Has anybody used a sleep consultant but not found it made a difference?

[Magicalwoodlands]

Getting desperate!

Ds (9 months) is sleeping so poorly I’m actually becoming a bit worried that it may affect his development. But I’ve tried most of the ‘gentle’ sleep methods available to no avail so am concerned that the next step of a sleep consultant may just prove to be wasted money.

Any thoughts?

How consistent have you been when you’ve tried different methods, and how long did you stick at them? (No judgement intended, just we have just used one and I thought I’d tried everything until she made us keep a sleep diary and I could suddenly see how inconsistent we’d been - not applying the same method to bedtime and wake ups every time). We did a gradual retreat which has worked well for us although it hasn’t been a miracle fix and did involve some crying despite being supposedly gentler than other methods. It has improved things hugely though and I can see the difference in my DD for getting better rest.

For us it was 100% worth the money. I could have followed much the same advice from a book or online for cheaper/free but for me it was having someone to be accountable to and to encourage me to stick at it when it felt tough. If I hadn’t stumped up for a two week programme I might have sacked it off after a night or so. Can’t say what we did would work for everyone but if you are desperate and can afford it, it could be worth a try. Hope things improve for you soon either way and you all get some sleep x

My dd used a sleep consultant for both her babies. 1st baby was a great sleeper from about 4 months, 2nd baby took a while longer to get into a firm routine. Both sleep really well for 12 hours at night, youngest has 2 hours midday, eldest has 1 hour midday.
Money well spent.