So many times I overhear in playgrounds, café’s and at school mothers telling of how horrendous their 3 year old’s sleep is and how they have accepted the way things are because it has been happening forever, and how they’ve just become used to being exhausted, hoping their child’s sleep issues would self resolve, some even discourage other mothers from trying to change things because “nothing ever worked for mine”. Some have visited their GP over and over to be told “you just have a difficult child, some children don’t like sleep” – Rubbish! – One women I spoke with today waited 7 years for her child to sleep through the night! In my experience in most cases we actually have to be proactive to help our little people sleep well.
The problem is, by the time their child is 3, many parents believe the problem is too big.
I recently visited a family with a 3 year old little girl. Things were very bad, there were frequent wake ups and miss H needed to sleep on top of Mum. Even then she slept fitfully and was never well rested, there were food issues too which often go hand in hand with sleep deprivation. Miss H was in daycare 4x a week and both parents were working demanding jobs, functioning on next to no sleep. There were also 3 other children in the mix. Desperate times!
Within just 2 weeks miss H was going to bed calmly and happily, and sleeping in her bed all night. No tears, bedtime delays or sleeping in Mum and Dad’s bed. The food issues resolved quickly and the whole dynamic of the household changed. Mum and Dad described their experience as “life changing”.
So please, if you feel like it is too late, or your situation is beyond hope, get in touch. I take on difficult cases where “nothing has worked” previously and provide extensive follow up support should you need it. You don’t have to live in the haze of sleep deprivation with your older child.
