How to get your baby to sleep according to Kent expert Judy Clark

Are you struggling to get enough sleep with a baby in the house?

Do you find the nights exhausting with a child or toddler who is refusing to sleep through the night?

A mother-of-two from Kent believes she has the answers to these problems, and more, thanks to a specially designed sleep programme which she says is consistently helping to turn night owls into sleeping beauties.

Child sleep therapist and Sleep Sense consultant Judy Clark is showing families around the world how to sleep better through her company Babywinkz, which she runs from her Kings Hill home.

Judy, who once worked in customer services, embarked on a massive career change after adopting the Sleep Sense approach to help first daughter Jannah, who was waking every hour at eight-weeks-old, start sleeping for more than seven hours at a time.

She explained: “I never quite understood until I had my daughter. And I just accepted it - that this child enjoyed crying. I was so tired.

“After a lot of research I came across a few techniques but then I found something that worked.”

With her children now at school Judy, after training in Canada, now coaches families through the Sleep Sense approach seeing or speaking on average to five sets of parents a week.

And with the help of technology she is able to conduct her consultations with sleep-deprived families as far afield as Australia, Kenya and Singapore while also running free seminars at local nurseries and playgroups.

Her two week programme begins with asking the family to fill out an in-depth questionnaire about the baby’s current routine, family set-up, parents’ working hours and other commitments in the household, before Judy holds a 90 minute consultation with both parents to build a tailored programme.

She explains that while her techniques are based on a consistent routine for parents and baby, siblings sleep times, bedtime demands and other distractions in the household must all be taken into account to get an approach which is right for each infant while also showing parents how not to fall back on or adopt props such as rocking a child, feeding it to sleep or using a dummy.

“You can teach the babies the skill of sleep at any age” she said. “You have to get them into a routine and let their body clocks settle but you can teach them.”

To help My Kent Family parents Judy has shared her top tips for getting a good night's sleep with your baby or toddler.

1. Babies need to learn to fall asleep on their own without any external props. Props come in many forms, from dummies to feeding, to patting, rocking, stroking mum or dad’s hair and many more.

2. Be consistent. Whatever is happening in one sleep situation needs to be happening at all sleep situations to send a clear message about what is expected, even during night wakes.

3. Early bedtime. This is vital to ensure that children do not become overtired. When a child is overtired, it becomes more difficult to settle down and fall asleep. Try to pick a bedtime somewhere between 6-8pm based on your child’s age.

4. Routine. A bedtime routine is something you can start at a very early age and is an excellent cue to the body and mind that it is time to settle down and get ready for sleep. Routines should last from 20–30 minutes. Your routine might include a bath, pyjamas, feed and maybe a song or book.

5. Keep baby awake while feeding. If you are feeding your infant in the night try not to let him/her fall asleep at the breast or bottle. Keep feedings low key and quiet.

6. Place baby in the cot awake.

7. Naps. These are just as important as night time sleep. Babies and toddlers must have their naps in the day as delaying, reducing or cutting out naps at the wrong age will lead to over-tiredness, which will impact on their bedtime routine and lead to wakes during the night.

What are your tips for a peaceful night? Let us know below. Log in with your social media account.