Successful Sleeping Baby

September 24, 2015

Parents wonder whether it is possible for their child to sleep. It can feel hopeless. Parent and child crave sleep as exhaustion increases. There is hope. I received this letter from a mom that I worked with.

Testimony of Sue, mother of Jeannie, age 7 months

The first few months of my second daughter’s life can be summed up in two words, utter exhaustion. I was exhausted. She was exhausted. The entire family was exhausted. She had her nights and days mixed up. For weeks the longest she would ever sleep was three hours.

I called Arlene at Gentle Touch Sleep Time and went through with her in detail about how my days and nights were going. I will admit that a good chunk of the conversation was with me in tears. I was so exhausted and felt like such a complete failure as a mother and wife. I had no energy for my newborn, my two year old, my husband or myself. My poor baby was just a mess. I could tell she was suffering as well.
Working with Arlene I discovered that the steps I had taken by myself to try and help the situation were the exact opposite of what I should be doing.

Arlene gave me a schedule for my baby and myself. She told me when to wake her, feed her and try to get her back to sleep. She explained the reasons behind the schedule in detail. Arlene did a fantastic job of explaining what was going on with my baby and why the schedule was the way it was. We discussed how the schedule would need to change as my baby got older and what steps I would need to take at each milestone.

We discussed signs of when my baby was tired and what I should do. She helped me be more in tune to my child and her needs. I can tell just by the sound of my daughter’s voice or her actions when she is getting tired or is too tired.
I’m not going to say it was all sunshine and roses but once my baby and I both figured out the schedule and what would work for us it was amazing how things changed. My baby got her nights and days figured out.

Her sleeping time lengthened (which meant mine did too). She started waking up and not screaming her head off. Now my wonderful seven month old child sleeps through the night (about 11-12 hours!!). She wakes up jabbering, giggling and smiling. I can lay in bed and listen to her jabber for almost hour before she needs me to get her. She has a happy disposition and is truly a wonder to me.
Gentle Touch Sleep Time truly helped me go from “surviving” the first few months of my baby’s life to “enjoying” them. I love every minute of it and I think it would have taken me a lot longer to get to this point if it hadn’t been for Arlene. Thank you so much!

For questions about sleep for your child: http://www.gentletouchsleeptime.com/contact-me/

Helping Babies and Toddlers Sleep

Arlene Fryling

Arlene is a registered nurse and certified sleep consultant for children 0-5 years. She has cared for premature, sick, and many healthy babies. For over 15 years she has taught expectant parents how to care for their newborns through classes teaching basic baby care, infant massage classes, and moderating support groups for new moms as they deal with parenting issues.

Infant Tummy Massage to Relieve Gas

To see the complete massage instructional video:

Testimonials

Alix Kron

★★★★★

4 months ago

We cannot say enough positive things about our experience working with Arlene!! We were desperate for sleep, going almost 5.5 months with frequent wake ups, nursing back to sleep, nonstop crying during the day, screaming in the car and becoming more and more hopeless as time went on without having success … Arlene changed all of that within no time. She listened to exactly what was going on for us, developed a sleep plan specific to our daughter’s needs/our goals and was so supportive and answered all of our questions along the way. It was very easy to follow the plan that she developed and it included naps and weaning off of night feedings. We saw a difference in our daughter almost immediately! Arlene has absolutely transformed our lives and given us the ability to enjoy each other and feel so much better getting the sleep we all want and NEED! Our daughter is now sleeping 11-12 hours per night, eating only once overnight as opposed to every 1-2 hours, is on a great nap schedule and is so much happier!!! It’s the best money we’ve spent.

Adrienne G.

★★★★★

2 years ago

We worked with Arlene to sleep train our 22 month old son who had been bed sharing and nursing to sleep. She helped us develop a sleep plan that was specific to our son's needs. It addressed both his nighttime sleep and his naps. It really took the guess work out of the endeavor, because as a parent, even if you read all the sleep books, there are many different opinions and it is hard to know what is right. Arlene was attentive, flexible and available to answer all of our questions and concerns. I would highly recommend working with her! Our son now sleeps 11-12 hours a night and put himself to sleep on his own. Sleep training him has been a game changer for me (I sleep now too!) and for him. He seems well rested and his development seems to be progressing faster now too. His language skills are flourishing since he is getting better rest.

Amanda C

★★★★★

4 years ago

We just wrapped up our second time working with Arlene, and had another great experience! Arlene helped us sleep train our first baby a few years ago when she was 4 months old at the time. She was a terrible sleeper, waking up once every hour and needing to be rocked to sleep for what felt like hours and hours each day. I was a stressed, exhausted, and worried first time mom, and I was drawn to Arlene’s calm and experienced approach. She gave us an option for a gentler strategy that worked for us at the time, and was detailed and responsive in her sleep plan and attentiveness. Our daughter just turned 2.5 years old and is still a great sleeper. So once our second baby turned 4 months recently, we did not hesitate to work with Arlene again. We now have two rockstar sleepers in our household, thanks to Arlene! It means the world to us that she was there to help guide us, instill confidence, and most importantly, help teach our children such a valuable skill they will undoubtedly benefit from for the rest of their lives.

Begoña Cirera

★★★★★

2 years ago

Arlene helped me first with my first son who was 2.5 year old when I hired her. He slept with me during breastfeeding. He never wanted to sleep in his crib. I was due with my second, and I needed better rest, and had no clue how to get him to sleep away from my bed. I even had to sleep w him during naps, or he wouldn’t sleep. I had to walk him for hours to fall asleep every night. It was awful. Two weeks after Arlene helped us create a program for him, he was done!!! He was sleeping in his own room, all night (12+ hours) and he was SO HAPPY during the day. We learned so much, and all made so much sense. After trying methods and books, nothing worked. My son is almost 6, and he falls asleep at 7:30pm every evening, until 7:00am. As a parent, you know how precious those hours are. With my second one, I didn’t make the mistake of waiting until he was two to train him to sleep. By 3 months, we slowly started, with Arlene’s help. I never had to walk him or be there for him to fall asleep. He’s now 3, and he is a great sleeper, much better than his big brother ever was, still takes 90-min naps, and sleeps 11 hours a night. Every penny I spent to hire Arlene’s expertise is worth it. My only regret was not to look for her sooner. Lifesaver, 100%.

Abbey Stidam

★★★★★

6 years ago

Arlene Fryling at Gentle Touch Sleep Time helped our son sleep, which helped us sleep! We were having trouble transitioning our son (4 months at the time) from his rock-n-play to the crib and our amazing sleeper since birth was all of a sudden not sleeping very much. Arlene talked with us about what was going on with his sleep and why the change in his sleep pattern. She answered all our questions and calmed our worries and frustrations. She came up with a sleep plan that worked for our family. She guided us every step of the way. He is now an amazing sleeper again! He is 18 months old and sleeps 12 hours at night and takes a 1 1/2 - 2 hour nap. He loves to sleep and never fights sleeping. I am so thankful we had Arlene Fryling help us and we were able to teach our son to sleep.