EXCLUSIVE: Baby sleep advice from The Sleep Teacher who helped new mums, Jasmine Stefanovic and Jules Robinson

Sleep Consultant to the stars and mama-of-three, Kristy Griffiths aka The Sleep Teacher is famous for helping parents Karl and Jasmine Stefanovic and MAFs star Jules Robinson and Cam Merchant to get a better night’s sleep.

Kristy offers a trusted online program that guides parents step-by-step on how to ‘sleep-train’ their children.

Bounty Parents spoke to Kristy to find out some of her tips and tricks that have helped loads of sleep-deprived Aussie parents, including the TV celebrities.

How did you become a sleep consultant?
My children are now nine, seven and five but my first child was about 10 months old she was waking three to four times a night. I thought something’s not right so I began to research what was going on and I fixed it. Once I did that my second child came along and I could implement what I had learnt early on. Then, when I had my third and she was hitting that four-month regression I thought, I know what to do here. I decided to get my qualification and help other parents because I know how good it feels when you are getting sleep!

It has been three-and-a-half years since I launched The Sleep Teacher.

I was initially doing word of mouth consults in Newcastle, NSW, and it got to the point where I was turning people away. It was a six-week waitlist and I thought this isn’t fair; people shouldn’t need to wait to get help when they are sleep deprived. So, I then wrote my ebook.

How were you able to help new parents Karl and Jasmine Stefanovic and Married At First Sight’s Cameron Merchant and Jules Robinson?
Karl and Jasmine’s daughter, Harper was six months old, while Jules and Cam’s Ollie was four months when they reached out to me. Both babies were getting to that difficult stage where their baby’s sleep starts maturing and they are not a newborn who sleeps all the time anymore.

They wanted to establish a consistent routine. At the time neither babies were able to self-settle so we worked on that. I did home visits and worked with both sets of parents for a two-week period after their consult.

They’ve done really well. They were super consistent and really wanted the results. Parents come to me when they are ready for change and they were – they followed everything I said to a tee. In that two-week period there is always hiccups and then parents start to see the results.

Tell us about your new course for newborns?
It’s an online video tutorial course and it can be done before the baby arrives or anytime within the first four weeks. It simplifies baby’s sleep for this age because they are not going to have a routine and it’s normal for them to nap for 20 or 30 minutes and wake up, yet we don’t know that.

It’s about establishing healthy sleep habits early on and having realistic expectations. You’re encouraged to try to settle your child in the cot for a sleep just once a day. Putting them down with some patting and shushing rather than waiting until they are four months to start doing that. If you start early on it makes the transition easier when they are older and more alert.

What’s your advice for sleep-deprived mum who is struggling?
Don’t doubt yourself. You know your child better than anyone else. Don’t compare them to another child. A couple of tweaks is it all it usually takes to fix some sleep issues so reach out for help.

Is there an age or stage when mums should stop feeding their baby to sleep?
My mantra is, ‘Nothing’s a problem until it becomes it becomes a problem for you’. So if it works for you, keep doing it. If you feel that it’s not sustainable then around the four-month mark, the earlier the better, because the longer you continue to do something, the more entrenched it’s going to be and the harder it will be to break that sleep association.

If you only feed or rock your baby to sleep, that’s the only way they’re going to fall asleep and they’re going to look for that to resettle overnight when they are transitioning between sleep cycles.

You offer a ‘No Cry’ newborn program. How does this work?
If a newborn is crying usually something is wrong. The Newborn course is ‘No Cry’ because you’re just going to pop them down and if they have a little grumble you just give them a rock and a pat on the belly and see if that works.

From the four-month mark we offer three different options for settling so you can choose one which suits your parenting style and your baby’s temperament. From here, more often than not there will be some tears because no one like change but it doesn’t mean you need to leave your child’s side.

To find out more about The Sleep Teacher’s Newborn Program click here.