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"Our 4 mth old daughter started to refuse her bottle when she was 10 weeks old and after struggling on for 2 mths and having contradictory advice from our health visitors/doctors (none of which managed to fix the problem), my husband and I were at our wits end - with things degenerating so much that she sceamed every time she saw the bottle and refused to feed in any position (walking, sitting, etc) so we resorted to dream feeding her during every nap and still not reaching the milk intake targets set for us. This had the knock on effect of upseting all her nap times so any routine we had totally disappeared.
Within 24hrs of contacting Rowena and completing her online interview, she came back to us with her assessment and clear and comprehensive advice on how to rectify Jemima's feeding adversion.
Thoughout the following week Rowena was always on hand to answer my every query and concern (her knowledge far exceeded our local healthcare professionals) and adjust Jemima's program accordingly. Within a week (with Rowena's advice, support and encouragement) Jemima was no longer screaming at the bottle and was willingly taking milk. By week 2 we had settled into a routine that had Jemima consuming all her required milk at times that set her up ready to be weaned. It is a month since we contacted Rowena and Jemima now takes a full feed roughly every 4 hours and is even willing to sit on my lap and drink milk , something I thought would never happen again.
Our correspondence with Rowena coincided with mornings getting lighter and being a winter baby and used to sleeping when it was dark and waking when it got light, Jemima started to move from walking at 6am to waking at 4am ready to play. Again Rowena sprung to the recuse and advised us on how to shift Jemima's body clock to ensure Jemima woke closer to 6am. Again within a week we were making great progress and sleep was restored in the Osgood household.
I wholeheartly recomend Rowena to anyone struggling with feeding their child (or having sleeping issues) and just wish that we had known her when Jemima's feeding adversion started to show itself rather than struggling on alone for 2 months. I will certainly be recommending her to all my friends" Bonita Osgood - London, UK |
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My husband Jake and I are both aged 31 and are first time parents. During the pregnancy we were bombarded with comments from other parents such as "Make the most of your sleep now" and "Look out, you have a baby coming, so there goes your life". In some ways these off the cuff remarks can make the experience seem all the more frightening. I even remember wondering to myself whether I would be able handle it, or even if I was cut out to be a parent.
At a stage just before the birth of our son Noah we asked for and received advice from Rowena through her Babycare Advice website. We had seen many of our friends experience problems with their baby’s sleep and we wanted to avoid similar problems if possible. So one particular area of interest to us was how we could encourage our baby to learn healthy sleep habits from the start, rather than wait for a problem to develop and then try to fix it. Rowena explained how to recognize infant tired signs and how we could encourage our baby’s sleep. We agreed to trial her recommendations as soon as Noah arrived. Within days we were confidently able to read his 'tired signs' and react accordingly. The settling techniques Rowena recommended worked so well that at one point I contacted her because I was worried Noah was sleeping too long. Noah was as relaxed and as happy a baby as I or my husband have ever seen. He soon eased into a routine where I could predict when he would need to eat or sleep almost to the minute! My husband would often remark "really how easy is this?" Our first time parenting experience was nothing whatsoever like the hard work I imagined. In fact it was.a breeze. We enjoyed it so much. .
At about the 6-7 week mark however we moved house. The move was a big one, and time consuming. My husband Jake was working while the move was being completed. It was a tiring time. I am not sure how it happened but we just seemed to forget about some of the things we were doing. For those few days it just seemed easier to rock Noah to sleep or hold him to sleep. Within a flash our easy going baby’s sleep patterns had deteriorated noticeably. He would fight going to sleep and wake after 20 minute naps. It could take up to 3 hours to settle him to sleep. He was so cranky. I had never seen him cry so much before. After a week or so of this it became apparent that things weren't going to correct themselves. Realizing how much happier Noah was with better sleep we decided to encourage him to once again learn to settle to sleep independently. We contacted Rowena again and she provided advice. At this point I must admit for first time parents there were some rough patches. There were a couple moments (mostly within the first 10-11 hours) when we were very, very close to giving up. But with encouragement from Rowena we continued. We are so glad we did. Within 48 hours Noah was back to being a good sleeper.
