The Baby Days - Sleep Consultant

16/12/2022

Day 16 sleep tip is a night light! Night lights can be great for helping keep the room dim at night, but also helping you to see for those night feeds. They are also really useful for toddlers that may have become afraid of the dark. Just having a soft glow can help them feel secure when they stir in between sleep cycles. Choose a red/orange light as white/blue ones can inhibit the production of melatonin the sleep hormone. For 1:1 sleep help please see www.thebabydays.co.uk

15/12/2022

Day 15 sleep tip is connection! Connection with your child is so important and can really help with sleep. If a child has lots of love, play, comfort in the day, they are less likely to seek this at night. So try to make some 1:1 time with your child, playing, baking, going for walk, reading stories or having a cuddle. If your child is at nursery all day, then connection at the end of the day is really important and some time together at the end of the day works really well.

14/12/2022

Day 14 sleep tip is massage! Massage can be a lovely part of the bedtime routine, especially after a bath. Massage helps calm a baby and stimulates the production of melatonin the sleep hormone. It also stimulates brain development and the nervous system and is a great way to bond and connect with your baby.

13/12/2022

Day 13 sleep tip is white/pink noise! You may not of heard of pink noise but it is proving to be quite a popular choice. What is the difference? Well, white noise tends to have a higher pitch and intensity, like TV static, a fan, hair dryer or a vacuum cleaner whereas pink noise contains lower frequencies that create a deeper, gentler sound like a beating heart, the wind blowing, waves crashing on a beach, rainfall or the rustling of leaves on a tree. Either are fine to use but some babies seem to prefer the softer tones of pink noise and settle quicker. White or pink noise can be a great tool to help calm a baby down. Don't play it too close to your baby's ears and have it at a volume that you are happy listening to yourself. If possible play it all night and for naps that are in the house. If you would like any help with sleep, let me know or have a look at my website for more info www.thebabydays.co.uk

12/12/2022

Day 12 sleep tip is blackout! Blackout is really important especially in the summer months when it is so light in the evenings and mornings. The sleep hormone melatonin that makes us feel sleepy is produced when it gets dark at night, so blackout helps with this. In the mornings, even a small amount of light can signal to a child's body that it is time to wake up and then it's very hard to get them back to sleep! I suggest treating any wake up before 6am as nighttime and doing whatever you can to get them back to sleep 😴 Before the age of about 8-12 weeks when the body clock is not developed, then blackout is not essential and its best to have naps in the daylight to help with the circadian rhythm. For 1:1 help with sleep please see www.thebabydays.co.uk or dm me to book a free 15 min call

12/12/2022

Day 11 sleep tip is a good heathy balanced diet! This is so important for our children and can also help with sleep. A diet high in fat, sugar and artificial colourings can make heartburn or reflux worse, cause hyperactivity and sleep disturbances in some children. There are no magic foods to help sleep, but some are known to induce drowsiness. Foods containing tryptophan help produce melatonin the sleep hormone which makes us feel sleepy and can be found in foods such as turkey, chicken, spinach, cheddar cheese and almonds. Cherries contain melatonin. Important nutrients in aiding sleep are magnesium, calcium, iron and vitamin D. When working 1:1 with families diet is one of the many factors that I take into consideration and some sleep problems are solved through diet alone. For more info on working with me, please see www.thebabydays.co.uk

11/12/2022

Day 10 sleep tip is maximise melatonin! Melatonin also known as the 'sleepy hormone' is naturally produced by our bodies when it starts to get dark at nighttime. This helpful hormone will help a child to feel sleepy. Having dim lighting upstairs for the bedtime routine will encourage melatonin to be produced. Avoid TV and screens for at least an hour before bedtime as the light from these can inhibit the production of melatonin.

09/12/2022

Day 9 sleep tip is room temperature! Ideally room temperature should be between 16° - 20° especially for babies under a year old due to safe sleep guidelines. The temperature tends to drop a few degrees over night and is coldest between 3am - 5am. So if your child routinely wakes at these times, just check they are not getting cold. It's usual that their hands and feet may feel cold but if you feel their their body, they should feel warm but not hot or sweaty. Sometimes putting a pair of socks on can help to regulate their temperature. See The Lullaby Trust for more information on room temperature.

08/12/2022

NCT Royston and villages welcomes every new parent. Our local groups, activities and events are run by volunteers. We help forge friendships and raise money for all of NCT's work, locally and nationally.

08/12/2022

Day 8 sleep tip is, room environment! Having a calm, relaxed room environment is really important for sleep. Low lighting for the bedtime routine to encourage the production of melatonin the sleepy hormone, room not too cluttered, put away any noisy stimulating toys, a red/orange night light if needed. All these things will help your child to feel calm and ready for sleep.

08/12/2022

It is definitely feeling cold 🥶

The UK is being hit with the first major cold snap of the winter amid rising fuel costs.

07/12/2022

Day 7 sleep tip is, don't go in too quick when your child stirs in the night. Sometimes when we go to our children at the first murmur, we end up accidentally disturbing them more and waking them up! They could just be in between sleep cycles and moving around to get comfy and then will go back to sleep again. So always give it a few minutes to see if they will re settle themselves. Do you do this?!