SnuggleBaby Sleep Consultancy, Hartenbos (2026)

11/03/2026

Do you have a crib climber?

I’m sure that we all have that mom friend whose child is a skilled climber. Or maybe that skilled climber is your own little one. While their independence and tenacity is inspiring, when it comes to climbing out of their crib it is exhausting and frustrating.

Many parents that are faced with a child who continually climbs out of their crib and makes curtain calls after bedtime and throughout the night instinctively transition them to a “big bed.” While I don’t recommend this until your child is 2.5 years or older (closer to 3 years old is better), if they are at risk of hurting themselves, and a bed would be safer, then of course make the transition.

If your little one is not in any danger of hurting themselves and they are not yet 2.5 years old (or older) then here are some helpful tips to keep your little one from escaping in the night:

👶🏻Keep a watchful eye as they’re settling into sleep. If you notice they’re attempting to climb go to them, say “I cannot let you climb”, lay them down and leave again.
👶🏻Drop the mattress to the lowest possible setting.
👶🏻If your child’s crib has a low and high side, turn it around so that the low side is against the wall and the high side is facing out.
👶🏻Use a sleep sack to help to keep your little one from swinging their legs up and over the crib.
👶🏻Make sure the crib is bare – stuffed animals, pillows, blankets, or bumpers (please remember that bumpers of any kind are not safe at any age) can be used as leverage to help your child climb up and over their crib railing.

12/02/2026

Opening up space for independent play and allowing your little one’s to work through their “boredom”, is so valuable for a child’s overall being.

When we can hold space for boredom to brew and allow for child led, independent play to develop, children learn creativity, imagination, and play.

Please don’t mistake this for ignoring your littles, but instead taking the time to observe what they are doing, allowing the natural instinctual play to unfold, and join in their beautiful world of imagination should they choose to invite you.

From time to time my kids will catch themselves saying “I’m bored”, and instantly go to “but out of boredom we find adventure”.

This ability to play, explore and discover independently has never been more valued than now. And when your child feels comfortable and content in independently working through a problem or skill, they will be much more content to do so in other areas of life – such as sleep 🥱.

If you are just starting to implement independent play for your littles here are a few things that might help:

1 | CREATE A YES SPACE – A safe space, free from harm, that you can feel good about allowing your little one time to play on their own. A gated space works well for little ones on the move, or a pack and play in the living room for babies with a toy or soft book.

2 | WAIT/OBSERVE – it’s hard as parents not to rush in and fix what ever is upsetting our littles. If they can’t quite reach their toy 🧸 and are getting frustrated, instead of allowing them to work through it we often rush in and fix. Allowing them to work through their struggle will build confidence in their own abilities.

What special moments of play have you been able to witness lately?

17/01/2026

✨ I’m back ✨

If you’ve been here for a while, thank you for sticking around 🤍
I took some time off to step into motherhood fully — raising my three children and building the foundation our family needed.

And now, with full hearts and renewed energy, I’m ready to step back into the work I love — supporting families through better sleep.

If you’re feeling exhausted, overwhelmed, or unsure where to start, you don’t have to do it alone. I’m officially open again for sleep training and support, with gentle, practical guidance tailored to your family.

I can’t wait to walk this journey with you again 🤍

📩 DM me to chat or book a consult
💤 Because rest changes everything

13/01/2026

👋🏻 Hey pregnant / new Mammas 👋🏻

At week 25 in the womb, infants spend around 16–20 hours SLEEPING!

They spend their sleeping hours in restless sleep (REM) and deep sleep.

➡️ Those kicks and backflips you feel are usually their movements while in REM sleep ⬅️

Your little one’s circadian rhythm begins to develop before birth.

Although you have been reading, prepping, taking classes to prepare yourself for the arrival of the sweet baby you have been creating all those long months, once baby arrives there is so much to learn.

🍼 Feeding, 👶 Diapering, 😴 Sleeping…
It’s endless.

The GOOD news is that newborns sleep A LOT — roughly 14–17 hours per day, and great sleep habits can be established from birth 👏🏻

Sending STRENGTH, GRACE, and LOVE to surround you through the remainder of your pregnancy, labour & delivery, and those early days at home 🤍

06/01/2026

🌦️As the weather can be so unpredictable, it’s a good time to reassess your child’s sleep environment and clothing to keep them comfortable, cosy, and not overheated through the night.

PLEASE NOTE: This is meant to be a general guide only.
Every child is different, so be sure to assess whether your little one naturally runs warmer or cooler. If they tend to run warm, consider dressing down with lighter layers.

What has your little one been most comfortable sleeping in lately? 💬😴

05/01/2026

SETTLING 💤

As children learn to fall asleep independently, they start to develop their own unique internal strategies that allow them to find sleep all on their own easily for every nap, bedtime, as well as when they wake in the night. We all wake or have partial arousals 3–6 times in the night. When a child has the skills to fall asleep all on their own initially, when they have these very natural partial arousals in the night, they can easily settle themselves back into sleep.

However, on the other hand, if a child is reliant on an external factor whether it be rocking, feeding, a parent laying with them, or a soother, when they wake in the night and that external factor is no longer there, they will cry out and once again need that same assistance in order to settle back into sleep. This creates fragmented sleep for both child and parent. It only takes a few nights of poor quality, broken sleep for the effects to take hold.

So imagine instead, holding the supported space for your child to learn and develop without fixing or interrupting their process. It’s pretty magical to watch a child find and master their own internal strategies.

Each child’s journey is truly unique. However there are some common strategies that come about while learning how to fall asleep independently.