My husband and I often comment to each other how lucky we are to have such a good baby. He rarely cries unexplainably, he wakes up happy, he eats well, and he is alert, smiley and healthy. Friends comment to us on how easy going and good natured he is. We know the reason for this is because he knows how to sleep well. At this present time Noah is 16 weeks. We can honestly say that as first time parents we are finding it easy and enjoyable, and there is not one single thing we would do differently.
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My 4.5 month old was fussy the week after we brought her home. Being a first time mother I thought the only way to pacify her was to nurse her all the time. Soon enough, I was nursing her to sleep or my husband would walk around with her until she fell into a deep sleep, which would take almost an hour or more. The older Chloe got, the more she depended on nursing as her comfort and sleep aid. It got to a point that Chloe needed to continue to nurse as she slept. I was the human pacifier. Chloe only wanted her mommy. I knew this was not healthy. I was becoming sleep deprived and I became resentful about motherhood.
I thought the only solution was to sleep train Chloe and have her cry-it-out in her crib. I did some research before I started, but I could never find a clear plan of action. I consulted with other mothers, but no one really understood Chloe’s issues. Once I started the process, I cried and became frustrated because I did not see results and Chloe was not sleeping. Chloe was only taking 20 min. naps. I had a nervous breakdown which resulted in giving in and nursing Chloe back to sleep.
Enough was enough. I knew I needed more help. I started looking up infant sleep cycles. I could not understand why Chloe was only sleeping 20-30 min. each sleep. The information I found was general and not helpful. I came across the Baby Care Advice site. This site alone offered me information that I could never find in a book or the countless websites I searched. The other advantage was this site offered a consultation service. I needed advice and a plan of action so desperately that I did not think twice about contacting Rowena.
Rowena responded so promptly to my request and once we started the learning process of the sleep training, Rowena was right there, only a click away. Rowena offered me the tools I needed to succeed, the science behind Chloe’s issues and the guidance that empowered me with confidence and knowledge to continue through the process.
It will take some time to have Chloe on a solid routine, but just having Chloe sleep in her own crib and not scream every time she is placed there, has changed my life. Rowena’s professional, compassionate and respectful approach got me through one of the toughest journeys thus far in motherhood. When I reach another road block, I will have no problem contacting Rowena again. |
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God bless Rowena! I'm writing this testimony in hopes that you will contact Rowena without hesitation. I searched all over the net for help with my baby's eating problems and stumbled upon Rowena's website. I was skeptical at first but she seemed to have so much good information on the site that I emailed her. I cannot begin to explain how wonderful, caring, and knowledgeable Rowena is. After the first email, I decided to get her help. My son's peditrician was wanting to send us to a specialist to have all kinds of tests run because my son had "reflux". This was diagnosed without any testing mind you. Anyway, we were at our wits end not knowing what to do.
Our son was born 3 months premature weighing only 1 pound 5 oz. but was completely healthy. After going through 3 months in the NICU it was very difficult to even think of going against what the doctor was saying. At 9 months (corrected age 6 months) he developed an ear infection. The doctors suspected this was due to reflux. They wanted us to give him reflux medication which seemed to be making things worse but they wouldn't hear of that and kept insisting that he needed the meds. Soon after we started the medications he would scream and refuse to take his bottle -- he'd go an entire 24 hours only eating 5 oz. of formula. I was so worried.
Rowena was so great, she provided a tremendous amount of information and asked many, many specific questions about my son so much more than any of the doctors that we'd seen. She devised two separate plans which allowed ME to choose which one would work better for my son and our situation. And then she followed up -- truly concerned about how he was doing. I don't know what I would have done without her guidance. If you are reading this, you obviously are having some trouble that Rowena will be able to help you with. Take the leap of faith - you won't be disappointed!
