Camille

Welcome to Camille's
sleep program

Here you will find information and supporting links to help you through the journey for better sleep.

You will be able to visit this site whenever you need as we work together, and you will be able to revisit any task, recordings and information up to 8 weeks after the end of our program on 21st June 2021.

To protect your information, I will erase this page on 16th August 2021

Here is the zoom link for all calls:
https://us04web.zoom.us/j/71565788438?pwd=cTIvRFhFdDJHN2JLRjZtKzRwQktYUT09
Meeting ID: 715 6578 8438
Passcode: 7yu28j

Call 1 - 10th May 2021

Here is your first task. You can print it by clicking on each picture.
On Friday I will get in touch, see how you are doing and add new tasks.

As we discussed, here are some question ideas for you chat with Sarah Oackley:

Is the frequency of feeds during the day fine?
mention about the fungicide for "thrush"
perhaps ask if the snoring may be related to the tongue tie?

90 min call report

Bedtime routine

The point of the bedtime routine is to give a predictable and soothing end to the day that is positive, reassuring and familiar.

The bedtime from a child’s perspective – This is the time of preparing for separation.

Consistent bedtime routine is key!

Here are the three most important elements of a fantastic bedtime routine

1 -- It needs to have a predictable rhythm:

Think of having 3 or 4 elements you do before bedtime -- Every single day and in the same order -- (as much as possible) .

What you are already doing is lovely - a wash, nappy, into pyjama, book and feed.

But the location can be changed so it gives a more clear message about what happens. I would suggest you do the above up stairs.

The objective of the bedtime routine is to repeat that predictable rhythm and to fill your child’s love tank.

If Camille needs winding down, do activities for that before the bed time routine. Perhaps a fun tickle fight to release energy followed by a massage to chill and calm. These are both wonderful activities to fill the love tank!

2 -- It needs to be not too long and not too short:

If it is too long, she will loose focus and start playing and being distracted again. If it is too short, she will just not have enough time to fill that love tank.
For an older baby like Camille, the routine might be lasting around 30 minutes.

3 -- It needs to be calming and reassuring:

So YOU need to be calm and in a good place of mind.

Bedtime can be very stressful: we are all tired (us and our little ones), there seems to be a ton of things to do at that time of the day around the house and sometimes we just want to rush and put our children to sleep quickly so we can get on with doing everything and still have a little time to rest. But it is when we rush, that our children take even longer to go to sleep. They pick up on our anxieties and stress and become dysregulated. They then need more help to become regulated again before being able to focus on the bedtime. So it will take longer.

Get prepared! In a practical and in a mental way.

Have everything you need handy. Perhaps even pyjamas and nappies in the bathroom for after the wash or all ready in the bedroom.
Make sure you are not hungry. You dinner is not part of Camille's bedtime routine.
Perhaps have a list of what happens in the bedtime routine, so you can relax and not need to remember.
Perhaps have some calming music YOU like or some talking relaxation (if this is your type of thing) playing in the back ground. So You also take the time to slow down. It will make the bedtime routine nicer for you as well as your child and it will help your little one go down easier.

Be consistent: do the same things in the same order, every night!

21st May 2021

The next steps are to work on adjusting the distribution of naps and to optimize your own sleep.

Camille's naps are very good and you are helping her nap in this way by holding and feeding her. You have said you are happy to carry on doing this, and I support you. You have also said you would like to have a go at helping Camille sleep away from you sometimes.

So this next few days you will work on two tasks, as well as carrying on consolidating the bedtime routine and the quick wins.

Naps

Pay attention on the distribution of naps. Aim to have shorter first and the last naps, and a longer lunch time nap. For example: first and last naps lasting around 40 minutes and the lunch naps lasting around 1 1/2 hours. These durations are an example only, be led by Camille.

On the first nap, see if you can place Camille to sleep on a surface. If she wakes up soon, try and coax her back to sleep by shushing, placing a hand on her tummy or stroking her tummy or face. The idea here is to see if she will resettle quickly and not to make her resettle, so pick her up before she is too upset (this may be after 15 seconds). I suggest doing this on the first nap as this is usually the easier one, but you could try at any time you like.

Optimize your own sleep

Have a look the the 'Adult sleep tips' within the resources bellow and let me know which points you think you could adjust and will work on in the next week.

I invite you to let me know as once we share an intent out loud, we are more likely to commit to it and to work on making positive changes.

Call on 27th May

9th June 2021

What is working

The morning and bedtime routines
More periods of her sleeping in the buggy while it’s stationary

Points to work on this week

Encourage more day time sleep ( aim for around 3 hours in total). If she needs to catch up encourage the second nap to be longer. Use whatever works.
Carry on encouraging Camille to sleep on a surface during the day (see bellow steps to encourage more sleeping in the stationary pushchair)
Have a rhythm in the day guided by meal times. So have a set time for breakfast, lunch and dinner, and encourage naps around it.

How to wean off movement in pushchair during naps

You are going to start with what is working now - rocking the pushchair. Your goal is to move from this base technique to your goal (a full nap in a still pushchair).

You will take a few small steps towards your goal and there will be some back and forth between rocking the pushchair and being still during each nap.
I will give you some suggestions to help guide you onto the next steps, but it is completely fine to go with your instincts when planning which steps to take. Feel free to adapt this plan by adding or skipping steps as you go along.

