“Should I hire a sleep coach for my baby?”

Sometimes you can’t figure it out on your own and you could use some advice. Every Tuesday a reader therefore tells about her dilemma.

Marlise (32) lives with Michiel (35) and is mother of Frederik (3) and Simon (7 months).

“We’ll cycle the second one, I thought when I became pregnant with Simon. The arrival of our first son Frederik was a breeze: my pregnancy and delivery went perfectly, Frederik slept through after three months and he rarely cried. How different things were with Simon.

After a pregnancy full of ailments, he was born with an emergency cesarean section because my dilation was not progressing. When he also turned out to have an infection, he spent his first night in the world in the pediatric ward, separated from me. All I could do was express and feed him.

Exhausted

The first days home from the hospital we were both so exhausted that we slept for a week. Together in the big bed, him on my chest – we had enough bonding to do. We had no rhythm in day and night. Simon drank when he was thirsty and I slept when I could.

After a week, there seemed to be some sort of rhythm in our lives. He came two or three times a night for a feed, but the days were back. During the day I went to the playground with Frederik, Simon in the car. An extra step every few days. Shopping with children, cooking with one child in the playpen and the other on the iPad.

Also read – Sleep coach Susanne Willekes: “With these tips you help your child get a better night’s sleep” >

Sleep rhythm

But after three months, the rhythm that my friend Michiel and I had worked so hard on changed. Simon increasingly refused to sleep, both during the day and at night. He exhausted himself completely and became so upset that his sleep became even worse.

“He exhausted himself completely and became so upset that he slept even worse”

We are now happy when he takes a nap during the day in the playpen or stroller. At night he never sleeps for more than one and a half hours at a time.

We’ve tried everything, including a doctor’s visit to rule out ailments and a sleep workout we plucked from the Internet. Except a sleep coach. The price is holding us back, but now we’re at our wits’ end. Should we save on the holidays and still hire a coach?”

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