I have worked as a Psychological Wellbeing Practitioner (PWP) in the NHS for the last 6 years using low intensity treatment packages to help people manage and recover from stress, anxiety and low mood. Part of my role includes working with people on insomnia and facilitating on a sleep workshop and it is an area I feel passionately about given its impact on wellbeing.
During my career as a PWP I became a mother to two beautiful children, both of whom were tongue tied, dairy intolerant and who suffered from reflux. This threw me into a world of sleep deprivation and I got first hand experience of how regular poor sleep affected wellbeing and day to day functioning.
At the time of having my first child I had little support in relation to the impact of tongue tie and reflux, and in turn how it affected sleep, so I began to do my homework. Once my son hit 6 months and his reflux was under control I knew I had to do something to improve his sleep so I started to read every sleep book I could get my hands on.
I knew I didn’t have it in me to let him cry so I implemented my own sleep plan from the information I had learned to help him sleep through the night and it worked! Our lives instantly became easier and happier and to this day he is a great sleeper.
Then came the arrival of our daughter, with all the same issues, only worse. Again, once her reflux settled, I put my knowledge into place and helped her learn how to sleep through the night using gentle methods. Yet again once peace and sleep ensued in our household we were all much happier. I began noticing how many people I knew would comment on how their child was not sleeping well and I wondered what support there was out there for parents.
I quickly learned that support was really only available for those families with severe and multiple difficulties or for those with a high expendable income. Thus, I decided to train as a baby sleep consultant to help babies and families sleep better and feel happier but at an affordable price.
