OUR DAUGHTER IS SO MUCH HAPPIER!
We’ve just finished two weeks with Nat and honestly can’t believe the impact her plan and advice have had on us. Unlike some of her clients, our daughter was already doing fairly long stretches at night, so I felt like we could just about keep coping and that other people were probably more in need of help. Getting her to sleep though was miserable — she’d have a false start, cry, and we’d never know what kind of evening we were in for: a quick resettle or hours in her room. On top of that, she only ever did four 30-minute cat naps in the day and was often grumpy by evening. I also felt quite daunted about the idea of introducing a new routine, which I initially thought might be restrictive — we’d sort of found a way to “cope” with our cat-nap-and-bad-evening-sleep days, even though it wasn’t sustainable. I was becoming completely obsessed with sleep — not knowing what we’d get each day and never having more than 15 minutes to myself. We reached out to Nat to help us find some kind of routine that would give our baby more restorative daytime sleep, help her settle at night, and make evenings enjoyable again. I’d also been feeling a bit sad about encouraging more independent sleep, as I missed rocking her to sleep and those lovely moments of closeness — but the tweaks Nat suggested have meant we still get plenty of cuddles before bed, and our daughter is generally so much happier throughout the day. Nat’s plan had an instant impact. Every time we tried something new she recommended, I didn’t have the confidence to believe it would work — but it did, time and time again. In fact, she slept through the night from day two of starting the plan! We now have a baby who takes a two-hour nap in the middle of the day (unheard of!) and sleeps through the night about 90% of the time. On the rare nights she doesn’t, it’s usually because we’ve changed something because of our routine or plans. And she did all this without the dummy from day! Something I was incredibly nervous about! Nat’s presence and support have been incredible. She’s helped me relax about sleep and made a world of difference to my mental health — giving us the tools to handle things when they don’t go perfectly, and helping us understand how to adapt without that old feeling of evening dread creeping back. She helps you come to the right decision when you know your child best. She was also never judgmental about any of my questions or concerns — for example, when I couldn’t decide whether to keep breastfeeding during an early morning wake or try to wean her off it, Nat supported me completely either way. I no longer feel restricted at all — just empowered. We know what works for our daughter, but we also know how to handle the inevitable days when we’re off plan. During our time with Nat, we experimented with a few of these new tips and techniques (like long naps on the go), and again I was always stunned when they worked — when they never had before! She truly has the patience of a saint — answering endless questions, both before we started and throughout our time together. The icing on the cake is that this has had such an impact that we’ve now been able to move our daughter into her own room permanently — something we’d never even planned to do. Working with Nat has honestly allowed me to relax; I know I will enjoy my maternity leave more without the guilt and I feel like a weight has finally been lifted. Genuinely couldn’t recommend her enough!
Hanna and 5 month old Madeline
