Emily and Edward's Story

Here, new Mum, Emily shares her story on parenting a new baby through COVID-19 and how the SleepWellBaby App has helped!

Prior to becoming a mum, Emily was a Primary School Teacher, she said ‘Edward was a much-wanted baby and parenting has been a joy, but incredibly hard at times’.  It was when he was 5 weeks old that Emily decided to download the SleepWellBaby App after hearing about it through HCF.

She said the App has given structure to her day, helping her gain more confidence as a new mum.  The age appropriate advice on what her baby should be doing at each stage is incredibly reassuring as Edward grows.  In particular, she’s appreciated the ability to track his sleep over the course of 24 hours and the App then works out if that’s in the ballpark of what he should be having for his age.   She said ‘When I’m feeling tired and exhausted and Edward is not settling to sleep, I have a quick look at the App to check for tips and advice and it helps me feel much more on top of being a new Mum’.

She added ‘After a few weeks I stopped using the App as Edward seemed to be in a much better routine, but things changed and he went back to waking up a lot at night sleeping for 30 minutes and then it would take me 40 minutes to get him back to sleep’.  Emily started using the App again to improve their daily routine but felt that she needed more support and it was through the App that she saw the recommendation to reach out to Tresillian’s Parent’s Help Line.

The impact of COVID-19 has been challenging for Emily.  ‘It’s been so hard not seeing both sets of grandparents as this is the first grandchild and before COVID-19 we saw them multiple times a week’ she said.  Emily had her first Mothers Group on the day before shutdown and fortunately they set up a WhatsApp group.  ‘It’s been great to have that support online, however we’re all counting down until we can meet in person’, she added.

Her husband is a shift worker and she often feels lonely at times, missing family and friends.

 To download the SleepWellBaby App or find out more Click Here.