Speak to any mother about their experience of motherhood and inevitably the topic of sleep comes up. Whether it’s the question of does your child sleep through yet? Or what age they were when they did. It can be a pretty contentious issue.

The sleep deprivation that goes along with motherhood can be debilitating – impacting our mood, health and relationships.

When we add in having to function at work without adequate sleep then the situation can become chronically difficult. That’s why I’m so grateful for this episode’s guest to be sharing her wisdom with us.

Today’s guest is the Founder and CEO of The Children’s Sleep Charity Vicki Dawson. She set up this charity after her own struggle with her children’s sleep as a working mum.

Vicki is one of the UK’s experts on the topic of children’s sleep. She’s on the Board of the British Paediatric Sleep Association and a member of the British Sleep Society.

In this episode Vicki shares:

• Her personal story about how she started The Children’s Sleep Charity [04.20]
• The judgement, guilt and shame when your child isn’t sleeping well  [08.30]
• What sleep success is and why it’s different for every family [10.45]
• The common sleep challenges that parents experience – from young children to adults [12:15]
• The science behind sleep and the elements that impact sleep success  [15:35]
• How educating our children about sleep is so important  [20:15]
• What we can do to make bedtime positive and successful  [22:00]
• A brilliant tip for promoting successful sleep that emerged from a recent research project [23:01]
• Great tips for promoting sleep  [25:12]
• The unique challenges for working parents with children’s sleep  [29:09]
• Her reassuring message for any parent struggling with their child’s sleep [35:55]

Don’t forget to download the worksheet that The Children’s Sleep Charity have created to help ensure a successful bedtime routine!

Links in this episode:

• The Children’s Sleep Charity website
• The Children’s Sleep Charity Facebook page
• The Children’s Sleep Charity twitter account 

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