Why We’ve Decided to Hire a Baby Sleep Consultant

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Connor at 2.5 months

When Sienna was 7 months old, her sleep patterns went from decent to almost unmanageable. She woke up 6+ times a night, and I was exhausted. This lasted until she was 11 months old, and almost as quickly as it started, it stopped. At 11 months old we decided to try sleep training. I truly do not like the idea of letting a baby cry it out, so I was very hesitant, but she trained so quickly that there was almost zero crying. The first night I checked in on her every 5 minutes, and only had to go in twice before she was asleep. The second night, only once. By the third night, there was no crying and she slept through the night.

Because of how easy she was in this regard, we had a feeling that Connor would be the exact opposite. Boy were we right… He just turned 9 months old the other day, and I have yet to get more than 5 hours of straight sleep in those 9 months, and that has only happened ONCE. The majority of nights since his birth I have gotten a maximum of 2-3 hours at a time.

I gave in about a month and a half ago and decided to try sleep training with him. One night and an hour of screaming absolute bloody murder and I just couldn’t do it again. I know in my heart that either that is not the right method of training for Connor, or he just isn’t ready for it. So I went back to what I have been trying – slowly working him from needing nursing and rocking to sleep to being able to put him down drowsy but awake. Unfortunately, I have been working on this for months, and haven’t really gotten ANYWHERE. It takes 25-30 minutes to get him to sleep at night, he wakes up 3-4+ times, all of which take 25-30 minutes more each time, and each of his 2 naps take 25-30 minutes as well, and only last 45 or so minutes. I’m exhausted, he gets cranky and exhausted… it’s a mess!

So I decided to look into a sleep training service from a professional. That’s how I found Erin Meckfessel at Pickles & Ice Cream Sleep and Baby Consulting. What she does is a sleep consultation to learn what is going on with your child and their sleep habits – if bedtime takes too long, how many naps, bedtime place, night wakings, etc. – and she then creates a personalized sleep plan for your little one.

Pickles & Ice Cream Sleep and Baby Consulting customizes our sleep consulting plans around your baby. Still, while the little details may change, our goal is always the same: To create healthy sleeping habits for you and your family. Erin will work with you to:

• Create developmentally appropriate expectations for your baby’s sleep (i.e., the amount of sleep your baby needs to promote proper mental and physical growth
• Learn your baby’s sleep cues
• Establish a nap and night sleep schedule for your baby
• Teach your baby to self-soothe
• Overcome any current disruptive sleep habits and environments

I am greatly looking forward to working with Erin and hopefully FINALLY starting to get some good sleep for both Connor and myself. Stay tuned to learn how the experience goes…