The Blog

All babies spit up a bit of milk from time to time, but if you suspect your baby has reflux you need to seek professional help to get a diagnosis.

It can be terribly upsetting to watch your baby in pain. Naturally you want to do everything possible to alleviate their discomfort and soothe them.

Reflux (GERD) can cause night waking, discomfort when lying down and shortened naps.

Doesn’t sound like much fun for bub or mum, right?

Before we look at how we can sleep train a baby who has reflux, …

There is one thing that universally binds all new mums – exhaustion. New motherhood brings with it joy, pride, confusion and fatigue.

Every new parent longs for a night of uninterrupted sleep…

And this can take a while.

So it’s really important to create a safe sleep environment for your baby from the beginning.

For every sleep and every nap.

When a baby dies unexpectedly and for no obvious reason, it’s often described as sudden unexpected death in infancy (SUDI). SUDI is a broad term that …

Sleep is precious, especially when you are a first-time parent and aren’t getting much. One of the most fundamental parts of keeping healthy is in getting enough sleep. And sleep disturbances can affect the whole family.

Making sure your little one gets the sleep they need is vital for their growth and brain development – not to mention keeping you happy and recharged too.

We’re each unique and so are our children. Parents often see this uniqueness reflected in the way their baby sleeps. For s…

Let’s talk newborns and sleep! Congratulations on your precious newborn. Babies are little miracles and bring bundles of joy. But along with all the love and joy this newborn journey brings, also comes many, many questions.

Am I right?

Lovely mama, do any of these questions sound familiar?

How can I tell if my baby has had enough milk/ isn’t hungry?

My baby will only fall asleep on me. Is this normal?

I’ve been told to never wake a sleeping baby. Is this true?

Why is my baby wide awake all…

A baby should be sleeping well after a few months, right? Wrong. Or at least not in the case of little Emilija and her tired Mum. Emilija's twin sister had got the memo about sleep, but Emilija hadn’t! Can you imagine what it was like as a first-time mum to twins? Diana was doing her very best, but Emilija’s sleep was regressing and she needed help. Emilija’s Sleep Pattern Emilija had been doing all the usual things up until 6 weeks. She slept and fed often, and life was as busy as you’d expect …

The first 3 months of getting to know your newborn is such a precious time. Is there anything more gorgeous than your little baby cuddling into you in a deep sleep? They sleep just about anywhere! Maybe you’re also starting to feel like you’ve found your groove. Then suddenly, your baby just isn’t acting like themselves, waking every 45 minutes and hard to even settle in the first place! You’re confused, tired and frustrated. Could this be the 4 month sleep regression? You are probably right (al…

At one year old, an infant’s sleep issues must surely be improving, right? Wrong. Or at least not for Ollie’s poor exhausted Mum. At around 8 months of age, her son started waking every 15 mins throughout the night. (yep, you read that right). Can you imagine what it was like for her to get through the days on so little sleep? Let’s take a closer look at Ollie’s sleep “regression”. Ollie’s Sleep Pattern Baby Ollie wasn’t ever a great sleeper, but his mum, Tegan, felt like it wasn’t “too bad.” Sh…

Have you, or other people, asked you if sleep training is safe? Do you worry it might be harmful or damaging? If you’ve asked these questions, you are not alone. I get asked this question a lot by parents, and I am always happy they do ask it. This means you are a good parent who cares deeply about your baby’s physical and emotional needs.

Of course you want to ensure the safety of your baby always. Knowing all the facts around sleep training and why babies cry will help you make the best decis…

You survived the newborn phase (or daze) when it seemed like your baby’s sleeping patterns changed every week. You’ve survived multiple regressions and disruptions to your baby’s sleep (hello 3 month sleep regression, teething, immunisations and so on!)

Finally, things had settled down.

Until they learnt a new skill.

Suddenly your baby is standing in their cot, proud as punch and refusing to sleep.

They wake after a sleep cycle, stand up! Like a jack-in-a-box.

