Reverse cycling at night, short naps, and a dummy….
Baby Zoe was 6 months when her mum phoned me for a 15 minute consult, this was the first opportunity I got to see what was happening with her little girl. This mum was getting frustrated with her daughters frequent night wake ups to breastfeed back to sleep, and then only having short naps over the day.
Mum believed Zoe maybe was fine with 3 quick naps, but really wanted to sort her night sleep, as she didn’t think she was hungry as she had started the transition to formula feeding throughout the day due to a 6 month struggle with milk supply.
Mum felt lost in what to offer in regards to breast-feeding, and small bottle top ups, and breast-feeds at night, she felt Zoe was just snack eating all day, refusing any solids and needed a plan to get back on track.
Frustrated, fed up and ready for better sleep we booked Zoe's mum a consult straight away.
It was evident to me that Zoe’s frequent night time feeds meant that she wasn’t overly hungry throughout the day, then her small frequent day feeds, alternating between breast and bottle meant she never really developed an appetite for bottles or breast, and subsequently could not nap for very long or wait very long for her next quick feed.
- Short Naps
- Short Feeds
- Tired Baby
- Fed up mum with no time out
Mum had made the decision to finish breastfeeding so we supported her in that and taught her how to offer Zoe bigger bottles in what we call a 45 minute feed window 3-4 hourly throughout the day in order to leave decent gaps between bottles, but also to allow Zoe enough time to get used to drinking more milk, as breastfed babies often don’t consume more than 120ml per feed as the composition of the milk changes over time rather than baby relying on bigger and bigger feeds like a formula fed baby.
This meant by day seven Zoe is having four bottles of 200-250ml throughout the day! This was a huge increase from her 300-400ml a day she was having when she first began.
Zoe also had a dummy to sleep, and while these can be a life saver for new-borns who can’t sleep, in Zoe’s case I felt it was falling out frequently and she had no ability to replace it, so it was better we ditched it and taught her to sleep with a lovey/cuddly. It turns out this lovey, is the round plastic clip which attached to her dummy previously, she has a nice association from when she had her dummy of playing with this clip as she drifts off to sleep.
Zoe was having short naps, and irregular naps. We designed a routine to teach Zoe to stay awake slightly longer than she was, (1.5 hours – 2/2.5 hours) and also to allow mum to walk her daughter to school who was turning 5 the week of our consult. I explained how to tweak things if Zoe fell asleep on her walk to school which was too early for her nap, and how to keep her on track so the majority of her sleep occurred between 9am-2.30pm when big sister was at school.
Over the week mum incorporated darker curtains, louder white noise (when the digger moved in next door for renovations! Didn’t they get the memo we are sleep training!), and Zoe began to lengthen her short midday sleep to 1.5 hours, and we are still working on achieving the 2 hour nap goal!
Overnight we dropped Zoe to one bottle, and then slowly dropped this too! Mum was so nervous on night 7 which was Zoe’s night of no milk (the night before was 50ml). But Zoe did it! She slept from 6.30pm-6am! 11.5 hours!!!!!
Go Zoe!!!!!
This was mum’s email to me in the morning:
Have I told you how amazing you are? I didn’t have to get out of bed last night…!! She woke at 4am but just made some noises and went back to sleep until 6am…!! It’s happening
It was my pleasure! Mum still has some goals to work on, such as the 6am wake up, and a 2 hour lunch nap. The late afternoon nap has been a challenge as we would expect too, but to ditch a dummy and achieve 11.5 hours night sleep, and consolidated lunch nap in 7 days is amazing. Mum was a sleep training super star, and Zoe was obviously ready for the change!
This is why our packages start at 7 days of support, we can achieve a lot in 7 days!
Emma Purdue
Emma is the owner and founder of Baby Sleep Consultant, she is a certified infant and child sleep consultant, Happiest Baby on the block educator, has a Bachelor of Science, and Diploma in Education. Emma is a mother to 3 children, and loves writing when she isn't working with tired clients and cheering on her team helping thousands of mums just like you.
Our Baby Sleep Program helps tired parents TO DEVELOP HEALTHY SLEEP HABITS BY FOCUSING ON NAPS, SETTLING AND NIGHT SLEEP.
- Empowered: Feel empowered as a Mum as you learn to understand your growing baby's needs and cues.
- Simple effective settling: Gentle, proven self settling, evidence based techniques.
- Content happy baby and parents: Better sleep creates content babies & happy parents.
- Freedom: Predictable routines and longer nights creates freedom. Solve your sleep problems for more freedom.
- Work with your babies circadian rhythm: Work with your babies biological clock for faster easier results.
