FAQs

Great question!
I give sleep deprived parents of newborns to five year olds their life back.
I help you go from exhausted and overwhelmed to confident and rested and have your baby or toddler begging you for bed…even if you’ve tried everything before.

How? I take my over 20 years of experience as a Child and Family Health Nurse and Baby Sleep Consultant and become a sleep detective to see what’s behind the sleep disturbance, then show you how to create great days that deliver delicious nights for your individual child!

and I love it!

Want to know where to start?

Watch my FREE 9 min Baby or Toddler Sleep Makeovers with BONUS Awake times and Daily Routines for newborns to toddlers. Click here to watch now!

The daily routines, diet, play, development and sleep strategy is completely different for a child newborn to 11months and 1 year and older. Please purchase the ebook for the age your child is now. If your baby was premmie please use their corrected age until they are 1 year corrected and then you can use their actual age. If you would like to discuss this with Natalie just phone or send an email.

Yes, I have had many successful consultations with twins and siblings of all ages. I will help you find a solution for any children 0-10 years. We will also work out a ‘staged approach’ together if needed, for you to apply the system in baby steps if there are lots of changes to be made and it feels overwhelming to do it all at once.

You can successfully use my strategies with your baby or toddler in a side car bed or a bassinet or cot next to your bed or in your room. SIDS recommend for safety reasons and SIDS prevention that your baby sleep in their bed (whatever room you choose is up to you). I have had many clients report their baby or toddler falling out of the parent’s bed and onto the floor because the baby co-sleeps with the parents overnight but mum/dad didn’t want to sleep all day with the baby or go to bed at the baby or toddler’s bedtime at night, leaving the baby unattended on a parental bed. Babies can roll from 6 weeks, pillows are not enough protection from baby rolling out of bed.

Night time sleep issues are impacted on by your baby or toddler’s day.

It doesn’t matter whether your child has their sleep issues in the day or night because you will be applying the same consistent plan to create more sleep.

I want to empower you to create great days that deliver delicious nights. This starts by you guiding the quality of your baby or toddlers awake time to help them earn their sleep.
Then we create a sleep inducing sleep environment wherever that is.

Not sure how? Start by watching my FREE 9 minute Baby or Toddler Sleep Makeovers on home page http://www.sleepandsettle.com.au

When you feel that what you’re doing isn’t working, you feel stressed, anxious and you would like a confident plan. If what you are doing is working for you then you don’t need one.

I am empowering you with confidence, understanding of your individual baby’s age appropriate needs, a plan for creating great days that deliver delicious nights and a back up plan for unsettled days.

It is never too early for you to gain confidence and be prepared for meeting your baby’s needs or creating great days.

I also prepare you with techniques to help your baby be flexible and let you enjoy life outside the home and have baby sleep and settle just about anywhere.

Once your baby knows how to self-settle to sleep they can sleep through the night 7pm-7am, as soon as they are developmentally ready to do so. The average age for this is 9 months.

As a Child and Family Health Nurse I cover newborns to five year olds.
However I have written articles on the School aged child and sleeping issues, the basics of creating sleep are the same.

Don’t know where to start?
Watch my FREE 9 min Baby or Toddler Sleep Makeovers with BONUS awake times and Daily Routines for newborns to toddlers.  Here http://www.sleepandsettle.com.au

Changing your child’s routine is a gentle process that takes time. Sometimes as previously stated I can fine tune a child’s routine and they respond immediately and appreciate that mum and dad have confidence and a plan. The speed of your success in achieving your sleeping and settling goals is determined by how consistent and persistent you are with your routine. The average time it takes to achieve realistic sleeping and settling goals is 3-21 days. Please note I do not encourage dropping night feeds until your baby is developmentally ready to do so, or from 9 months of age.

Sometimes. Your baby cries to communicate with you. Toddler’s can tell you what they’re feeling, babies cannot talk but can communicate with their different cries and body language. Occasionally small changes made in minutes when fine-tuning a baby’s routine can result in great sleeping with no crying at all. However, if you have well-established habits at sleep time your baby or toddler is going to cry in protest at the changes to their new sleep routine.

In my sleep strategies, I encourage you to respond to your baby or toddler when your heart says they need you. Remember that while you are making the decision to improve your child’s routine they don’t know things are going to change and it is reasonable to expect them to protest at the changes. They are sensitive intelligent little humans who need respect when we are changing their routine. THIS IS NOT ‘SLEEP TRAINING’. We are empowering you the parent to create great days that deliver great nights with a personal plan to help you RESPOND to your baby. You apply what works and suits you and your baby.

Yes! Simply click the link on the homepage to watch my 9 minute BABY AND TODDLER SLEEP MAKEOVERS, to discover the simple tweaks you can make today to have your BABY or TODDLER begging you for bed.

Baby:  
1. Why does my baby cry and protest every sleep?

2. Help! I’m stuck in my baby’s bedroom for all sleeps.

Toddler:

Why does my toddler refuse sleep?

I also post regular tips and videos on facebook and Instagram addressing parents questions, sleeping and settling tips, notice of upcoming seminars, updates on current issues and parenting articles.

Is your child experiencing sleep disturbance, sleep refusal, head-banging, teeth grinding, nightmares, night terrors, extreme emotional tantrums, pulling their hair out, waking frequently overnight, awake for hours overnight looking like they have had twelve hours sleep, waking early, loud voices, fussy eater, constant illness, unexplained rashes….. Your child could have a food intolerance (different to an allergy). Food intolerances affect sleep, behaviour and health. Natalie will cover this in the ebooks, seminars and personal consultations. For more information now go to Sue Dengate’s fabulous website full of evidence based practical information http://www.fedup.com.au

Is your child experiencing snoring, mouth breathing, noisy breathing, looks like a hot sweaty mess when they wake up, dark circles under their eyes, falling asleep at odd times during the day, waking sitting up, waking with a cough overnight, can’t concentrate, impulsive behaviour? This could be an ENT (Ear Nose and Throat) issue. Please see your GP for a referral to an ENT Specialist. Also google Sharon Moore- Speech Pathologist.

Or could it be:
Worms?
Diabetes?
Bullying?
Stress?
Emotional trauma?

Let’s talk.

No. The Australian Infant Mental Health Association does not recommend the use of controlled crying or cry it out (CIO) as a sleep strategy. They believe it could lead to emotional and mental health issues later in life. This does not mean your baby will not cry in protest at the changes to their existing routine when you implement your new one however, I want you to choose a method that feels comfortable for you and your baby or toddler and be as gentle as possible. I don’t want to cause distress for your baby/toddler or yourself.