Sleep specialist/consultant

[Buzzbee63]

Hi, does anyone have any recommendations for a sleep specialist/consultant? I’m at the end of my tether with my 9 month old who refuses to sleep anywhere apart from me or my bed, will only nap for 30 minutes unless on me and refuses to self settle and is also up every 2 hours. I need some guidance but don’t want to throw my money away to a con artist!! Thank you x

Bear in mind a sleep consultant isn't a magic wand, none of them should be suggesting that they will definitely make your child sleep through because every child has a unique temperament that will mean methods may not work.

What is important to you? Do you want attachment to be the primary factor or is it not a concern to you? Ensuring you're on the same page as the person you work with is going to be essential because the methods they will suggest and information they provide will be different.

Not what you'll want to hear but your child sounds very normal in their desire to still be close to you or still needing support through the night. They've only just reached the point of being on the outside of you longer than the inside so in relative terms they're still tiny.

It is a really hard stage at 9 months, we are there with our second right now, and when our first was that age we did get a night nurse to train her sleep back (horrible sleep regressions at 8 months). Our night nurse was magical and fixed our issues in 3 nights, but did want us to be ok with crying it out, which by that stage we were (each to their own though). It was actually much better than we expected. We were in a different country, so I can't recommend anyone, but I will say that usually a doula network is a good place to ask, as that is where the majority work/have contacts. I'd recommend that you keep a diary of sleep/eating (how much, what was taken etc) for at least a week before someone coming in, if not longer. We were asked for the details of that by everyone we contacted. They basically just want to see patterns. The other complication (if it is one for you) is that it was easier for the night nurse to do her job if we bottle fed the baby. We were already, and I am sure they can must have a simple workaround if you are breastfeeding. Either way, I highly recommend asking doulas who they know/can recommend. Best of luck!

I’ve name changed to reply - my friend is a sleep specialist, this is exactly the type of thing she can help with. I’ll PM you