Baby & Beyond

7 Sleep Consultant Truths

Writing this blog was eye opening for me, as I seem to be one of very few who have a baby that sleeps 13 hours a night. Unfortunately I can't tell you my secrets mainly because I have none, Kora (now 20 months) just is and always has been a great sleeper. However, I am well aware from coffee group conversations, the amount of bottomless coffees consumed, the number of times one yawns before midday and the general vibe among new mums that a baby sleeping through the night is not a reality for the vast majority of us.

So in order to be of some help to the mums out there that were up 3-4 times last night with their babies I contacted my dear friend Lara (mum of Jim) with some questions about her experience using Wellington Baby Sleep Consultants, Baby & Beyond....

1. How old was Jim when you reached out to Baby & Beyond Sleep Consultants?

Jim was 8 months old, we needed help as I was going back to work, so it felt like a bit of a desperate situation because he was still waking up 3-4  times per night.

2. What was Jim's sleep like before seeing Baby & Beyond? 

We had been using a sleep training book which had been helpful initially, but then things started going backwards again, with more night wakings, and we just didn't know what to do, we felt like we were following the book to the letter!  So we had gone from maybe 1 wake up, back to 3 or 4, some with feeds and some without.  Day naps were a bit of a mess as well. 

3. How did Baby & Beyond make you feel? 

We were so relieved to be able to talk to someone about what was going on!  Our consultant was really positive, confident and made us feel like we doing the right thing all along, but gave great advice about how to tweak what we had been doing.  

4. What was one piece of advice that really worked for you guys? 

Listen to your baby and think about what's going on before rushing in to them when they wake up.  When we did this, he would often settle back down by himself in under a minute - whereas before that I would be right there with him, making him even more wakeful.

5. Did sleep improve over night or did it take time?

It took time to get his night sleeps back on track.  Maybe a week or so?  And it was really hard (listening to him cry), but so worth it because he's a great sleeper now and bedtimes are really lovely.   But it was only a day or two and his day sleeps improved - I can't tell you how great it was to be able to put him down for a nap and he would sleep for 2 hours - before that he would sleep for 30 minutes on the dot.

6. What part of the service was most helpful to you?

We got the Baby & Beyond Silver Package and having a daily plan to follow, including times for naps and food was really helpful. 

7. What was the best thing about Baby & Beyond?

We found it really useful getting a written summary of everything we had talked about, along with timetables and advice.  We took the plan to his daycare (when I started back at work) as well so they could follow it too.

Needless to say Baby & Beyond comes highly recommended. I know if we ever run into sleep issues or if  have a baby that doesn't sleep (and yes my next one will probably be completely different!) then Baby & Beyond definitely sound like the right people to talk to. 

In our 'Here to Help' category you'll find a coupon for 20% off the Baby & Beyond Silver Package (that's a saving of $45!) inside your copy of The Coolest Little Coupon Book 2018.