Sleep & emotional wellbeing
“Without enough sleep, we all become tall two-year-olds” ~ Jojo Jensen
SLEEP IS CRUCIAL FOR OUR EMOTIONAL WELL-BEING
I often get calls from parents who are feeling very low because their infant isn’t sleeping well. I can hear the desperation in their voice as they explain the challenges they face.
Of course, when our babies don’t sleep, we don’t either. And when you are sleep deprived everything around you begins to crumble – the housework doesn’t get done, you start eating unhealthy food and taking less care of yourself. You can become forgetful and depressed, living on autopilot, too tired to even communicate with your partner.
This sleep deprivation goes on for days, weeks, or even months, until you start googling for “child sleep specialists”.
After speaking with my clients, I’m often told that they feel better just sharing their situation with me and lightening their load. We go through a consultation process which enables the parent to pinpoint their goals and decide if they would like to work with me to tackle their little one’s sleep challenges.
We then discuss the challenges they face and how we are going to work together to improve their sleep – and this is when I start to see an improvement in their mood. Parents no longer feel alone, they have me to share their burden, and feel better knowing a plan is finally in place.
My holistic and empathic support gently guides parents through the sleep coaching process. I never use “cry it out”, which means letting your baby cry themselves to sleep, instead encouraging parents to choose the method that best suits their family from 3 options. It’s so important that parents feel comfortable and confident with the approach we are using.
Often, parents will prefer to have me there in person, supporting and guiding them, which means that I regularly carry out my sleep coaching in-house. With my full support, parents will gradually build the confidence to step in and take on the coaching for themselves.
I feel that sleep and emotional wellbeing are so intrinsically linked and it’s vital to be able help parents with both. My qualification as a psychotherapist allows me to work with a professional, empathic, and non-judgmental approach, which enables parents to feel relaxed and honest about how they are feeling.
Once the package has ended, it’s amazing to see the transformation that has taken place, not only in the quality and amount of sleep my families are getting, but also in the emotional well-being of the parents. They are eating better, seeing more of friends and family, having a more satisfying relationship with their partner, and enjoying their little one even more than they did before.
I’ve been told how I have ‘transformed lives’ and turned a ‘tired house’ into a ‘happy house’. This is so rewarding to hear. Although my job is very challenging, I’m lucky to support so many amazing families, many of whom contact me long after their package has ended for support and advice when weaning, potty training or behaviour coaching their little ones.
And I am only too happy to help.
If your child is struggling to sleep then take a look at my sleep support packages and let’s get started together.
