After so many sleeping issues we went to Karitane – Is it worth it?

I would say that Karitane saved my life. Since my daughter was born she was never a good sleeper, she would take her time to sleep and wake up easily after 2/3 hours sleep. I tried a range of techniques that I found in the internet, but nothing would work for her. At 5 months old I realized my life could no longer be like this as in less than 2 months I was going to be back at work full time, so I went to the early childhood center, talked about my issue and they referred me to the Karitane Day saying that they would be able to give me the techniques to make her sleep easier and longer. I went there but by the end of the consultation the nurse said: “I never experienced this kind of behavior, I could not make her sleep”.

So yes, I was not lying she was a hard one so they referred me to Karitane week stay, which I ended up being place at their Carramar hospital and I was so amazed by everything.

To start the facilities were amazing, I had my own private room, bathroom and she had a small room for her cot that would connect with my room but was the perfect environment for her to sleep with little light, background music and a safe cot. The first night was the hardest but the nurses were with me all the way, some tips that I learned there, and I use until today:

-          Babies should have their own bed and own room to be able to sleep longer

-          Babies should fall sleep on the cot, not breastfeeding or on my arms

-          Background music can sooth them and if they wake up they will look around and go back to sleep as the environment they went to sleep is the same

-          I should only give her things she can’t lose at night and request my help with (milk bottles, dummies, little toys can be a distraction as if it falls or you need to help them with it they will find the perfect way to request your help). She went down with only a soft doll she liked, but it was hard to fall from the cot. (I only used this doll to sleep so she would relate to it).

-          When she went to sleep I would feed her, bath her, read her a book and put her on her cot, talk and reassure her and leave the room.

-          If she woke up at night I waited a couple of minutes to see if she would settle by herself if not I would just go back to the room sit on the floor and tap on her bum or on the mattress until she was sleepy again also making the Shussh sound. Sitting on the floor don’t give them the impression that you can pick them up.

-          Babies should never cry for long so if she cried a bit I would always go back to the room and reassure her but if she was stopping and starting again she could have been learning how to calm down and eventually go to sleep by herlself.

-          Routine is very important, and I used all I learned for a good 3 months before starting to sometimes make changes, but all was so good that I was afraid to change anything.

-          Her routine was set with 2 x 1-hour sleeps during the day and a long sleep from 7pm to 7am at night. It was unbelievable at first but until today she is doing the same. (She is now 26 months). At 7pm she is already in bed waiting for her story time

This video resumes it quite a bit: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=xsMEOXratlk

So, if you are struggling and need help I would recommend them 100%, sure I had to really focus on the routine after but they gave me the best start I could possibly get and I will thank them immensely. I hope to be able to start doing some of those routines with my newborn in December this year, so I don’t need to endure 6 months of non-sleep again.

Here are some useful parent resources they provide: https://karitane.com.au/dynamicpage/for-parents/resources

A MOM #1fan of Karitane after 30