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| I’m very happy that I’ve found Rowena. If it wasn’t for her advices & guidance we would still be suffering sleepless nights. My son woke up every hour at night even though he was 15 months old. Until Rowena, we tried everything and we just couldn’t succeed. Rowena was there at every step with us and she explained everything in detail. She was kind, responsive, and supportive. Most importantly we felt secure & comfortable with her. After we started her settling plan it took only 4 nights for my son to sleep thru the night. He now goes to bed without any protest, and sleeps thru the night. I can’t describe how our life had changed now that we get decent amount of sleep. Thank you so much Rowena! |
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Rowena was referred to me through a family friend whose child had sleep issues. She said Rowena was a godsend and at that point, I was willing to try it. As a first time Mom, I was unsure of just about everything and really needed guidance on my particular situation.
My son was 2 months old and did not have any type of schedule. He was only sleeping about 3 to 4 hours at a shot and I knew I was going back to work in a few weeks and was desperate to get him to sleep through the night so the days would be better for all of us.
I scheduled the appointment and immediately felt better after, knowing Rowena took the time to ask me a lot of specific questions about my son – how the birth was, his eating and sleeping patterns, our home life, etc. It was definitely not a one size fits all routine.
After the consultation, she sent pages of materials on a Settling Plan and other pertinent materials. We started right away and it was difficult to begin with, but I knew it was only because he was not used to settling himself to sleep and he would eventually get it. The first time I tried, it didn’t really work and I never knew why, but the second time I tried it worked perfectly within 4 days.
During both first tries, I was emailing Rowena on the situation and she was emailing me back (quickly) to get more information. She really worked with me and made sure that we were successful.
Now, my son is like clock work – you could set your watch by him. The routine works extremely well for him and he is a very happy baby.
Since then, I have relied on Rowena for advice on certain things and she has always had great advice. I have recommended her to many friends as I really feel she helped us all to adjust during a tough time.
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For the first 4.5 months of my daughter’s life, I hated being a mother. My daughter cried between six and 12 hours a day, refused to sleep except for 15-minute catnaps in our arms and was the most miserable baby I had ever seen or heard of. I dreaded every day with her. I felt like a failure as a parent and cried just as much as my baby did.
At first, my husband and I desperately searched the medical community to find answers to our daughter’s problems. We saw nearly a dozen different doctors, went to a premier children’s hospital and visited every specialist we could find. Nothing helped. What made it worse was the doctors’ diagnosis of colic—even after the typical timeframe for colic had ended. One doctor suggested that my stress was causing my daughter’s problems and I should be evaluated for post-partum depression. That’s when I lost faith in traditional medicine.
We finally found an osteopath who seemed to be able to help our poor little girl. But she still wouldn’t sleep and spent most of the day fussing and crying. That’s when we found Rowena and our lives changed.
After a thorough evaluation of my daughter’s behaviors and medical history, Rowena suggested a settling plan. I was skeptical that things would improve as quickly as Rowena said they would, but I dedicated myself to following the plan because I had nothing to lose. Miraculously, by the third day we saw significant improvement in our daughter’s sleeping and eating patterns—just as Rowena had promised. After a week, we had a new baby girl. She no longer cried for hours on end, she fussed only when she was tired or hungry and—best of all—she napped regularly, giving her the rest she needed to grow and develop.
Rowena was a wonderful support system for us. She always responded quickly to our questions and concerns, and she gave us the confidence we needed to be the best parents we could be. After months of struggling to merely survive every day with our daughter, my husband and I were finally able to enjoy time with her. She’s now a happy and healthy girl who loves to play peek-a-boo and smiles all the time. Thanks to Rowena, we finally have the happy baby girl we’d always wanted.
