Sleep consultant asking too much into or the norm?

[chocosddict]

I have decided to hire a sleep consultant for DC as they go to bed late, wake up multiple times and insist on co sleeping.

With going back to work I am decorate for DC to sleep through the night.

Anyway I had an initial consultation with a sleep consultant on Monday.

The consultant asked a lot of personal questions and I was just wondering if it was the norm?

Full address
Full name of parents
Parents ethnicity
Country of birth of parents
Hospital where DC were born.
Full date of birth of parents
Childbirth details

I found it quite uncomfortable with this as it was merely a consultation and found some details abit intrusive but I am a private person anyway so don’t know if I am over reacting.

Is this the norm?

Most of it is probably just data collection, the childbirth details are critical for a sleep consultant to understand any potential underlying reasons why sleep is tough.

There is no such thing as 'just' data collection. Personal data like this there needs to be a reason, I can't imagine why they would need the parents full date of birth

Yes I did wonder myself why she needed our DOB.

She does not need most of that info. I’d find another one.

I used a sleep consultant and they only asked for our first names and kids' ages in terms of personal info! That seems totally over the top and suspicious.

I'd just ask how the data is being used and stored and how they are confirming to gdpr.

I would just write N/A to any questions you’re not comfortable with and see if that works?

What do you think they're going to do with that information?

Yes this way ott op.

I used a sleep consultant she asked for:

Our names
DOB of kids
Address (in case we would ask for a home visit in the future)
Sleep/feed/activity routine for the kids

Yes I didn’t get good vibes during the initial consultation to be honest.

I think I will look for another one, any recommendations most welcome please 😀 xx

Secure it poorly and then it gets nicked and combined with other personal information and sold on the dark web? Leading to increased risks of future hacks and identity theft?

Doesn't matter what the person is going to do with it. They shouldn't ask for personal info they don't need, it's the law.

I would request a right to be forgotten under gdpr. They will have to delete your personal data.

That seems odd. Maybe she’s going to do your birth charts and give you zodiac-based sleep advice?

I tried one sleep consultant who asked a load of questions about my obstetric history before concluding that my DC didn’t sleep because he had been gestated in my haunted womb (I experienced a stillbirth and several miscarriages before DC). I didn’t bother to stick around to hear what her suggestions were for exorcising us all of the ghosts of my unborn babies.

We eventually found a great sleep consultant but there are lots of wingnuts out there.

@chocosddict re: recommendations, it was a looooong time ago now but we used Savvy Tot Sleep in the end - Deb who we worked with was fantastic. Consults were online. She was very down to earth and warm and pragmatic.

Most sleep consultants are charlatans. How old is your baby? It’s quite normal for infants to ‘insist’ on co-sleeping by the way!

@VoltaireMittyDream
I’m so sorry to hear this, that sleep consultant sounds awful, what an awful thing to say to someone who has experienced child loss.

I will keep looking and hopefully find someone.

DC is a few weeks away from 2nd birthday.

DC was sleeping through from 8 weeks old and at 11 months old he began frequently waking.

This. It is an unregulated industry and preys on sleep deprived parents.

There is a lot of information online and your HV should be able to offer some solutions - for free.

Childbirth details can be relevant - a traumatic birth or early separation due to being in SCBU or NICU can impact for example. If the birth was a regular birth then they need no further details other than nothing unusual happened.

As others have said, nobody should be collecting personal data without giving you clear information about how it will be stored, how it will be used, and why they need it.

I can think of potentially legitimate reasons for asking for some of this (eg research purposes), but the reasons should be clear and you should be able to opt out of everything but what is essential for the service you want.

So agree that this sounds a bit off - though probably poor understanding of the law rather than anything deliberately malicious.

Try Nights With Nat. There's loads of info on her Instagram to give you a good idea of what she's like and she has a website with clear pricing too. I think if you have one of the initial calls for like £20 then you get that money off if you go for a full support plan, though you can just skip straight to the plan.

What qualifications do you look for in a sleep consultant? As a PP has said, it’s an unregulated space and I’d be suspicious anyone in this field just wants your money.

Anyway, if it were me, I’d cosleep! But that’s what I do anyway 😂

If you absolutely must, I’d take a book out of the library and keep your cash.

The only decent one I’ve come across is Lucy Bagwell ‘Second star to the right.’ It seems she’s the only one who completely refuses any form of cry it out or pick-up-put-down or anything like that. The rest of them just want your money to tell you to leave your baby alone for ever increasing intervals (and during ever increasing distress).

Personally, I would just stick to a stricked regime. This eventually works. No phones or gaming in the evening. Keep the bedroom dark. Put a bag of lavender under the pillow, create a routine

Seems a bit strange to me and if you got a bad vibe then it’s definitely worth finding another one.

I recently worked with Olivia at Baby Sleep Stars (email below) and it’s been life changing getting a full nights sleep and I have a much happier baby. She only charged £150 which was the cheapest I found. Highly recommend!

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