Dr Annemarie Christie - Teach Your Child to Sleep Through the Night: the No-Nonsense Baby and Toddler Sleep Solution

Copyright 2014 Dr Annemarie Christie

ISBN 978-1-925171-19-8 (eBook)

EPUB Edition

Published by Vivid Publishing in 2013

P.O. Box 948, Fremantle Western Australia 6959

www.vividpublishing.com.au

eBook conversion and distribution by Fontaine Publishing Group, Australia

www.fontaine.com.au

No part of this publication may be translated, reproduced, or transmitted in any form or by any means, in whole or in part, electronic or mechanical including photocopy-ing, recording, or by any information storage or retrieval system without prior permission in writing from the copyright owner.

This book is dedicated to

Olivia, Liam, Dominic and Finn

who taught me the importance of sleep!

I would like to express my heartfelt gratitude to everyone who inspired me, encouraged me and helped me to write this book.

To my mother, Kaye , who showed me how to parent with effectiveness. Her strength and persistence in the face of adversity inspires me always to do more and be more.

To Dr Phil McGraw , whos straight-shooting advice has helped me to grow and develop as a person and as a parent.

To Leah , without whom this book simply would not exist.

To Pat Mesiti , who inspired me to reach for the stars and have the courage to grasp them.

To Rebecca , who tolerated my crazy ideas and without whom I would no longer be in business.

To Alison K, Louise, Alison M, Jo, Elesa and all the staff at TCD , thank you for your ongoing support. I am blessed to have such an awesome team working with me.

To Yasmin and her friends at Vivid Publishing , without you this book would not have happened. Thank you for your clear advice and help with the production of my book!

To Alli , who kept me focused and organised.

To my husband, Ben , who is the most tolerant and supportive man in the world! You continue to encourage me to strive to achieve my potential. You give me strength and never let me give up.

To Olivia, Liam, Dominic and Finn , who have helped me to truly understand both the trials and the tribulations of parenting. All of you are different with your own strengths and abilities. You amaze me every day and I love you to bits.

To all parents , who astound me every day with your courage, strength and commitment to your children. You have the most important job in the world with the power to change the future. Dont underestimate your impact!

Dr. Annemarie Christie

MBBS BSc(Med) Dip Child Health

Founder and Director of The Childrens Doctor

In 1995, Dr. Annemarie Christie graduated from the University of New South Wales prior to participating in a paediatric training program at The Childrens Hospital at Westmead. It was there that she completed her Diploma of Child Health.

Dr. Christie went on to spend many years working within the medical and surgical wards of the hospital, serving as a crucial member of the Neonatal Support Unit and Emergency Department teams. After passing her Paediatric exams, she realised that there was a great need for a primary paediatric service in her community. She opened The Childrens Doctor in 2005 and expanded to new, larger premises in 2010.

Working in conjunction with many Allied Health professionals, Dr. Christie provides a comprehensive paediatric service. She has spent years educating parents within her community about effective parenting and child health, and is regularly invited to be a guest speaker at conferences to educate other primary care physicians around Australia. In 2014, Dr. Christie was invited to join the team at Sydney University in providing effective and practical paediatric medical education to physicians within Australia and around the world, including many countries where medical care is limited. Her passion is providing better health care for children both locally and globally.

Annemarie is the mother of 4 children, which gives her an intimate understanding of both the joys and the perils of parenting.

Its late at night. You spent your day changing nappies, folding onesies and rocking your newest little love; thinking to yourself how lucky you truly are. It was only after the sun began to set that your little one started to fuss, and now, hours have gone by without a reprieve from the crying.

You are tired.

Your spouse is exhausted.

And neither of you know what to do to soothe the newest addition to your family to sleep.

In your desperation for answers, you have found yourselves here, reading this book and hoping for a miracle. I hope to help you accomplish just that, but first I want to assure you that you are not alone. The number one reason infants are brought into the paediatricians office is irritability and poor sleep. By the time parents usually get to me, they have already consulted their mother, mother-in-law, friend up the street, mummy and me group, workmates, community nurse, and at least five baby books and the internet. Essentially, they have looked everywhere, asking everyone they know who has ever reproduced and even some who havent!

After receiving a variety of differing opinions, and attempting nearly every technique recommended to them, these overtired and frustrated parents show up at my office absolutely convinced that there is something wrong with their baby. They are distraught, exhausted and terrified that their little one must truly be suffering. This same scenario plays out in my professional life multiple times a day, but I can tell you that each parent believes their baby is the only one who could possibly be this irritable. Sometimes I wish that I could place all of these parents in the same room, solely so that they could turn to each other for support and realise just how common an issue this really is.

So take heart, because you are not the only parent who has ever endured the sleep deprivation that only a new baby can supply.

Still, for many parents, it doesnt matter how common this issue may be. They simply want to know why their own child is not sleeping. And I understand that. It is part of our innate desire to recognise problems and solve them. Particularly when it comes to those we care about most, like our children, we want to pinpoint the issue so that we can create a plan for tackling it.

This is precisely why so many parents become convinced that there is something medically wrong with their infants. They want to find a reason for why this baby they love so deeply seems to be suffering in such a dramatic fashion. Surely, they think, there must be some sort of medical explanation. The reality, however, is that there is rarely a medical cause for this restlessness you are now witnessing for yourselves. If the sleep disturbance and irritability has been present for more than 1 month, and your baby is continuing to gain weight and appears to otherwise have happy times throughout the day; it is very unlikely that there is any medical explanation for your rough nights. Of course, it is always advisable to have your paediatrician do a medical workup prior to conducting any sleep training program, but the reality is: your baby may just be a poor sleeper.

I know there is nothing comforting about that statement, but it is the most likely explanation for exhaustion you are currently experiencing.

The good news is:

WE CAN FIX THIS!

Im going to allow you to let that settle in for a minute. Peaceful nights. Hours of sleep back to back. No more dark circles staring back at you in the mirror. You can, and will, sleep again. And I am going to show you exactly how to make that happen.