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Mini Sleepers - NHS & Private Sleep Consultant

@mini_sleepers

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Paediatric Sleep Consultant (OCN London level 6)
Occupational therapist

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One of the most useful points in this new study is what “no one size fits all” means in practice

A new study interviewed 10 breastfeeding mothers who stopped using behavioural sleep strategies after a residential or inpatient stay. Many felt the approach hadn’t taken enough account of their baby’s temperament, their own values or practical realities such as settling twins.

Researchers highlight the importance of understanding the whole picture before deciding on an behavioural approach.

This reinforces why I start with an assessment, not a method. I establish what it is that the family are hoping to change? What might be contributing to the waking? Are there health or feeding concerns? How much sleep does this baby seem to need?

Then we agree on a goal and an approach that fits the family. And we keep checking in. Is the plan helping? Is it manageable? Does anything need to change?

This study reflects the experiences of mothers who discontinued support. It doesn’t tell us that behavioural approaches are unsuitable but it does teach us why sleep support must be goal led, client centred and responsive to what happens once a family starts the sleep support plan.

Van Zanden et al. (2026), Journal of Reproductive and Infant Psychology. by @mini_sleepers

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8 days ago

⭐️There are so many different approaches to supporting families with their little one’s sleep, and my approach (and *me*) may not be for everyone and that’s absolutely okay. What matters most is finding someone who is qualified, ethical, and evidence-based.

Unfortunately, some “sleep consultants” have little to no training, make false promises or share unsafe advice online. With so much misinformation out there it’s more important than ever to know what to look out for.

As for me:

✨ I never make false promises
✨ I never give advice outside my training or remit
✨ I always follow best practice

🚩 Red flags to watch for when choosing a sleep consultant:

* Giving advice on medication without medical qualifications
* Guaranteeing results within a specific timeframe
* Providing generic, one-size-fits-all routines
* Advising you to wean your baby early
* Stepping outside their scope of practice
* Encouraging you to do something that doesn’t feel right for you or your family

Trust your instincts — they’re usually right.

My qualifications: BSc Hons Psychology, PgDip Occupational Therapy, OCN London level 6 advanced paediatric sleep practitioner ( including other sleep related courses) by @mini_sleepers

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10 days ago

Toddlers are brilliant, funny, fiercely independent and suddenly have very strong opinions about bedtime!

If bedtime has become a nightly battle these things may help:

⭐ Keep the bedtime routine calm, predictable and around 30 minutes in length. The same steps each night act as familiar cues that sleep is coming.

⭐ Offer small choices where you can "Blue pyjamas or red?” “One story or two?” This gives them some control, while you keep the boundary around bedtime.

⭐ Be consistent in how you respond. If the response changes each night, your child is more likely to keep testing to find out where the boundary is.

⭐ Avoid screens for around an hour before bed and choose quieter activities instead.

⭐ Keep the bedroom dark, calm and boring. If they need a light, use a dim red or amber one rather than a bright white or blue light.

⭐ Look at their daytime sleep and overall 24-hour sleep. A nap that is too long or too late may reduce the sleep pressure needed at bedtime.

⭐ Check the timing. If your child regularly takes a long time to fall asleep bedtime may simply be earlier than their body is ready for.

And remember bedtime boundaries can still be reassuring and loving. Your child may not like the boundary but that doesn’t mean the boundary is wrong.

Please share this with a parent currently negotiating with someone who has very strong opinions ! 😂

#ToddlerSleep #ThreeYearOld #BedtimeBattles #ToddlerBedtime #ChildrensSleep ParentingAToddler MiniSleepers by @mini_sleepers

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10 days ago

A child can be tired and still not be ready to sleep 💤

🤔That’s because sleep isn’t controlled by tiredness alone. Sleep pressure and our circadian rhythm work together to influence when we’re biologically ready to sleep and wake.

This is why simply putting a child to bed earlier doesn’t always result in more sleep. If there isn’t enough sleep pressure or bedtime isn’t well aligned with their body clock, you may instead see a long time to fall asleep, bedtime resistance or lots of chatting and playing in bed.

Then there’s night waking. Waking during the night is normal adults do it too. What can be more useful is looking at what happens after the wake. How long are they awake? Can they return to sleep? Do they need the same conditions they had when they initially fell asleep?
This is where terms such as WASO (wake after sleep onset), sleep associations and sleep efficiency help us build a much clearer picture of what’s actually happening overnight.

