Renowned baby sleep expert Chris McFadden, aka The Daddy Sleep Consultant, joined The Mirror for a Facebook Live question and answer session on Wednesday, February 17.
The parent and sleep expert answered your queries and offered some much-needed advice on getting their little ones to stay in bed and snooze through the night.
He also shared some information about his new Online Sleep Training course that recently launched for babies and toddlers.
The course includes a step-by-step guide to breaking sleep associations, age-specific day and night routines and lots of videos.
If your child isn’t getting enough sleep or you’re struggling to get them to go to bed on time, Chris might have the solution for you.
One of his main tips is to set up a bedtime routine and be consistent with it.
Speaking during the Facebook Live, Chris explained that it’s never too early to start with a routine and recommends doing so from the “early stages of bringing a newborn home”.
He said: “With regards to newborns it’s difficult to get into a good structured daytime routine before six to eight weeks – when they’re that age all they’re doing is feeding, napping, feeding, napping with the odd change in there.
“Literally they’re falling asleep by feed because they’re so tired they don’t have the capacity to stay awake longer than the duration of a feed.
“But with regards to a bedtime routine, that’s something I really, really encourage parents to do from the very, very early stages of bringing a newborn home.”
He continued: “You can take really gentle steps to create that routine – just give them a little bath, pop them into a fresh sleepsuit and do it all in a dimly lit room so what you’re doing is really trying to differentiate between daytime and nighttime, which is really important to show a baby when they should be sleeping longer stretches.
“Babies aren’t born with the day/night rhythm or routine, we develop that as young children and obviously more as adults, so creating a bedtime routine that is very different from the hustle and bustle of the daytime really helps that.
“So I’m all for one to encourage bedtime routines to start very, very soon. Just gentle, it’s not so important about times, just building a consistent routine.”
Chris added that babies are really good at picking up cues, so if you continue to take these steps, they’ll begin to realise that once they’ve had a bath, bedtime is coming.
“They know it’s the dark and boring bedtime rather than the exciting, stimulation they experience during daytime.”
To find out more about Chris’ methods or to book consultations or purchase gift vouchers, please visit www.thedaddysleepconsultant.com