Sleep

Where to start

Most sleep problems are habits rather than illness. The GP is the right first call if snoring, pain or breathing are part of it, or if the pattern has changed suddenly.

• Your GP. The gateway to everything the NHS offers a child: paediatric assessment, a referral to CAMHS, and support for you as the parent. Ask for a double appointment. Describe the pattern over weeks rather than the worst single day, and say plainly what you are worried about. Bring a written list; the ten minutes go quickly. www.nhs.uk/service-search/find-a-gp
• Your child’s school. The pastoral lead, the head of year, or the form tutor. Free, already knows your child, and often the quickest way to get something changed at school. Before or alongside anything else. A school cannot act on what it has not been told, and what you bring is often what it did not have.

For sleep

• The Sleep Charity. The UK’s only national sleep helpline, staffed by trained sleep advisers, covering children from a year old, including autistic and ADHD children, and teenagers. When nothing you have tried has worked and you want someone to look at the whole pattern with you. Charged at your standard call rate, not free. National Sleep Helpline 03303 530 541 · Mon-Thu 9am-11am; Mon, Tue and Thu 7pm-9pm; closed bank holidays thesleepcharity.org.uk/national-sleep-helpline
• NHS: mental health advice for parents and carers. The NHS’s pages for parents, in one place: anxiety, low mood, anger, bereavement, arguments with teenagers, exam stress, and how to talk about feelings. When you want the NHS’s own account before anyone else’s. www.nhs.uk/mental-health/children-and-young-adults/advice-for-parents

For a baby or a child under five

• NHS Best Start in Life (Start for Life). The NHS’s pages for pregnancy, babies and toddlers: feeding, sleep, bonding, potty training, early learning and school readiness, plus your local Family Hub. For the under-fives, as the first place to check. www.nhs.uk/start-for-life
• NCT (National Childbirth Trust). The early-years charity. Calm, evidence-based pages on toddlers, sleep and development, local groups, and a daily infant feeding line. For the under-fives. The phone line is for feeding questions; everything else is on the site and in the groups. The phone line is for feeding questions only. Charged at your standard call rate, not free. NCT Infant Feeding Line 0300 330 0700 · Every day 8am-midnight www.nct.org.uk/information

For your own sleep

• NHS Every Mind Matters. The NHS self-help hub, with a page on children’s mental health and free programmes on sleep and anxiety for you. When you want an NHS source specifically, for sleep, low mood or your own wellbeing. Light, and deliberately so. www.nhs.uk/every-mind-matters/supporting-others/childrens-mental-health

If you are considering private therapy

Waiting lists are long. If you can meet the cost, a registered therapist can usually be seen in weeks rather than months. Both registers below are accredited by the Professional Standards Authority, which is the thing to check before anything else.

• BACP Therapist Directory. The British Association for Counselling and Psychotherapy’s public register. Search by area, by what you are bringing, and by whether the therapist works with children. www.bacp.co.uk/search/Therapists
• NCPS Therapist Directory. The National Counselling and Psychotherapy Society’s register. Every therapist listed is qualified, supervised, insured, and accountable to a code of ethics. ncps.com/find-a-counsellor
• Kensington Square Therapy. Our own practice. We work with children, young people and parents, in person in London, online, and inside schools we partner with. www.kst.ltd

What to look for in a therapist, what a first session is like, and the questions worth asking before you commit, are set out at theparentbook.com/finding-a-therapist

Everything else

The full directory, across every subject, is at theparentbook.com/services. If a number here has changed, please tell us at hello@theparentbook.com and we will correct it.