 686 268)

Perinatal Anxiety & Depression Australia (PANDA)

Helpline: 1300 726 306

Parent Line: 1300 30 1300

Beyond Blue: 1300 22 4636

Maternal & Child Health Information Line: 132 229

Giget foundation: 1300-851-758

INTERNET SUPPORT:
https://www.beyondblue.org.au

https://www.blackdoginstitute.org.au

https://www.mumspace.com.au/about-mumspace/

http://www.copmi.net.au/

https://gidgetfoundation.org.au

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FAQS
What if we need to go out?
This is expected to come up eventually, you need to have a life and cannot be
housebound forever! If you are planning a late night for example a family dinner
out at 6.30pm. What do you do? I would recommend bathing and feeding your
child at home and getting them into something comfortable, preferably a onesie
they can sleep in, and then they will be ready to transfer straight back into the
car and into bed when you get home. Your child can sleep in the pram at the
restaurant or a portable cot if at a house. Always take their comforter and
sleeping bag, you can even put your white noise on too. Don't stress yourself
about these situations, just go with the flow. I often find that if we have a
preplanned agenda in our heads, it doesn't go to plan and we end up stressing
ourselves out and not enjoying our evening. If your baby does go to bed later
then usual, this is completely fine. You have not undone all of your hard work,
just remember to get back on track with consistency tomorrow.

What if my baby wakes earlier than the nap time suggests?

If your baby is a notorious catnapper or is reliant on a prop that we are removing,
ie: breast, bottle, dummy, rocking, holding etc, then more than likely your child will
wake after one sleep cycle. This is ok and it is very normal. I would actually be
shocked if they didn’t wake after one sleep cycle for the first week or so.
I recommend resettling using your responsive settling as described in the
resettling section above.

What if my baby wakes before the suggested feed time overnight?

I recommend settling using your responsive settling. If it is only 10 minutes or so
before their feed time, just wait and listen to them to see whether they are just
stirring and potentially transitioning between sleep cycles? If so, just give them
that little bit of space to see if they are able to resettle. In my experience, babies
usually get used to the resettles overnight within a few nights if consistent, and
start to sleep through the first wake up.

Why do I recommend a short morning nap?

I recommend a short morning nap for a few reasons. First one being to help
encourage a longer lunchtime nap. You can imagine if we let our child have a
long morning nap, it’s really hard to then expect them to have a longer lunchtime
nap. This can then make for a very loooonggg afternoon and a baby going to
bed overtired.

The second reason is because I tend to find that if we offer a long morning nap,
our babies bodies become used to this. As they get older and their awake
windows become bigger they start wake earlier and earlier because they
know they are getting such a long nap so soon after waking.

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I have always been told to never
wake a sleeping baby, but you
are suggesting this. Why?
This, I believe is a bit of an old wive’s
tale. It’s really important we do wake
our babies from naps, especially if we
are trying to achieve a consistent
routine. If our child is sleeping all day
and not feeding then they will do the
complete opposite at night and feed
all night but not sleep and we don’t
want that. It is important to help
develop their circadian rhythms
(internal body clock).
How can I stick to the settling
when I also have a toddler/s at
home?
This is always a juggle and I
completely understand having been
in this position myself.
What I recommend if you are
choosing an in the room method such
as pick up/put down or gradual
withdrawal is having a special box of
treats that they only get when it is
settling time. This box may have
colouring books, stickers etc. Let them
play with this at the door way or in the
room. As your white noise is cranked
up to around the level of a running
shower your baby should not be too
stimulated by this. If you choose
spaced soothing then you will find
having the ability to be in and out of
the room works fairly seamlessly.
Should I sleep my baby in the
light so they know the difference
between day and night?
From around 3 weeks of age it’s really
important that we start sleeping our
babies in a dark sleep space if we
want to encourage melatonin
production. The production of
melatonin will help to encourage good
naps and combat night wake ups due
to over tiredness.
Is this program guaranteed to
work?
Unfortunately there is no guarantee.
I understand every child is different and
I have tried to take every aspect of this
into consideration when creating these
programs. However, there are a lot of
contributing factors that can prevent
sleep training being successful, which is
why I stress 100% consistency.
How long does sleep training
take?
For optimal results I recommended
committing 21 days of consistency to
this program. This is the amount of
time it generally takes to unlearn strong
associations.
Is it possible my baby can take a
few steps back?
Yes absolutely, and this is completely
normal. Many babies will regress to any
sleep training changes we are
implementing. This usually occurs a few
days after everything is setting in.
This is often referred to as an “extinction
burst”. A good example of an extinction
burst is: When we put money into a
vending machine, we then push the
button to make our selection. If nothing
comes out of the machine, it is likely
that we instinctively push the buttons
again and again until our selection
comes out. This increase in pushing of
the buttons is an extinction burst.
Because we are used to putting our
money in, making our selection and
then receiving our selection, we expect
this to be the outcome. But when the
result is different from what we are
used to, our behaviour changes in order
to demand the reward we expected.
Then because we have not received
our reward (rocking, feeding, patting etc)
this causes a regression to the new
behaviour. But, like all things sleep,
consistency, patience and persistence
is key.
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What do I do if my baby is falling asleep during the bed time
milk feed?
It is very normal for your baby to fall asleep as this feed as they are naturally
tired due to their hormone levels preparing for sleep. I would try to have a nice
quiet conversation with them, or even gentle tickles on their hands or feet.

Can you still have your baby sleep in your room whilst sleep training?
Yes, you absolutely can. You may find some aspects slightly more challenging,
but still achievable. To make it a little bit easier, I would ensure you place your
baby’s cot as far away from your bed as possible in your room.

Will teething impact my child’s sleep?

We often assume that teething is an awful experience for all babies, however, in
my experience, a baby who can settle themselves to sleep often isn’t impacted
by teething to the level we would often expect.

Yes teething is uncomfortable for your child, but often a baby who is severely
overtired will display signs of being fussy and irritable due to the fact they are
overtired, not just because they are teething.

A tooth usually takes a few days to cut through and then we would expect the
fussiness to pass. If you feel that your child is continually unwell once their tooth
has cut through, please seek medical advice from your doctor. If your child is
well, then perhaps it may be a case of them simply being overtired and needing
to learn the skills to self soothe themselves.

If your child is happy during the day but waking frequently at night, there may
be something other then teeth contributing to these night wakings.

Teething symptoms include; dribbling, high temps, rosie cheeks, diarrhoea and
nappy rash, just to name a few. It is really important that if your baby has any of
these symptoms that you don’t just dismiss it as teething and always seek
advice from your doctor.

What is the refund policy?

Unfortunately we do not offer refunds on this service.

How does this program work if I am co-sleeping?

This program has been developed with the goal in mind to teach your child the
skills needed to self soothe for independent sleep. If you are wanting to continue
co-sleeping then by all means you can implement some of the aspects of this
program which will in turn have a positive impact on you and your child’s day
and response to bed time. These may be, feeding and sleeping routine, wind
down routine and identifying negative sleep associations or props. If you are also
wanting to continue co-sleeping I would recommend you make yourself familiar
with the SIDS guidelines around safe sleep by clicking this link.
https://rednose.org.au/article/Co-sleeping_with_your_baby

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Can I contact you for further assistance?
Yes, of course you can! All enquiries can be made via email:

info@thesleepteacher.com.au or

our website www.thesleepteacher.com.au

Please note, depending on your enquiry, there may be costs for the
additional follow up support.

Disclaimer: Please note this program is a guide and all information

included is from experience I gain through working with clients and
my certification training. This information should be followed at your
discretion and used as a general guide, not tailored or medical
advice.

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