Sleep Consultation / Sleep Training / Trouble Shooting

What is Baby Sleep Consultancy?

As a Sleep Consultant I work with families to consult and advise on most areas of baby and toddler care, sleep, feeding and routine. I work with all ages of babies and toddlers from birth up to approximately two years old. I typically offer two main types of consultations; one for general young baby Sleep and Feeding advice and one for specific older baby and toddler Sleep Training Plans.

During a consultation I will come to your home for approximately 2 hours to discuss everything with you and we will put a plan in place to move forward. Typically, you’ll receive a written plan of everything we have discussed tailored to your parenting style, approach and choices. Following this there are then a few different options to carry the plan forward depending on how much support from me you would like.

A general Sleep Consultation is ideal for very young babies (approximately birth – 4 months). This consultation is directed around giving advice and tips on things like beginning to establish a routine, achieving positive sleep associations, a safe sleeping environment, self-settling, achieving day naps, and starting weaning etc. I also cover feeding options, reflux management, caring for multiples / tandem feeding and any other young baby questions and queries you may have. This consultation can be followed up with pay – as – you – go follow up support, Maternity Night Nanny respite care or a bit of both. Depending on the age of your baby when we first meet, we may work together over a period of a few weeks/months as your baby grows and develops and their sleep and feed needs change.

A specific Sleep Training Consultation is ideal for babies aged over 6 months, who are fully weaned and who are struggling with numerous nighttime wakings which are not consistent with age-appropriate feeds and settlings etc. For example, dealing with issues such as numerous dummy runs, night feeds, cuddling / rocking baby back to sleep, ending up in parents bed, lack of established routine, has trouble self-settling etc. I work with babies who do have a routine in place but still seem to struggle with sleeping throughout the night through to babies who have no routine at all and need to start right at the beginning. There are a few options following on from this consultation depending on how much support you would like and/or your budget considerations.

Of course, there is always a cross over between the two so as a rough guide to be able to look at teaching your baby to sleep through the night for 10 – 12 hours with no feeds they need to be healthy, of an appropriate weight for their age and fully weaned; usually occurring around 6 -7 months. For younger babies or babies with other needs to take into consideration, we would be looking at achieving a realistic routine which aims to be more manageable than where you are currently.

All babies are different which is why I work with each family on an individual basis, creating a plan that is tailored to each baby, and their whole family’s needs. I will work with you to find an age-appropriate routine that works for your family which includes meeting all of your baby’s overnight needs. I will help you understand realistic age/sleep expectations which will enable us to teach your baby to sleep for the longest stretch of time overnight that is age appropriate and realistically possible.

Details of prices, follow up support and some typical scenarios are outlined below; however, if you are unsure which may suit your needs best, I offer a 15 minute complimentary phone call so we can discuss which path is best for you.

Initial Consultation:

I almost always start with an initial consultation. It is really important that I get to know you and your baby/s in great depth so that I can tailor a plan that fully supports your individual circumstances.

Consultation Option 1:     £100 (Plus travel if applicable*)

Includes:

• Pre-Consultation Form
• 2 hour in-home Consultation
• 1 Follow-up Phone Call  (Option to add the written plan in later if required)

Consultation Option 2:     £200 (Plus travel if applicable*)

Includes:

• Pre-Consultation Form
• 2 hour in-home Consultation
• A detailed plan emailed to you approximately 48 hours after your consultation.
• 2 Follow-up Phone Calls

Follow-up Fees:      £28 per hour

Follow up fees include any work that I do with and for your family. This may be remotely in terms of communication (emails, texts, WhatsApp’s, voice notes etc) or, in-home support.

In-home support may be more per hour depending on your location from me, we will discuss this when you first contact me. Written plans take me between 3 – 5 hours to type up. Typically, I work with families over a period of a few weeks, we will have messages backwards and forwards with information sharing and moving you towards where you would like to be. I aim to be very fair with my fees and am always honest and upfront with where you are with them.

I would not expect you to be where you would like to be with the consultation alone, however if you are on a tight budget or if you feel like a chat about some general tips and ideas would be sufficient then you may find this a useful place to start. I will always be honest and upfront with you with how much support I think you may need following our consultation after I have a good understanding of the changes that need to happen. It is equally important though, that we understand that changes take time and effort. I rely on you as the parent to be 100% honest with me in your information sharing with how you are getting along with your plan.

However old your baby is or whatever challenges you are facing, I strongly recommend opting to have the written plan. In my experience there is so much information for you to take on whilst working with me that having an in-depth written plan to refer to or information share with other family members saves time and re-going over the same things at a later date. Furthermore, each Sleep Plan is packed full of general and personalised baby sleep information that is important for your own understanding of your baby’s sleep patterns and needs.

If you know that you are going to need an intense block of hands-on help, or we decide that that is what is best for you following your consultation, then you can expect to book a 3 – 5 consecutive night block. It is typical that I would need to come to your home by 6:30pm on the first few nights so that I am there for the initial bedtime settling and I usually stay until around 6/6:30am.

If you would like to implement a Sleep Plan yourself (typical when families are aiming to keep the cost down), you can expect to need a few hours a day of remote support for the first few days which reduces as time goes on. Typically, I will be on the phone to you before bedtime, during the initial put down on night one, and then on the phone to information share/move forward each morning.

Some families know exactly what help they would like, and others are not sure, so we will talk through the options upon your consultation.

If you live too far away for me to be able to come to your home, I do offer the same services fully remotely. We can have your consultation via video link and full support can be provided remotely using a range of different communication and visual methods.

My methods and approaches are typically gradual and emotionally responsive. I cannot tell you that your baby will not cry, however I can tell you that I will not leave your baby to cry for long periods of time or ask you to do the same. Typically, we do experience crying from our babies when implementing a new Sleep Plan, however the focus is on offering full emotional support while your baby goes through these changes until they are ready for us to gradually move away so that they can sleep independently.

If you have twins or triplets, the fee is not more per hour, however you must expect that more hours will be needed in total compared to one baby.

If your baby has additional needs, physically or emotionally, then we can still have a chat about improving sleep patterns. Once I know the full history about your baby we can see what is realistically possible for your own situation and make a plan from there.

I’m always happy to answer any other questions so feel free to drop me an email if you need any other information

Terms:

• Contract will be provided before commencement
• Non-Refundable deposit is payable before commencement (deducted off of final invoice provided all monies owing are up to date)
• Fees are to be paid in advance
• My service is for a non-waking night shift so a rest space is required (Please contact me for prices if you require waking shifts)