Tuesday, April 24, 2018

Baby sleep success story from a wonderful mother of twins


I’m Serene, mother of 5.5 month old twin boys John and Nate. 

BEFORE ENGAGING SLEEP SUPERNANNY

Before we engaged Zoe, our daily routine was chaotic and in a mess. I was feeding my twins on demand and nursing them to sleep and it felt like a never ending cycle. They also needed to be carried and rocked to sleep. We tried giving them pacifiers, but they didn’t take to it.

When they turned four months old, suddenly their sleep became even poorer - nap times were shortened to 20-30mins, and they kept waking up very frequently during the night. We had to rock them to sleep for a much longer period now and even when we put them down gently, they would rouse from their sleep and we would have to carry and rock them to sleep all over again. My husband and I were really sleep deprived and exhausted. Furthermore, I was starting work the following week and was very concerned for my parents who would be the primary caregivers for the twins during the day.


AFTER ENGAGING ZOE SUPERNANNY

Desperate for a solution, I contacted Zoe, who was really accommodating to come down at a short notice. She shared with us the sleep training plan and encouraged us to implement a proper routine with the EASY cycle. Initially I had concerns if the plan would work for my twins as it seemed that they would wake each other up with their cries. However Zoe reassured me that it would work. We decided to implement the plan after the Chinese New Year holiday.

For the first night of the sleep training, we did our usual bedtime routine and then put them in their cots awake. As expected, they cried and protested. To my surprise, the older twin fell asleep quite fast, but after 30mins he was awoken again by his brother’s cries. In total they cried on and off for a good 1hr 20min before finally falling asleep. I felt very lousy, but Zoe encouraged me to persevere on. Thankfully, I also had the support from my family members that helped make the process easier.

The crying got lesser each day, and the boys eventually also got used to each other’s cries and were able to sleep through it. Now I’m happy to say that they are able to fall asleep without being nursed/rocked/carried to sleep. Their naps are very solid as well - sometimes we face a (good) problem of them napping for too long and we having to wake them up! The boys are more alert and refreshed, and in a much better mood than before. It has definitely been much easier for my parents and I to care for them now. With Zoe’s help in implementing a more predictable routine for the twins, we now have time for ourselves which is a plus for all of us too!

Thank you and appreciate your invaluable support and guidance throughout this whole sleep training process, Zoe!!

Serene, mother of twins

Baby Sleep Talk with Prudential - Planning With Love Seminar

On the 18th April 2018, I was invited to speak at a seminar called Planning With Love which was organised by Prudential. The event was held at M Hotel.

I am extremely privileged to be able to share my expert advice and tips with parents who are struggling to get their child to sleep well. To those who attended, thanks for being such a fantastic and teachable audience. I shared lots of tips, debunked some baby sleep myths and ultimately my 5 steps system to better night's sleep.



Many of you came to speak with me after and showed your appreciation and gratitude. I have also received lots of emails and private messages from many of you. I am truly grateful for your lovely feedback. I sincerely hope that more tired families out there will be empowered to teach their children healthy sleep habits so that everyone in the household can get good night's sleep once again.



Special thanks to Prudential Singapore for recognising that there are many tired and sleep deprived families out there needing help with their child's sleep issues. I look forward to working with more companies, hospitals and families in the future to teach this important topic about sleep!

If you think your company and your staff might benefit from a talk about how to get baby to sleep well, feel free to contact me at info@sgsupernanny.com or call me at +6592388060.

Tuesday, October 4, 2016

Featured on Lian He Zao Bao

I have been featured on Lian He Zao Bao with my baby and I shared my job as a baby sleep expert with readers and also sleep tips to get baby to sleep through the night.



It's been a long time since I sat down to blog. Lots have been happening. Where do I even start!

Well maybe I could start by sharing my biggest news, I have given birth to baby number 4, Alyssa my little princess. She was born on the 3rd of August 2016. She weighed a whopping 3.52kg (definitely my biggest baby!). I gave birth to her naturally just using the laughing gas. It was my first time not opting for epidural due to my traumatic experience of suffering from 7 days of epidural headache when I gave birth to my son previously. The labour was intense and painful (super painful!) but my recovery was super quick too as I didn't have any tear which was surprising considering how big she was!

Anyway, I have been busy with her spending the whole month of August doing the traditional confinement, recuperating from the birth and looking after my precious newborn. I joked with my clients that I now can relate to what they are going through much more now that I am back to having sleepless nights and spending most time either feeding or pumping. ;)

This month of Sept has been particularly busy as most of my clients have been waiting for me to finish my confinement so I can go back to work. I appreciate your time waiting for me and supporting my business. Thank you so much for your continuous support.

