Prof sleep trainer / night nanny needed for 10-month old - any recommendations or interest?

[SalLikesCoffee]

Our ds (10 months old) is waking up various times a night. This coming week is horrendous at work for both dh and myself, so I'm looking for a night nanny.

I'm now thinking I might as well combine both - so instead of someone just helping with his night wakings (which is normally solved with a pick-up / tapping / formula milk feeds), get someone who does this kind of sleep training for a living.

I know I really should have started coaching him into sleeping through anyway, but as I'm not into controlled crying at all, thought I'll just leave it to sort itself out in a couple of months. However, we can't really cope with not sleeping this coming week, so am rather desperate!

Please help!

(PS: Not sure whether this was supposed to go in sleeping, so please feel free to shout if so.)

Trouble Shooters is really what we need, but no way on earth am I able to afford that (not that I don't think the person is worth that money, mind you, it's just that I don't have that much to spend for 4 nights.)

(Uhm, to clarify, it's the once-off agency fee of £150 plus then £20 per night on top of the actual fees that makes this impossible - I do realise it is a professional job. ) (Just in case I sound like a cheapskate out to exploit people working through the whole night.)

i do sleep training and i charge £12ph and normally do 10hr - 9-7,8-6 depending where i am the next day

i do understand it is a lot of money

i have never had a baby i havent managed to get to sleep through the night, and i said on the sleep thread i generally manage it within 2 weeks - but the parents must carry on with what i say, and once they have stopped feeding NEVER feed again in the middle of the night

How do u stop baby wanting a feed in middle of night my 11 month old is constantly waking for a feed people have said give water but he doesn't want that n screams constantly if he doesnt get milk i cant really do controlled crying as he wakns his sister who is in bed in same room

it is the feeding during the night that normally causes the problems.

I'm assuming your DS is fully weaned on solids now and doesn't wake during the night due to hunger?

How do you settle your little boy for day time naps?

course he scream, he is used to getting milk

you have to bite the bullet and let you and your dd have a few nights of disturbed sleep while you reducate your ds

may take a few nights or up to 14 but if you persevere and do the same every night, he will learn

it is habbit and not hungar which makes himwake

14 night I did controlled crying with dd and it worked great but my dd nearly 3 is like a bear with sore head if she doesnt get sleep so should i do controlled crying with him lettin him scream and listen to dd crying too or is there another way

have you read the no cry sleep solution?

Maybe try to borrow a copy of it if you can. It is a good book and obviously (as the title says) there shouldn't be much crying from you or your children!

Good luck

i read everything, tried everything except controlled crying then found a really nice health visitor who specialises in sleep issues. she came out 3 times at 2 week intervals and he went from sleeping in our room and in our bed from 4am to sleeping in his room, self settling and sleeping through. i think it was partly a phase and he was almost ready to settle himself but keeping a sleep diary, having someone to go through it and check up on progress every 2 weeks was really good and made sure we kept the routine so baby knew exactly what to expect every night.

a friend's baby started waking at 4/5am so she gives a bowl of cereal last thing at night and he now sleeps through. if he's having a decent amount of milk at night then it might take a while to gradually reduce it and increase what he's having in the day. we give lots of pasta/potatoes/rice to fill baby up and it seems to have helped.

could he be too reliant on you/your partner to help him fall asleep? if it's self settling that's the issue he needs to learn to fall asleep on his own at bedtimes/naptimes so when he wakes in the night he knows what to expect and doesn't need you to fall asleep again.

Thanks for the advice!

Blondes, that is quite a track record! I'll try from tonight, but might have to get someone to help me at least a couple of nights next week - I really have timed this horrendously!!! Are you currently booked up (say for tomorrow to Tuesday nights at least)? If you're free by any chance and actually looking for something, could you please e-mail me at [email protected] Thanks so much. (We're in SE10 btw.)

Paula, you're right - he can't really be hungry (though, try telling that to him!) I suspect he might have a hole (other than the obvious ) somewhere! He has breakfast at around 8:30 at nursery, a bottle and fruit snack at 11, lunch at 1, bottle in middle, then "dinner" at 4pm. He has a proper dinner at 6:30 ish, and goes to bed with a full bottle at 7:30 - 8pm (ish). He has another bottle (or two, but has had 3 on the very shocking occasion) during the night.

A friend from postnatal have given me some great tips, which I'm trying out tonight. I do realise it won't change over night, but I'm starting while it's weekend and everything. It's so hard hearing him scream blue murder, but I do understand that it doesn't actually hurt him. I suspect I'm a whimp!

Paula, haven't actually read it, but have heard great things - I might try and get a copy and read it on the way to work.