Think of these steps like shifting gears in a car. You should always be in a specific gear, not in neutral, to move forward!

Step 1: You will rock the pushchair until Camille nearly falls asleep. Once nearly asleep, you can slow down the intensity of the rocking. If your baby fusses, you can go back to rocking until she is calm. Once she is calm, rock more and more gently until she is asleep.
You may need to go back and forth a few times but try to have your baby fall asleep with very gentle movement.

Step 2: Start with regular intensity of rocking, but soon change to gentle rocking and move towards no rocking. Again, you will need to go back and forth between gentle rocking and stillness but try to have Camille fall asleep on a still pushchair.

Step 3: Start with gentle rocking. Work back and forth between gentle rocking and being still and aim to have Camille falling asleep when the pushchair is stationary.

Step 4: Aim for a very short period of gentle rocking before stopping.

If Camille wakes from a nap, go back to the level of rocking you are working in the specific step. If she does not start settling, go back to rocking at the previous step level. Then work back and forth towards more gentle rocking and stillness.

If she wakes but still seems tired, encourage a feed to help her settle back into sleep. You may contact nap if you think it will help her extend that nap and use your judgement to see if it is better to just let her sleep on you or to try and place her back in the pushchair.

One of your goals was to move away from co-sleeping . So below you can find 2 ways of doing that. Remember that any changes you make at night, very likely will at first give you less sleep. But later it will bring you more and longer sleep.

The idea is to separate the feeding from sleep and to increase Camille’s confidence in sleeping with less contact.

Option 1 -
The slow and gentle way (making changes just early in the night)

After the bedtime routine. On the first wake up only, offer her a feed and at the same time have a cuddly, pat or rub her back, shoosh/ sing a lullaby, rock her back to sleep.
After a couple of days (or more), offer a feed and stop short. Offers support by patting, shushing, rocking and having the cuddly. Aim to have her sleeping not on the breast
After a couple of days (or more), just use patting, shushing and rocking and having the cuddly.
After a few days, stop the rocking
After a few days patt and shush with her in the cot with the cuddly.
For the following awakes in the middle of the night, use whatever strategy works for you.

The mid speed way (making changes at bedtime and a few hours more)

After bedtime, when she wakes up, follow the steps above
Keep settling her every time she wakes up with the new tools until a set time in the night (perhaps midnight or 1am?)
After that, use whatever strategy works for you.

The fast way
This is the most efficient way to make changes to sleep, but it is likely to result in some exhausting nights for you. If you choose this option, make sure you can catch up with some sleep the next day during the daytime.

whenever she wakes up, follow the steps to make changes on input.
Keep settling her every time she wakes up with the steps to make changes on input all through the night.

Any wake up before 6am, treat as a night awake: quiet interaction, dark room, remain in the bedroom.
You could offer a feed before you go to bed and at around 3 am, at a time she is naturally waking up. You can try a dream feed at your bedtime.

Option 2-
This is similar to the option 1 and you can blend the two methods so it works better for you, but using the floor bed will give you more sleep and less tiers from Camille.

Phase 1: Separating the feeding from sleeping

You can either take the side of the cot apart and place a mattress on the floor next to the cot or you can place a mattress on the floor in your bedroom where you and Camille will sleep to start with.
You lay on the mattress and offer her a feed and offer verbal support – shushing, humming, slow breathing, key words, singing. This should be loud enough that your child can hear you and be reassured of your presence. You may also need to pat or rub your child's back. Whatever support you give at bedtime, you should do in the night as well.
You gradually reduces the duration of feed so your baby is sleeping with different support tools. Then reduce the shushing and patting support so child knows you are there but response is significantly reduced
For older babies you can simply say “shh Daddy is sleeping” on occasion and then be quiet

Phase 2: Implementing Constant Presence

When you are present with your child, this alone is giving them a lot of support. Often interacting with them is not necessary and can detract from sleeping. So do the minimum that your child needs.
In this phase, you will lay down beside the bed or crib and just pretend you are sleeping. Or you can actually sleep in your child’s presence.

Your child ideally learns that they don’t need to worry or check that the parent is there because the you are always there. You will also model the night time expectations of staying in bed and sleeping for the Camille.

Many children respond very well to a floor bed and by the end of the week no longer need a parent. You may need to continue with phase

Phase 3: Weaning off the floor bed

If you had taken the side of the cot apart, this is the time to put it back together. You may need to spend a few nights shushing and patting to reassure all is fine before proceeding to the next steps.
Gradually separate by lying next to the child, lying a bit further away, popping out for a minute (or even less to start with), until eventually they are happy with a feed, a story, a kiss and a cuddle and then sleep.

Again, think of these steps like shifting gears in a car. You should always be in a specific gear, not in neutral to move forward!

It was great working with you in the last 8 weeks. You have made some good progress with Camille's sleep situation through some hard work and consistency. I hope you can find some time to celebrate your achievements!

In order for you to achieve your goals I would suggest

You focus on having a rhythm to the day guided by the meal times, wake up time and bedtime
In the next couple of months, encourage a pattern of naps (usually shorter naps in the morning and evening and longer one at lunch time)
Keep on working on the night time strategies suggested on the plan.
Keep on encouraging Camille to fall asleep and soothe in other ways in addition to feeding to sleep

The more consistent you are, the quicker you will see changes!