I needed help with my toddler’s sleep – Anna’s Story

16th June 2016

I needed help with my toddler’s sleep, I was struggling to cope at work on 3-4 hours sleep a night.

Before using Millpond we were absolutely exhausted. My toddler Sam (18 months) was waking up 3 – 4 times most nights and often staying awake for more than an hour. Bedtimes were becoming very stressful and we were exhausted. Both of us work full time and it was extremely difficult to concentrate at work with often having only 3 or 4 hours sleep. The weekends involved sleeping in shifts to catch up, which meant no time as a family, which was really tough as that is the only time we get to spend with my two teenage stepsons. Sam was tired and grumpy a lot of the time, so even when we were all awake together he was often crying or overtired.

Getting advice from my sleep therapist

I felt that Juliet, our Millpond sleep consultant, took the time to listen to us and understand our situation and how we wanted to handle things. I didn’t feel that we were being forced to take actions we weren’t comfortable with. It all seemed to work quite naturally. I also liked the follow up calls and the fact that Juliet adapted the sleep plan a little as we went along to take into account our feedback.

No more bedtime battles

After a month following the tailored sleep plan, Sam now sleeps from 7 pm through to 5.30 am almost every night. Bedtimes are now a pleasure rather than a battle and we have loads more energy for work and enjoying the weekends together as a family. Sam is much happier and really enjoying the new routine. His nursery nurse at nursery says he is like a different child, having much more fun and joining in games and songs with the other children.

No cry sleep solution

What is really amazing is that we have done all this with very little crying. I had resisted sleep training in the past as I thought it would just involve leaving him to cry. Juliet’s method was very gentle and Sam cries and gets upset a lot less now than he did before we started this. I just wish we’d done it sooner!

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Does lack of sleep affect your work?

8th June 2016

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Sarah was so tired, she was struggling to cope with the work/home life balance. Two year old Ben was waking 5 times a night. A work colleague recommended she contact Millpond.

Read her story…

“We can’t thank Millpond enough for all the support, advice and understanding they have shown us over the last few months.

Ben’s sleep problems were horrendous and at nearly two years he was waking up to 5 times a night and sometimes for up to 2.5 hours at a time.

We were desperate, but scared to try any form of sleep training for fear that we would fail and then have endured a lot of screaming for no result.

Sarah was worried about what sleep technique she would use…

A colleague recommended Millpond and initially we were hesitant – was it going to involve leaving him to scream? Was it going to go against our parenting style? Was it unfair on him to change his routine so much? Was it going to be worth investing that much time and money? We also felt that Ben was incurable!! However, eventually we decided that it was worth a try – Ben’s behaviour was suffering due to his lack of sleep and we realised that the current situation was as unfair on him as it was on us.

Ben’s sleep programme was gentle…

Right from our first consultation with Mandy our sleep consultant, we knew we had made the right decision! She’d seen it all before and gave us confidence that Ben’s sleep would improve. The programme was SO unique to Ben and incredibly gradual and gentle on him and us. We didn’t want to do controlled crying and Mandy confirmed that, for Ben, this would not be the right approach.

Each step felt like the right thing to be doing and Ben responded positively from day one. It took some weeks to see an improvement in his sleep. However, we always felt that we were moving forward and never doubted that it would work. Within a couple of weeks we were no longer picking him up out of the cot and rocking him for hours on end…things were slowly beginning to improve. Mandy was so patient and kind and gave us the confidence to stick to the new regime to the letter. As a result as the weeks went by we began to see an improvement to his night time waking. Now Ben asks to go in his cot at night!! He settles himself and chats away happily when he goes to sleep at night and when he wakes in the morning. We can’t believe that we have a child who ‘sleeps through the night’!!

Wish we had contacted Millpond sooner…

We would highly recommend Millpond to anyone who is suffering from lack of sleep. The change to my work/life balanc, and to Ben’s life has been unbelievable. We only wish we had contacted Mandy sooner!! We cannot thank and recommend Millpond highly enough.” Sarah

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Mandy Gurney draws from her expertise as a renowned Child Sleep Specialist and founder of the original London Children’s Sleep clinic, to bring parents, carers and professionals alike, a modern and concise self-help guide. When feeling overwhelmed by tiredness and in need of real sleep help, Millpond’s new edition ‘Teach Your Child to Sleep’ is a much welcomed, well researched resource. This is an easy read with a practical nurturing approach that walks you and your child through to a good night sleep.

Rozanne Hay -UK Representative And Director for Continuing Education IACSC International Association Of Child Sleep consultants
This book is a complete godsend for tired parents and children alike! Its gentle and compassionate approach is based on a thorough understanding of the body’s sleep needs and children’s developmental phases. The flow charts and case studies set out really practical, easy to implement strategies which give sleep-deprived families hope at last. The Millpond approach is non-prescriptive and this book offers lots of choices for parents to match their own goals and parenting styles. I would heartily recommend it for anyone already experiencing problems with sleep or to set up good sleep habits proactively.

