Any experience of sleep consultants?

[peardroplets]

DD has been a rubbish sleeper since birth. She's now 8.5 months and wakes up on average about five times a night. A friend of my sister has recommended a consultant who she says worked wonders with her four year old twins and that she wished she had done it sooner. She apparently used gentle methods so that is up out street.

She charges £165 for a phone/email consultation and I would pay double that if I knew it would help get my sleep back. The trouble is we have no idea whether it would work or whether she would just give the same old advice from books (e.g. put down drowsy but awake) that never seemed to work for us.

Not sure if it's worth the gamble but we are in a real rut with sleep andI'm beginning to give up hope if it getting better naturally.

bumping for you as I have no direct experience.

I have to say I think if you would be willing to pay more I would look for someone who would come and do a home visit, but no idea if that's really needed.

I would google the "what worked for me" thread, read it and spend 10 days doing it. Buy wine and take away with the money saved :)

It saved us here.

Also read this link so you understand what the problem is (object permanence - it's always object permanence)
www.preciouslittlesleep.com/what-you-need-to-know-about-sleeping-through-the-night-part-i/

Yes, we used a sleep consultant for DS when he was 15 months. I don't know what counts as "gentle methods" (where that line is drawn) but what we found is that it gave us permission and reassurance that we weren't going to do DS any harm by getting him to sleep better. Quite the opposite in fact - and DH and I were on our knees physically, at work and as a couple.

It wasn't easy (much tougher on us than DS) but it certainly worked. He's now 2.5 and, bar the odd night for teething or illness, sleeps brilliantly. It was less than £100 (no home visit, but we could have had one). I would have paid ten times that gladly.

DS was always a chirpy fellow, but his mood noticeably improved and ours certainly did.

I had a great experience with Millpond when dd1 had just turned 2. I found I'd dipped in and out of so many books I couldn't see the wood for the trees so it was helpful to get an external perspective. The consultant also had lots of helpful tips I hadn't seen in books. I had to complete a sleep diary so it was completely personalised. You don't necessarily have to meet the consultant in person - having regular phone consultations meant I felt compelled to stick to the plan. I insisted on gentle methods and it worked although the consultant did warn that by the age of 2 a bit of crying might be involved. Happily it didn't come to that though.

I used a 'gentle' consultant with dd2 but found her methods were just a bit too wishy washy.

I've heard of lots of people who have used them with twins. The general consensus seems to be that somewhere around the 1 year mark is a good marker for the techniques to work on a consistent basis.

I've read some notes that another twin mum friend shared and to be honest there was nothing in them that you wouldn't be able to research yourself on the web.

Personally I'd save my money and read up a bit on infant sleep and make a written plan with your OH.

nb I have 3 children under 3 and I haven't had any decent sleep in 2.5 years so I'm probably not a good person to listen to