Dear Friends, Welcome to my blog!

At 7.32pm today my sister gave birth to a beautiful baby boy called Jacob (7 lbs 12 ounces) and I am now the proudest Uncle in the world!

So why did I want to become a baby-sleep expert?

Well, because I run a business in marginally-related field, my sister asked me for my advice regarding the crucial night-time parenting decisions that every parent has dealt with over the years. I faced a bombardment of questions such as: What can I do to reduce the dangers of SIDS? Co-sleeping or cot? What techniques can help baby to sleep through the night? What is colic? etc etc..

To say I didn’t have all the answers would have been an understatement!

My sister started to get fairly panicked because she didn’t have any strong knowledge on the subject behind her and everything she read on the topic was either confusing or contradictory. Once a couple of irresponsible media scare stories were thrown into the equation, she became very worried indeed.

I knew my sister and her partner had dozens of other baby-related topics to learn about and digest so I thought I’d try and take care of this one subject so I could help them out. I remember saying to myself, “Surely it can’t take too long to learn the important information, the techniques and the safest way to do things.” Well, it turned out I was wrong and my sister was right (I think that’s the first time I’ve ever said that!) I discovered the topic to be a vast, chaotic minefield, full of contradictory, confusing and worrying information.

As I began reading through a selection of published material, it became apparent that even the world’s leading authors had conflicting opinions on a variety of night-time parenting issues. For example, after reading one book I was left convinced by the statistics cited, that seemed to prove that putting baby to sleep in a cot in the parents’ room was far safer than adopting a co-sleeping arrangement (at least for the first 6 months anyway).

Therefore, because the chances of SIDS were shown to be significantly lower, I felt confident that I could advise my sister to put her baby to sleep in a cot in her room. To my horror however, the next book I read said almost the complete opposite and the author was heavily promoting co-sleeping, citing statistical examples of how it could help baby’s emotional, physical and psychological development.

The responsibility of what I had been asked to do suddenly dawned on me. What if I told my sister to do something that turned out to be bad advice? I could be putting her baby in potential danger and I don’t think I could live with myself if the baby came to any harm because of this. The easy option for me would have been to say, “Sorry, I don’t want the responsibility, you’re on your own”. However, she had asked for my help and I wasn’t going to let her down.

So what did I decide to do?

I decided that the only solution was to read everything I could find on the various topics and present a summary of the findings, thus making them easier to understand and digest. Ultimately, however, I had to leave it up to my sister to make the final decisions with her partner about what was best for their unique situation. With my help, at least they had the benefit of being able to make informed decisions.

So why start this blog?

After ploughing through mountains of literature and scientific research reports I was able to help my sister to feel more confident about some of the night-time parenting decisions she faced.

However, the quest to become an expert in this field is an ongoing battle and I still have much to learn .

I decided that I could not rely on published authors’ opinions alone. The final straw was when I read one research report on the dangers of co-sleeping only later to discover that it was commissioned by a cot manufacturer!

I think the only way to become a true expert will be to gain the opinions and expertise from parents around the world who have experienced this topic first-hand. Their willingness to contribute will be fuelled only by the kind desire to impart wisdom to new parents. Therefore, they will have no hidden agenda and will be much more likely to be a source of priceless expertise.

I started this blog to reach out to those parents and to encourage them to share their knowledge that they have learned through bitter experience (not just by reading a stack of books). The goal being not only to continue helping my sister with her ongoing struggle to safely help baby sleep through the night, but to provide help for every new parent that stumbles across this blog. By joining together and building a community I believe we can help dispel the myths and confusion surrounding this controversial topic and offer information and advice to allow new parents to make informed decisions about what is right for them.

So how does it work?

I want this to be as interactive as possible. I will write posts about specific topics in the field, imparting all the referenced knowledge that I can. Then by utilizing the comment section, readers can add to the post and share their views and opinions. New parents can ask questions if they wish and hopefully get some direct answers from people who have been there, done that and had a baby throw up on their t-shirt!

It may take a couple of weeks to promote so please bear with me as I get to grips with blogging and try to build a community which will make this work. I would be delighted if you would be kind enough to spread the word yourselves and invite as many friends, colleagues and family members to join as possible.

Thank you.

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