You pop them to bed at nap t…

Oh sleep, sleep ,sleep….. If only we had the magic wand to wave over our babies and toddlers to get them to sleep like little angels! But these babies and toddlers of ours are all so different. Some arrive on this planet and make sleep look easy. It’s no problem and their chilled little temperaments help them to easily slide into dreamland. Others, well……. hard! Of course, different temperaments, means different ease of sleep for some babies, and I’ve definitely worked with hundreds who fight sl…

Ok, so I’ve heard it all! Being in this industry you really do have to have a pretty thick skin sometimes when it comes to the misunderstandings and downright ignorant beliefs that exist when it comes to ‘sleep training’ your baby. Some think it means shutting the door on your 9 week old baby for 12 hours. Some think it means stopping night-time feeds and just staying out of the room until the baby ‘learns’ to sleep. Some parents think it means that their parenting concerns will be completely ig…

There are many things to consider before hiring a sleep consultant. Like any service in life, you want to be sure you actually need a professional. And while you might fancy a little DIY in other areas of your life, sleep is not something you want to get experimental with. So, when is it possible to tackle baby and toddler sleep problems alone and when should you call in a professional? Sometimes it takes an outsider’s perspective to help you decide when is the right time, where to start, and wh…

Many new mums are overwhelmed and exhausted.

They’ve tried almost everything just to get their baby to sleep.

• Googled blog posts
• Asked friends and relatives for advice
• Read all the books by the experts
• Asked their friends what works for them
• Tried all the baby sleep products on the market...

Yet, there’s still a lot of crying, rocking and feeding, their baby finally settle.

But before they know it, their baby is wide awake again.

Finally, some mums come to ask themselves:

“Is my…

There is a lot of confusion around nightmares and night terrors and I want to clear some of that up for you. The age and time they start, the presentation and the way you should handle the two are quite different. Understanding these differences will really allow you to respond appropriately when your toddler or child experiences one of these events. Let’s kick off by discussing night terrors. Night Terrors: Many parents have experienced the alarm of hearing their child yelling out erratically f…

Got an early riser? Welcome to some looooong days! Parenting is tiring enough, but when you’re faced with a child who is an early riser your days become even more exhausting. There are several common reasons for early morning waking. In this blog post I am going to give you some hints and tips to help your little one sleep for longer in the morning. But first, what is considered “early waking”?

Is your baby an early riser?

What is considered to be an appropriate time to begin the day will vary…

“When should I move my toddler from the cot to a bed? Is there an ideal time?” This is a question I get asked A LOT! Parents do get excited, naturally, about moving their little one to the next stage, from cot to big bed. But how do you know when is the right time? What are the things you need to consider? The answer is that there is a right time and rushing this transition can lead to erratic bedtimes, broken sleep, nap protesting and early mornings. None of which sounds very appealing, am I ri…

  On the blog today I want to talk all things toddler sleep. In particular sleep issues that toddlers aged 2-3 often experience. And I will be addressing the all-important question about when is the right time to drop their day sleep. If you have a toddler who is 2 years plus, you’ve really passed the baby stage now and your little one is growing rapidly! Sometimes it’s hard to wrap your head around how fast they grow (I definitely can’t) and before you know it you have a toddler on your hands!

Nap transitions can be confusing and tricky times. Firstly, all you generally notice is that something strange is going on with your baby’s daytime sleep. They are fighting sleep when they wouldn’t usually and can appear very tired at other parts of the day.

What’s going on? Often this is a sign that your baby is in a nap transition. I want to talk about the transition when your baby drops from three naps a day to two.

This transition generally happens anywhere between 6 – 8 months. There is n…

Many new mums are overwhelmed and exhausted.

They’ve tried almost everything just to get their baby to sleep.

• Googled blog posts
• Asked friends and relatives for advice
• Read all the books by the experts
• Asked their friends what works for them
• Tried all the baby sleep products on the market...

Yet, there’s still a lot of crying, rocking and feeding, their baby finally settle.

But before they know it, their baby is wide awake again.

Finally, some mums come to ask themselves:

“Is my…

Has your baby been ‘teething’ for a long time?

