This can be really tricky (and exhausting) for some families to navigate, however it's so important to highlight that your baby will go through many phases where this happens. It's common, and normal. So here are some simple strategies to consider;

1 Start with introducing more playtime and 1:1 away from your babys sleep space. Often families make the mistake of handing bub over to settle for sleep with the secondary caregiver without there being much 1:1 time elsewhere.

2 Quality time away from sleep helps build a foundation for your baby to start to bond more with their 'non-preferential' parent. Remember, sleep is a very vulnerable state so we need to ensure that baby spends a lot of 1-2 time with the secondary caregiver away from sleep.

3 Once bub is spending more time with the non-preferred parent, introduce them during the wind down BUT not solo. Ensure this time is spent with you (their preferred parent) AND the non-preferential parent so the secondary caregiver can shadow, read one book, wash hair - whatever that looks like for you.

This is important because sleep time is a time of trust - which you need to build on, suddenly changing who is settling bub if it's not what your baby is used to can make them more upset and harder to settle.

When you've spent some time with both parents doing the wind down, start to move towards more of the wind down being 1:1, and eventually the entirety of it. This may be a gradual process, but it's important to ensure your baby feels safe, comfortable and settled approaching sleep time.

Most importantly it's a way to help you ease into sharing the caregiver responsibilities at