🌟 Some children will suck their thumb, hand, or fingers.
🌟 Others will find a rhythmic motion soothing – rolling their head back and forth, rhythmic kicking, or arm movement.
🌟 Older kiddos will often snuggle a lovey or blanket.
🌟 Some will sing, talk, or even cry.
🌟 And some just need to find that perfect comfy spot.

01/08/2023

Older children need great sleep too 😴.
We spend the first few years of our littles lives so focused in on their naps, bedtimes, and night sleep. We do our best to get them the quality and quantity of sleep that they need to grow and thrive, because, well they’re little and need a lot of sleep.
As children become older, are no longer napping, start partaking in before & after school activities, have sleep overs, etc. It’s easy to forget that they too have high sleep needs.
They still need a regular bedtime and a solid 9-13 hours of sleep.
Here are some ways to help improve your child’s sleep:
💤 Help support them in learning how to fall asleep on their own.
💡 Start dimming the lights low in the early evening, 1-2 hours before sleep onset.
🛏 Have a regular bedtime between 7-8 pm.
😴 Have a predictable bedtime ritual/routine.
☕️ Avoid any caffeinated beverages.
📱 NO screen time 1-2 hours before bed.
Children who regularly get an adequate amount of good quality sleep have improved focus, attention, behaviour, learning, memory, and overall physical and mental health.
DM me and tell me how your older kiddos sleeping?
😃 Great
🙂 Okay
🥴 Help me

19/07/2023

I dare you..... to dream 💭
There is much to be said about dreaming.
❇️ It helps us solve problems.
❇️ Increases learning abilities.
❇️ Aids memory function.
What always amazes me is that there is the absence of muscle tone (except for the diaphragm, middle ear and erectile muscles) when we are in REM sleep.
What!?!
All voluntary muscles are paralyzed so that the dreamer is unable to act out their dream. I mean, the human body is truly fascinating 🙌🏼.
In young infants, REM sleep is more commonly known as “active sleep.” This is where you might see your new baby twitch or grimace, sometimes even cry out with their eyes still very much closed.⠀
Up until around the 3 month mark infants enter sleep through REM. This changes of course when kiddos go through the biological rearranging of their sleep cycle, also known as “the 4 month sleep regression.”
As your little one grows the proportion of time spent in REM and Non-REM sleep changes from 50/50 at birth, to closer to 30/70 by the time your child starts school. The decrease of REM sleep in proportion to Non-REM sleep will continue further until finally stabilizing at a 20/80 REM/Non-REM sleep split in late teen years. It will remain this way throughout early and mid-adulthood.
I once read in a moms group that if your baby wakes for their day around 3-4 am it’s totally fine because the first hours of nights sleep are more important and enough......WRONG.
Every piece, part, and stage of sleep plays a roll on our over health and well-being. We need them all. Young children especially need good quality, regulated, sleep in order to translate and process all the amazing things they’re learning each and every day and thrive.

17/07/2023

"Back to school"

Here is one thing you can start NOW, to help get sleep back on track and ready for the new school term:

➡️Set a bedtime and stick to it ⬅️⠀

So first things first. What time should your kids be going to bed? Well, a lot of parents I work with are surprised to hear that I recommend somewhere between 7:00 and 8:00 at night.

There are two reasons why I think kids should be in bed, sleeping, by 8:00 at night.
First, kids need at least 10 hours of sleep a night. If your kiddos need to be up by 7:00 A.M. in order to get ready for school, they should be asleep by 8:00 PM at the latest.
Second, you, as a parent, and your partner, need to exist child-free for a few hours a day. It’s vital to your relationship with your partner and with your kids.
➡️Don’t leave it to the last minute ⬅️
There’s still some time before school starts and the easiest way to get back on track is little by little.

Lets say bedtime has shifted closer to 9:00 pm for the better part of the holiday. Try moving bedtime up by about 15 minutes every 4 days until you’re back to their normal bedtime.
I hope you had a safe and wonderful winter “vacation” and that your little’s are looking forward to starting school again if sending them is your family’s choice. I promise you that, no matter how old they are, nothing will help them go into the new school term with a better attitude and positive outlook than getting plenty of sleep. They’ll be happier, more socially outgoing , and ready to learn.

20/06/2023

Saying good-bye to your child’s nap can be bittersweet. It means your little one is growing up, but that also means saying good-bye to that hour or two to yourself every afternoon.

When is the right time….
Typically children stop napping around 3 or 4 years of age. Here are some signs to look for if you are unsure if your child is ready or not;
~ Nap time becomes a struggle
~ Your child plays or is upset the whole nap and doesn’t sleep.
~ Bedtime becomes full of stalling and game playing.
~ It takes your little one a very long time to fall asleep at night ( 1-2 hours )

If your child is showing signs they’re ready to drop their nap you have two options:
1) Keep the nap and adjust bedtime accordingly.
2) Drop the nap and keep bedtime the same or even earlier as you transitioning. If you deside that dropping the nap is the best option then I would strongly suggest replacing the nap time with quiet time. A half hour or more of quiet time in their room or crib will help to carry your child through the rest of the day.

NOTE - This can be one of the hardest transitions for both the child and the parent. It can take a good 4-6 weeks for your child’s body to get used to the change.

20/06/2023

I’m back and ready to help little boys and girls sleeping
T H R O U G H T H E N I G H T ! ! ! 💫

After giving birth to my son , moving back to South Africa, building our dream home and figuring out life with 2 babies under 2, I’m ready and excited to start sleep training again.

If sleepless nights and short day time naps are a struggle for you. Send me a DM!

I do free 15 min consultations🤩💤

SnuggleBaby Sleep Consultancy

11/03/2026

12/02/2026

17/01/2026

13/01/2026

06/01/2026

05/01/2026

01/08/2023

19/07/2023

17/07/2023

20/06/2023

20/06/2023

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