Disclaimer: The Baby 2 Sleep Build Your Own Sleep Plan mentioned in this blog post was gifted by Baby 2 Sleep for the purposes of honest review. There has been no editorial control over this post and all opinions remain my own.
This post has been such a long time in the making, but I am finally able to say that E is sleeping through the night. I feel that we nailed naps such a long time ago but I put myself under no pressure to change sleep associations to make that final transition to get him to sleep through the night. By that I mean in his own cot, putting him down awake and allowing him to settle himself to sleep.
As you can see from the picture above – I tried white noise but it didn’t work for us! (Yes he’s on his front, this is the only way he would ever settle and I was sat on the floor next to him).
I needed to understand the mechanics of sleep, what would work best for us and without a looming deadline and that is exactly what Nicole’s from Baby2sleep build your own sleep plans offer. The series of videos that provide different explanations and advice were great and not overwhelming.
With having another child, the end of maternity leave looming and needing to work to a timeline that wasn’t going to put any additional pressure on me ( I was really struggling with postnatal thyroid issues coupled alongside sleep deprivation) I couldn’t deal with having a deadline put on me – slow and steady wins the race!
This plan was great because I was able to work towards smaller goals. It allows for a holistic understanding of sleep and to make small changes that can aid sleep.
This helped with our naps massively in a very short amount of time. Awake times, sleep associations, what happens when a child is overtired and why is all explained in such an easy to understand way, it was incredibly easy to follow my baby’s cues.
I found this way of helping E worked much better for my learning style too because if someone was simply giving me a list of instructions to follow, I’d want to know why – so Nicole’s style of explanation rather than rules really worked for me. You could really tell that she is a mother who has gone through this too, so is talking from experience and not just a textbook, although I know she is qualified alongside her having lived through sleep issues with her eldest daughter.
So why has this post taken me so long to write? I got the sleep plan around seven months ago to review and I wrote about how we had made progress immediately with naps but I took the easy option for a while of allowing sleep associations to continue and allowing feeding to sleep. I started to work on this a few months ago when I decided to stop breastfeeding but I simply replaced this feeding with another association – the comfort of cosleeping when he woke, which meant the process took longer. Slowly but surely he stopped waking and we got there! So I have taken much longer, but I think that is the absolute bonus of this sleep plan – no deadlines, no pressure on parents from anyone other than themselves. I had the tools to do it in my own time, which is the most important thing. It empowered me to make the changes in ways that suited me.
I can’t tell you how much better I feel for him sleeping through. I had constant brain fog, which I now know was ‘cortisol brain’ and cortisol had been an ongoing pest in our house. But I had never even heard about it before working with Nicole.
If you’re in the same situation as me: you couldn’t deal with pressure of progress checks, you need to understand the reasons why you need to do things, you need the tools to allow you to do this in your own rhythm because you have other children, maybe you’re going back to work or don’t have any support systems – I can’t recommend this sleep plan enough. The fundamentals are ones in which will still with me for life.
Originally published in 2020 and republished in 2023.
Throwing back to some Christmas content in 2019 with Lapland Letters.
Disclaimer: Lapland Letter mentioned in this blog post was gifted for the purposes of honest review in 2019. There has been no editorial control over this post and all opinions remain my own.
With having a three-month-old baby and a toddler adjusting to the new addition, we didn’t really get in the festive spirit last year. We were basically just trying to get through the tantrums! So this year we are very eager to have the best Christmas we possibly can as a family!
We have been slowly trying to introduce the notion of Santa and Christmas to R with a view to it being the norm when Christmas time is here. So we jumped at the chance to receive a lovely ease into the festive season from Lapland Letters. They’re obviously still only small at ages 3 and 1, but we thought it would be the perfect way to introduce the magic to R… and we obviously couldn’t leave the little one out – especially as he has FOMO (fear of missing out!).