Sleep associations aren’t automatically something that needs to be “fixed”. If feeding, rocking, a dummy or parental presence works for your family there may be no reason to change it. It becomes relevant when it’s no longer working or is making sleep difficult to maintain.
Children’s sleep is rarely about one isolated bedtime or night wake. Understanding the processes behind sleep helps us work out what may actually be contributing to the difficulty rather than just trying to make a child sleep more.

Please like , Save for later and share if you find this useful.

@mini_sleepers
#childsleep #babysleep #toddlersleep #sleepconsultant #paediatricsleep sleepeducation by @mini_sleepers

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23 days ago

When we talk about children’s sleep, it’s easy to focus on bedtime, wake time and how many times they woke overnight. But those things only tell us part of the story.

When I assess sleep, I’m looking at the whole 24 hours. What time did they actually fall asleep? How long did it take? How much did they sleep during the day? How
much time was spent awake overnight? And, importantly, how much sleep does this particular child seem to need?
That’s where terms like sleep onset, sleep onset latency, total sleep time and 24-hour sleep need become really useful.

For example, if a child is put to bed at 7pm but regularly doesn’t fall asleep until 8pm, simply moving bedtime earlier probably isn’t going to give them more sleep. That hour tells us something about their sleep pressure, their routine and whether the sleep opportunity we’re offering actually matches their sleep need.

The same applies to sleep recommendations. They are helpful ranges but not a target every child needs to hit. Two children of exactly the same age can have different sleep needs and both be perfectly within normal variation.

This is why I’m much more interested in the pattern of sleep across 24 hours than one individual bedtime, nap or night wake.

Once i understand what sleep is actually happening, i am in a much better position to work out what might be contributing to the problem and what may need to change.

Swipe through for Part 1 of sleep terminology parents should know

Part 2 is coming soon 💤

@mini_sleepers

#childsleep #babysleep #toddlersleep #sleepconsultant #paediatricsleep by @mini_sleepers

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25 days ago

A reminder to parents to be mindful of who you are taking sleep advice from even when that person is a well-established sleep consultant who has written books and has a large following.

Being well known, experienced or published does not automatically mean someone is appropriately qualified to give advice outside their scope of practice.

Recommending pear purée to an 8–10-week-old baby to help administer omeprazole crosses into feeding and medication advice. That should come from an appropriately qualified healthcare professional, such as the paediatric doctor or pharmacist.

The sleep consultancy industry is unregulated, so parents shouldn't be afraid to ask about qualifications, training and scope of practice regardless of someone's reputation or number of years in the industry.

A responsible sleep consultant should recognise when something falls outside their remit and signpost appropriately.

Please save and share this with another parent because knowing who to trust matters just as much as the advice itself. by @mini_sleepers

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a month ago

Does helping your baby to sleep affect how they sleep later?

This 2025 study followed babies at 4, 8 and 12 months.
looking at parental involvement in settling including feeding, rocking, holding, patting and later sleep.

Greater parental involvement at 4 months predicted more night waking at 8 months while greater involvement at 8 months predicted more time awake overnight at 12 months.

Interestingly, there was much less evidence that poorer infant sleep led to increased parental involvement.

The study has some important strengths. It followed babies over time and included 7 nights of actigraphy alongside sleep diaries and questionnaires.

But importantly, this was an observational study. It shows a relationship over time but cannot prove that feeding, rocking, holding or patting to sleep causes poorer sleep.

So this research isn't about telling parents to stop comforting their babies. You can respond, reassure, cuddle and meet your baby's needs while also giving them opportunities, when developmentally appropriate, to develop their own settling skills.

Independent sleep doesn't have to mean leaving a baby unsupported, just as responsive parenting doesn't have to mean actively helping them back to sleep at every waking.

There is space in the middle.

Matzliach O, Horwitz A, Ran-Peled D & Tikotzky L. (2025). A longitudinal study of the bi-directional relations between parental bedtime and nighttime involvement and infant sleep. Sleep Medicine, 129, 55–66.

#BabySleep #InfantSleep #SleepScience #EvidenceBasedPractice #sleepconsultant by @mini_sleepers

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2 months ago

"Overtired” is a word parents hear constantly… but what does it actually mean?

