HOLISTIC SLEEP CONSULTANT, SOMATIC COACH + TODDLER MUM LIVING IN BRISTOL, UK.

I'm here for the sleep-deprived parents who know they don't want to sleep train. Who want to truly understand what's going on for their little one, and who want to keep responding to and nurturing them - day and night - while making small changes that actually help.

As a mum to a very wakeful, unsettled baby, I spent every waking moment (yep, especially the ones at 3am) desperately searching for something that would help him sleep. And at the same time, I knew I didn't want to sleep train, no matter how hard things got. Still, I questioned my instincts constantly. I never fully let myself enjoy the contact naps, the nights spent with his little body next to mine. I felt like I was doing something wrong every time his eyes fluttered shut while feeding. I spent hours trying to get him down in his cot to "reclaim some time", when really, all I was doing was missing precious moments I could have just let myself be in.

Every time a friend's baby started sleeping through, my heart sank. But I kept holding onto the belief that our time would come.

We're told, over and over, that parenthood is hard. Fine. But how are you supposed to know what a normal level of hard is, vs something deeper going on, when you've never done this before?!

And when I did start to suspect something might need investigating, the GP was the obvious first stop. I sat in that office, in tears, and asked - more than once, over months - whether my son had a tongue tie, or Silent reflux.. Why his breathing was so noisy at night time. Why he was waking every 20 minutes and would only sleep latched. Instead of being heard and held, I was told he was 'just a baby' and smirked at for my first-time-mum neurosis.

I wasn't given answers. I wasn't given support. I was gaslit and left exhausted, depressed and stuck. Afraid to leave the house, and terrified of the night times.

I'm not interested in blaming any one GP - most are doing their best inside a system that doesn't give them the time, resources or training needed to support mums and children fully. But I am furious, still, on behalf of every parent sat in that chair being made to feel like the problem, when the problem was never them.

When problems get missed and dismissed, it's hard to know where to turn, which is why I'm so passionate about helping parents feel heard and supported, knowing they don't have to figure things out alone. The personal research I've spent the last 4 years doing to support my son, paired with my 2 infant sleep courses and Somatic Coaching certification, have armed me with so much wisdom that I am here to share, to help you figure out the best steps forward.