Sleep Deprived Parents

I’m pretty certain that one thing expectant parents wish for, other than a healthy happy baby of

course, is a baby that sleeps!

Sleep Deprivation and how it affects us

Lack of sleep is obviously expected with a new born but as your baby gets older they should be sleeping longer and better through the night. Sleep deprivation can affect you in so many areas of your life, your relationship with your partner and just get on with day to day life. Every baby is different, even siblings!

You could of have had your first child and the be a really good sleeper and you have years of uninterrupted sleep, then baby number two comes along and makes you question why you did it again! Hours of sleep lost and poor sleep can affect your mental health. New parents have this to think of as well as trying to navigate the minefield of learning parenthood!

The unpredictability really affected me. My daughter would sleep well for three or four nights and then wouldn’t sleep at night for a week! I thought I tried everything, naps in the day, self-soothing, being with her… but there was no pattern, whatever I did didn’t work.

Research suggests that in the first year new parents can lose almost two hours of sleep a night… EACH!

I mean to be honest I felt like I didn’t sleep for the first 12 weeks of my daughter’s life! My sleep pattern was completely shot! My sleep quality was so poor and my health and mental health was affected. Sleep deprived I would try whatever it took but one thing that I didn’t think of though was a Baby Sleep Consultant.

Baby Sleep Consultant

A Baby Sleep Consultant can help you find a routine and a method that works for you. Kathrine Ashbridge from Peace at Last is one of these incredible Sleep Consultants. She will work with you and find a routine that works for you. She can work with you no matter where you are in the country…. or even abroad! Her client base include families from all over the UK, the USA and even as far as Trinidad and Tobago. It is all done through phone calls, Zoom and WhatsApp. Kathrine with discuss your needs and make a plan and be there every step of the way; even at the end of the phone if you are find the first few nights tough. She even has a 100% success rate!! How amazing is that!

Kathrine has a huge range of qualifications including a BA Hons degree in Human Communication and Communication Disorders with Linguistics, a diploma as a British Wheel of Yoga teacher. She is also a qualified Deep Tissue Therapeutic Massage Therapist and is also training to be a Cognitive Behavioural Hypnotherapist as well as completing a Diploma in Stress Management and Resilience Building. The experience and knowledge she has is second to none!

If you follow the link below to her Facebook page you can see more amazing reviews form her clients, the little ones over the age of six months are usually sleeping through 12 hours a night before the end of the first week (usually by night 3!!) – which is evidence enough that these methods really do work!!

A sleep consultant that has experienced sleep deprivation

Kathrine is no stranger to sleep deprivation herself. As a mother of two, one with severe Autism and complex needs, she has experienced everything these new parents are going through, with approximately 16 years of sleep deprivation under her belt, partly thanks to the fact her second son didn’t sleep well at all and after reading all the books she could and still ending up in tears not knowing what to do and wishing there was someone she could turn too a few years later she decided to expand her knowledge and train to become a certified sleep consultant.

As a sleep consultant she can work with you and your family to help you regain that missing sleep. She has an empathic, kind and caring manner and truly does care about all her clients and making their lives happier! One thing she says which sticks out for me is that if you don’t make time for your wellness you will have to make time for your illness, it’s so true! We need to make time and take care of ourselves before illness takes over and we are forced to stop.

What can a Sleep Consultant Do to Help families with children?

The initial 15 minute consultation with Kathrine is free and just from this you will be able to gauge how much she can help you. A plan will then be created for you and Kathrine will share how and why this plan should be followed and also be there to guide you. She’s available to answer questions on difficult nights or even just to be there for you while you are dealing with your child adapting to this new routine.

Sleep training packages

As all families are different, Kathrine offers a range of sleep training options for you to choose from. The initial, 15-minute phone conversation is FREE and from there, we can discuss which package is best suited to your individual needs.

The following packages are available:

Sleep Advice Call Package
1-1 Sleep Solutions Basic Package
1-1 Sleep Solutions Premium Package
New Born – Get It Right From The Start Package
The Refresher Package

What covers it all?

The package that really stands out to me is the1-1 Sleep Solutions Basic Package.

It covers everything and offers great support. Included in this package you get the following:-

· A preliminary evaluation.

This is a comprehensive questionnaire about your child’s sleep habits and routines that you’ll fill out prior to your first meeting, Having this information in advance, helps to make the most of that first meeting.

· A private, 90-minute consultation

in the comfort of your own home, or via Skype/FaceTime/Zoom or telephone, where you’ll be able to discuss strategies, troubleshoot possible hurdles and learn how to address bedtime, naptime, night-waking or any other specific issues you might be dealing with.

· A detailed, fully customized sleep plan

Kathrine will prepare for you after our meeting.

· Four follow-up telephone calls

during the first week after the consultation. These follow-up calls last about 15 minutes, and you will together use this time to deal with any setbacks you might be having, or to answer any general questions.

· One week of e-mail support.

After your four follow-up telephone calls have been used, you still have an additional week of e-mail support, where you can email once daily, excluding Sundays (everyone is entitled to some time off after all!) however Kathrine will always aim to reply to your queries within one working day.

This is a really great package for those looking for the full support and information to get a really good sleep routine in place quickly.

Are sleep consultants really worth it?

Above we covered some of the ways sleep deprivation can negatively impact our lives but here is a list of problems that you can face from lack of sleep;

Relationship problems
Short tempered
Ill health requiring medical intervention
Can effect your mental health
Increased stress
Extreme fatigue

So if you are a sleep deprived parent and you are reading this you will understand the importance of hiring this sleep consultant.

Some people may think it’s a waste of money, but surely it’s priceless to get your life back! Be in control and get on with your day to day life without the hours of sleep you’ve lost affecting you.

