Riff Raff Ramblings — Sleep Guides

Reading your child a bedtime book is a beautiful way to bring the day to a close and signal that it’s nearly time for sleep. This family tradition has stood the test of time and is something we might even have special memories from our own childhoods. Don’t let this lovely ritual fall prey to busy working schedules as there are many benefits, comforts and joys it can bring to...

Do you love the idea of a more gentle approach as you support your baby to sleep? Here’s five simple and caring ways to assist your baby on the path to self settling.

Spending my days as a sleep consultant often means working through sleep misconceptions, and myths. One of the topics I often cover is the difference between a baby self settling and self soothing.

Toddler sleep can be just as challenging, if not more than when they were younger. Toddlers tend to get fussy during bedtime whenever they get that chance, often stalling the process or even fighting it. Ensuring they get proper sleep is paramount – it can impact their behaviour, development, skill acquisition, mood, as well as their physical and emotional well-being. If your little one’s sleep issues are bothering you, then...

While most babies experience sleep regressions during the 4-month mark, it’s likely that it can happen anytime, and most likely during a 6-month-old sleep schedule. At this stage in your baby’s little world, they’re experiencing changes that to us, would be the equivalent of tectonic plates shifting; to them, they’re learning crazy wild skills like sitting up, grabbing, yanking, babbling – perhaps they’re even teething!

Bringing your precious little bundle home is one of life’s greatest blessings – but looking for ways on how to get a baby to sleep is a lot trickier than it seems. Quality sleep is an important foundation in an infant’s routine. Their sleeping hours are a crucial time for their healthy development – from their busy brain to their tiny tummy, the growth is exponential each day so it...

Holding your baby in your arms really puts everything into perspective – at that moment, nothing else exists except for you and your little one. Being able to soothe your baby can be a wonderful bonding moment, but at times, it can put a strain on balancing everything else at home. So it’s perfectly valid to ask how to get the baby to sleep without being held.

Routines and predictability are often the bedrock of most philosophies about baby sleep time, but it’s not that simple for a 4-month-old sleep schedule. When your baby reaches three to four months, their sleep behaviour reaches a developmental leap and becomes more dynamic. Instead of prolonged sleeping, they begin cycling through light and deep phases with brief waking periods afterwards. Some little ones can adjust well to these changes –...

Achieving healthy habits is crucial when it comes to baby sleep schedules. This can be done by establishing a routine early on as soon as your child is born. This is where introducing baby sleep products comes in handy and helps achieve quality sleep for your baby and, consequently, the entire family.

Here at Riff Raff we recommend the use of a consistent routine for best sleep results. And by that we mean napping in the same place each time so the use of the bassinet or cot is recommended.  So why talk about pram sleeping??  Because um..  SANITY. That's why.

For many of us, our older babies returned to school this week - cue the mumma tears!! Finding a routine that works well around your little one’s school drop off and pick up is hard enough, even more so if you have a younger babe who is still requiring naps though. So how do you manage to keep bub’s naps on track whilst still ensuring your older child’s school needs...