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Testimonials

Life before Sheyne:
What a nightmare. Our little family was spiralling downward out of control and the breaking point was imminent. Our 20 month old son, Nicholas, had always been a difficult sleeper. Despite having been to sleep school twice, things were getting progressively worse instead of better. He wasn’t sleeping well, wasn’t eating much and his behaviour was getting increasingly difficult. He was so stressed he could not handle visitors to our house, he would scream the whole time - as Sheyne discovered for the whole first half of her first day with us. Everything was difficult and resulted in tears, both his and mine, it didn’t matter whether we were at home or out somewhere. My husband preferred to be at work rather than at home and Nicholas would always be grizzling in the background when he phoned to say he was leaving work. My depression was worsening and my husband was also going over the edge into depression. Our mental health and marriage were all at risk.

Enter Sheyne:
Thank goodness Sheyne came when she did. I sincerely believe we would not have lasted another month, and I don’t know how it would have ended.

The idea of having a stranger come to live with us for a week was a bit daunting, but it was not a problem. Sheyne was very easy to get along with, such a cheery talkative person, she was a breath of fresh air in our stressed and depressed household. Easy going, but also firm and focussed.

Sheyne is not just about the sleep. She looks at everything in every part of the day, as everything is related. We learned that we cannot have one set of expectations of Nicholas during the day and then completely different expectations of him at night. We learned the importance and effectiveness of good communication, and how Nicholas could really understand soooo much more than we realised. We didn’t need to tell Nicholas anything twice, he really did get it the first time. Sheyne showed us techniques to get his eating going. We also learned the value of routines and even little event-routines. Sheyne gave us advice on toys and books, and even optimal furniture arrangement. It was really a five day parenting course, with lots of good advice that will stand us in good stead for many years to come.

Sheyne also got Nicholas eating properly at long last. He must have eaten more solid food in the five days with Sheyne than he had eaten in his whole life to date. This was great, as good eating is also critical to good sleeping.

Sheyne put Nicholas into bed the first couple of nights, then we did it after that. The very first night of Sheyne’s visit Nicholas went to sleep by himself and the only complaint we got was about 20 minutes of angry yelling at some point in the night. Not bad considering before Sheyne’s arrival I was sleeping in Nicholas’ room (Nicholas either in the cot with my hand on him, or in my bed with me), he was waking every one and a half hours and frequently being breastfed back to sleep.

It is not an easy overnight change. Even with Sheyne there supporting and guiding, there were still some very difficult times for us (and Nicholas!) After Sheyne left we spent a solid three to four weeks bedding everything down solidly before varying anything at all. It took a while for the day time naps to really settle down. It is not a case of Sheyne visits, fixes the sleeping and then leaves and you go back to doing things the same as before.

Life after Sheyne:
Sheyne’s visit was six months ago now and Nicholas has slept through every night since. We have not once attended him during the night since Sheyne’s visit. He is also having regular daytime naps that do not involve car rides to get him to go to sleep. His sleeping has not missed a beat in all this time, even though we have moved house, started him in day care two days a week, and now adjusted to daylight savings. He goes to bed at 7pm without a fuss, most nights he cannot get there quick enough, leaning to get into the cot when we carry him in after his bath, breastfeed and book. Wakes up around 6.30am. Sometimes he wakes earlier, but even then is mostly happy to stay in his cot to 6.30am without creating a fuss.

Nicholas is now a much happier boy. He eats and sleeps and doesn’t scream the house down when we have visitors anymore. I feel like I am in control again at last. And my husband actually looks forward to coming home from work these days. We are also saving a lot of money on petrol since I don’t need to drive him to sleep for his day time nap anymore!

Sheyne’s depth of knowledge, skill and understanding of babies and toddlers is amazing. She is a real detail person, very thorough. It is obvious to me that Sheyne’s positive routine management is the result of years of experience, research and fine tuning down to the very last detail.

Sheyne greatly exceeded our expectations. Her help was invaluable and life saving for us.

Thank you.

Sue
November 2008

(P.S. It took a lot longer for me to sleep through the night again – about three or four months!!)