The Sleep Mums

Comforters are an essential part of a sleep routine. We all have things we do before sleep that set us on the path to the land of nod, we know some of them are useful and some of them are not so much. In this episode we'll explore what a comforter is and answer some of your most common questions including: 1 - Is a swaddle is comforter? 2 - How do I transition my baby out of a swaddle. 3 - How can I introduce a dummy/soother? 4 - How can I get rid of a dummy/soother? 5 - Is my baby just sucking on their hands for comfort?

It’s bedtime, everyone’s calm and settled and suddenly 40 minutes later your baby is fast, fast AWAKE! In this podcast we’ll help you get to the bottom of this ready steady wake routine. We’ll cover: 1 - What is a False Start? 2 - Why do they happen? 3 - What can I do about them? 4 - Why are they more common at night? 5 - Do False Starts just happen to babies? Plus, we answer one of your questions about why a toddler consistently wakes after they’ve gone to sleep.

It’s the middle of the night, you’ve just got back to sleep and suddenly you hear a whimper, then it turns into a cry. You have just got your baby to sleep, they can’t possibly be up… The loop of exhaustion, frustration and disappointment that can come with regular night wakings is very real. We’re here to help you out of it. 1. Why does my baby wake every hour at night? 2. What can I do? 3. Are regular night wakes related to hunger, lack of activity, or illness? 4. How do I deal with each wake up? 5. Talk me through a plan Plus, we’ll answer your question about a 12 week old who is waking every hour from 2am.

People talk about baby and children’s bedtime routines but what about a morning routine? At it’s simplest, a morning routine is a few steps that you take you from nighttime to daytime. But it’s not just a process, having a positive morning routine can have a biological effect and help to reset you and your child’s circadian rhythm. 1. What is a morning routine? 2. Is it something we need to do forever ? 3. What does a good one look like? 4. What are the benefits? 5. It is just a trend? Plus, we’ll answer your listener question about an early waking 4 year old who plays in his room and the impact it has on their morning routine.

Contact napping is where a baby, toddler or child spends their nap with all or part of their body in contact with their parent or caregiver. It’s lovely, its necessary, it’s part of parenthood but it can also be intense and tiring too. In this podcast we discuss: 1 - What is contact napping? 2 - When it works 3 - Is there a point it’s not so good? 4 - How can you move away from contact napping? 5 - Is it an all or never kind of thing? Plus, we answer one of your questions about moving away from being nap trapped.

Growth Spurts are an essentially exhausting part of childhood. There’s no set in stone way how to predict how and when your baby will grow. Sometimes a growth spurt hits overnight and a sleepsuit that fitted the day before suddenly wont snap (sometimes they last much longer). We’re here to help you through answering all this 1 - When and What are Growth Spurts? 2 - How Do I Know it’s One? 3 - Will they Mess Up my Routine? 4 - Are they All the Same? 5 - What Can I Do? Plus, one of your questions about whether you have a super hungry baby or it’s just a growth spurt.

Sleep is a big topic in the baby days and then you hit the toddler years and it feels like it all goes quiet. However, as your baby has grown into a wild and wonderfully wilful toddler they have become more keyed into the world, so things like changes to their routine, separation anxiety, illness and teething can all add up to make sleep more challenging. That’s why you need our Toddler Sleep Tool Kit!

Boundaries are such an important tool to help our children feel secure in their surroundings and with other people, but they’re also really important for us as parents. If we want to show our children the importance of them, we need to model them ourselves and one place they can really come in handy is sleep. We'll also answer our listener Laurie's question about putting boundaries back in place after the kids have been at the grandparents. 1 - What are boundaries and making a plan 2 - Discipline? 3 - Routine 4 - Goals and rewards 5 - Results

‘They don’t come with a manual’. If you're a parent it’s likely you’ve heard this more than once. The reason they don't is because there is no one right way. So, in place of a manual we have created a Baby Sleep Tool Kit. We are your biggest sleep supporters, however, as they say ‘it takes a village’ so as well as us, here are some of the most useful things to help your baby to sleep better.

Sleep is generally not something associated with New Year - it’s all about counting down the minutes to staying up late. But once the holiday hangover, be that from too much mulled wine, mother in laws or mince pies, subsides everyone is all about making a fresh start. A change in routine isn’t a resolution, though, a good routine grounds you, giving you stability to deal with the mountain of other shit we have to do on the daily as parents. In this podcast, we’ll help you to make a plan to get there. 1 - Here and Now 2 - Where to start 3 - Getting Back on Track 4 - Reaching Milestones 5 - I’ve not slept in three years, surely a routine can’t change that?

