Introducing Vicki Scott our sleep and routine consultant

Hi everyone. I’m delighted to have been asked to be the Mummy and Little Me Sleep and Routine Consultant, and wanted to introduce myself properly. I am a midwife, former maternity nurse, nursery nurse and mum to two girls aged 3 and 8.

Over the last 15 years I have, through classes, seminars and consultations, advised and coached mainly new mothers through their baby’s first 6 months in terms of routine and sleep, and introducing solids.

I’ve always been a little bit of a soft touch! I don’t like to suggest leaving a baby to ‘cry it out’ unless we’ve tried all other options first. I’m a great supporter of breastfeeding, but also of expressing and using some bottles for flexibility. If a mum doesn’t want to breastfeed then I’ll give her all the support she needs to bottlefeed without any of the ‘guilt’-what is that all about??

There are so many different approaches to parenting, especially in terms of baby sleep and routine so I thought it would help you to know where I am coming from in terms of the advice I give.

Here are some of my ‘golden rules’:

1. Respect the ‘fourth trimester’ of pregnancy when so many changes are happening. Bonding as a family, establishing feeding, baby adapting to life outside the womb, managing all the lifestyle changes that happen when a new baby comes along.

During baby’s first 3 months have a gentle routine in mind you are working towards, but be prepared for some days to be rather different than planned!

2. Babies learn through repetition, familiarity, consistency and will accept change if they feel secure. In a nutshell my methods on how to get your baby to sleep involve reminders of the womb, a little rocking, sssshing and swaddling to get them in the sleep zone, then giving them an opportunity to drift off alone.Going back to resettle may be necessary, but overtime your baby will ‘get it”!

3. You can have a good routine for your baby while breastfeeding! The feed times may just be a bit more ‘fluid’ for want of a better word. Sleep times are the real anchor points of a good routine.

4. Always have a Plan B. Plan A will work more and more as your baby settles into a routine, but having a Plan B will save your sanity on those days when your baby hasn’t red the rule book! (Not that there is a rule book)

5. There has to be give and take. You shouldn’t need to stay home all day everyday to have a good routine, but neither can your baby develop good habits without the stability of time at home in a familiar environment.

6. Most babies do not need formula milk, or solid foods in order to sleep through the night. As he gets older its having good sleeping habits that will get baby (and you!) through the night.

So many things to talk about!

I’m looking forward to discussing all these things and more. Let me know your questions and I will try to incorporate them into my posts.

My best wishes

Vicki

Vicki is the owner and lead midwife at New Baby Company. London based private and small group antenatal birth and baby preparation classes for couples.

WWW.NEWBABYCOMPANY.COM

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