We recently chatted with Samantha Toy, a Melbourne Mum to Fynn (age 3), who founded Sound Sleep Baby, to lean on her expertise regarding all things sleep related.  Sam became a certified baby and child sleep consultant in 2021, through the Institute of Sensitive Sleep. Sam has helped almost 100 families so far, ranging from newborns all the way up to 5-year-olds. She was also rated #25 on the World’s Most Influential Sleep Consultants List in 2023, being compared with sleep consultants from all around the world, some with 10+ years of experience.

Sam had a rough journey into motherhood with Fynn and experienced extreme sleep deprivation. Having engaged with a sleep consultant company herself during this vulnerable time in her life and feeling let down by the service, she decided to take matters into her own hands and undertook Sleep Consultant Certification to feel empowered to be able to tackle Fynn’s sleep confidently. 

Part of her certification was to work with 8 volunteer clients and support them with their sleep. Through these volunteers, Sam discovered that she loved connecting and empathising with Mums. She loved hearing in their voice, just how much happier and confident they were after working together, so she started Sound Sleep to help as many families as she could. She was driven to become a Sleep Consultant herself, to provide others with hope and real confidence to be able to tackle their child’s sleep.

Sam is also an advocate of the HipSurfer 

“I have a lot of parents say that they want to make changes to their baby’s sleep because they’re getting too heavy to hold and rock/pat etc. The HipSurfer provides the close comfort to rock/pat but then so easy to transfer into the cot once asleep, rather than trying to manoeuvre out of a carrier. It’s also great for contact naps, to take some load and pressure off just holding bub and helping to resettle catnapping babies too. It is also a fantastic tool for colic and reflux babies that need to be upright more and held. It provides incredible support for mums with core and lower back complaints postpartum, that front carriers can really add that load on to.”

Sam went on to share the challenges she sees families facing in the child’s first few years, particularly with all of the conflicting advice. She suffered PNDA and was always scared of “doing the wrong thing” all the time. If the book said not to let Fynn sleep on her, she thought she had to follow that to the letter. She knows that parents can feel very stuck between what they want to do (e.g. comfort and support their baby) and what other people tell them to do.  She wants to reassure parents that you can respond to your baby and pick them up and cuddle, rock, bounce, pat, feed them to sleep AND get them to sleep longer stretches independently. They can co-exist.

Picture: Mum Taamara rocking her son to sleep, following Sam's advice and using the HipSurfer

Parents are told and feel that it is very black and white. Sam likes to work in the grey and feels that you can have your cake and eat it too! She shared that, “carrying your baby, contact napping, providing comfort and reassurance to a baby are never wrong, they should be encouraged and the HipSurfer provides parents with the tool and support to do this for longer, as their baby grows and gets heavier.”

The HipSurfer enables parents to do all of these things in a comfortable, supportive way. Along with recommending the HipSurfer to make those first few years much easier, Sam also recommends:

• Co-sleeper bassinet for the early days
• A cot where the side drops down
• A pink noise machine – Aroma Snooze
• A comforter – Schnorg Baby
• Sleep Babs – Baby Loves Sleep, Love to Dream and Ergo Pouch
• A dark room – Mahalo Eco Blinds

Fynn is now 3 years old, and Sam loves the HipSurfer for how quickly she can put it on and Fynn can get up and down quickly and easily. She also loves being able to wear a backpack and carry other things at the same time. We love this Instagram Reel that Sam shared, highlighting all of these benefits.

“If you find yourself carrying your baby or toddler whether at home or out and about but want something quick and easy to put on AND quick and easy to move your child, then the HipSurfer is for you. If you’re struggling to settle your baby whether during their awake time or for sleep, then the HipSurfer will help to provide your baby the closeness and connection to feel safe and secure to be able to co-regulate their emotions and help them to calm. You can still rock, feed and feed your baby to sleep using the HipSurfer but take the load off your back and arms.”

 You can get in touch with Sam via Instagram or over on her website where you can use the code HACKERLILY for 10% off all consults, guides and masterclasses.