Melissa Hood, founder of The Parent Practice
This baby and child sleep guide is the perfect combination of accessible science, Mandy’s years of experience and a mother's warmth. I love the way things fall into place with Mandy’s clear and thorough explanations

Diana Hill, co founder of Essential Parent
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
I just want to say a huge thank you to Mandy. Your wealth of knowledge and solutions made me feel I was in safe hands and helped me have total confidence. It was so helpful to have a structure to work too. I am a GP and would recommend Millpond to any sleep deprived parents; you cannot put a price on sleep. We are expecting a new baby and feel so much more relaxed knowing I won’t have two children up at night and that there is a place I can go if we run into problems. Thank you so much. I only wish I hadn’t waited 19 months.”

Vanessa GP
We are so happy that we put our trust in you to help us with what has been a huge problem for our family for almost two years. Sam is happier and healthier without a doubt. My wife is under so much less stress and we are starting to get our lives back in order. We are finding time to relax and time for each other and I did not realise how much we missed this time. Your guidance is something we appreciate and will not forget. The impact on our family has been huge. So, thank you.

Ben
As a family, we were sleep deprived; our five-year-old son was waking up between 4.30 am to 5.30 am. Our consultant, Juliet’s approach was incredibly calm and collaborative. The outline of a plan and goals worked perfectly for us. I felt each phone session helped us progress in the right direction. The tailored plan for our son made it personal and the tweaking made us feel the training had flexibility (rather than enforcing a pre-defined method). Juliet was also able to share research involving sleep training, which I found insightful. I am really pleased with what we’ve achieved during the programme and I am thankful to Juliet and Millpond.

Evrim.
Millpond Sleep Clinic transformed our lives. We reached out to them when we were at rock bottom. Our son has a neurological condition, so I was nervous and and wanted a sleep clinic who had experience of this and would adapt to the needs of our son. My fear was that they would just tell us what NOT to do. But this was not the case at all with Millpond. They are judgement free, supportive, clear and experts - providing supporting evidence for everything they suggest. We were prepared for a real challenge - but it was actually a lot easier than we expected. Our lives literally changed overnight, and within weeks our son was waking only once a night. A few weeks on from that, and he was sleeping through the night. The investment we made into Millpond was one of the best we've ever made. It gave my son a solid night sleep and consistency. It gave me and my husband our sanity back. All the principles they taught us will serve us well for baby number two, which is arriving in a few months

Shurron
I am delighted. I was aiming to go from 6+ wakes at night and feeding to sleep 100% of the time to 1-2 wake ups and some ability to self-settle. After doing the plan for less than 6 weeks my daughter started sleeping through the night and can now go to sleep in her cot when placed in there awake. I never would have believed that if it had been promised to me. It is a completely different parenting experience getting sleep and my daughter is also much happier I was really pleased too with the approach, which meant I never left her crying and I think has instilled in her the idea that going to sleep when you’re tired is actually a pleasant experience, rather than it being a power struggle.

Katie
Mandy really helped us, we're so grateful. My daughter is now having quite a bit more than the average sleep for her age and it's lovely to see her waking up naturally, ready for the day - and it's really helped me too, I'm waking up naturally and feeling much more refreshed for having a regular sleep routine myself! I've recommended the clinic to several friends and clients already and will continue to do so :)

Louise
We are so happy we could jump for joy, we wish we had spoken to you ages ago. Using Millpond has built our confidence and made us feel on top of it at last You really gave us some life back

Sarah
What was particularly helpful was the counsellor’s sensitivity to meeting my daughter’s needs.

Lucy
I live in Switzerland so it is really quite remarkable that Millpond was able to help me over the phone and by email. When you have slept you can deal with anything!!I

Melanie
We still can’t believe that such small changes have made such a difference to us and Alice. She has even slept through while on holiday in a travel cot

Louise
We are just so sorry we did not get in touch sooner as we went through 18 months of no sleep.

Ann Marie
Thank you, thank you, thank you!! We never thought life could be improved so greatly. You showed us the light. Luka is much happier and loving his sleep now.!

Diane
Alex is sleeping beautifully again and is now quite happy to lay in his cot singing until 7.30/745 am ( Godsend!) and sleeps very happily through the night again. Thank you so much!

Sandy
Very happy to say that Joshua, who you helped us with, is now sleeping a regular 11 hours a night uninterrupted. In fact, getting him up some mornings is a real challenge. He's a great sleeper and we all managed to get about a year of normal sleeping before we had baby number two.

John
'Mandy has been an absolute saviour at a time which was starting to feel quite bleak in terms of our little one's sleep. The personalised advice and guidance has been invaluable and with hard work and perseverance it has paid off. We wouldn't have been able to do it without Mandy's guiding hand and knowledgeable tweaks. Thank you Millpond, we finally have our nights back!'

Mary