Things didn’t feel drastic on the sleeping front when we contacted Lisa, but they had been on a steady decline.
Isobella was around five months old and I had mostly been letting her guide things, with a very involved bedtime routine that was progressively getting longer and more unpredictable. I was breastfeeding Isobella to sleep every night, and when that stopped working doing very elaborate rocking, lunging, walking, swinging etc. around the bedroom. She would finally fall asleep, then I would put her down in our bed.
Some blissful nights she would stay asleep for a little while, but then even that stopped happening and she would wake up as soon as I had put her down.
I would then recommence with the rocking etc. etc. or otherwise, after multiple attempts at getting her down, I would give up and hold her in my lap to eat dinner and try to get some evening downtime in.
Getting her in the cot was not successful, so she would sleep in with me, and my poor husband was sleeping either on the couch or sofa bed in her room.
During the night, I would breastfeed on demand, and she would pop on and off through the night, for frequent snacks. I think we were both constantly disturbing each other and unable to fall into a deep sleep for very long. I felt like I was in this semi-alert state through the night, checking she was in the middle of the bed and that no blankets were near her face. I was left with a sliver of bed that would get smaller and smaller as she gravitated towards me.
Naps during the day had almost stopped completely. The only way I could get her to sleep, was again breastfeeding and motion. I was resorting to holding her for naps, and then those started getting shorter and shorter.
I had done quite a lot of reading and research into sleep, and was feeling overwhelmed and unable to determine which method and path to take, and like all of the things I was trying weren’t working, or not consistently.
I don’t think I realised how exhausted I was getting.
Finally one night, while once again holding Isobella and trying to eat dinner simultaneously, I looked up sleep consultants, and found Lisa’s site. I was drawn to the heartfelt testimonials and to the sound of her gentle approach.
I’m so glad we found her! Once she started working with us I could not believe we hadn’t taken action sooner.
I felt very comfortable with Lisa right away, and it was obvious Isobella did, too.
She clearly has had a vast amount of experience and this put us at ease. Isobella’s safety and wellbeing was clearly of the highest importance.
It was funny because I had felt like we were in this bizarre sleep situation that had no clear solution, but it seemed like Lisa had seen this situation many times before.
Lisa gave us very calm, clear strategies to begin using with Isobella, and I felt happy that I was able to guide things according to our comfort levels.
We immediately saw results, with Isobella settling in her cot for naps and gradually taking less time and settling to get to sleep. Her sleeping in her cot, full stop felt amazing, but being able to fall asleep on her own, and stay asleep for big, long stretches, felt miraculous!
Lisa worked not only with me, but with my husband too, and I really liked that she empowered him to learn how to settle, so that I was not the only one able to do so.
After working on her day sleeps with great results, we moved Isobella into her cot in her own room for night sleeps, again with quick and incredible results.
I can’t fully express how glorious it is to be able to hop into my own bed at night, with my husband joining me once again, knowing that Isobella is safely tucked up in her cot, and that we will all get some real sleeping in.
Throughout our journey, Lisa has always been available and responsive to any questions we have had, and I feel like I have had a lot.
I’m so grateful we made the decision to ask for her help, and I would highly recommend Sleep Gems.