Here are the boys opening their letters:
R straight away recognised Santa and was really excited. He couldn’t contain himself to sit and listen to the entire letter straight away as the appeal of colouring in the sign to put on the door hanger was too much. He asked his dad read it to read him his letter before bedtime rather than the usual story. He was absolutely amazed that it mentioned his little friend from nursery.
When my mum popped round the next day, I got the package out to reinforce the magic, as I knew she’d help get into the spirit and I was amazed at him getting the reindeer food out and explaining to her what it was and what you did with the ‘Santa Stop Here’ sign. I was so impressed he’d taken it all in as I wasn’t sure how much he would understand, but he’s definitely impressed and he’s been talking about Santa more and got very excited to see him at the DIY shop!
There were other additions such as a Santa map to show his journey to the house, which I will show him on the lead up to Christmas and some wishing stars to add to the Christmas tree when we put it up in a few weeks. It’s all professionally printed, just as you would expect from Santa and the envelope was handwritten by an elf.
It was a massive hit, so I was really happy it had the desired effect. I personally couldn’t believe that either of them was on a good list! But apparently they were and they both have Good Child Certificates to prove it!
Disclaimer: Sleep Plan mentioned in this blog post was gifted by Baby 2 Sleep for the purposes of honest review. There has been no editorial control over this post and all opinions remain my own.
Anyone who knows us will know that I am constantly asking anyone and everyone for advice on getting my eleven month old baby to sleep more and better; why won’t my baby nap? why is he still waking four or five times a night? how can I cure baby FOMO?
I thought that because I was still breastfeeding, at eleven months, that this was why he was still not sleeping through the night. But as he is eating [alot of] solids through the day it didn’t make sense as to why he wouldn’t nap. Yes, our house isn’t always quiet because of his three-year-old brother, but even when RLT is at nursery, little one only goes down for such a short time. Why won’t my baby nap?
This lack of quality sleep, I was sure, must be affecting him cognitively. Although he doesn’t show any signs of ever being overtired as he smiles from the moment he wakes to when you try to get him to sleep (then all hell breaks loose). The lack of time for myself, for my other son and to basically do anything without a very inquisitive baby with me, was beginning to take its toll, so when I saw the opportunity to review a build your own sleep plan from Baby 2 Sleep, I contacted her asking for help in answering why won’t my baby nap? Why does he hate sleep?
Nicole, who owns Baby 2 Sleep is a sleep consultant who is one of the very few I’ve found that has actual qualifications. There are lots of accounts on Instagram from people who are not qualified and encourage you to let your baby cry to sleep, which is a terrifying concept to me. So I was grateful to find Nicole who practises gentle and reassuring sleep methods.
Nicole provided me with the tools in the form of videos which cover different topics related to sleep, which informs your knowledge of sleep (I clearly had none), which in turn helps you to help your baby. Because I’ve been single-handedly potty training a three-year-old at the same time as trying to watch these videos, I’ve had to dip in and out as it’s like trying to watch something in the middle of a rave when my kids are together!
I haven’t managed to watch all of the videos yet, but the ones I have I can honestly say have completely opened my eyes. I have made some small changes at naptimes, which have already started having a massive impact. Nicole explains sleep so magnificently, how bodies fight sleep, what we need to promote good sleep and advice for how to gently prepare our babies for sleep. The videos I have access to are for babies aged between 9-12 months so are spot-on for the needs of E. From only watching six videos so far, which are around five minutes in length, I already recognise that E was struggling with being over sensitised, over-tired and not being able to stitch his sleep cycles together without feeding and I never realised that before. I thought that he associated breastfeeding with sleep, but I never understood how much this was impacting on him moving through sleep cycles on his own.
We’ve made some minor adjustments in his nap routine, simple things that I had never thought of such as if he wakes earlier for the day, his nap needs to be earlier, the next nap needs to be a certain time after waking and longer than the one before. It sounds ridiculous even typing that because it seems so obvious but advice on how to support him to go to sleep without feeding from me and him drifting off to sleep on his own has seen overwhelming changes. Where a few days ago, I would have to feed him to sleep on the bed, he’s now having his naptimes in his cot. This is massive for us as I now have that naptime for one-to-one time with his brother, so it’s making a world of difference to our entire family.
