Let me start by introducing myself. I’m Julia. I’m a midwife here in the UK, a previous SCBU nurse (Special care baby unit), mother to 4 children all within 5 years, and I teach Karate 4 days a week. As you can see, I am a busy lady!
However, ever since having my kids, people have always asked me how I manage to juggle so much, and my answer has always been; because I sleep.
Please note, I allowed my registration to lapse with the NMC in 2021 due to my sleep consulting business expanding. Therefore I am no longer a registered nurse/midwife
Mine have all slept through the night (with a dream feed) between 10-13 weeks and I can not stress enough, how important sleep has always been for me! However, after helping a large number of parents during my training it has become apparent that babies sleeping and eating (specifically) are a big issue for many parents, so I’m here to help and share my knowledge around infant sleep and breaking up the myths about sleep training!
I have developed my own style of parenting which I like to call “Structible parenting”. Structured but flexible. For example, by having structured time intervals between feedings and nap times and learning to recognise your baby’s cues correctly, you can be more flexible in your day to day life. For example, if your baby wakes up at 7 am, then you know they will need to eat at 11am, 3pm, 7pm. BUT! you have school pick up at 3! so instead of panicking about being caught out by a screaming, hungry baby when you are in no position to feed, you plan your day accordingly. By feeding at 10;45, then you can get to the school early and feed at 2.30. Feeds are still within the 3.30-4 hourly window but you’ve been able to manage your day to minimise your stress! Equally, the structure of having good nap times that are reliable, mean that your baby’s body clock can start to adapt and will know when to expect naps. That way, you can be a bit more flexible (within reason) with the nap location.
I have also now written a book on the first year of parenting which is available on Amazon, but seeing as I love to help others on a face to face basis, I decided to become a Baby sleep consultant and offer sleep training guides and plans via video consultations or home visits.
During the consultations, we go through your little one’s day to day routine, what time they wake, what time they nap, how they nap, how often they wake at night etc and then I go back through it with you and explain the science of infant sleep, why they sleep that way and what hormones may be affecting them etc. If they do need sleep training rather than just nap adjustments, then I go through the 5 main methods from hard and fast to slow and gentle sleep training methods. I explain the science and research behind each, expected timeframe, level of difficulty etc and only when you feel you have all the relevant information, you choose which method suits your family best. We then come up with a sleep plan together so you have a step by step guide on how to implement it. Then with the unlimited contact, you can message me as many times as you want and I’ll get back to you same day with guidance, adjustments and sometimes just encouragement so I’m effectively holding your hand through the sleep training.
Whether you have your baby in your arms or are pregnant, I can help with any problems ranging from sleep to breast or bottle feeding, colic to weaning and everything in between.
I also offer ANTENATAL breastfeeding and sleep workshops which will teach you everything you need to know! I can do these from 1-1 or in groups with a max of 5 couples per group. Please look at https://www.napsjourney.co.uk/ for more information.
So why wait to make sleep deprivation a thing of the past?
