Pick up, put down method. I'm going to answer four questions about that for you right now. So the first question I'm going to answer is what is pick up, put down? Maybe you've heard the term, maybe you have an idea that it's the means you're picking up and putting down as the title might suggest, but what really actually is it? It is quite like the title suggests and it does involve picking up and putting your baby down. And the kind of the point of it is that you pick your baby down to sleep and they may or may not set or they might fuss a little bit, you pick them up. A little cuddle, a bit of reassurance, you place them back down and you reassure them and see them in their court or their sleep space and you give them some bit of time down and then they're still fussing so you pick them up again, pick up, cuddle, reassure, reassure, reassure and then put down again, put down and reassure, reassure, give them some time there and then you pick up again and that honestly is exactly what you do. That's what it is, that's what pick up, put down is. Next question, question number two is how effective is it? Let me explain a bit about the purpose of it because that hopefully will explain how effective it is. So when you're doing this, picking up and putting down it can feel really pointless, it can feel like well, pick my baby down, Christ, pick my baby up, stop crying, pick my baby down, Christ again, pick my baby up, stop crying and you could be at this for like an hour and think well it's not doing anything so it's not effective. But what I want to tell you is actually you'll be surprised how effective it is might not show up straight away, it might take a few weeks before you actually see the effects and see how beneficial doing this picking up and putting down has actually been. It's a bit like exercising, you don't do a workout and then go wow look I just lost four pounds. But if you do it consistently over a number of weeks, suddenly you go wow okay yeah I'm seeing the effects now. So think of it like that, the effort you put in and with this picking up and putting down practice, the results might show up a little bit later. I think that's really important to know. What it does is it gives your baby a bit of a chance to experience its own sleep space. So whether that let's say that's a crib that you've cuddled your baby and they're getting nice and sleepy and then you put them down in their own sleep space but then there's a bit of fussing, they're a little bit uncomfortable, they don't want to be put down, they want to be held by you. That's understandable. But if you reassure them you're right there, you're still physically, you've still got physical contact in their sleep space, they're just getting a little bit used to, okay this is this space and I still have you and you're still here. So it's just that little bit of exposure to having that sleep space, that place that they're going to go. Sure, they're not ready yet to settle on their own or in that sleep space. So you pick up again and you reassure and you calm and then you put down again and so what you're doing in through physical behaviors, what you're doing is you're showing your baby that look whether you're here or whether you're here, I'm still here for you, I'm still giving you love and affection and attention and reassurance and it's all okay and that's really what you're doing is a practice thing. So don't expect to see effects results immediately. This is the thing that you do just as a gentle thing, as a gentle practice but the payoff will come later. Number three is at what age is it no longer effective? So let's look at this from another angle is when is it effective? This is effective from the early days so you know after sort of a month or so really but in that first three, four months of baby's life you can do a little bit of this as a practice. So you're not expecting to put your baby down and they settle to sleep. It's not the objective here, it's just a little practice so that your baby isn't expecting or gets used to always falling asleep on you no matter what. Of course like some mums will be thinking but yeah but I can't put my baby down because they scream and they will continue to do that until they get some practice. So you're not trying to put your baby down and they fall asleep. We're just giving them a little bit. Look see this is a safe place too and this is nice. So actually it's just a lovely thing you're doing by showing them another place they can sleep but not expecting them to master it right away. So it's effective, I guess at what age is it no longer appropriate being the question is no longer appropriate once your baby is probably six months they're all different but probably you know it's got to be in that first six months really. Once they're past six months they're going to be a little bit wise to it. It's going to act more as a stimulant than a calmer and really at that point you're looking for more sustainable ways. So it's not that you can't do it or it's pointless at six months. It might be that a little bit of that is okay. I would look at some of the other things I suggest at that age and in those instances you would be doing one of a pick up, calm baby, put them back down but not so much the pick up, put down method. We would use some of the pieces of the picking up and calming and placing back down but not as a method we would use it more in line with something else, more in the sleep training bracket once the six months. So pick up, put down is most appropriate in the earlier months so in the sort of birth to six month bracket where you're just trying to practice and give them a little exposure and get them used to this happy safe sleep space where you're still there put your limbs in there with baby if you like. You know, you're still there, you're still connected but it's just creating that practice. My fourth question that I'm going to answer is is it right for your baby? That's a tough one. Yes they are all different. I believe that any baby can benefit from a bit of this and a bit of practice with this but if you find that you're relentlessly doing it for weeks and weeks on end and actually your baby just fuses more then it could be that you have a really easily stimulated little one, maybe they're very alert, very smith on and actually it's almost like too much fuzz, too much action and they're the kind of baby that perhaps needs a little less, less is more for some babies and maybe they need less of this going on and actually perhaps just giving them a bit more space or perhaps they're just too stimulated by all the fuss they need just complete stillness. That can be the case too so there will be scenarios where it's not so suitable for some personality types but I would definitely give it a really good go and even if you feel that you can only do a few pick up, put down a few of those and then you end up with baby falling asleep on you then that's okay. Don't think it was a waste of time, try again the next day, do a little bit every day because a little bit will go a long way and you'll get the pay off later on. So there you go my four questions answered on the pick up, put down method. I hope that's helped. If you know a parent that this would really help and benefit them please do share it with them, let's pay it forward and help with some many parents as we can. 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