James 6m, regular night wakes, fussy day feeding and no interest in solids

James had just turned 6 months, and for the last few months he had started to get more and more distracted and fussy while feeding. Mum had spoken to a lactation consultant who's advice was that it's normal for this age, and to just feed in a dark room, with no distractions, and try feeding while laying down.

This didn't really help, and James would often just fall asleep during a feed. He also started waking every 3 hours in the night and was impossible to settle back to sleep without feeding. Mum had started James on solids, but he wasn't really swallowing much of the food. 

He would also cry for a long time before every nap, and would need a lot of help through rocking or feeding to fall asleep. And would generally need to be held for the whole nap.

Mum had tried to implement a routine that she found, but said it wasn't "working out great and I’m constantly stressed about his sleep and awake times and feel like I can’t really enjoy James during his awake windows because I’m so tense thinking about when he needs to go to sleep again and watching for his tired cues. I feel like I miss his tired cues all the time!"

And here's what mum had to say after finishing her 14 day sleep support package, 

"I had been following Melissa on Instagram for a couple of months and her approach to sleep really resonated with me. I decided it was time to get help when my son James’ sleep started suffering around 4 months of age and was not getting better, despite all our efforts. For several months James was waking every 1-3 hours overnight and the only way I knew to settle him was to feed back to sleep. This impacted his day feeds and when it came time to start James on solids he was showing very little interest. His day sleeps consisted of lots of pram walks, I was exhausted and would do anything for sleep!

Melissa was very thorough and reassuring and was always available during the support period to answer questions/make recommendations. Within 1-2 days of following the routine Melissa suggested, James was on his way to being a new baby. Fast forward 3 weeks and James goes to sleep happy, is consolidating his naps and sleeping long stretches overnight. His milk and solid feeds are also going great.

I had lost my confidence and Melissa helped me get it back. I am so grateful for her guidance and would 1000% recommend her to any other parent who is struggling with their little ones sleep". Cindy, Victoria