How many times over the last few months have you convinced yourself that your baby is sleeping poorly because of teething? For many mums I work with, this is a pretty common assumption. Perhaps you know that you need to do something about improving your little one’s sleep, but you keep putting it off because they are ‘teething’, and it doesn’t seem like a good time. I’m going to dive deep into this topic for you to help demystify teething. I want y…

There are so many things to think about when you’re pregnant. Our minds are filled with excited anticipation, the pregnancy journey itself, our hopes and dreams for our little one and our family. Thoughts about the impending labour, and how to get this baby out, consume us as well, as we are simultaneously surrounded by other people’s stories and input. As we try to navigate all of this, and work out what is best for baby, mother, the family, there is something else we are often slowly, subconsc…

Dream feeds can be a bit mysterious. I mean, what even are they actually? And how do you do one? In my experience many mums have confusion around what they are and why you would even do one. Or they think that by doing a dream feed it will benefit their baby’s overnight sleep, when in actual fact if done incorrectly it can have the opposite effect. So let me explain: A dream feed is where you do a late-night feed, somewhere between 10 – 11 pm at night. Typically, your baby will actually stay asl…

Starting solids can be and exciting time for you and your baby. It’s fun to introduce them to the wide world of food. Some babies are interested in food early on, and others take a little longer to excite their palates! For parents it can be a busy stage with new things to learn and a lot of information to take in. Let's talk about the relationship between food and sleep. I won’t be talking specifically about the process of starting solids (that’s for a nutritionist) but more about the things yo…

"The settling routine at night for Gully began with a bottle of milk while he was being read to. Often, he would then begin to wander around the house but we would keep talking to him encouraging him that it’s sleepy time and time to go to bed. Some nights he needed a lot of coaxing with many visits to the room and offerings of the bottle". His parents knew it was time to change this, but breaking this habit felt impossible! “Between 7.00pm and the morning he would usually wake 2-3 times. Usuall…

The leaves are starting to fall from the trees and our days are getting shorter. This beautiful time of year also brings for us the end of Daylight Savings.

On Sunday, 4th of April at 3.00am our clocks will move BACK by one hour.

This will affect many states in Australia. I know many of you are interested to know what to do about your baby’s naps and nighttime sleep timings and how to handle the time adjustment. So, I’ve put together a couple of options for you as well as handy tables that can…

Summer is here and that means warmer weather, longer days, BBQs, and trips away for a lot of us. For those of you with little ones, protecting their sleep during this time can be tricky. Early morning risers wake even earlier with the sunshine, the heat makes it difficult to sleep, and settling difficulties in the evening are common. Here are my top four tips to help you stay on track this holiday season, whether you’re at home or away. 4 Holiday Season Sleep Tips Let their be light The sunnier …

Travel tips:

Taking babies and children away on holidays can be a really big deal. Not having all the creature comforts of home can make it really hard. Hotel rooms, nowhere to set up a cot, different sounds, being often out and about and maybe even a timezone change. All of these things add up to your baby or toddler not getting the quiet restorative sleep that they need. Here are my top tips to help you when you’re travelling.

Tip 1.

Keep your baby’s routine as much as possible. The later n…

The days are long, but the years are short…

No doubt you’ve heard that expression. I think it’s one of the truest parenting mantras I’ve ever heard.

Let’s be honest, some days are long, really looooooong. And completely draining. Especially when you’re in the early parenting“trenches”.

But the years pass by so fast and I can recall vividly how bone tired I would be the end of a day raising babies and toddlers.

Sometimes (okay, maybe often) at bedtime, I would be so exhausted I wou…

I work with a lot of families, and when I am helping parents with their baby’s sleep, one crucial thing I always say is, ‘Your baby needs to be drowsy but awake when being put into bed'. So what does this 'drowsy but awake' term mean? For me, it is one of the most important, but often overlooked, techniques to help baby sleep. When I see parents understand what it means, and then start to implement it, that’s when positive change occurs. When a family first approaches me for help, I usually get …