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Looking back through photos of my baby when he was a newborn, I came across a bunch of selfies. They were all the same: me sitting on the couch trapped under a sleeping baby.
I wasn’t a fool. I knew the importance of a good nap. “Sleep promotes sleep,” people told me. There was just one tiny problem: my son would only nap on me during the day.
So I sat. And I sat. Because my baby needed sleep.
When my son was three months old, I was chatting with a friend (while he napped on me). She asked how everything was going. I told her that life is great, except for the part where I sit on the couch all day every day and had done so for the last month.
“Get off the couch!!!!” she said. “You’ll be surprised how quickly he adjusts to sleeping in his own cot.”
She was right. Mentally and physically, I couldn’t sit on that couch anymore.
Despite all the books on baby sleep I had read, I was still a new mum and had no idea what I was doing.
I still have no idea what I’m doing, but I found someone who does. Another friend kept telling me to call the Tresillian’s Parent’s Help Line, but I was hesitant. Wasn’t Tresillian for babies who didn’t sleep at all?
I was so very wrong. I wish I had called them sooner.
Tresillian’s Parent’s Help Line is now the baby sleep secret weapon I recommend to all new parents. I have their phone number saved in my favourites. Most importantly, it’s free! Free sleep advice from an expert. No googling for hours to find contradicting advice. No giving your email address in exchange for a free pdf outlining awake windows. Free and magic.
A lovely nurse called me. I explained my life story, telling her that although I really want my baby to have lovely long naps, I can’t spend another day sitting on the couch.
When I got off the phone, I was excited. Not only that, but I had a step-by-step plan.
I won’t bore you with all the details, but the short version is that I actually had to put him in his bassinet (scary) if he was ever going to get used to sleeping in it. He needed to be drowsy but awake while I helped him to fall asleep in his own space. I had to be consistent, and I had to pat his bum a lot!
A few weeks later, he was napping like a pro in his own bassinet. He even self-settled a few times. Although he wasn’t taking long naps, he was napping. Of course, there were days when none of my magic tricks worked, so we went back to the couch. But not every day. Now he’s eight months old and napping brilliantly in his cot during the day. (The same cannot be said about the night – but that’s another story).
Call the helpline number (1300 272 736, 7am-11pm, 7 days) and listen to the prompts. Leave your phone number and a brief message explaining what you need help with. Hang up and wait for them to call you back.
Don’t worry: they will call you back. I promise. Sometimes it can take a few hours, but they will call you! Don’t forget to turn your phone off silent.
To get the most out of this amazing free service, I recommend being really prepared. I like to write down everything that happened the day before: what time my bub went down for naps and for how long, when he ate, that sort of thing. I tell them the behaviour I am struggling with, read them my day, and we go from there.
The trouble with babies is that they keep changing. Once you think you have their magic sleep formula figured out, the wind changes direction and their sleep regresses. But that’s when you ask the friendly people in the McDonalds drive-thru to add an extra shot to your coffee, and you leave a message for a lovely nurse to call you back and help devise a new plan to help your little one through it.
Tresillian has Family Care services across three states (NSW, Vic and ACT), and a national Parent’s Help Line, Day Services, and Inpatient Residential services. Find out more.
Tresillian not available in your state or territory? Here’s a list of similar services around Australia.
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