Eight month old Leo was waking for a feed up to 10 times a night
Before I came across Millpond our baby (Leo – 8 months) was co-sharing our bed and starting to wake for feeds between 6-10 times a night. I had always nursed him to sleep but now the night feeds were becoming more regular and I was starting to stagger through the day absolutely tired and exhausted. To top it off my husband (who regularly works away from home) was returning to lovely uninterrupted nights in the spare room which was making me hugely envious!
I was inundated with advice from friends and family but what I wanted was someone non-biased and professional to help, so I googled ‘UK baby sleep clinic’ and came across Millpond. I liked their soothing website and immediately identified with one of the families on their case study page. Needless to say I contacted them for further information. We live overseas in Africa but I was returning to the UK with Leo for a 3 week trip so decided to sign up for their Core Package once we arrived to see if we could return after our visit with a baby who was sleeping without a breast in his mouth and in his own cot.
Our consultant was Mandy who assisted with sensible and informative advice right from the word go. I opted for the Crying Down method and having got the support and encouragement I needed from our initial phone conversation I tried to put it all in place that night. I was terrified thinking I’d be dealing with a distressed and screaming baby, but by following the sleep plan Mandy had advised I gained confidence and realised that by making a few changes to the routine Leo already had perhaps it could work.
At 6:45pm (without a breast feed) I lay Leo in his cot, there were initial tears and grizzling so I repeated the Crying Down method for several minutes until at 7:10pm he was sound asleep. That night he woke at midnight and at 3am….I was astounded by how successful that night had been and true to Mandy’s word he began to nap unaided by a breastfeed and slept at regular times during the day. The change in that first week was incredible and by keeping him to a lovely routine he’s now sleeping (he’s teething so waking just once) through the night from 7-7
Leo and I returned to Africa last week and my husband cannot believe the difference – our baby is sleeping in his own cot, in his own room. He has always been a happy baby, now he’s a contented one.
