$500 For A Good Night's Sleep

Desperate to instill good snooze habits in your baby? We find out that
more parents are getting help from experts – and paying hundreds of
dollars for it.

Linda Teo will never forget the day her father-in-law reprimanded her. He found out that she had enrolled for a workshop that would teach her how to get her three-month-old son to sleep.

“Aden would wake up four to six times during the night, and was always fretful in the day. But my in-law thought it was a waste of money, and that sleep comes naturally to everyone,” the 29-year-old marketing executive recalls.

The truth is, it doesn’t.

“Sleep is a set of skills that we have to teach babies – how to fall asleep on their own and, when they wake up in the middle of the night, how to get back to sleep,” author Tracy Hogg says in her new book, Top Tips From the Baby Whisperer: Sleep.

In almost every case of sleep difficulties, “parents had followed the baby’s lead and, without realising it, allowed all sorts of bad habits to develop,” she adds.
That’s why parents should lay the groundwork for good sleep habits from Day One. Don’t know how to do it? Well, pick up a book, surf the Internet and, if you’re willing to pay, experts can even drop by your home for one-to-one consultation.

Sleep consultant Tammy Fontana, who runs Baby Sleep Fairy, finds that parents are more willing to get help because they know the importance of having a well-rested infant.

This has opened up business opportunities – Young Parents found that there are at least four places that offer sleep help for babies in Singapore.

Check out the October 2009 issue of Young Parents to find out why sleep is so important for your baby, and where you can seek help.