Sinead

Before calling Lisa I had battled through 6months of sleep deprivation with my baby girl Niah.

Niah from day dot liked to be fed to sleep and held. Every week I had to find a different way to get her to sleep as what worked one week would cease to work the next. I tried everything, read several baby sleep books, sleep props (lulladoll), rocking in pram, baby carrier, co-sleeping and even driving in the car.All of the above would only work for short periods of time and l would spend hours trying to get her to sleep for her to only sleep 30-40mins at a time. By six months i was extremely sleep deprived, frustrated, feeling guilty for my older child and just started to resign to the reality that she may never sleep. I was terrified as my partner was going overseas in a couple of months and i knew I was not going to cope with both children on my own so I reached out to a support group on Facebook and another mum recommended Lisa at Sleep Gems.

From that first conversation with Lisa on the phone she restored my hope that it may be possible for my baby to sleep. She made herself available quickly and promised to work with me until Niah’ s sleeping was sorted. She worked with us all for a month and Niah now has naps for up to two hours, sleeps in her own cot, self settles and is no longer a grumpy irritable baby. Lisa was very down to earth yet professional and she took the time to understand my daughters personality to develop strategies that worked for her. 

Lisa made the strategies very clear and documented them for me to refer back to. Lisa also made herself available for any questions or support i needed throughout the process.

Thank you for saving our sleep and sanity! Our household is much happier and I’m so glad I made that phone call. I cannot thank or recommend Lisa enough.

1 year ago

Tully, Cihan & Isobella

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.

Jo and Rob

From the bottom of our hearts Rob and I would like to thank Lisa for her invaluable expertise, calm demeanor and caring nature whilst helping us through one of the most difficult times with our beautiful baby girl.

From the bottom of our hearts Rob and I would like to thank Lisa for her invaluable expertise, calm demeanour and caring nature whilst helping us through one of the most difficult times with our beautiful baby girl.

We contacted Lisa when Eve was just 5 months old. She had never slept more than 45 minutes at a time and would not settle without being fed to sleep. Most nap times I would spend over an hour trying to put her down in her cot only to resort to feeding her to sleep after enduring extended periods of crying. Then the added task of placing her carefully in her cot without waking her was beyond stressful. All this struggle only to get maybe a 20 minute break.

It felt like I was spending my entire day either feeding Eve or in her room listening to her cry. After her naps she would wake up screaming and we were all anxious and beyond tired.

With seemingly no light at the end of the tunnel we contacted Lisa.

From the moment Lisa stepped into our home I knew we had made the right decision. Eve instantly warmed to her and so too did my dog which was a big bonus.

Lisa taught us how to read our daughter’s tired signs and the difference between her annoyed versus distressed cries. She showed us the strategies of how to put an awake child into their cot happily and teach them to self settle. We are so thankful for her help.

Every challenge we came up against Lisa was there to support and reassure us. Her depth of knowledge about infant sleep settling and development is just amazing. Every question we had, Lisa was able to answer in a positive and supportive way.

It has been 3 months since Lisa first came to visit and 3 months since I last fed my daughter to sleep. Following the sleep routine Lisa individualised for our family we can now put Eve in her cot and walk away knowing that she can settle herself to sleep. For her day naps Eve now spends approximately 1 ½ to 2 hours in her cot, even if she is awake Eve happily lays in her cot, playing with her sleep toy and resting. Overnight Eve has just dropped one of her dream feeds by herself, she no longer needs me to settle her back to sleep. It’s just amazing.

The transformation has just been life changing. We now have a happy 7 month old little girl who knows the difference between playtime and rest time. I could never have imagined that things could be so different. Not just in Eve’s behaviour but in my mindset. Even when Eve challenges us we now have the skills and confidence to tackle her resistance and that is the difference. We are eternally grateful for all of Lisa’s help and advice. Just knowing we can email her at anytime is very comforting.

We would not hesitate to recommend Lisa to any mum or dad having sleep problems. The way she explains and communicates her vast knowledge is just invaluable, reassuring and worth every cent.