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: https://www.gentletouchsleeptime.com/contact-me/
Helping Babies and Toddlers Sleep
Infant Tummy Massage to Relieve Gas
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