I’m finally blogging! With a little bit of help from someone more technically minded than me 😉 But I’m here and will now be writing regularly, which is great news for everyone who’s been asking me to for a while!
The question I’m most frequently asked is: What do you do?
I’m a sleep consultant and a maternity nurse.
A maternity nurse can work with a family as soon as mum comes home from hospital with her newborn baby. I come in and offer advice, guidance and support and guide baby into a gentle routine so that it can sleep through the night, as soon as they can. Or, I’m there to give parents a night of uninterrupted sleep – something that they could be in need of after a long labour or stay in hospital postnatally.
As a sleep consultant I work with babies from 3 months to three years and again, I offer support and guidance and teach parents and their baby or toddler about their sleep habits. I provide advice and support for what’s good for the baby, their family, and how they can all get a good night’s sleep.
And that’s it. That’s what I do. It doesn’t sound like much does it? But it has a huge impact on the families I work with. Instead of singing my own praises, I’m going to share a couple of testimonials with you, that have come from recent clients…
Huge thank you to Tina. I live outside of her area (in Yorkshire) so she gave me a telephone consult instead after my 9 month old was waking every hour during the night. After just one session, Tina diagnosed the problem (she’s over tired and over stimulated in the day) and gave me a plan and a schedule to fix the problem. It’s early days but I’ve now had 2 full nights of sleep and structured daytime naps – which will be invaluable when my second baby arrives in a couple of months. Thanks Tina, and I will call on you to make sure I don’t fall into the same traps with number 2! As a parent you think you know what’s best and of course most of the time you do but it’s great to have expert advice to help along the way and give you the confidence you need to resolve any issues. August 2012.
I called Tina Southwood on behalf of my daughter. She had reached a low point after a tiring 4 months looking after her baby and a lively 3 year old. The baby had feeding and reflux problems and was beginning to wake more and more in the night at a time when she had hoped things might be improving. Tina was calm and professional and able to impart some hope and confidence in dealing with the situation (basically, enabling you to carry on when you are feeling defeated!). This kind of support is essential at the right time and often doesn’t seem to be available through the normal channels. It may have been that the baby was just ready, but I believe that nothing beats having personal, firm, confident guidance from outside the family and this is exactly what Tina provided. I can honestly say that everything improved from that day. September 2012.
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