Soothing2Sleep

Is feeding to sleep good or bad? ​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​Well the answer is not so much about being good or bad but rather deciding if it works for you.

How do you know if feeding to sleep is working for you and your baby?

The best way to know is to measure it against how long they stay asleep for after the feed. Short bursts of sleep, such as 1-2 hours overnight and needing a feed to go to sleep each time indicates that the feed is actually impacting your babies sleep and making it worse.

If a baby is able to stay asleep for long stretches (until after midnight for older babies) then you know that the feed is working for you.

Feeding to sleep unfortunately doesn't work for every baby, if your baby suffers from reflux then you will want to seperate the feed and feed at least 30 min before a nap or bedtime.

Feeding to sleep may also not be practical for a family and that is ok too, If you want your baby to learn to fall asleep on their own then separating the feed from bed or nap time and replacing this with a settling strategy can be really helpful.

Whats your thoughts, is feeding to sleep helpful for you?

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I mean some days are just rough... right?🥴​​​​​​​​
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Hello to our beautiful community and beyond..​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​Over the last few months Soothing2Sleep has gone through some dramatic changes, as with anything, there always comes a time when it is time to say goodbye to the old and to bring on the new.

Sooooo.... something a little exciting is going to happen tomorrow and I can't wait to share it with you all! Stay tuned!

😍Client Love 😍⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀
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3 year olds are amongst my favourite to work with, it's incredible to see how small boundaries and a bit of tough love can completely change their sleep around🤩⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀
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Daylight Savings🌞⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀
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Now, you might not experience daylight savings, but for those of us who do, know how disruptive this can be for our little ones sleep. ⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀
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Daylight savings is ending here in a couple of days and while there are a couple of ways to go about this I generally like to do the following routine adjustment before the clocks turn back. ⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀
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Day 1: Put your baby to bed at their normal time (6:30pm)⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀
Day 2: Put your baby to bed 15 min later (6:45pm)⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀
Day 3: Put your baby to bed another 15 min later (7:00pm)⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀
Day 4: Add another 15 min to that (7:15pm)⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀
Day 5: What would have been 7:30 pm is now 6:30 pm ⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀
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Remember to adjust the day accordingly 🙂

Crying when you leave the room😭⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀
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Does your baby cry when you put them in their cot to sleep and walk out the room, but you know they can self-settle? 😢⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀
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Did you know this is often part of the child’s temperament and so many babies will do this? 🤯⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀
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Crying when you leave the room does not have to be viewed negatively though, for some babies/toddlers this is just part of their process of winding themselves down before they go to sleep. 🥱⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀
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10-15 minutes of this is completely normal and often nothing to worry about, if you listen carefully you will find that they are not crying hysterically but rather moaning/grizzling or even doing burst of cry outs. 🧐⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀
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If your baby never used to do that but suddenly does, know this is completely normal too. Some may do it every other night depending on how tired they are, while others will always do it (Like my little one) 🙈⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀
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Has your baby started this too? ⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀

**Crying at Nap Time**⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀
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Does your baby cry the second you walk into their room for a nap? Are you starting to think they may be scared of their room? 😭⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀
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Don’t worry, I know it can be hard to hear them cry but just know that this is actually a positive sign as your baby has now begun to associate their room with sleeping. 🧐⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀
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Babies, regardless of how tired they are, don’t want to miss a beat on all the “fun” that is happening while they sleep so if when nap time nears, and you enter the room the FOMO sets in and the tears start rolling. ☹️⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀
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There are ways you can help your little one associate the room with a positive experience and that’s by doing some of the following: ⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀
🤩 Read happy books in their room ⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀
🤩 Lay on the floor and play with your little one ⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀
🤩 Create fun experiences in the room ⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀
🤩 These will all help your little one knows that it’s ok to be in the room because it can be fun and happy. ⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀
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If your little one is experiencing some separation anxiety, play some peek-a-boo in their cot to help them understand that even though you disappear, you quickly return too. 🙈⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀
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Are you dealing with this too?

**What's Happening**

These photos pretty much sum up how it's been here at Soothing2Sleep 😂

Over the last few months we have had an influx of new families needing support! And we feel so blessed and honored to help each and everyone one of you💕

But that does mean some things take a back seat (sorry social family 🙈) so while it may seem a little quite on here just know that it's only because our families in need come first! 💕

But in saying that we are still here🤗 so don't think just because it's quite that the lights are out 😂

If you still here, thank you 🙏 how's things in your world going?

**Dropping Naps Part 3** ⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀
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The last and final nap is usually dropped around the 2.5-3 year mark, this is always the hardest one for parents to drop. ⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀
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Some signs to look out for are: ⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀
👉Bedtime- is your child taking a really long time to go to bed at night and only falling asleep around 9/10pm?⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀
👉During the night- are you noticing frequent wake ups?⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀
👉Early rising- Is your little one starting to wake really early and struggling to go back to sleep? ⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀
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When parents delay dropping this nap, it can often become a snowball effect. ⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀
1. Your child goes to bed at 10pm, so they miss out on 3 hours of deep sleep. ⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀
2. Tomorrow you decide to drop the nap so now they 4 hours in the deficit. ⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀
3. You keep bedtime the same so now they 5 hours behind.⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀
4. Tomorrow they tired so you offer the nap even just for an hour and the cycle begins again.... ⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀
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It's going to be one really hard day but just know with consistency and persistence you will see their night sleep improve... ⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀
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Tips: ⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀
⭐️Make dinner earlier than usually and give them whatever they will eat (even if that's noodles and fairy floss 🙊) ⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀
⭐️If they really struggling put them to bed earlier, don't push them⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀
⭐️It may take a couple of days but it may make a world of difference for you!

** Dropping Naps Part 2**⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀
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Somewhere around the 12 month mark toddlers begin to nap strike, you know the times when they just refuse to take a nap? Did you know that is is actually not a sign to drop a nap? ⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀
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Somewhere between the 15-18 month mark is when your little one will really be ready to drop their morning nap... this now becomes the second nap of the day that goes. ⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀
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Why drop the morning nap? This is because if we keep a morning nap and drop a lunch nap our toddler will be so overtired by the time it's bedtime! ⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀
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Signs to look out for to drop this nap: ⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀
🥱Consistently fighting the nap but happy till lunch nap⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀
🥱Taking the nap but taking longer to settle for the lunch nap or ⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀
🥱Not sleeping for the whole lunch nap ⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀
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This can be a tricky one to drop, don't drop too soon⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀
When dropping this nap, bring the lunch nap forward for a few days and then slowly move back to original time this will help your little one adjust.... ⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀
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Have you dropped this nap yet?