Trying for another baby and breast feeding your toddler in the night?

31st March 2016

If you are still breast feeding your toddler at night and want to have another baby we can help….

Laura’s dilemma:

We are trying for another baby, but my 18-month-old is still breastfeeding at night won’t settle to sleep without a feed. He cries uncontrollably if I don’t feed him to sleep and it is just exhausting. How can I change this habit before we have another baby?

Millpond’s Gentle Sleep Solution:

It is a very common habit and is called an inappropriate sleep association where a child needs a prop in order to fall asleep and then relies on the prop to help get back to sleep if they wake in the night.

The best place to start is with the bedtime routine. Just change the order around so that you breast feed your little one and then do the bath, drying, dressing, teeth and stories. You will then need to replace the feeding with something such as patting to sleep. Once you have finished stories lay your child in the cot, sit by the cot and pat him to sleep.

If he stands up keep lying him down and patting. If he really resists what you are doing you can turn away from him briefly for 5-10 seconds, come back to him, lie him down and carry on patting. You may need to repeat this several times. It may take 20 minutes or up to an hour but eventually your baby will go to sleep. Each night the time for him to settle will reduce and he will stop standing up.

Then every 3 to 4 days have slightly less physical contact with your baby to help him sleep. So for example try sitting by the cot and intermittently patting him, then light touch, then no touch but using voice to soothe until eventually you can put your baby in the cot , say ‘night night’ and leave the room and he can self settle.

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My baby is still waking in the night

22nd March 2016

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6 month old Sammy was still waking in the night

How can I return to work when my baby is still waking repeatedly during the night?

Dawn was exhausted; her 6 month old baby was in her bed and still waking every 1 ½ to 2 hours throughout the night. How could she think about returning to work?

Life was already exhausting with a 3 and a half year old, 6 month old, a house renovation project, my husband’s busy job and my impending return to work as a doctor. But with our baby boy waking every 1 1/2 to 2 hours all night long and spending most of the night in our bed (with my husband in the spare room), we felt close to breaking point at times.

I hadn’t had more than 2 hours sleep in a row for months. I found Millpond Sleep Clinic using Google; I liked the website, testimonials and other positive comments on mumsnet etc. I was also impressed that Millpond train NHS staff.

Things have improved so much since we worked with Millpond and I felt the methods were gentle, and specifically addressed all the issues.

Life is still exhausting but we are getting enough sleep to cope with it now!

Thank you!

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Natasha tells her story of how her son’s sleep problem was turned around!

7th March 2016

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Family life for Natasha and her son had become so affected by lack of sleep. The whole family was incredibly tired and unable to function properly. Millpond had been recommended her by a good friend who had used the service recently, so Natasha contacted us for help.

“Joseph had always been a fantastic sleeper so when he started to not sleep well, we were all surprised. Family life became incredibly tough. We were all so tired and totally confused as to what the problem might be and how to fix it. I knew I needed to seek the support of a professional so my friend recommended the Millpond programme.

It was the best decision I made!

Very quickly Joseph responded to all the techniques and within 3 nights his sleep was so much better. Before the end of the programme he was sleeping perfectly again. We are so thankful to Mandy for helping us through such a challenging time.”

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In The Night Garden, The Bedtime Book, Media coverage on Mirror.co.uk

1st March 2016

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The Mirror online have run a lovely piece about Millpond and our new book: In the Night Garden: The Bedtime Book today, which you can see here.

Millpond’s Mandy gives Mirror readers 12 excellent sleep tips and there’s even a video to watch packed with yet more advice on how to get your children to sleep.

Watch the video here

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In The Night Garden The Bedtime Book – written by Millpond’s Mandy Gurney

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In The Night Garden The Bedtime Book

We are pleased to announce that we’ve been busy writing an innovative new bedtime book for children: In the Night Garden The Bedtime Book. It’s out now, published by Ladybird Books.

The book is unique in that it is split into two sections: a bedtime routine for parents to follow with their child every night and a magical bedtime story that allows children to join Igglepiggle on a journey to find his bedtime boat, and help your child relax alongside their favourite Night Garden friends as they get ready for bed…

We’ve written the beautifully illustrated book in lullaby-like language and created the story to help children recognise how natural the process of sleep is. For example, as Igglepiggle makes his way through the garden he comes across all the characters in the book settling down for sleep. This story about all their favourite In The Night Garden characters will reassure young children that everyone sleeps and that they should also take pride in being able to sleep well too. The rhythmic narrative is complemented by key repetitive phrases and suggestive words, such as “close your eyes” and “snuggle down” that children will find relaxing and suggestive of sleep.

This book can be read every night as part of your regular bedtime routine with your child. We have included a specially devised relaxation technique to use after the story, which will banish even the most stubborn restless energy. The routine, story and relaxation work together to make a winning recipe for a good sleep every night. The book draws upon the tried and tested methods used by us at Millpond Children’s Sleep Clinic.

A handy tool for parents trying to encourage their children to go to sleep, this In The Night Garden book is a new and essential stage in your bedtime routine. You can buy your copy here.

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For three years, bedtime for Felix was something I'd be dreading by early afternoon each day. Millpond's brilliant blend of commonsense, encouragement and understanding - plus a highly logical strategy that is easy to implement - changed hell into heaven literally overnight. My entire family is thus indebted to Mandy and her team.

Freya North, Author