After so many months of anticipation, and to be fair in the current climate, uncertainty as well, the wait is over, and you get to meet your wonderful new arrival.  After all the wondering about who they will be, and how they will look and how you will be in your brand-new role, they are here in your arms and an amazing parenting journey begins. It is the start of a whirlwind adventure and although it will feel challenging,

Night Terrors Night terrors can be easily identified and typically happen within the first few hours of sleep, during deep “non-REM” sleep.  During an episode, the child jolts awake from deep sleep, wide eyes, frightened, screaming/shouting and possibly sweating with a racing heart.  As this is a partial arousal disorder, your child is not awake, will not recognise you or realise you are there; he/she may push you away while at the same time call for you.  Unfortunately, this

Establishing a bedtime routine could be considered the first step towards positive sleep practices.  Helping to prepare your child for sleep time can result in a calm onset of sleep that enables your child to achieve their sleep with greater ease, leading to the potential of falling into a deep and more restful slumber. Introducing the concept of  a pre-sleep ritual can be done from as early as 6 weeks of age-once your baby starts to respond to social

When parents report that they have sleep challenges they may hear certain suggestions from others such as – “you will just need to let them cry” to “ you should never let them cry”. This often means that parents are conflicted and, in a dilemma, as managing the ongoing sleep deprivation may be so hard that they feel that to allow their baby to cry it out is the only way. As a practitioner, I do not advocate to

Unfortunately, due to the nature of prolonged lockdowns we are seeing a higher rate of anxiety and sleep refusal in the toddler age range.  Many factors influence this, as the very nature of the lockdowns have meant that we are not seeing enough social interaction and stimulation in this cohort, we are not experiencing the usual day to day activities that allow our children to mix with others, say goodbye to their parents, say hello again and feel confident

Parents who struggle with their children’s sleep often report feeling lonely, unsupported, and frustrated. There are lots of schools of thought, conflicting information and due to the nature parents of being sleep deprived, they may be also emotionally and physically drained. When parents struggle with their children sleep, they often feel but they have failed in some way and that they “should” be able to help their child sleep.  Child sleep challenges affect somewhere between 40 and 70% a

Finding yourself struggling with sleep deprivation can sometimes be a lonely and vulnerable place.  Very often families feel like they are the only ones to experience the debilitating and frustrating effects of trying to help your baby and yourself to sleep more.  Most of the sleep challenges that you may experience in the early few months are attributed to typical infant sleep behaviours and not a problem that requires intervention.  Although new parents may find this incredibly challenging when

If you are thinking about working on improving your child’s sleep tendencies, then there are a few things that I really encourage to ensure that you will make the progress that you desire.  Beginning to help your child sleep better and longer when they are developmentally ready, can take time and patience, but a better rested you and family is possible with a few adjustments and a change in mindset. Decide that you are about to make a lifestyle

The Art of New Parenting In general, I don’t think that you can ever prepare for how tired you may feel in the weeks and months after your baby is born! Even if you have a little person who does what might be considered a relatively good stretch of sleep overnight, caring for a newborn is all consuming and not just physically tiring but emotionally draining too. It is fair to say that you can be the best read,

Delighted this year to be able to offer a gifting solution to the expectant, new or simply just tired parent/to be in your life! Both a valuable and thoughtful present to include both books: The Baby Sleep Solution, All About The Baby Sleep Solution and also my award winning Sleep Through by Lucy Wolfe- 100% Natural Relaxing Rub and Sleep Spray. RRP: €80- Our Price €65 including delivery.  The present will arrive boxed and lined in tissue paper for

In advance of the clocks going back on Sunday October 25th it is a good idea for parents of young children to be aware of a few strategies that can be considered so that your established sleeper continues to sleep well or at the very least that sleep is minimally disturbed at this time. It can take a few days and as long as a week for the body, both adults and children alike, to adjust to a different

Establishing a bedtime routine could be considered the first step towards positive sleep practices. Helping to prepare your child for sleep time can result in a calm onset of sleep that enables your child to achieve their sleep with greater ease, leading to the potential of falling into a deep and more restful slumber. Introducing the concept of a pre-sleep ritual can be done from as early as 6 weeks of age-once your baby starts to respond to social

  Naps are definitely hard, regardless of your child’s age, but none more so in those early few months as your baby’s nap rhythms are generally not established until 6 months which can mean that both you and baby are frustrated trying to achieve and maintain any semblance of day time sleep. Firstly, it’s important to note that having challenges with naps in the early months is entirely typical and not a representation of your skills as a parent;

Resolving the stand-off at bedtime with your older child can push you to your very limit.  As your child grows, their ability to dispute, refute, bargain, negotiate and stall at bedtime is unequalled. It can result in bedtime taking hours and  may include parents spending a long time lying beside their child, or returning their child to bed on multiple  occasions, and filling all their requests for more drinks, food, TV, more stories for example. If this sounds familiar,

Lots of factors influence our young children’s sleep and with toddler-sleep highly complex in nature, then naturally it is not unusual for parents to report regressions in their toddlers sleep especially when there are significant life changes happening. It is not unusual for a toddler to learn that they are going to be big brother or sister and although naturally exciting, it may also be emotionally conflicting for them and they may struggle to fully understand the complete overhaul

This is such an unusual year as the return to school is not just after the usual summer break, but following the lockdown from early March.  So this year has been entirely different than any other and the return to school- although mostly welcomed- brings a host of challenges for both for the adults as well as the children. A recent survey suggested that as a result of lockdown/summer holidays almost 50% of children were now going to bed