This is also a special month as I have been featured in not just 1 but 3 news media. I was interviewed by Lianhe Zaobao about my work and I was featured together with my baby girl on the 19th Sept newspaper edition. Expat Living also did a write up on me and I shared about some sleep training tips with their avid readers. Last but not least Singapore Motherhood magazine wrote an article on 12 Ways to Get Baby to Sleep and I contributed my thoughts on some of the ways to get babies to sleep well and through the night. Well there you go, it's been a busy busy month like I said. Tomorrow my baby girl will be 8 weeks old. She is already sleeping through the night consistently for the past 3 nights from midnight to the next morning. At least 5-6 hours overnight. That's probably why I have the energy to sit at my laptop to blog this. :)

Remember healthy sleep habits, happy child! You can start them from day 1!

Monday, June 13, 2016

If you are a sleep deprived and exhausted parent with toddler...do read this

Ever since my son was born, I had never had a good night's rest. He never once slept through the night, as I had been breastfeeding him to sleep since the beginning, he was used to frequent night waking (sometimes every hour) and latching to sleep again. This took a toll on my health over time and I decided, when my son was 20 months old, that we needed help for both of us to sleep better at night. 

After much research, I found Zoe and engaging her help was one of the best decisions I have made. Within a night, my son was weaned of his night feeds. He was also able to sleep in his own bed in his own room instead of co-sleeping with me. Although we saw some success in the first couple of nights, sleep training a stubborn toddler proved to be tougher than I had imagined. The subsequent nights that followed were hell as there were times when my son went through sleep regression. It took a lot of determination from my husband and I to persist with the plan, and I broke down several times in the process. 

However, Zoe was very encouraging and assuring, and most importantly, she was there to answer my questions, address my fears and comfort me at all those times when I needed it. That was what sleep training books and all those information online could not provide at the critical times. More than two months on, my son has been sleeping though the night consistently on most nights and finally, we can both get the good night's rest that we deserve. My son's teachers have also noticed that he has been making marked improvements in his learning in the past two months! I attributed it to having sufficient sleep that led to better concentration in the day. My most heartfelt thanks to Zoe for making this possible, when this had been unthinkable just a couple of months back. I highly recommend Zoe to parents who need help in sleep-training their children! 

Angela, mother of one.

Monday, June 6, 2016

Another success story

People used to tell me babies, when they are tired, will sleep by themselves. I wished this was reality. 

When my boy was 10 weeks old, I realised that he wasn't sleeping by himself and if he was, I was nursing him to sleep, rocked him on a swing, or carried him around in a baby carrier. As first time parents, we thought that this was 'normal' as we have also met other parents who did likewise. We also observed that he refused to be put down during evenings, be it on a chair or the cot, and wanted us to carry him around. He would also cry and fuss during feeding time then. Both my husband and I thought that he was a high need baby. 

When he turned 14 weeks old, his naps suddenly shortened to 30 minutes and I knew sleep regression has caught up with him. He was also waking up 4-6x a night. Initially, I thought he was going through a growth spurt but it was happening almost every other night! In addition, he did not want to feed in at least 2 of those wakings.

With insufficient sleep, I was exhausted and frustrated. I was unable to interact well with both my husband and my son. A friend recommended me to approach Zoe for her guidance in sleep training and we are glad we made this decision. Zoe was clear in her instructions, gave us sound advice and encouragement, and was always there to clarify our doubts and the misconceptions surrounding sleep. Her experience and knowledge are indispensable to the success of our son's ability to sleep independently. 

I have read several books on sleep training but they gave conflicting procedures. Zoe's personalized sleep training program was effective, well-defined, and concise. By the second night, my boy was sleeping through the night (after a dream feed). By day 7, he's taking longer naps (1.5h to 2.5h) and he looks more well rested than before. He was also breastfeeding properly, no longer snacking by the hour.

I highly recommend Zoe to parents who need help in getting their babies or toddlers to learn the skill of sleeping. We cannot thank you enough for being a blessing to our family. Thanks a lot, Zoe! 

Geraldine, happy mommy of one

SG Supernanny's Sleep Tip of The Night

SG Supernanny’s Sleep Tip of The Night: 

If you find it challenging to get your child to nap well, the first area to tackle is their sleep debt. If they have been missing a lot of sleep for even a few days, then it is likely that they are overtired and resisting settling down for naps because of this. Make sure their naps are well-timed and that bedtime is very early. This will help them to start catching up on their sleep and over time, allow them to fall asleep easier for naps.

Thursday, January 21, 2016

Testimonial from a lovely client

I first engaged Zoe when my little one was 3.5 months old. She was cranky, angry and never seemed to have a good night's rest. My sleep was as affected as hers. Putting her to bed was a tiring routine. Zoe's tireless encouragement helped me through the most difficult phase of parenting. Through her guidance and advice, my husband and I are able to successfully execute a sleep routine tailored to her. Our LO is now able to sleep through the night and nap without much effort. She wakes up cheerful and her parents are now less sleep deprived. I am a happy mummy and I can't recommend her enough!

Dr Peggy, Happy mommy of one