Alberta's Guide to Newborn Sleep Success: Transforming Chaos into Harmony

Julia - 8 Weeks ​to 3.5 Months

"When my husband and I welcomed our second child home from the hospital, we were definitely naive to the fact that coping with a newborn and 1 ½ year old would be tough! Even more naive were we to think that our newborn would ‘go with the flow’ and we could carry on our routine as usual.

Fast forward 8 weeks and we were in a state of chaos and desperation.  I was sleeping in the basement with our newborn so the rest of the household wouldn’t hear her screaming. However, neither of us was actually sleeping. Instead, we were trying every trick in the book to shush, rock, sway, bounce, and sing our little one to sleep. Once I managed to finally put her down, I’d pray to whoever was listening that she wouldn’t wake as I ninja snuck out of the room. When those tactics didn’t work, my husband or I would pack her up in the car seat and drive endless hours (at all times of the day and night) as she would at least sleep in the car. We found our baby would go 8 hours or more without sleeping and then would scream and fight every attempt we’d make to put her down. We were both utterly exhausted and I was in tears the majority of the day. Throw in a frustrated toddler and you have a recipe for disaster.

This is when I called Erin (who my sister recommended), albeit skeptical that she could help us, I was willing to give it a try.

I will never forget our first phone call/consult. Erin was so patient as I babbled on about our situation and she really provided me with a sense of comfort and hope.

Unfortunately our situation was made more difficult by having a tongue tied baby and she worked with us as we implemented our sleep plan slowly in collaboration with baby’s tongue tie surgery. What I came to learn through Erin’s help was that our baby was severely over tired and in fact couldn’t ‘go with the flow’ as we presumed.  That, coupled with her inability to effectively eat, was a huge challenge.

Fortunately, Erin’s sleep plan was very supportive and easy to follow. While it definitely involved a change in the way we approached our daily routine, we now have a 4 month old who I put down for naps fully awake, who naps 2+ hours 3 times a day and 9-10 hours straight at night. She has learned to self soothe and doesn’t rely on any ‘props’ to fall asleep.

Erin’s support throughout the process was instrumental in making me feel confident that I could stick to her recommendations and her follow-up was thorough and easy to understand.
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​Our home is finally a happy place now!!"

​Nadine B.