I’m excited to update soon as I should finally get to watch all of the videos during naptimes today and I will update in a week or so, when I have been able to write up an entire plan which also looks at bedtime. As I’ve been solo parenting and on late train station runs, bedtime is still a little up in the air – but I have definitely identified the issues in that, thanks to Nicole’s videos, so I look forward to being able to implement some changes to help! Then I will just have the issue of the three-year-old who also doesn’t seem able to stitch his sleep cycles together and likes to bed hop during the night!
Disclaimer: I was offered an affiliate code for this review, but I have decided against using the scheme to ensure this is an honest reflection of my experience.
I have tried to study for my masters so many times but found the schedules to be totally impractical around work and living in a remote area. I was accepted onto the executive masters in marketing at my local Russell Group university twice (once it never ran due to lack of interest and the second time my employer said they couldn’t afford it). So I ended up studying CIM qualifications via distance learning – I got through, but I found that I was provided with presentations from taught sessions which meant nothing without the narrative around them.
Thankfully things have progressed in the past ten years and with masters loans being generous, the power is in the learners’ hands more than ever. As I have shopped around, work in education and am currently procrastinating on the literature review I am supposed to be writing, I thought I would write my review of the course.
To give context, I was a marketing manager for ten years, when I was on my second maternity leave in 2018 we found out that our eldest son had some additional needs which meant that I stepped away from my full-time role in order to support my family. My job was a big part of my identity, I am exceptionally lucky to have a part-time strategic role that explores market insights, but my heart will always lie in engaging with customers. So when I have been quoted by the course to say that it has given me something other than being mum, I really mean it.
By the time I finished the course at the beginning of 2022, I will be in a position to persue my career once again and I feel that I have used my time productively for myself as well as for my family.
Try before you buy
I dipped my toe into the masters by studying the short course which was co-branded with Mediaworks during the first lockdown. I found the content to be extremely user-friendly and interesting. I got a certificate of completion, so felt I’d accomplished something during lockdown one. Importantly for me, I found the mix of academic theory with practical examples of application a godsend and the lecturers friendly and knowledgeable.
I did umm and arr for quite a while, but when it came to a few days before enrolment I asked myself if I would regret not doing it and I absolutely would have, so I went for it. The admissions team were great – as I’ve managed admissions myself – I know what stress those final days before enrolment can be, but they never showed their frustration with my many questions!
Time and Money
These are probably the two biggest challenges when deciding to study a postgraduate course. Thankfully these decisions have probably never been easier – the course is completely flexible (with the obvious exception of your coursework deadlines!). You have the opportunity to explore the course content in your own time, the tutorials are recorded if you can’t access them in real-time you can access them afterwards and you can chat with your tutors via MS Teams! If you were a big fan of Microsoft Messenger back in the day, it is ideal!
Fellow students
You do get the opportunity to be part of a cohort via chats and live lectures on Teams and get to know familiar faces. A few of us have followed each other on LinkedIn and support each others posts.
I have also been exceptionally lucky and have a chat on the side with one of my peers and we cheer each other on, as well as support each other through our assignments.
I also discovered that Carly from momoftwolittlegirls.com is a fellow student, via tweets from her on my timeline! She has recently started a full-time role after 10 years away from the workforce thanks to her studies and her blogging success, that is one example of the diversity of the employment of the students. Some have even started straight after their undergrad and use publicly available data to shape their assignments.
Would I do it all again if I knew what I know now?
The answer to this would be without a doubt. It has to be the most flexible and responsive to customer needs MSc on the market. The insight you gain from Mediaworks is fascinating and current. If you’ve been thinking about masters for a while and worried about fitting everything in, I don’t think there will ever be a better opportunity than this one.