If you are wanting to increase your hours of sleep, improve your sleep quality and finally have some uninterrupted sleep than you really ought to give Kathrine and Peace at Last a go… did we mention she has a 100% success rate!! Put an end to sleep deprived parents!

Kathrine can be contacted here:-

Facebook

Website

Jess Bleeze

Jess Bleeze is a mum of 1 & has a contagious passion for supporting growing families and supporting small businesses in Tendring & Colchester and throughout the UK.

Jess is the MyBump2Baby area manager for Tendring & Colchester. Head over to her area where you can find everything pregnancy to pre-school related in Tendring & Colchester plus Jess’ parenting blog.

Today we have a guest post from Best Years LTD. A fantastic ethical online toy shop, they share ideas for imaginative play ideas for kids.

Albert Einstein said that “imagination is more important than knowledge” and there is no doubt that the experts all agree how good imaginative play is for children. So what is imaginative play and why is imaginative play so important? Imaginative play is basically play which is unstructured and open-ended. There are no set rules, or timescales and no winners or losers.

Child Development Play

Imaginative play is important because although it has no rules it is an important factor in your child’s development of social skills and problem solving.

Imaginative play effectively puts your child in to someone else’s shoes as they pretend to be a different character, whether that’s taller or shorter, younger or older. It is also a form of cooperative play, as they learn how to take turns.

Imaginative play is a great way to increase children’s language skills as they act out scenarios which require different words to their normal life.We know that imaginative play is great for development but after a long hard, winter lockdown how can we encourage Imaginative play?

Ideas and Activities for Imaginative Play and When to Start

Many parents are running out of ideas for imaginative play and what toys encourage Imaginative play. Also how can you branch out from the inevitable tea parties and encourage imaginative play which is interesting for everyone in the family?

12 to 18 month old child

Firstly, it’s good to know that imaginative play actually starts in children as young as 12-18 months. At this stage it’s very simplistic, they can do just pretend play one action at a time, so pretend play to eat or drink. Toys need to replicate the actual object, e.g. look like a plastic toy spoon for full educational benefits,this kind of play is great for hand eye coordination too

18 months – 2 years old child

By 18m – 2 years old they will start to make simple pretend play games, they may feed their doll, or fly an airplane around above their head. They will act out what they see their parents do, for instance talk on the telephone or have a cup of tea.

2 – 3 years old child

By the time they are 2- 3yrs old children can act out a series of pretend play actions. They can pretend to make a cake by mixing things in a bowl, putting it in to an oven and then serving it on a plate. They can imagine that similar shaped objects are different things a toy ball could be used in play as an orange.

3 – 5 years old child

3 to 5 year old is a peak time for imaginative play. They are now developed enough that they can invent imaginary worlds. They can also involve friends in their pretend and act out different roles during the play. They will use language a lot more, so if pretending to be a scientist they will talk about experiments.

So if you are juggling children of different ages imaginative play is a great way to involve them all in a game.

Rough and Tumble Play with Young Children

Don’t worry if your imaginative play involves a bit of rough and tumble. Research has shown that this sort of play helps develop the frontal lobe that regulates behaviour. Rough play can help children to learn when and how this sort of play is appropriate.

The great news is that pretty much all toys can encourage imaginative play, but the best toys are teddies and other soft toys and of course cardboard boxes!

What Childs Play activities don’t contribute to imaginative play?

There are only a few toys which should be avoided, specifically any toy which is close-ended, so there is a specific way to do something, and a pre-determined end result. A good example of this is a Lego kit which is made to a specific design and which creates a specific item.

Electronic toys are also not helpful as the child is steered towards button pressing to make noises or make lights flash rather than imagination.

Dinosaurs are great for child pretend play

In order for imaginative play to be enjoyable it must include toys that interest your children, and there is one thing that all children are fascinated with, Dinosaurs!

Most children love dinosaurs and they also love to stomp and roar but here are some suggestions to make dinosaurs more of imaginative play.

Imaginative Dinosaur make believe ideas and role play for kids

Create a Jungle Scene and Cardboard Box Cave with your children

Bring out your dinosaur toys and arrange/hide them about the room. If you have some potted plants these can create a fabulous jungle scene, and a cardboard box makes a great cave

Create Binoculars to encourage role play with your kids

Roll up paper in to tubes (or use loo roll tubes sellotaped together) to make binoculars. Hide the dinosaur toys so they can become explorers creeping through the jungle finding Pterodactyl and T Rex.

Child’s Play Hunting and Hiding

Cut out Dinosaur feet from cardboard boxes, so your kids are now the dinosaurs either hunting or hiding from the other dinosaurs. If your child is old enough then the positioning of the dinosaurs can be related back to the characteristics of each dinosaur, so if it’s a herbivore like the stegosaurus it can be among the plants, if it’s a winged dinosaur such as a pterodactyl it can be up high, but if it’s a hunter, like the t Rex then it will be out in the open.

Encourage Creativity and Educational Experiences with Dinosaur Olympics

Dinosaur Olympics – what games would dinosaurs have had in their Olympics? You can make this more educational by researching which dinosaur toy can run the fastest, or your kids can invent new dinosaur themed competition.

For more ideas we recently recorded a podcast on the Importance of Child Led Play

Carla Lett

Carla is the founder of MyBump2Baby. Carla has a huge passion for linking together small businesses and growing families. Carla’s humorous, non-filtered honesty has won the hearts of thousands of parents throughout the UK.

She has previously written for the Metro and made appearances on BBC News, BBC 5 live, LBC etc. Carla is a finalist for Blogger of the Year award with Simply Ladies inc. Carla is also the host of the popular Fifty Shades of Motherhood podcast and The MyBump2Baby Expert podcast.

Posts

Peace at Last Baby and Children’s Sleep Consultants