by Andrea Grace
RGN, RMN, RHV
Andrea helps tired parents and children of all ages – from babies to teenagers – get the sleep they need. Drawing on over 25 years of experience and trusted by more than 17,000 families worldwide, her work focuses on gentle, compassionate, and emotionally safe sleep support. Andrea offers private consultations both online and in person at her Harley Street clinic in London.
She has written two bestselling books and is a regular contributor to parenting media, including BBC, MumsNet, Boots and Pampers.
As a new granny, I thought that getting my grandson to sleep would be a doddle. I’ve had four children of my own and spent nearly 30 years helping parents teach their babies to sleep.
But when it’s your grandchild, your confidence can go out of the window, and you don’t want to get anything wrong. You don’t want to do anything your son or daughter don’t agree with, and you don’t want to upset your grandchild and make them cry!
Just like getting back into a fitness routine after time away, stepping into modern grandparenting takes a moment to find your rhythm, build confidence, and adapt to updated methods.
Grandparent survival guide
After recently doing a bit of granny babysitting, I’ve come up with a few tips:
Bedtime
Bedtime might be a set time, or it could be different each night, according to when they’ve woken from their nap. This flexibility is okay, because each child has their own ‘wake window’ according to their age, temperament and how busy they’ve been in the day.
Sleep cues
If your grandchild has attached to a blanket or comfort toy for sleep, make sure it they have it to hand. Be aware that nowadays, the advice is that babies under a year shouldn’t have a toy or a comforter in the cot.
Putting them to bed
If it’s your first bedtime together, spend plenty of relaxed time together during the day first. Then try to follow their usual bedtime routine.
- Start gradually: If everyone feels a bit nervous, start with an evening babysit before jumping straight into a whole weekend.
- Night wakings: Ask how they’d like you to respond if your grandchild wakes during the night. Your instinct might be to give a feed, but often, they just need a cuddle or leaving alone for a minute or two to see if they’ll resettle by themselves.
- Don’t panic if you do things slightly differently. Children and babies are experts at understanding that different people have different routines.
Some of the safety advice about baby sleep might have changed from when you were doing it the first time around. The Lullaby Trust has all the up-to-date guidelines you need.
Strength, joy and recovery
There is something incredibly special about being a grandparent. You get all the joy and overwhelming love that comes from holding your own child’s child in your arms, with the added bonus that, at the end of the day, you can hand them back, go home, put your feet up and enjoy a full night’s sleep…
…unless, of course, they’re staying over. In which case, welcome back to parenthood!
As a Stronger You member, you can enjoy a 10% discount on her Younger Baby Consultation package using the code YBC-10.