Has anyone used a sleep therapist and can they recommend her/him?

[Suzihaha]

I have two DSs; 3.1 and 1.6 years. Both of whom wake up every night, without fail.

Sometimes they go back to sleep quickly; sometimes, it can take 2 hours.

DH and I have had a sum total of 3 nights unbroken sleep since DS2 was born 18 months ago.

It's putting a strain on our relationship, not to mention my health is suffering as I don't get enough rest to fight any infection off (I also work FT).

Please help!

Where do you live and what are you looking for?

SW London.

I'm just looking for someone to tell me what I'm doing wrong and how to fix it!

Think you can do it with a self help book (Save our Sleep by Tizzie Hall is good). YOu just need a plan that you will both believe in and stick to. But I used a sleep therapist who we only spoke to over the 'phone.
I really rated her as it meant that we could iron out a plan between us that we agreed with wholeheartedly. We were too tired and too pfb to do it ourselves, but it would have been just the same really if we'd found a plan we trusted.
Was a younger baby (she was six months when I gave up on the "let the baby decide the schedule" approach- schedule involved half a dozen wake ups a night or two hour party session in middle of night). She is now a brilliant sleeper. My life is much much much better. I am evangelical about it.
It's worked for all the people I've recommended it to IF they were committed to creating adn then sticking with a plan- can be tough when you are tired anyway.
Anyway, her details are at www.babymoon.co.uk- she works with a doula: MarsLady who posts on here sometimes. She was Rebecca Stewart (\tel: 0798 5956 575
email: [email protected] ).
It cost £150, took maybe two hours of 'phone calls and a half hour debrief afterwards. Three nights of us being up to see her, but only one with a fair bit of crying (total of two hours of grumpy but not distressed crying- we went in immediately if she did sound sad, but only once or twice through whole thing).
sorry, always long post on this topic, like I say, evangelical. I LOVE sleep and hated not having it!!!
Good luck whatever you do

I had help from a behaviour therapist with DS and have used her methods with both DD's too.

Basically, you need to think what your DS's are getting out of waking up in the night? What is the reward for the unwanted behaviour?

Then, you decide how to remove the reward. And here's the tough bit. You stick with the removal of the reward. Does that make sense?

So what do your boys get out of their night time waking?

Aftare nearly 15 months of despair, we contacted Night Nannies. Ask for the French lady. She is magnificent.

After!

oooh, good concise summary of how to stay sane parenting generally I think balls. I read Superfreakonomics recently and keep thinking about DD as a rational being who I need to incentivise/disincentivise to do stuff. Bit behaviourist but I think it works!

Thanks for your helpful hints. I think they wake up so they can be with us; mainly. Recently I've just taken to letting them sleep in our bed (wrong I know) but sheer exhaustion doesn't allow any other option.

I tried an over the telephone one with DS1 when he was 10 months. Her plan didn't work as he had silent reflux that was undiagnosed until 15 months. Once we sorted that his sleep was fine; but deteriorated after we moved house 9 months ago. DS2 is a mystery.

I feel like I need someone to spend the night to really assess the situation as both DH and I are too much in the thick of it to think clearly.