Success Story: Transitioning from co-sleeping to sleeping in a cot
From around 8 weeks old baby Lily was sleeping through the night and her parents were counting themselves lucky that they were all enjoying full nights sleep from such an early age. But when Lily reached about 6 months old then her sleep started to change and they were all struggling to get any rest. With the help of our Sleep Success: 6-9 month course, Lily and her parents were soon back on track.
"I am so thankful for this course. It has given me the confidence to help Lily self settling. We enjoy our days and make plans now that we have a good routine in place. We are all so much happier and well rested."
Becoming a first time mum can be challenging at the best of times. When baby Lily arrived during lockdown 2020 her mum, Sarah, found it a little harder than expected without physical help from friend and family.
Then from just 8 weeks old, Lily started to sleep through the night and her parents, Sarah and Matt, were delighted to be enjoying unexpected restful nights.
“As a newborn Lily was such a good sleeper, sleeping 12 hours a night from around 8 weeks old. She would self settle in her 'next to me' crib. Myself and my partner Matt felt so luck we never really went through the 'sleep deprived' stage.”
But when Lily reached 6 months old her sleep patterns changed. It was harder to settle Lily to sleep, sometimes taking hours, and naps were shorter and less predictable.
"When Lily turned 6 months old she would only settle being rocked to sleep in our arms. Sometimes this would last hours. On many occasions we would have to drive around in the car to get her to sleep.
Day time naps were the same, sleeping in our arms, the car or the pram. Lily would only cat nap, sleeping for around 20 minutes at a time"
Lily’s parents were trying to get Lily’s sleep back on track and eventually started to co-sleep as a way to help Lily settle, but found Lily was only sleeping a little better, Sarah was finding it hard to sleep and Matt had moved into another room.
“We had tried many things to help her sleep including moving her cot into the same position as her 'next to me' crib had been in the hope that seeing us close by would settle her. Everything we tried was failing and we turned to co-sleeping out of desperation. This meant Matt and I were sleeping in separate beds. Lily was sleeping slightly better but only with me by her side. I on the other hand was having little sleep as I was worrying about Lily being in bed with me."
Sarah and Matt decided that their current sleep situation wasn’t sustainable for them and felt it was time to try to make some changes. Though initially hesitant, Sarah decided to try our online Sleep Success course.
“Co-sleeping lasted for around two weeks. Eventually when Lily turned 8 months old I decided I couldn't continue with our current routine. Then I found Just Chill Baby Sleep online. I initially had reservations about spending money on something like this. My partner and family members even doubted me buying the course. However, I only had one month left of maternity leave and knew I had to make some changes before returning to work."
Sarah spent some time digesting the course material and thought she would set aside a few weeks to start putting a new routine in place with Lily.
“Over the first few days I took time to familiarise myself with the course. Having videos available was a great help, this meant I could listen and watch whilst cooking or doing housework. I like a routine and found that our current routine had no structure to it as Lily was napping at different times each day. I decided I was going commit to following the course for the following weeks.”
However, Lily surprised her parents with how quickly she adapted and they started to see improvements in her sleep soon after putting some changes in place.
“I liked that there were options for how to approach settling Lily and decided I was going to stay with her whilst she fell asleep. The first night I was nervous about how Lily would adjust to our new routine. There were a few tears and at first I felt like it wasn't going to work for us. However I was wrong.
Lily was settled and asleep within 30 minutes! I honestly couldn't believe it! That night she slept a full 12 hours. Since then she has slept from 6:30pm to 6:30am.
Naps took a little longer to come together and for some I would rock Lily to sleep. Now Lily sleeps for 14 hours a day."
"We say "good night, love you" and put her in her cot and within a few minutes she is peacefully asleep. I never thought the day would come.”
Want more support with your child’s sleep?
If you would like to learn more about sleep and have guidance on how you can approach achieving a predictable routine and well-rested night’s sleep then check out our online courses.
Available from newborn to 4 years old, our courses are designed to help you learn how you can support your child to sleep better.
We share all the information you need to help you really understand your little one’s sleep and how to help them achieve more predictable naps and restful nights – all from your own computer, phone or tablet whenever it suits you.
Early Days & Foundations of Sleep: 0-5 Months
This course will teach you how you can work towards great sleep habits, without ‘sleep training.’ It provides gentle solutions for settling and works towards the end goal of a settled night’s sleep, whilst understanding and responding to your baby’s needs.
Sleep Success: 6-9 Months
This course covers a range of topics including the science of sleep, sleep associations, creating a great sleep environment, a suggested daily routine and a choice of settling methods including how to make gradual changes. The course will lead you through step by step how to create your own sleep plan to support your baby to sleep in their own sleep space.
Sleep Success: 10-18 Months
This course covers a range of topics including the science of sleep, sleep associations, creating a great sleep environment, a suggested daily routine, the transition from two naps to one and a choice of settling methods including how to make gradual changes. The course will lead you through step by step how to create your own sleep plan to support your baby to sleep in their own sleep space.
Sleep Success: 1.5 – 4 years
This course which covers a range of topics including the science of sleep, sleep associations, creating a great sleep environment, potential sleep disturbances in this age group, a suggested daily routine, the transition from cot to bed, dropping the daytime nap, early waking and a choice of settling methods including how to make gradual changes. The course will lead you through step by step how to create your own sleep plan.