December can be an exciting time but it can also be really exhausting and if you’re already parent-level tired, the overwhelm of making it through can make it feel a lot less merry and bright. In our holiday episode we talk about why and how the holidays can be tough, some tips on how to manage them and bring you a wee bit of festive cheer. As always, we hope to give you the gift of better sleep, that’s top of our list! 1 – Pack Your Sack 2 – Home Comforts 3 – Festive Naps 4 – Selection Box of Treats 5 – Just one day

Settling is the word we use to talk about how to help your baby to sleep; all the time… but especially when it seems like they really don’t want to! This episode will arm you with a tool belt of settling techniques you need to help your baby get to sleep, firstly with you and then ultimately by themselves. Well also give you some coping techniques to get you through the toughest of nights as well as answer our listener Hannah's question about settling her baby without feeding her. 1 – What is settling? 2 – What is cry it out? 3 – Settling techniques 4 – Settling techniques by age 5 – How to survive a settle

Is anyone else suffering from parent guilt right now? Parent guilt is this gross, uncomfortable ache that lodges itself in your heart and creeps into your head, often in the middle of the night. It can keep you from sleeping, almost as much as a newborn. This episode isn’t directly about sleep, but we care about finding ways to help everyone sleep better and that includes you as well as your children. 1 – Try not to compare 2 – Ask for help 3 – Change one thing 4 – Be your own best mate 5 – Let S*it Go

What is sleep like when you first bring your baby home? Non-existent? Glorious? Broken or anxious? In our very first podcast episode we look at The First Two Weeks. Share our most important guideline from our book and how, if you’re ready, to start laying the foundations for better baby sleep. We’ll also answer a listener question from someone you might just recognise! 1 – The Most Important Thing 2 – Hormoans 3 – Sleep Foundations 4 – Feeds 5 – 4th Trimester

The most important piece of baby sleep help you’ll ever hear? This week’s episode is all about The Sleep Mums Golden Rule. We know some of you don’t like rules when it comes to parenting but this one will give you more freedom, not less. We’ll answer our listener Kerry’s request for help on moving her 4.5 month old baby from her Moses basket to a cot. This whole episode is a gold mine of baby sleep chat! 1 – Sarah’s Favourite Word 2 – The Sleep Mums Golden Rule 3 – Coping with Changes 4 – Staying on track 5 – The Golden *Golden* Rule This is an updated episode in 2022

One of the hardest things about baby sleep is that there is so much information out there. It can feel like everyone reckons they are a baby sleep expert and it doesn’t help that not all of the information they’re sharing is true! Our myth busting episodes are some of our most popular so it’s time to put some more of these sleep untruths to bed - forever - in our brand new Sleep Myths Part 3! 1 – Total Quiet Please 2 – Just a Bad Sleeper 3 – I’m Just Not Meant to Sleep 4 – Solid Food Solid Sleep 5 – Your Baby Will Hate You If…

All of us have bad days. Every single one of us: parents, babies, children… even that lassie on socials. So, it’s not the having the bad days, it’s how you cope with them and in the midst of having one it can feel impossible to do so. We’re here to help you through, give you support and ideas for managing them. We’ll also answer one of your questions about what happens if you need to put your baby to bed early after a bad day and be there in solidarity with you if you need to go and have a scream in the cupboard. 1 – What to do if you have a bad day 2 – Bad Sleep Day 3 – Piece of Cake? 4 – Flexibility or Consistency? 5 – But can we not all just have a lie in?

Has your child pleaded for you over the other parent? Or begged for them instead of you? Then you may have experienced parent preference. At first, being the favoured parent might feel flattering but it can quickly stop feeling like a win. And, whilst not being the preferred parent can be hurtful, what does it actually mean? In this podcast, we’ll explore parent preference, what it looks like at different ages and how to cope – and manage - being the chosen and the not so chosen one. We’ll also answer your Listener Question about how to manage bedtime when a child refuses to go to one parent. 1 – What is Parent Preference? 2 – Why does it happen? 3 – The Chosen One 4 – The Not Chosen One 5 – Split and Share

Clock changes can give parents the fear, you feel you have everything in a delicate balance, you’re getting some sleep, they nap and then the time bandits come along! You find yourself doing mental leaps, counting on fingers and trying to work out when on earth they ‘should’ go to bed. In this podcast we’ll share what will really help, give you some practical tips and, hopefully, stop any alarm bells ringing about the clock change. 1 – Before 2 – After 3 – Doing Nothing 4 – Practical Tips

Juggling sleep with a baby and a toddler can be difficult. You might be pro at coping with a poonami, be able to butter toast one-handed and manage a meltdown but working out nap and bedtime with two (or more) can floor even the most experienced parent. Meeting the needs of two - sometimes screaming – children who have very different demands is challenging and, particularly where sleep is concerned, exhausting. In this episode we look at ways to help you through, what to do at naptime, bedtime and night wakings and how to find rest for you. We’ll also answer one of your questions about doing bedtime alone with two. 1 – Help! 2 – Bedtime 3 – Naptime 4 – Night Wakings 5 – Rest for You