I am so thankful that I found Rowena and decided to follow her advice. They say babies don’t come with manuals, but working with Rowena was the next best thing to having “operating instructions.” Thank you, Rowena! |
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Around the begining of September, our son Ryan, began to fuss a lot at feeding time. He would take a couple of ounces of formula then push the bottle out of his mouth and scream. He would cry if we put the bottle back to his mouth. It was a struggle to get him to eat 30 oz a day.
This problem continued for next 2 months. During this time we tried many different ideas to find a solution such as changing the nipple, feeding position and timing. Ryan was feeding every 3 hours at the time. We went to Ryan's doctor who suggested that he may be lactose intolerant, so we switched him to a lactose free formula, which didn't help the situation at all. We brought Ryan to the local children's hospital as we were at our wit's end and needed help desperately. There they suggested that he had a problem with reflux and there was nothing we could do. We were told it would correct itself by the time Ryan was a year old.
As Ryan was only 5 months old at the time, that was unacceptable to us, so we began communicating with Rowena. She requested a thorough history about Ryan's growth and feeding behaviour, prior to making any suggestions. She explained why she felt that Ryan's problem was not a medical one and she provided detailed intructions to follow in order to change Ryan's feeding pattern. She encouraged us to see this plan through and was available for support. Within 3 days Ryan showed marked improvement based on Rowena's suggestions. Ryan now enjoys feeding and eats over 30 oz a day and has cereal. None of us stress out at feeding times anymore.
Thank you Rowena, when no one else was able to give us any answers, you helped us to resolve a difficult situation and we can't thank you enough.
GAYNOR from Ottowah, Canada. |
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At ll months old, my son STILL did not have a bedtime, nor did he sleep thru the night. Bedtime was something that should have been a special time between him and I, instead it was a fight, with constant crying and screaming which resulted in no one in the house sleeping. Then, I found Rowena.
Rowena made a difference to our lives. With a Settling Plan written and tailored specifically to suit the needs of both my son and my family, combined with Rowena's expert advice and constant communication, my son is now 14 months old and HAS BEEN going into his crib AWAKE, without a fuss, and sleeping through the night for the last 3 months!! What a difference Rowena and her Settling Plan has made in our lives, she truly is a wonderful, caring person.......a true gem that no one can afford to be without!! Thanks, Rowena!!
Debbie, 34 mother of
Julian, 14 months
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Comments: (I was having troubling getting my 3 year old daughter to sleep in her own bed).
After I posted a message, Rowena e-mailed me and she was more than willing to help me. First of all she wanted to know more about Zanie's routine. Then Rowena evaluate Zanie and she started to work on a plan that could work for me and my child. She gave me 2 options that I could choose from 2 "settling plans for Zanie". I choose one and then me and Rowena started to correspond via e-mail. She really helps me through this process and during this process she assisted and ensured me to be consistent all the time.
Every now and then Rowena e-mailed me, she was also curious about how Zanie was coping with this new process. She was really interested in my child. Me and my husband really appreciate her help. And I can tell that Zanie IS SLEEPING IN HER OWN BED!! Thanks you so much Rowena.
Rhoda from Johannesburg, South Africa |
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Two months ago I hated my life. I had a beautiful, three month old son, a loving husband and a warm home, everything I'd ever wanted - but I couldn't enjoy any of it. My son, Alexander, cried for between six and twelve hours every day, he had done so since we brought him home from the hospital. He rarely slept and he fed every hour and a half, throwing the whole feed up fifteen minutes later. I had tried everything. I'd taken him to doctors, herbalists, cranial osteopaths, health visitors and finally a pediatric surgeon. None of them could figure out what was wrong with my precious baby. I was distraught.
This baby I had desperately wanted seemed so distressed and there was nothing I could do to soothe him. I felt like a failure. I had reached the end of my tether when I 'bumpled into' Rowena on the internet. She was my saviour. Firstly she reassured me that I was doing the best that I could for my baby and she was pretty sure she could help me. Hearing that was the greatest gift I could ever be given.
