Help is at hand for Bay of Plenty parents with a new free online baby sleep course.

As every Bay of Plenty parent knows, people who say they sleep like a baby usually don't have one. But help is at hand thanks to a new online course from Whānau Āwhina Plunket.

The organisation has launched the sleep and settling pēpi course where parents can learn more about getting to know their baby's cues, find out what helps babies sleep and settle, and get tips for knowing when their baby is showing signs they are ready to sleep.

Principal Clinical Advisor Karen Magrath says some of the most common questions to PlunketLine nurses are how to know when baby is tired, how to get babies to sleep, and how to re-settle them if they wake.

"We get lots of questions about sleep and it's no wonder! New parents quickly learn that sleep or a lack of it affects everyone in the household," says Karen.

"We have worked with sleep experts, and parents and whānau, to create this online course on pēpi sleep and settling, so everyone in the whānau can get a bit more shut-eye and feel more confident with managing their baby's sleep patterns."

The sleep and settling course covers:

• What affects your baby's sleep
• parents' and whānau expectations
• normal sleep for pēpi
• healthy and safe sleep
• Signs that your pēpi is tired
• where to get help.

The content is broken into relevant bite-sized chunks so people access the information as they need it, without having to complete the whole course.

'Expectant parents know their days of restful slumbers may be numbered, but nothing quite prepares you for the reality of pēpi sleep,” says Karen.

'But our experienced nurses have shared a few tricks of the trade, and we hope the sleep and settling course will help everyone in the whānau get a bit more of that elusive and all-important rest.”

The sleep and settling pēpi course is available at https://plunket.my.intuto.com/MediaVault/SharedResources/Plunket/sleep_and_settling_baby/content/index.html#/