I can be quite an anxious person. When things start to get on top of me, everything else seems to snowball.
Over the past five years, there have been a series of huge events that have happened in my life. For a perfectionist trying to keep all the balls in the air, my anxiety does a very annoying thing - it manifest at night. All day I can keep myself busy, pretending the problems are not there; but at night, when the house is quiet, my mind switches on.
As a baby sleep coach I find it quite humorous that I have trouble sleeping. Without consolidated sleep, my level of anxiety increases and though I try to fool myself that everything is fine, I just can’t keep it together. I can cry at the drop of a hat or explode if my husband looks at me the wrong way. Poor sod! I seem to have permanent PMS.
Last year when everything reached it’s peak I was starting to show physical symptoms as well as emotional ones. I was chatting to my friend on the phone when suddenly I burst into tears. She said “Janelle you need to get some professional help.” I knew that too but I felt like a failure.
I knew what the problem was and what I needed to change, but I just didn’t know how to. Everything I was trying wasn’t working anymore. I knew it wasn’t going to be a quick fix. I needed a sounding board to make these changes in a way that would give me a long-term outcome. I decided to visit a recommended psychologist to see if together we could give my brain some peace and quiet. I had to ask for help.
This is often the case with the many families I have helped with baby sleep. They know things need to change, but they just don’t know how. They want support – that is the key to long-term success.
Lots of friends and family can give you tips and advice. You can buy a book and find the answers yourself. I could have bought a self-help book and tried to do it myself but there comes a time to seek out professional help. It is not as scary as you may think. What is the worst that could happen? What is the best that could happen?
If you feel that the time is right for you so seek professional help for your baby’s sleep, I am here for you. Reach out and contact me. I understand – I have been there too.
Janelle Jeffery
Sleep Coach, Teacher, Mother and Wife