Over the next few days we discussed Alexander's behaviour. Rowena listened to all the concerns I had and explained what she thought the problem was and how we would help him settle. She worked with us as a family throughout the process over the next week, answering emails promptly and with great care and reassurance, altering our plan whenever we needed a different tactic. At every step of the journey I felt I was speaking to a friend, to someone who truly loved babies. Every piece of advice I was given was baby-centred for Alexander's direct benefit, not just to make our lives easier.
Within a week Alexander was a completely different baby, he slept more than he ever did before and he was so much happier when he was awake. Two months have passed and he is still a smiley, happy baby. He is a totally different child and I am totally different mummy. We enjoy our time together and fill our days with giggles and hugs.
I would heartily recommend the services provided here. I only wish we had found Rowena sooner. She will never know the extent of the gift she gave us. She gave us our baby back, and with him, our dreams for the future.
Laura - from Midlothian, Scotland |
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When my son Ford was 6 months old I noticed that he was begining to refuse eating solids. As the months progressed his eating habits worsened to the point of not wanting to eat at all. When offered food he would fuss and often times vomit, espically with food that had any texture. I spent all day trying to get him to eat, I was a wreck and so was Ford.
We went to all the doctors, specialists, speach therapists, and even a dietician. All of the advice i received did not seem to help my son. They knew he had reflux and they had him on medication, but he still wasn't responding.
So as the months progressed, his feeding situation worsened along with my feelings of hopelessness to help Ford. He was 14 months old when Rowena came into our lives. That was the day it all changed, and the word hope was introduced back into my vocabulary.
Rowena spent so much time asking questions about Ford and his history. She was so very careful to make sure that she was really understanding Ford's problem.
Within a week she had a whole feeding plan set up for him. I was a little sceptical because nothing had ever worked before. We started the plan on a Monday and by Monday afternoon he was eating. By Tuesday morning he was eating sausage, without vomiting.
It has been three weeks and Ford is still progressing. His chewing function is now up to speed and all the doctors have said that they no longer need to see him. All thru this Rowena has stayed in touch asking how Ford is doing and offering her advice whenever needed.
My whole family has been positively affected by Fords' improvement, and most importantly by Rowena. I feel that Rowena's advise and support is the reason why Ford is doing so well and that without her we would be in the same place as before.
I think that Rowena is very knowledgable and caring individual, and I feel blessed that she came into my family's life. The whole time while working with her I truly felt like she really cared about my son and myself.
Thank you Rowena for everything you have done. You are a blessing to my family, and in my opinion to this world.
Sharon - Atlanta USA
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I have a 9 week old baby daughter who is working herself towards a nice little routine for her days thanks to Rowena.
Up until my daughter was 4 weeks old, we would rock or pat her to sleep in our arms and put her down. She would, however, either wake up as soon as we put her down or wake up after a short 10-15 minute nap. My husband and I realized that we were spending our entire day trying to get her to nap with little success.
I decided to look at the message boards on the internet to take advice from parents struggling with similar situations. I came across one posting that sounded exactly like my baby’s situation. Eagerly, I read some of the responses and one of them was from Rowena. I decided to contact Rowena and solicit her help. She was wonderful!! She immediately emailed me back and followed up with a phone call to understand my baby’s daily routine. After the phone conversation, Rowena emailed me a “settling plan” for my baby.
I followed the settling plan as outlined by Rowena and was able to teach my baby to settle and sleep for longer period in just four-five days. During this time I emailed Rowena a few times each day with an update on the baby’s progress and for her advice during rough times. Once again, Rowena was just wonderful – she took the time to write long detailed emails reassuring me that a few rough days would pay off in the end.
And they have – My baby now takes a couple long naps (1 ˝ -2 hours) and a couple short naps (30-45 minutes) during the day. She wakes up happy and ready to play. Because of her young age, she has days where she is unable to resettle herself for a longer nap, but even a short nap is a marked improvement over her not sleeping at all.
Thank you Rowena!!