Overtired is used A LOT… but what is overtired?
Whenever a nap is missed or bedtime is hard, the answer is always "they are overtired.” But the word is often used so loosely that it becomes unhelpful.

The truth is they can become wired or past it. Their body is tired, but their brain is wired. They’re overstimulated, not broken.

A “wired” child might:

🤪 Get silly
🏃‍♀️ Run around
😳 Look wide awake
🤺 Fight sleep

When this happens, their little bodies release stress hormones (like cortisol), making it harder to:

😴 Fall asleep 😴 Stay asleep
😴 Nap deeply 😴 Sleep through the night

Think of it like drinking coffee too late in the day, you’re exhausted, but your body can’t switch off.

So What Isn’t Overtired?

❌ Not a parenting failure
❌ Not a ruined night
❌ Not something to fear

It just means your child needs help calming their body and not more awake time.

What helps?

✨ A gentle wind-down
✨ Lower lights + quieter voices
✨ Slower play
✨ Predictable routines

If you have found this post helpful please share xxx

Ps no one was harmed during the making of this video unless you count the emotional damage of my children watching their mum dance to Taylor Swift. "Cringe"

#sleepconsultant #truth #infantsleep #evidencebasedpractice by @mini_sleepers

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2 months ago

This is 9 by @mini_sleepers

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2 months ago

The "4-month sleep regression" has become one of the biggest sources of anxiety for new parents.

The reality? There isn't a magic switch that flips on the day your baby turns 4 months.

Around this age, sleep becomes more mature but what that looks like differs from baby to baby. Some babies wake more, some sleep exactly the same and some (like my own daughter) actually start sleeping longer stretches.

My daughter began sleeping 11–12 hours overnight the day she turned 4 months. If I'd believed all the scare mongering online, I'd have spent weeks dreading something that never happened.

Parents deserve balanced, evidence-informed information not blanket statements that make them fear every developmental milestone.

Let's stop predicting problems and start supporting families with realistic expectations.

If this helped reassure you, follow @mini_sleepers for evidence-informed, practical sleep advice without the fear tactics.

👇I'd love to know...
Did your baby have a noticeable change in sleep around 4 months or did nothing really change? Comment below.

#BabySleep #InfantSleep #FourMonthSleep #SleepDevelopment by @mini_sleepers

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2 months ago

Are you struggling with your childs sleep? Let’s talk about Change.

The Stages of Change Model helps me (and hopefully you) to understand where parents are in the process of making changes to their little one’s sleep.

1. Pre contemplation – “This is just a phase… they’ll grow out of it.”
2. Contemplation – “Something’s not working. We need better sleep.”
3. Preparation – “We’re reading, planning, maybe talking to a sleep consultant .”
4. Action – “We’ve started a new bedtime routine and sleep strategy.”
5. Maintenance – “We’ve made progress and we’re sticking to it!”

People often move forward and backward between stages before lasting change happens.

Wherever you are on this journey it’s valid. Change takes time.

If you want to move towards more restful nights then drop me a dm and we can have a chat about how i can help x

#sleep #sleepcoaching #sleepconsultant #paediatricsleepconsultant #stagesofchange by @mini_sleepers

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2 months ago

Have a listen to the reel for my own experience to date. It still may not be sleep apnoea but it needs to be part of the conversation.

Some children with obstructive sleep apnoea or other forms of sleep-disordered breathing can show symptoms that overlap with ADHD, including difficulties with attention, activity levels and emotional regulation.

This doesn't mean that ADHD is caused by poor sleep and it certainly doesn't mean every child with ADHD has sleep apnoea. However, research suggests the two conditions can coexist, which is why it's important that sleep isn't overlooked during an assessment.

If your child regularly snores, mouth breathes, has restless sleep or seems unusually tired despite getting enough sleep, it's worth mentioning these symptoms to your healthcare professional.

Looking at sleep doesn't replace an ADHD assessment it simply helps build a more complete picture of a child's health and wellbeing.

Sometimes sleep is part of the puzzle. Sometimes it isn't. Either way, it's always worth considering.

#ChildSleep #ADHD #SleepApnoea #EvidenceBased #MiniSleepers by @mini_sleepers

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2 months ago