Sorry naturalbaby, cross-posts there. I know what it is realy - I have made him reliant on milk to fall asleep. Whenever he goes to bed, he'll get a bottle. When he cries at night, he'll take a couple of sips every now and again, and then a lot at a certain time during the night. I think he doesn't know that it is possible to sleep without milk.

I have tried water, but he refused it and just cried more! I should really have persevered, but gave in (short term gains and all that, which is now coming back to haunt me!)

i know of someone! i plan on using her when i get to the end of my tether.

husbands broker referred her...

she charges £1,000 a week though, but you only need her for one week or something. not sure if the £1,000 a week is real or if it was just added into the email as a deterrent on my husbands part.

this is the email (within the quotes).

" so improtant info..kate longlands..think she was from night
nannies..02088503058 is night nanny number but kates number is
07788747718..cost around £1000..but she worked day and night
for us for 5 days..and sorted out innes sleep pattern in 3
days!9he was 4 months old when we got her) you can get one
quite quickly if they have a gap..but your better to call them
in advance of needing them as sometimes theyre booked for
months!good luck! "

Eandz, at your suspicions re dh inflating the price! Hehe.

Sheez. £1,000. Then again, sanity. How much do you think the going rate for a kidney is there days?

Thank you very much for the info though. Am saving it anyway, just in case. Hmm. Tempting.

Status update here - the crying has just stopped (after 30 mins and 2 glasses of wine - for the nerves, you know) Next baby (well, if we survive this!) I'm doing a lot of things differently. The biggest joke (in a very sad idiot kind of way) is that, when he was tiny, I never let him cry as I was afraid it would annoy the neighbors. I am officially a moron.

awwwwwwww sal i would love to come and work for you, but alas too far away, and i am booked up at mo as PP

shame my dear old pal www cant help you ( think you had her during the day)

£1000 is a lot, but then again i charge £180 when i pp so 24hr care - so 5days of me costs my mb £900

sal - if you really want to crack it, and it sounds that you do, then have a try yourself

Ah damn. Understandable, but I'm going to sulk anyway

www doesn't do nn-ing, does she? I can try and guilt trip her into helping, as ds adored her! Just joking.

Yeah, I guess if you look at cost per hour it's fair. Just a lot on top of his daycare too, but I think if I had unlimited money I would do it without a second thought.

Ok, wish me luck. I'll try to crack it. Might come and cry in your ears here at 3 tomorrow morning...

dont think she does

but worth a try

cry all you like at 3AM

I wont be here

I WILL BE TUCKED UP IN BEB,as will my 7mth, 3 and 6yr

Gmpf, I'm going off you now!

I'll have you know, he's still sleeping . (Hmm, running to bed just in case I'm jinxing myself now!)

if it makes you feel any better my 7mth woke up last night/well this am - 4am as teething
very rare for her to wake up - but this fab blode got her back to sleep

we had a little chat and she promises not to do it again tonight

my 4 month old has never slept through the night. or longer than three hours at a time.

but he's suffering from bad reflux so i won't even try to get him to sleep until i can get him at least comfortable.

i wish you luck, a good nights rest and strength to continue on this journey. i will be looking for you once i'm ready to try this out.

lol Blondes.

Thanks, Eandz! Poor ds, hope he gets over the reflux soon. Well, I'm going to try this out, so really hoping that I'll be able to give you encouragement once you get to this point!

Damn damn damn, I should have gone to bed when I said - he's just started crying again...

reflux problems are a completly different kettle of fish xx

sal - no 3 PROMISED to sleep tonight - mb said she got a good nights sleep last night

tbh she only wakes up when teething, got 5 only 15 to go

Well, some results on this side:

Ds went back to sleep after only 5-10 mins (still sounded like ages to me, but I'm kind of prepared for it to feel that way)

I hunted down got hold of www and she's helping me tomorrow and Monday night (Mon and Tues will be worst days of the week at work) Was great chatting to her earlier, I feel better already! Now just to stay strong through tonight.

Btw, Scorpio, if you're reading this, I owe you big time, thanks for the support!

You just watch this space, in 2 weeks max (says she who hasn't even survived the first night) he'll be settled into his new routine.

yah - glad www can help - soz i cant

was going to say time yourself

what sounded hours to one of my mums when i was showing her what to do, was actually less than 8mins - i stop watched it for her

she was amazed

thought her baby was crying for over 30mins

but a crying baby does sound longer than what it does iykwim

Oh don't be silly, you're helping loads already, so thanks!

Hmm, timing the crying might be a good idea, especially in the night, as everything feels worse after 12, doesn't it?

Am now really going to bed. I'm worse than a child, even when tired I hate going to bed early on a Saturday night. I really should stop moaning about how tired I am