Everyone that knows me personally knows that my fiancee works in local journalism, but many of you won’t know the details (to be honest, I find it hard to keep up!).
One of his current projects is a little closer to home than they usually are (and definitely closer than INews was!) in that he’s working with the team that has launched a new website which showcases the best of Newcastle called NewcastleWorld.
Like most people in the North East, we naturally gravitate to Newcastle in our downtime for the amazing nightlife, culture, food and football. Some people go up the road to Sun’lun, but I was one of the ones in the Gallowgate End with my Grandad at St James’, sorry! I also saw Tino score a hattrick against Barca!
NewcastleWorld is a source for a wealth of information ahead of visiting Newcastle, as well as for those who live, work and play in the City.
Written by a team of great journalists, whom Mark has worked with for years – I know that NewcastleWorld is going to be a valuable resource for people like me! I’ve already found out so much about bottomless brunches that I did not know about – now just to find a babysitter!
There is a daily newsletter that shares the top stories and happenings, as well as a curated selection of news stories on business and politics on how it affects the people of Newcastle.
I’ve already switched my football-mad family onto the insights on Newcastle United, with Liam Kennedy bringing exclusives, which have already got many fans talking and complementing the refreshing approach.
Christmas 2020 was an emotional rollercoaster. Having something to look forward to as the world opened up again was high on our agenda, and the tickets for Christmas at Raby Castle happily coincided with that dream when the email arrived in early September. We don’t live that far away from Staindrop, so we accessed the grounds to the castle late summer when we were able, this thankfully meant that we were added to the mailing list to let us know the Christmas sessions were going on sale – so we snapped up the Fireside Stories with Father Christmas tickets for our 4-year-old and 2-year-old
Last year was the first year our eldest enjoyed Christmas, so with the little one being another year older too, we were excited to see the magic through their eyes. We booked 9,30am on Christmas Eve as we thought any earlier would be really hard for the little one to understand why there was such a wait for the presents!
As covid restrictions didn’t lift as we had all hoped before Christmas, Raby Castle had an impossible task – did they cancel altogether or did they pivot how they offered a little bit of Christmas to the children and thankfully they pivoted! Everyone who bought a ticket was offered a refund or an alternative and in my personal opinion, the alternative saved Christmas!
Rather than changing our expectations of Christmas Eve – it topped any expectations that we had. I know they couldn’t summon the snowfall, but the snow fell, the reindeer were huddled beneath the trees when you looked over from the castle grounds, it was brilliant!
The first part of the experience was supposed to be on the Castle Terrace which is outdoors, where children could spot the
presents around the terrace – but as we were the first ones there and they could see the anticipation in the little ones, they let us go into Santa first because there was no queue. Santa was in a present store, which is a sheltered outdoor space in a courtyard of the castle, which is not normally open to the public.
Not the best quality picture but the little one turned away from Santa as he started talking, almost as to compose himself and had the biggest grin in his face. It was worth it, just to see that elation. Father Christmas was absolutely wonderful and had a great chat with the children, our eldest did not move, he could hardly speak I think he was so immersed in the moment. As they were the only ones there, I think they got a little extra time as the ‘Footman’ on the door kept coming around as to almost prompt Santa, but we did not feel rushed it felt like an organic end to the experience. The presents the children got were very high quality too.
We present spotted around the castle afterwards, which because of the snowfall and reindeer felt magical. We even met a little pony called Elvis. We talked to the cafe and shop but unfortunately, the shop was not open as we had walked back up to the castle before opening time, I think it was meant as an ‘exit through the gift shop’ from the enchanted walk. We had tickets for the enhanced walk but as we had finished early with Santa, our boys were a little tired of waiting in the cold for the walk to open, so by the time we got in they weren’t as enchanted as we had hoped for! They did make it to the end to get their little gift, though!
So truly thank you, Raby Castle, for saving our Christmas and giving our little boys a little bit of Christmas magic.
