Expert panel: Sleep

Hi Sallie, This is a common issue, many babies change at around this age and stage and there's generally no one reason why. Perhaps it's due to a n...

Hi, It's hard to say if it is nightmares causing her to wake. Generally at this age babies will wake a few times each night and ideally, resettle t...

Hi, Thanks for your question. The fact that your baby is sleeping so well at 4 months is great, perhaps this will change and maybe it won't. No on...

Hi, There can be lots of reasons for toddlers not sleeping. Being unwell, hungry, having learned associations of needing feeding, to co sleep, dumm...

Hi, There's varying options when it comes to settling young babies of her age. The general advice is to use "responsive settling" and "settling in ...

Hi, Have you taken her to see your local child health nurse? It's important that your baby's weight and growth are monitored by a healthcare profes...

Hi, Thanks for your email. This is a difficult question to answer because once babies start rolling and finding their own preferred sleeping positi...

Hi, At such a young age she's going to need your help to settle and perhaps even stay asleep for any reasonable length of time. Swaddling her and i...

Hi, at 11 weeks of age the behaviour you're describing is completely normal. He's too young yet and his nervous system too immature to behave in a ...

Hi, He may be going through a growth spurt, this is common at around 8 weeks. You could try to resettle him without a feed and just pat and soothe ...

Hi, There are a few things you could try. If she's refusing to drink much through the day, give her a break from her bottle and rewarm it. Reoffer...

Hi, It's hard to say but as a general rule toddlers don't stop breastfeeding to sleep if they're happy to keep feeding. It's generally mothers who ...

Hi, It could be, if there's no external changes in his life and he's otherwise happy and developing normally then it's probably reasonable to put t...

Hi, This is not an unusual age for babies to have changes in their sleeping patterns. As long as he is healthy and thriving and having enough feeds...

Hi, It may be related to her age, but as long as she is thriving and gaining weight, reaching her milestones and her output is fine then these are ...

Yes it might be completely normal for her. However, you're probably finding that she's cranky and irritable after an hour or so of being awake and...

Hi, Generally toddlers drop from one to two sleeps/day from around 14 months of age. Then they have a couple of hours sleep after lunch. If she's s...

Hi, It's absolutely normal for babies to continue waking for at least one feed overnight until they are at least 6 months of age. Their stomach siz...

Hello, I'm sorry I'm not sure what "gugu" is, do you mean he wants to suck on you as he doesn't want to take his dummy? Have you thought about doin...

Hi, At two it's timely for him to give up his dummy anyway. For his tooth development, speech and language and general oral skills there are benef...

Hi, At 7 months she's just at the age range when it's fair to expect her to sleep for longer periods overnight without needing to breastfeed. Are y...

Hi, It's not unusual for illness to cause waking and then quickly this becomes a habit. If she's well now and fully recovered then it's reasonable ...

Hi, Encourage him to go to his cot and stop pushing him in his stroller. Essentially, if you want his behaviour and sleep associations to change t...

Hi, Have you considered speaking with your CHN for advice? Perhaps a short stay admission to an early parenting centre would be useful for you both...

Hi, It does sound like you're struggling at the moment. Your strategies of not engaging her in conversation and taking her back to bed are sound. B...

Hi, If this is a problem for you then check the Huggies site for information on "Toddler in a Bed' settling/sleep strategies. If you want him to sl...

Hi, Once the child is out of a cot and in a toddler bed then it's generally considered safe to use a quilt. Check www.sidsandkids.org for more spec...

Hello, What you've described in terms of her feeding and sleeping sounds absolutely normal. She is still entitled to BF 1-2 times during the night ...

Hi, If you're considering pay for a sleep consultant then also look at the options of getting a referral to a residential facility which is Medicar...

Hi, This is a common situation, it's reassuring that he's thriving and this is unlikely to be an issue with his feeding if his weight gain is good....