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I am so glad I found Rowena. I was at my wits end with my 2.5 month old son's sleeping (or lack of it). He was refusing to sleep all day, from 6am til about 7pm (he did this for about 2 weeks straight, EVERYDAY.
The only way I could get him to sleep was either rocking him in my arms or pushing him in the pram, only to have him wake up after 15-30 minutes each and every single time after I put him down. It was a real hassle the whole day through, and I was going crazy! I had been told by many other health professionals that it was 'normal' for babies his age not to sleep during the day, but I knew it was not true because my son wasn't happy while awake and I could see his tired signs were constantly there, but I just didn't know what to do to get him have proper rest. So I searched all over the internet to find someone who could help me with my dilemma, and after days and days of searching, I found my ray of light!!
Rowena will help any settling problem you may have. She changed our lives! My son now sleeps between 15 and 18 hours in a 24 hour period in total. I even have time to wear make up again! I cannot thank Rowena enough! |
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My daughter was 4 months old when I got in touch with Rowena. Our little girl would not go to sleep during the day, unless I held her, she would also scream for ages and her feeding schedule was all over the place- I was absolutely exhausted.Our pediatrician thought our baby had reflux, & she was put on medication.The week before she was due to have more invasive tests performed I was extremely worried, stressed & tired- then came Rowena to our rescue!.She suggested that our baby needed a settling pattern, & that she may not have reflux at all, that it may be a routine problem instead.
I had just about given up hope of ever been able to settle our baby, & thought I would fall in a heap through exhaustion.Rowena was the first person who had really listened to me- on my previous, numerous visits to the Doctors office I never felt completely understood, talking to Rowena was such a huge relief, I knew help had arrived.
Rowena spent ages on the phone with me, explaining that she thought my daughter needed the settling plan- & thoroughly going over exactly what the settling was & how to do it.I received many e-mails as well, which were a source of great encouragement &support.I was, & continue to be, amazed at just how truly kind & helpful Rowena was - her caring advice was way beyond any of my expectations.I felt like I was talking to& e-mailing a friend.
We followed the shorter settling plan, our lives are completely different since then.Our baby has two naps a day & sleeps through the night.She's a different baby, happy & curious.We stopped the reflux medicine, under our doctors supervision, the week after starting the sleeping pattern, & Rowena was right- she had not needed the medicine at all.
Thank you Rowena for everything.I can't recommend this service highly enough, you are wonderful. |
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5mths ago I gave birth to a beautiful baby girl. I was so happy when I finally gave birth following fertility treatment. Everything was going so well with my daughter up until feeding times. She is bottle fed and would scream and cry at every feed. I was beginning to dread her next feed as she was so upset. I felt so anxious that I did not know what was upsetting my baby so much, a failure that I couldn't feed her properly. She would tense up and scream after even just one ounce.
After contacting my own health visitors who said I'd just have to persevere with her, I felt so alone. I had spent so much money on different bottles and teats, determined that "this one will work", thinking it must be the equipment I was using. I searched the internet one night after 2 months of my baby fussing every feed. I found Rowena and I contacted her. Contacting a complete stranger I wasn't even sure how they could help. After only one day, Rowena e-mailed me back in a friendly, professional manner, and straight away I sensed she would help me. She asked detailed questions, specific to my baby's routine and behaviour. I knew her help would be personalised to my daughter and not just general advice.
I followed Rowena's routine, where she noted that my daughter was not sleeping enough during the day, making her too tired and upset some days to take her bottles. I followed this advice along with more suggestions for my daughter and the very next day, she took her feed without any fussing at all. The next few days where we all got used to a new routine were great. She fed fuss free and was gernerally a much happier baby. I even felt I could get out as much as I liked without having to worry and be anxious about feeding her in public.
I am so grateful for a complete stranger taking an interest in my problems. It has made such a difference to the important first few months with my baby. Rowena even e-mailed me regularly so make sure everything was still going ok. I will always be grateful to her for her kindness.
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