Your Sleep Support

Your Sleep Support Baby & children's Sleep Consultant helping families with sleep from newborn, toddler to school age.

This week I'm swapping the sleep clinic for the cheer gym 💙📣I'm heading to Halo All Star Cheer to work with their teenag...
06/09/2026

This week I'm swapping the sleep clinic for the cheer gym 💙📣

I'm heading to Halo All Star Cheer to work with their teenage athletes on something that doesn't always get talked about enough in youth sport: sleep.

Because training is only one part of performance.

We're going to look at what actually happens to sleep during the teenage years, why teenagers genuinely find it harder to fall asleep early, and what sleep has to do with recovery, concentration, reaction time, mood and sporting performance.

But this won't be me standing there telling a room full of teenagers to put their phones down and go to bed at 9pm 😂

We'll be talking about the real world.

Late training sessions. Early school mornings. Homework. Phones. Weekends. Competitions. Trying to switch your brain off when you've been going at 100mph all evening.

And most importantly, what they can realistically do to protect their sleep and recovery without expecting them to live like monks.

I'm really looking forward to this one.

Thank you to Halo All Star Cheer for inviting me in 💙

If you run a sports club, school or youth organisation and would be interested in a practical, evidence-based sleep workshop for your young people, feel free to get in touch.

NorthernIreland YourSleepSupport

Early waking? Check these four things before changing everything at once:1. Light and noise in the early morning2. Wheth...
21/08/2026

Early waking? Check these four things before changing everything at once:

1. Light and noise in the early morning
2. Whether daytime sleep has recently changed
3. Whether bedtime may be landing too early—or too late
4. Whether the response to waking is predictable

Change one thing at a time and give it a few days so you can see what is helping. If early waking comes with pain, breathing concerns or a sudden health change, speak with an appropriate healthcare professional.

A calm wind-down can be simple. Try this 20-minute rhythm:20 minutes before bed: dim the lights and choose quiet play10 ...
19/08/2026

A calm wind-down can be simple. Try this 20-minute rhythm:

20 minutes before bed: dim the lights and choose quiet play
10 minutes before bed: wash, pyjamas and teeth
5 minutes before bed: one book, a cuddle and the same goodnight phrase

The exact steps matter less than the familiar order. Adjust it to your child and your real family evenings.

Save this as a starting point for tonight.

Overtiredness does not always look sleepy.Three common signs are:1. Bigger emotions or extra clinginess2. A sudden “seco...
17/08/2026

Overtiredness does not always look sleepy.

Three common signs are:

1. Bigger emotions or extra clinginess
2. A sudden “second wind” at bedtime
3. Finding it harder to settle, even though they are clearly tired

One sign on its own does not prove anything—look for a pattern across several days. If it fits, try beginning the wind-down 10–15 minutes earlier and see what changes.

When bedtime starts to feel like a battle, adding more pressure rarely makes anyone feel safer or sleepier.Try slowing t...
14/08/2026

When bedtime starts to feel like a battle, adding more pressure rarely makes anyone feel safer or sleepier.

Try slowing the final part of the evening down: offer two simple choices, keep the boundary clear, and add a small moment of connection before lights out.

You can be warm and consistent at the same time. Progress may look like a calmer bedtime before it looks like a faster one.

Your bedtime routine does not need to be elaborate—or perfect—to help.The most useful routines are predictable, calm and...
12/08/2026

Your bedtime routine does not need to be elaborate—or perfect—to help.

The most useful routines are predictable, calm and realistic enough to repeat on ordinary family nights. A wash, pyjamas, teeth, one story and the same goodnight phrase can be plenty.

Consistency matters more than creating a picture-perfect routine.

What is the one part of bedtime your child always looks forward to?

12/08/2026

Early waking is one of the most common sleep struggles I see, and the answer isn't always an earlier bedtime.

One of the first things I'd look at is what's happening with daytime sleep.

As babies and toddlers grow, their sleep needs change. If they're getting more daytime sleep than they currently need, or their last nap is finishing too late, there may simply not be enough sleep pressure left to support the full night you're hoping for.

Think of sleep pressure like an appetite for sleep. It builds while we're awake and reduces while we sleep.

So if your little one is regularly waking at 5am or 5.30am, have a look at the whole 24 hours rather than focusing only on the early wake.

Ask yourself:

Is their nap schedule still appropriate for their age and individual sleep needs?

Are naps becoming difficult to achieve?

Is bedtime becoming harder?

Are they taking longer to fall asleep than they used to?

Are they getting a lot of daytime sleep?

Could the final nap be finishing too late?

Sometimes a small adjustment to daytime sleep can help redistribute sleep back towards the night.

But this is important. Don't immediately start cutting naps just because your child wakes early.

Early waking can also be influenced by bedtime timing, hunger, light exposure, environmental factors, developmental changes and the way we respond to that early wake.

It's about finding the reason behind your child's pattern rather than applying one generic fix.

Save this if 5am has become an unwanted member of the family 😴

And if early mornings are your biggest sleep struggle, comment EARLY and I'll share more on what I'd look at first.

11/08/2026

Free Back to School Sleep Reset!

Loved delivering this training.

We had 4 different routes to changing or reseting sleep for families whose sleep has gone a bit wobbly over summer or where bedtime has drifted out.

It was so lovely connecting with you all.

Now we just need to decide what we are having our next one on?

Let me know in the comments

It's today! 🎉Back to Routine, Back to Sleep, my free online training, is happening TODAY.If your child's bedtime has dri...
11/08/2026

It's today! 🎉

Back to Routine, Back to Sleep, my free online training, is happening TODAY.

If your child's bedtime has drifted, mornings are a struggle, and the thought of the school routine starting on the 1st of September makes you feel slightly sick, give me one hour today and I'll give you the plan.

We'll cover the summer body clock reset, age appropriate timings, and my full CALM framework, so you leave knowing exactly what to do tonight.

Free. Online. Today. The link to join is in my bio.

See you there 🤍

The most common sleep mistake I see? Trying to squeeze your child into somebody else’s schedule.Wake windows and example...
10/08/2026

The most common sleep mistake I see? Trying to squeeze your child into somebody else’s schedule.

Wake windows and example routines can be useful starting points, but your child’s sleep needs, temperament and family life matter too. Use the clock as a guide, then watch the child in front of you.

What works for another family may not work for yours—and that doesn’t mean you’re doing it wrong.

Save this for the next time comparison creeps in.

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