My baby was never the world’s best sleeper…

He was ‘colicky’ as a newborn, and always more wakeful than other babies around us. But up until he was nine months old, I’d been managing okay, thinking, “he’ll grow out of it soon enough”.

But then he went through a major sleep regression and started waking 5+ times every night. Sometimes every sleep cycle!

It was sleep deprivation on a whole new level 

The wakefulness continued until I eventually got to the point where I felt like I had nothing left to give.

My evenings were filled with dread. And my days were spent in survival mode, struggling to function

It got so bad that I became a danger to myself and my family: first I ran a red light while driving, then I went out and left the gas cooker burning for 6 hours straight.

It was scary stuff, and I knew I had to do something. I felt desperate.

But I didn’t want to sleep train

Because most of the conventional sleep advice – even the stuff from some of the ‘gentle’ sleep coaches – never really sat well with me. It just didn’t make a lot of sense – logically or intuitively.

Luckily, I’m a bit of a research nut by nature.

I also have a slightly obsessive curiosity for human biology and behaviour that began way back in my university days in Melbourne while studying psychology subjects and continued throughout my career where I led many large-scale research projects for big corporations.

So early on in my parenting journey (before my brain turned to mush) I became really curious about sleep.

And I’m so glad I did

Because the more and more I uncovered, the more shocked I became. I just couldn’t believe how much misinformation is out there. The babyverse is swirling with all these old wives’ tales, cultural ideas, opinions and beliefs about baby and toddler sleep that are not backed by any evidence whatsoever. And, in most cases, have actually been disproven by the latest learnings in sleep science, developmental psychology, and neuroscience.

During my investigations, I also came across a fascinating evidence-based solution for overcoming one of the most common causes of excessive night wakefulness in both adults and babies.

So when I became pretty sure my baby’s sleep deprivation wasn’t resolving itself any time soon, I decided to test this solution myself.

The results? Well, they changed our lives

After just two weeks, my little one was falling asleep quickly within minutes and staying asleep for decent stretches.

And I started to feel human again. I was able to function properly, be a much calmer and more present parent, and enjoy life with my little one a whole lot more.

It changed my whole outlook on sleep

And it got me wondering…

Why are we still being bombarded with opinion-based ideas and advice on baby and toddler sleep? 

And why are parents of very wakeful babies and toddlers still being told they have to choose between ‘cry-it-out’ or ‘wait-it-out’ by sleep trainers, sleep coaches and even some health professionals, when there’s actually a really effective, evidence-based alternative out there that could help their little one sleep for longer stretches at night, without sleep training?

A change was drastically needed, so I decided to be part of it

When my maternity leave ended, instead of going back to my day job, I dedicated every spare hour I could to researching, developing, and refining evidence-based resources and solutions to help parents struggling with wakefulness.