- Awesome naps & nights: You'll create consistent naps and nights with our support.
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My baby has reflux can you help?
When your baby has reflux, feeds can be difficult and your baby can be in a lot of pain both during and after feeds. This pain can cause feeding aversions and failure to thrive. This is why true GERD (Gastroesophageal reflux disease) needs to be treated by a doctor. Once your baby's doctor is satisfied your baby is feeding well, and you have the right medication or formula then we can start a sleep plan and you will be successful.
My baby has colic will this help?
Colic is defined as 3 or more hours of crying per day in infants. Crying subsides in the second second trimester. If you are still experiencing colic symptoms speak to your baby's doctor about whether this could be reflux, an allergy, or over tiredness. We can help you work on better sleep with this program at the same time as your doctor investigates the pain and crying.
What if the program isn't working?
We have a dedicated help line to ensure your success. Just email our team via the details in your program and a certified, experienced and friendly sleep consultant is ready to stare you in the right direction to ensure your success!
My baby was born early, can you help?
Sleep is neurological so we always work off your babies neurological age, that is their corrected age. When you look at our sleep programs purchase the program that your babies corrected age fits into.
What if I have questions or need more help?
Our sleep programs come with private email support. You don’t have to post in any public forums or groups, just email the exclusive helpline that our team of certified sleep consultants look after and we’ll answer all your questions and help you on your way.
Can this program help with my babies night sleep?
Yes, all our online sleep programs contain night sleep plans. We will teach you how to move from multiple night feeds to 2 or 1 or none (depending on what is age appropriate and appropriate for your baby.) Don’t worry we will show you to figure this out too. If your baby is unsettled at night but not feeding, our plans will help you with consolidate night sleep and self settling when age appropriate.
My baby is cat napping can you help?
Cat napping is a very normal physiological stage that your baby goes through. At this stage (3-8 months old), cat napping can start to be a long term issue and compound into over tiredness and affect night sleep and your babies happiness. Good news, this is a great age to work on re-settling, self settling and better longer naps!
I have 3 children, can this work with my family?
I totally understand how busy life is with 2, 3 or more children! Even if you need a flexible schedule we can still work on settling regular naps (some on the go!), and better evenings and night. Flick our consultants any specific questions about your family's schedule of activities and we can help you work out what is possible nap wise.
I don't want a fixed routine, can you still help?
Yes. A fixed routine is one option, regular naps and regular awake times is another. Both are valid and you are welcome to do what works for your family. We understand you are all different and what works best for one family won't be best for another.
I'm formula feeding, can you still help?
Yes we have specific advice for formula feeding parents, and we support your decision to feed any way you choose. We even have a special video series on formula feeding and everything you need to know. Just ask our consultants about this extra if you need it.
I'm exclusively breastfeeding, can I follow your plans?
Yes! While breastfeeding babies need to feed frequently they still need quality sleep day and night. We have specific advice for breastfeeding mums and an exclusive discount on Julia Daleys breastfeeding course if you need extra help.
I'm bed sharing, can your program help me stop?
Yes. We often fall into bed sharing, we call this reactive bed sharing. Or we have simply changed our mind, and moving on from bed sharing we need some support. Our programs and consults will guide you through gentle sleep methods, which are more appropriate for most bed sharing babies who are moving towards independent sleep in the cot.
I'm feeding to sleep, can you help me stop?
Yes. Feeding to sleep is a common sleep association and one that works well for lots of newborns. Often we need to move on from feeding to sleep when it starts to cause short naps, or prolonged settling or frequent night wake ups as baby looks for their association to go back to sleep over and over again at night. We can teach you how to teach your baby to self settle and move on from feeding to sleep when the time is right.
I'm rocking to sleep, is their a solution?
Yes. These are common sleep associations, we refer to this as assisting to sleep. Let us show you ways you can develop independent sleep and settling strategies with our online sleep program, or one on one consult.
Is this program based on Cry It Out?
No. Cry it out is the common name for a sleep training method where you put baby down and don’t respond or check until they are fast asleep. There is no CIO involved in this program as we feel this should be only done under proper supervision. Instead we have included all our very gentle approaches and more mainstream techniques for you to choose from.
Is this based on Science or Art?
Both! As a scientist I (Emma) have spent over 8 years researching the science of sleep. I have educated and certified over 500 consultants around the world as sleep consultants, and have worked with thousands of clients. I love the scientific explanations of why we see the sleep patterns we see, and this science helps us to shape plans and solutions that we know will work. But there's an element of art to getting a baby to sleep, understanding the right combination of things that will work best, and this is where your instinct comes in.
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