Over the past four and half years, I have had hundreds of parents email me back and say … Can you fix me too? My child has been sleeping through the night for several months, but I am still waking up!
I have sleep issues of my own and they started in childhood and followed me all my life. It is one of the many reasons I am so passionate about what I do. I wish to hopefully prevent children from ending up like me.
My philosophy is that sleep is a skill. By having a child learn this invaluable life skill as young as possible, they will have an opportunity to learn and practice it. When you hire me, I will not only show you how to teach them as gently as possible but also how to create happy and loving memories when it comes to sleep so that your children not only sleep well, but that they LOVE going to bed. I will show you how to have them become deeper, better, stronger sleepers than the next child. That way, when the “pressures of life” start to bear down on them, it will not impact their sleep as significantly as the next child.
Here are some ideas, websites and information that I have found helpful with my own sleep. The majority is from Dr. Robert Rosenberg from Answers for Sleep and Dr. Michael Breus The Sleep Doctor. These two gentlemen are two of my sleep heros. Watch for Dr.Rosenberg’s book coming out very soon ~ spring 2014!
1) POWER DOWN HOUR – Set an alarm for reminding YOU to go to bed at a consistent time every night. First 20 minutes: take care of any worries for the next day- so pack lunches, get clothes ready
2) 20 minutes – bathroom activities – can include hot bath or shower 3) 20 minutes reading a book or doing yoga or relaxation CD
2) Write down a worry list of all the things bothering you and create a to do list for the next day
3) Write down a gratitude list afterwards
4) Relaxation CD’s really work – I need these to get me to sleep and back to sleep during stressful times in my life. By subscribing to Dr.Breus’ newsletter, you can get one for free. The Kelowna Sleep Clinic recommends Sleep by Eli Bay. You can download it for cheaper rather than buying the CD.
5) If you wake in the night and can’t get back to sleep, try counting backwards by 3s starting at 300. I love this! It really works for me most nights and if not, I use one of my sleep cds.
I encourage you to also speak to your family doctor as there could be medical reasons behind your sleep struggles. We are very fortunate here in Kelowna as we have a local Sleep Clinic. He moved here from Calgary for lifestyle reasons. In British Columbia if you are referred through your family doctor, it is covered through our Medical Services Plan. There might be local resources where you live too.
Here are links for you to find local resources in North America.
For Canada:
https://css-scs.ca/provider-map/
For United States of America: