Dorothy was an absolute God send! With in three nights she had my life turned around for the better…. instead of getting up feeding my solid 8 month old boy three times a night I was sleeping, and so was he. And it was all done in a way that I could manage and emotionally cope with (none of this leaving them to cry/scream it out). Sleep is one of the most precious gifts you can give someone. Thank you Dorothy. I will always be greatful for your advice, guidance and genuine desire to want to help and see change for us.
Sara Rogers – January 2017
Dorothy has a wealth of knowledge when it comes to babies. She kindly helped me with my baby boy. She not only helped with sleep related issues too, I had tried for a month to get my son on a bottle as I was back at work. Her tips and advice worked wonders with my son. After working with Dorothy I had a 6 month confidentiality taking the bottle who was napping longer and could self settle himself to sleep at night… It was awesome. I would definitely recommend Dorothy to my friends for their bubba’s.
Kristin Mesarich – January 2017
Dorothy is amazing. She has completely changed our lives and who we are as parents. We employed Dorothy when our daughter was 5 months old, she wouldn’t take naps in her cot and slept for 5-7 hours per night. Through her routine and plan, talking to us about how we manage and parent and being available to ask any question we wanted our daughter now has naps in her cot and we all get much more sleep. Miss is so much happier and we are happier and better parents. We wouldn’t be where we are today without Dorothy, thank you so much for all your help! If anyone is having sleep issues with their baby I would highly recommend contacting Dorothy. She is understanding and not judgemental. My only regret is that we didn’t talk to her sooner.
Lycinda Lett – April 2016
My husband and I contacted Dorothy after going through a really tough stage with our baby (8 months old) who was on a good night waking 4 times and on a bad night waking 12 times. Dorothy came to our house and talked about everything with us and then sent us loads of information on everything from routine to food. She tweaked our routine and within a week of her visit our baby was going to bed awake and going to sleep by herself. We didn’t have to do the awful crying to sleep etc. It all just progressed so easily and now our little girl sleeps all night and she goes to bed for naps and evening bed time so easily even my husband can put her to bed now whereas before Dorothy i was having to feed her to sleep for each nap/bed time.
She has helped us so much and i honestly can’t recommend her more. Dorothy you are so easy to talk to and the help you gave us made life as a mum and dad so much easier! Thank you
Joanna Hughes – November 2015
We got in touch with Dorothy when we needed help with our 9 month olds sleep regression. Dorothy was amazing. Practical, caring and totally tailored her advice to fit our needs and values. She provided massive support and we had instant results which restored sleep in our house. Not to mention a whole lot of other help and advice I didn’t even know I needed. I will not hesitate to contact her again if we hit another hurdle we can’t jump on our own
Crystal Orr – November 2015
Dorothy was incredible! She really tailors her advice to your parenting style. Our baby girl only fell asleep in our arms, with a dummy, and us rocking her and would wake all night. Within a few weeks we had her sleeping through the night and having two 2-hr sleeps during the day. She’s 5 months now and loves her sleep now in her own cot. No CIO methods were used and it was a very gentle approach as I couldn’t stand listening to my baby cry. Can’t recommend enough.
Fiona Sylvestre – October 2015
We called Dorothy when our little girl was 12 weeks old. She wouldn’t sleep during the day unless she was on me and, then only 45 mins. Although she slept better at night, it was taking a long time to get her to settle with her often screaming herself exhausted. We had people saying to just let her cry it out and that she was manipulating us.
Dorothy was such a revelation with her nurturing style. It took time to work, but we could tell within the first couple of days that progress was being made. Most importantly for me, I went from feeling inadequate and stressed to being confident that I knew what to do as a mum. We now have a daughter who settles and sleeps well and a very happy household.
I would thoroughly recommend Dorothy.
Amanda McCormick – September 2015
We were reluctant to go down the sleep consultant path because gentle parenting is a huge part of the way we parent. I became quite desperate though after being woken every hour or so for months. While working with Dorothy we were still able to hold onto gentle parenting and be there to nurture our 11 month old whenever she needed us.
Dorothy never seemed to be looking at the clock when talking with us and her advice fitted around our family and our values. She didn’t tell me to stop co-sleeping and didn’t position herself as the expert. After such a struggle with self settling it is so nice to now wake in the night to the sound of our girl gooing and gahing then falling back asleep. Dorothy is warm, passionate about her job and gave us advice that worked.
Briar Ashley – September 2015
A big thank you to Dorothy for giving me some easy steps to break the feeding to sleep cycle with our 11 month old. We had got into bad habits and he was waking at least every 2 hours. Dorothy’s advice gave me the determination to sort his sleeping along with the verbal reassurance method which I felt would work best for our son. Within 3 days he could self settle and was sleeping much longer stretches. He is much easier to put down at night, is eating better and wakes up happier! Thank you very much!
Bridgit Crosbie — June 2015
Dorothy has been such a huge help with both of my babies, we cannot thank her enough! Her advice is sensible, practical and definitely manageable on a day to day basis. After 7 months of battling to get my first born to sleep for longer than 40 minutes at a time during the day, with Dorothy’s help, I had him sleeping 2-3 hours at a stretch during the day within a week, and through the night within one night! My second baby had terrible reflux, and once that was under control, she had fallen into bad sleeping habits and was unable to settle herself off to sleep or resettle. Dorothy’s settling techniques were kind to my little one, who was used to being rocked and sushed to asleep upright in my arms. Instead of leaving her in her cot to settle (which was totally foreign to her), I used Dororthy’s settling in arms technique, which worked wonderfully, and allowed her to transition gently to settling herself off to sleep in the cot. We have reinstituted it with any flare ups of her reflux, and it has worked wonders. We now have a happy and contented little girl, who falls asleep in her cot, in her room, on her own, within a couple of minutes of being putting in her cot, and is learning to resettle herself during her day sleeps. It is magic! I would highly recommend Dorothy to ANYONE struggling to get their baby to sleep, and anyone expecting their first child – her techniques for settling from birth would be invaluable to know before any new arrival.
Alison Chandler – May 2015
When I first became a mum I knew I was in for a few months of sleep interrupted nights. What I didn’t count on was a baby that during the day would have 2 10min power naps and wake 5 times a night, but I pushed through. Then our son after 7 months of this, got very sick, he would vomit 10+ times a day, this meant no CIO methods, or he would vomit, his weight dropped a scary 2kg in just as many weeks, and when you are less than 10kg to start with this is a lot.
So we got in the bad habit of cuddling him to sleep and transferring him to bed later on. 18 months we survived like this, then we discovered we were pregnant again. I knew then we had to break these bad habits, and fast. When our second son was born, although our first would go to sleep by himself now, he would still wake at least once a night (2.5 years old).
Thankfully our new baby slept for 3x 1 hour stretches during the day, however his night sleep was appalling. He would wake anywhere from every 30-90min. After 3 months of sleep torture, I got in contact with Dorothy. She has worked her magic, and I am happy to say I now get a bit of a breather over night. Our son is now 6 months old and although he isn’t sleeping through yet, he only wakes 1-2 times a night, which for me is heaven. With her amazing non-CIO methods i feel a lot more comfortable and content with my parenting when it comes to sleep times.
Now I have 2 kids that get the sleep they need, including day naps, and I get a decent night sleep. We have just moved our baby into his own room, and I am looking forward to the next stage of pushing his night sleeps out further. Thank you Dorothy for assisting me in finding a solution that worked for our family without the fear of letting my child scream our house down.
Dorothy you are truly a god send. Words cannot express how much our family has appreciated your advice.
Michyla Corban – May 2015
After three months of struggling with a refluxy baby, we contacted Dorothy to help us get our little man to learn how to sleep in his cot, self-settle, and sleep longer at night. During his first three months he spent most of his daytime sleeps upright in out arms due to his reflux, and at night rarely slept for longer than 2-3 hours at a time. My wife was frequently up feeding 4-5 times a night, and was exhausted. We knew we needed help.
We had an initial Skype consultation with Dorothy, followed by a month of support via email and a couple of additional Skype calls. Her nurturing approach, advice and techniques have completely transformed his sleeping patterns. We now have a more settled and happy baby, we are more productive during the day, and we all sleep for longer at night.
Dorothy’s approach is simple and easy to follow, and adapts as your baby progresses. You do need to put in hard work to establish improvements, and understand that you may not see these instantly. But Dorothy was always available supporting us and answering any questions we had. Our baby’s day time sleeping improved simply by applying Dorothy’s techniques, going from random cat-naps to longer, structured sleep. It also reduced the stress levels at home as he wasn’t constantly unhappy and tired. At night he is now regularly sleeping for 5-6 hours at a time, is much easier to resettle, and has even slept through the night twice. We have a transformed baby who actually has a routine which he is thriving on.
If you are struggling with your baby’s sleeping habits (or lack of) then we cannot recommend Dorothy highly enough.
Iain McGowan – April 2015
We chose the consultation plus dial Dorothy package. Dorothy phoned me within a couple of days and set me up with a routine, and then followed it up with regular emails. Her visit with us was 2 weeks later which was perfect as I’d had a really good base set up to work from and the consult was fine tuning and also bringing my husband up to date with what was happening and helping him. I think we have been following Dorothy’s advice for 4 weeks now and it has made such a difference. Our 7 month old has gone from never settling in her cot without feeding to sleep (then waking a few minutes or 45mins later, even overnight), cat napping, needing rocking to sleep… to sleeping solidly for 1.5 hours morning and afternoon, and one or two wake ups a night (sometimes more, but it used to be HOURLY overnight).
Dorothy doesn’t lie to you, there are no quick fixes but she really supports you all the way and emails to see how you are doing if she hasn’t heard from you for a few days.
You have to be ready to persevere, but it is worth it, and I really didn’t believe it would work for our baby. Her methods are gentle and supportive of positive attachments without being too airy fairy. Thanks so much Dorothy, I wish I had asked for help sooner.
Margaret Roberts – March 2015
Thank you Dorothy for your amazing baby wisdom, generosity and kindness.
From eight weeks to six months old our little boy was waking constantly throughout the night – most nights every hour – struggling to settle for naps and bedtime, and catnapping for just 45 mins at a time during the day. We tried everything – all the ‘tricks in the book’ – as well as sleep consultants on two different occasions.
In a moment of desperation I reached out to Dorothy for help. She responded to me straight away with a comprehensive email with a suggested routine for our boy as well as some advice on settling and resettling. A few days later we skyped and she talked us through her plan – from getting his feeding schedule right to teaching him how to self settle and link his sleep cycles. She has a very gentle approach…she gave us techniques that would help us gradually teach him to fall asleep and resettle on his own. There was very little crying and if he was crying I was always there holding him in my arms or just resting a hand on him for reassurance.
Within five days we started to see some great progress – he had settled himself to sleep without my help on a few occasions, he was waking just 1-3 times a night and we had gotten rid of the dummy which he had relied on to fall asleep since he was a newborn.
We still have plenty of work to do on resettling but we are finally moving in the right direction. We have a much happier little boy who settles to sleep easily most of the time and is a great eater. The big horrible grey cloud of sleep deprivation which has been hanging over our heads each day is finally beginning to lift.
Dorothy is a blessing! She offers positivity and encouragement at every step and we wouldn’t hesitate to recommend her to any parents desperate for a little bit of sleep.
Zara Coleman – March 2015
After three months of struggling with a refluxy baby, we contacted Dorothy to help us get our little man to learn how to sleep in his cot, self-settle, and sleep longer at night. During his first three months he spent most of his daytime sleeps upright in out arms due to his reflux, and at night rarely slept for longer than 2-3 hours at a time. My wife was frequently up feeding 4-5 times a night, and was exhausted. We knew we needed help.
We had an initial Skype consultation with Dorothy, followed by a month of support via email and a couple of additional Skype calls. Her nurturing approach, advice and techniques have completely transformed his sleeping patterns. We now have a more settled and happy baby, we are more productive during the day, and we all sleep for longer at night.
Dorothy’s approach is simple and easy to follow, and adapts as your baby progresses. You do need to put in hard work to establish improvements, and understand that you may not see these instantly. But Dorothy was always available supporting us and answering any questions we had. Our baby’s day time sleeping improved simply by applying Dorothy’s techniques, going from random cat-naps to longer, structured sleep. It also reduced the stress levels at home as he wasn’t constantly unhappy and tired. At night he is now regularly sleeping for 5-6 hours at a time, is much easier to resettle, and has even slept through the night twice. We have a transformed baby who actually has a routine which he is thriving on.
If you are struggling with your baby’s sleeping habits (or lack of) then we cannot recommend Dorothy highly enough.
Iain McGowan – March 2015
Sleep. Prior to the birth, you take it for granted. It’s in the same category as air and sunlight. It’s just there. If you burn the candle at both ends and get a bit sleep deprived, you just sleep in until mid-day in order to catch up. After three months with a crying baby, you begin thinking that 8 hours of unbroken sleep is just a concept. An unattainable dream.
As parents of an 18 month old, we knew that there would be difficult days ahead with a new-born joining our family. However, after three months I was expecting to see the faint glimmer of the light at the end of the tunnel. At 6 months, our darling girl was still waking 10 times a night. This was not in the script!
Friends and well-meaning parents said, ‘You must sleep when the baby sleeps’. Well how is that possible when you have a full on 2 year old boy and your baby doesn’t sleep?! After reading blogs, books and asking friends and family for advice, I started to feel hopeless. Despite our best efforts nothing was working.
After seeing a paediatrician Sienna was diagnosed with reflux and colic. Our first baby was a dream, sleeping through the night at 10 weeks; we found having a new-born was a piece of cake. Having a crying baby with reflux was completely different and something that has to be experienced to be believed.
After 6 months of no sleep I decided we should call Dorothy.
After our first phone conversation she gave me tips and advice I could use straight away. She assured me that we could change Sienna’s behaviour and that things would get better. Dorothy sent me a specific plan for our baby and our family dynamics. Many of the books I was reading on sleep advice didn’t take in account having an active toddle that needed an outing every day, that fact that our children were sharing a room and Sienna having reflux. Dorothy sent us a meal plan (including recipe suggestions), sleep plan and techniques to resettle Sienna.
After sticking to the plan for two weeks Sienna was sleeping through the night! Words can’t explain how getting a full night sleep increased the sanity of our family. We had more energy and patience with our toddler, enjoyed spending time together as a family, and I felt like I could get through the day.
Some babies will sleep through the night no problem, others like Sienna need extra help learning how to self-settle and sleep. My only regret is that I didn’t contact Dorothy sooner. If we decide to have another baby (too early to make that decision at the moment!) we will be calling her sooner rather than later. The first 6 months of Sienna’s life is such a blur, I hardly remember anything. Had a contacted Dorothy sooner things may have been different. Third time around I’m going to have her number on speed dial! As they say the best gift you can give a new mother is a full night sleep.
Jill Andrews — February 2015, as posted on the OHbaby! blog
I can’t thank Dorothy enough! After our first phone conversation she gave me tips and advice I could use straight away. She assured me that we could change our 5 month old’s behaviour and that things would get better. Dorothy sent me a specific plan for our baby and our family dynamics. Many of the books I was reading on sleep advice didn’t take in account having an active toddle that needed an outing every day, that fact that our children were sharing a room and our baby having reflux. Dorothy sent us a meal plan (including recipe suggestions), sleep plan and techniques to resettle. After 2 weeks our daughter was sleeping through the night! Yay!!
Jill Andrews — February 2015
We had tried everything in our attempts to get our son to sleep. It seemed although we were being consistent and keeping to a routine that nothing ever changed and at 9 months old we were worn out, still living on a newborns 3 hourly schedule.
We thought we were beyond help.
But after an hours Skype meeting and just 5 nights of taking Dorothy’s advice regarding our feeding and sleeping routine our son began to sleep through the night.
I wish we had called her months ago!
Dorothy’s approaches to settling are kind, gentle and loving. We used the Dial Dorothy package and the service was amazing. Quick responses to emails and texts, Dorothy keeps crazy hours, our first meeting was at 10pm at night! You won’t find anybody more dedicated, It is obvious that Dorothy cares a great deal about her clients and is passionate about her work.
She has a gift. Thanks Dorothy!!
Rebekha Stewart — October 2014
Why oh why did I not think to contact Dorothy sooner?!?! I cannot even begin to explain how comforting and informative our in home consultation with Dorothy was. Her nurturing and loving approach to both bubs and mums was such a breath of fresh air. Never once did she mention that anything we had been doing with my son (now 8 months) was wrong but provided us with a way to move forward that was completely in line with our parenting values that ALSO immediately generated results (sleep oh sweet sweet sleep). When you meet Dorothy or see her speak it is obvious she is doing her life’s work and I feel infinitely grateful that me and my family have benefited from it. When we have a second bubs, we will be getting Dorothy in much sooner! Thank you Dorothy!
Katy Anquetil – September 2014
Dorothy is incredibly supportive and has a wealth of knowledge and solutions. Her vast experience with babies is evident as she offers much more than a “one size fits all” approach. Dorothy was able to tailor solutions for our family and has helped me get my 7 month old to go from constant waking, hard to settle and absolutely no self-settling and re-settling to being able to do this most of the time now.
As a first time mum I was overwhelmed when I first reached out to Dorothy. The sense of exhaustion and concern we had then is now diminishing and Dorothy’s advice, guidance and tools provided has been god-sent especially at our most difficult time. I’m sure there will be many more to come over the years but I think being a first time mum the first year is the hardest as you end up second guessing yourself as a parent.
I can not thank you enough Dorothy for giving us the most simple strategies that has made motherhood more enjoyable. We now have a transformed gorgeous boy who is happier and healthier.
Dorothy has been quick to respond to all of my numerous questions (for someone who helps with sleep, she always seems to be awake and ready to respond) and has given me such great support, I wish I had gone to her months ago.
Satya Hale – September 2014
After six weeks of our 13 week old baby girl refusing to drink (partly due to silent reflux) I was at my wits end when I stumbled upon Dorothy’s website. We live in rural Southland so was unsure whether someone based in the north island would be of much help, but I was prepared to try anything. After a couple of emails outlining our situation, and a phone convo one Sunday morning, followed by a couple of follow up emails checking how we were getting on, we all of a sudden had a wee girl who was drinking almost double what she had been, and thanks to Dorothy’s advice I managed to stop her catnapping during the day. We cannot thank you enough, and I wouldn’t hesitate in recommending you to anyone having any issues with their little ones.
Kylie Helman – August 2014
Dorothy has changed our lives for the better! Sanity has now been restored after seven months of sleepless nights with our second baby. Dorothy was wonderful to have in our home, and worked out a routine and action plan that took our family life (including toddler activity commitments) into account. The gentle approach recommended for our daughter really worked, and we are beyond thrilled. Thank you so, so much Dorothy!
Casey McPike – August 2014
Dorothy, I cannot thank you enough. Your help, words of wisdom and your warm, encouragement & support has helped change our life. We have a new and improved little man, all thanks to you. We have a near perfect sleeper and have gained our confidence and sanity back! Having you on the end of every email and only a phone call away helped in so many ways. I have no words… except, I love you. Merci, merci, merci!!! X
Ashleigh Lloyd – 2014
Dorothy is sensational. We were given a comprehensive routine to follow that has made out household run a lot smoother as my little boy is now sleeping so much better during the day! He went from 3-4 40 minute sleeps and being frustrated to sleeping 1.5-3hrs twice a day! He’s much happier and it makes life easier for us as parents because his sleeps during the day are so much more refreshing. Can’t recommend highly enough
Shayne Hansen – 2014
Dorothy was such a great help to us when our daughter was 8 months old. She had been a very unsettled and unhappy baby due to allergies and from this had established very bad feeding and sleeping habits.
Dorothy was in touch with us via email, telephone and Skype for a few days and then we followed up with her a couple of months later through another transition phase. She is very thorough, her advice is practical and given in such a way that she doesn’t make you feel like you are doing a bad job.
You don’t have to be in a dire situation to benefit from Dorothy’s advice, in fact I recommend getting in touch sooner rather than later so that everyone is happy and contented.
Get vouchers for your expectant mum friends!
Thanks Dorothy, you have made the world of difference to us.
Tammy-Lee Holmes – 2014
So grateful for your time today, I feel a lot more confident putting my 6 month old to bed tonight. Thank you!
Nicky Humphries – 2014
Dorothy, you are God’s gift to mothers and babies. Only 4 days after you visit I now have a son that sleeps through the night whilst for the last 16 weeks he has been waking up every 2 hours. My exhaustion is finally coming to an end and I’m starting to feel like a person again and not a zombie. Thank you, thank you, thank you!
Femke – 2014
Dorothy you are amazing! I had a brief Facebook conversation with you a few months ago about my then 11 week old,(he is now 8 months, how time does fly!!!) you gave practical advice and made me feel good about my parenting choices, especially the fourth trimester idea. As I have learnt and journeyed into parenting, I have had rough patches and been overwhelmed by advice. You made me feel so uplifted at that point in time and I still think about your advice often. So thank you for posting FAQ’s on YouTube and for the work you do. I will not hesitate to enlist your help and services if we need to in the future. Thank you again!
Emma Bjorklund – 2014
I want to express our sincere thanks for all the help you have given us since we first contacted you in October last year. In that time, things in our house have improved a great deal, and a lot of that is down to the advise and support you have provided us. Wayde and I were just commenting that your calm “we can get this sorted’ demeanor was exactly what we needed in a time when chaos was reigning! Fred is a different guy now. Although his sleeping is still a work in progress, we are a long way towards where we want to be, and he is a much happier child for the proper sleep he is getting during the day. And a big thank you for allowing us to switch children half way through, and giving us some really valuable advise on coping with Ivy’s anti-social sleeping behavior. That is immeasurably better now too! We are all alot better rested!
I would have no hesitation in recommending your services to other mums, and in fact, have already done so. Thank you once again, and all the very best.
Natalie – 2014
Like all the testimonials you will read about Dorothy, I cannot thank her enough for the help (and sanity) she has given me and our family. As a mother of three I did not think I would need any help….how wrong was I? After 12 weeks of struggling to help our son sleep, with reflux and colic, doing everything I knew from our other two children, I finally came to the realisation that I needed HELP. The resettling techniques Dorothy showed me, in my opinion, are the most valuable tools any parent can learn. She helped me put in the hard work which has paid off with a reward that is immeasurable – a settled and happy baby who sleeps and feeds well during the day and sleeps through the night – how can you put a price on that! Thank you, thank you, thank you, Dorothy. I would highly recommend anyone slightly struggling with any baby issue to call on Dorothy. My only regret was not getting her help sooner!!
Anna Russell – 2014
Dorothy has been a god sent to me and my bubs! One day when she did her question time I asked about my bubs as I was concerned about her bowel motions! From there Dorothy has given me amazing advice when there is very little info out there on babies with allergies! Where plunket and our GP where totally unhelpful and, dear I say it, useless! Dorothy has given us the advice we needed, and keeps checking up to see how we are going! Very much appreciated!!! Great lady with great advice, there is nothing she doesn’t know!
Jaime Boulton – 2014
Dorothy is incredibly supportive and has a wealth of solutions. Her vast experience with babies is evident as she offers much more than a “one size fits all” approach. I had used another baby sleep consultant in the past but I hadn’t achieved what we needed and it didn’t fit with my parenting style. Dorothy was able to tailor solutions to our family and has helped me get my 8 month old to go from hourly waking to sleeping through the night. Dorothy has been quick to respond to all of my numerous questions (for someone who helps with sleep, she always seems to be awake and ready to respond) and has given me such great support, I wish I had gone to her months ago.
Emily Hogg – 2014
Dorothy is absolutely amazing. I wouldn’t be the mum I am today if it wasn’t for Dorothy. I have gone from a little one who would wake every 20mins to now having the right amount of sleep needed for her age. Mia (7 months old now ) has both silent reflux and reflux so it has been a long journey for us. Dorothy has been there every minute of the day we have needed her. Always with excellent down to earth advice that truly works!!! I have used two other sleep consultants in the past for which could not help me. They didn’t offer the support that Dorothy does. She has gone above and beyond of what i was expecting. Dorothy truly cares about you and your baby. I cant thank and recommend her enough :)….. Thanks so much Dorothy
Jenna – 2014
Thank you SO much for your call a couple of weeks back. Amazing what a difference it has made… A girl that now often sleeps for 1 1/2 – 2 hours at a time and is so much happier (she’s 4 1/2 months and has been a chronic 45 min napped since she was 2 months). In turn a mum that feels so much better. Thank you!
Betsy – 2014
Dorothy is absolutely amazing. I wouldn’t be the mum i am today if it wasnt for Dorothy. I have gone from a little one who would wake every 20mins to now having the right amount of sleep needed for her age. Mia (7months old now ) has both silent reflux and reflux so it has been a long journey for us. Dorothy has been there every minute of the day we have needed her. Always with excellent down to earth advice that truly works!!! I have used two other sleep consultants in the past for which could not help me. They didnt offer the support that Dorothy does. She has gone above and beyond of what i was expecting. Dorothy truly cares about you and your baby. I cant thank and recommend her enough :)….. Thanks so much Dorothy
Jenna and Brett
stuck to approx. routine 2 to 3hrs awake and back to cot to help sleep during day worked took 2weeks but I can say things are awesome atm thank you so much
Sara Moon
Well who knew – dropped the dreamfeed and baby slept through the night – not only that but after taking a full feed at 10pm and 4am baby still wasn’t that hungry at 7am – so he wasn’t hungry during the night, just sucking for comfort.
Robyn
Dorothy is never too busy to help mums and babies in need of support – especially re: feeding & sleeping issues – and she is so passionate about what she does. Whatever your concern she will work with you and your baby until you feel happy and confident to continue in a way that works for you. Highly, highly recommend!! PS – I don’t get any extra benefit for writing this, I just feel that this is the least I can do to show my gratitude and support 🙂
Nicki Ball – 2013
Thank you so much for your help over the last few weeks Dorothy! After having been told by Plunket that my 5 and a half month old baby wasn’t gaining enough weight I was at my wits end as she just isn’t a very hungry baby and we were both getting stressed out by me constantly trying to make her feed. The new routine and feeding recommendations you gave us have made the world of difference and my baby has gone from being a bit on the skinny side to a healthy looking chubby bubby in just a few weeks. Through several conversations and emails you gave me the confidence and the support to continue to breastfeed my baby without the constant battles and to introduce solids and stop worrying so much about her weight gain and my milk supply. I have been recommending you to all my new Mummy friends and find myself saying “Dorothy says” and Dorothy recommends” all the time. Thank you again, your support and help has been invaluable!
Judy Morawitz – 2013
Thank you Dorothy for your help this week. Our little girl 4.5months finally slept from 9pm to 6am this morning after two days of changing our routine as per your advice!
Debbie Fraser
Dear babies. Your mumma should know this
Dear Dorothy. …What would we do with put you.??? Your a blessing. Little pumpkin had quinoa and veges for lunch. Stretched out to 3pm ( by accident but survived ) and then had a big 1.5 afternoon sleep. Then happily asleep now. We love you Dorothy. Thank you xxxx 8 month old Petey. X…
(name withheld)
Day 7 of following Dorothys advice and the difference with our 8 month old twins has been enormous. Loving having 2 longer naps rather than 4 short ones during the day. Especially loving having easy bedtimes and our evenings back. So great to be enjoying the two of them again, thank you Dorothy!!!
Jo Caird – 2013
I found Dorothy through a friend of mine and she saved my life, I dread to think where we would be now without her. When we first started working together we were rocking our 13 week old twins to sleep, and sleeping was awful. I didn’t feel comfortable just leaving them to cry it out but I also knew that we couldn’t carry on being at the mercy of our twins. Dorothy helped us through a third way, which was to teach our twins how to sleep. She also helped with so many other questions, for instance, my panic over our first long haul trip, problems with child care support etc. Despite being in another country and timezone, Dorothy had a uncanny knack of knowing what was going on with the twins and I, and then the advice about how to solve/improve the situation. The setup worked really well, mostly we would email which I could do anytime day or night and then she would reply the next day, she also has guidance notes to send, which again worked well as being sleep deprived its not easy to take everything in! Even if we had been in the same country that approach would have been the ideal for me. We did Skype occasionally but I actually found it difficult to find the time! I wouldn’t hesitate to recommend her, and I do to anyone who seems to be struggling. I have friends now with children who are over 2yrs old that still don’t sleep through the night, I couldn’t live my life like that, and thanks to Dorothy I don’t have to!
Cheers
Liz – Overseas client from Singapore – 2013
Just recently I attended one of Dorothy’s chats through the west auckland parents centre. I found her advice and knowledgeable so beneficial .I had struggled to get advice about bottle feeding from various other health services but Dorothy was more than happy to help. Alongside this her advice on sleeping and resettling helped me get my little girl back to sleep. She know sleeps from 7 at night till 6.45 in the morning. She is worth her weight in gold and truly is a baby and toddler genius. Thank you Dorothy!
Kirsten and Sophia
Hi Dorothy thank u for the wonderful advice regarding settling techniques with my little man at sleep times and when he wakes to early. I’m looking forward to getting more sleep
Again thanks
Lucy Weaver
From 5 weeks of age until recently my daughter has had many episodes of undiagnosed tummy upsets and pain. My husband and I resorted to any means we could to get our now 5 month old to sleep and keep her there! Over this time she has developed interrupted sleeping patterns and has become reliant on props/us to sleep. After having to get up 6-10 times a night to settle and replace her dummy I emailed Dorothy for help!! Dorothy has been wonderful and supportive, not only providing me with her notes and advice on sleeping and settling but she has also has considered other factors that could be relevant to this behavior. She has supported us with advice/information on beginning solids as well as alternative therapies that may help and how to access these with her personal recommendations.
Thank you Dorothy for taking time out of your busy days to help us. You have given me the confidence to begin making changes to the way we manage our daily routine with realistic approaches. I also now have the tools/guides I need to know I can cope and how support my daughter through these changes.
Thank you so much.
Kelly
Thank you Dorothy for another very helpful experience. We are away on holiday and my baby has been struggling with the 8 hour time difference. I was at a real loss with how to deal with it but with Dorothy’s help we are getting a lot more sleep during the night and less during the day!
Kim Best
Dorothy, I really can’t thank you enough for your help with June. With a couple of small, gentle changes, my catnapper who woke twice a night is now napping for 1.5 to 2 hours and sleeping right through! I’ve been very impressed by your personal interest in her and the way you tailor your advice to our family. You’ve really gone above and beyond to help us out. Thank you so much, you’ve really turned our lives around!
Sophie Stephenson
Dorothy, we really can’t thank you enough, all the help, guidance & support you offer is incredible, I always felt like your only client, – regardless of the fact you have many – you helped us with sleeping through the night, starting solids, self settling, breastfeeding nightmares, you nurtured us through bugs & illnesses, implemented age appropriate routines & more, we will always be grateful we worked with you, of all the things you spend money on as a new parent, your tried & true advice was our best investment, we recommend you to all xox
Jasmine Steiner
Dorothy, thanks so much for all the support you have given us… You have transformed our lives! Xx
Amanda King (London, UK)
Wow, Dorothy you are amazing. My 3.5 month old baby had hardly eaten for a week. Which meant a grumpy wee man, who wasn’t really sleeping. I contacted Plunket, La Leche, visited my GP and no helpful solutions…..they all just said to ride it out. I was exhausted after a week of battling my wee man, thankfully my sister put me in touch with Dorothy and over the phone she gave me about eight different things it could be and try. Her first suggestion worked, and he was back to his old happy self again. I would recommend Dorothy to anyone. It is so refreshing to talk to someoneopen minded who truely loves her job. Thanks so much.
Yvette Ronaldson
Wow, I feel like I’ve got some of my life back after Dorothy helped us with our 9 month old baby’s routine, as well as helping with a food allergy. He’s now eating, feeding & sleeping really well & we have a happy baby. Thank you! – we used the email service.
Sally Jones
Thank you so much Dorothy, we were having so much difficulty putting our 4 month old Ila to sleep. I had been feeding him to sleep while his Papa walked him and each time it was taking us hours with lots of crying from Ila and sometimes me. And he rarely sleep for longer then 40mins.
The day before we spoke with you Ila had only sleep for 15 minutes in the morning and 7mins in the afternoon. And then amazingly by day three of the schedule you helped us create i put him in his basket and after 15 minutes of soft cooing and crying he fell asleep on his own and sleep for over an hour. He now sleeps on average 3 sleeps a day for between 1 1/2 – 2 hours and at night he wakes briefly for a feed about 2 or 3 times. It is still hard work sometimes but the improvement is astounding. It feels so good to be able to meet Ila’s needs and get some much needed rest.
The most amazing thing has been how skilled you are at working with me -a tired, worried and unconfident mum. It had been so hard and we had tried the ‘cry it out’ and ‘the don’t let the baby cry’ method and i was feeling so unsure of myself. You gave me the support and space i needed to take on your advice.
Thank you so much it has been the best money ever spent.
Vanessa Vashti
Ten months ago I gave birth to a beautiful boy, my first. For the first eight months of his life we fed him, loved him, cuddled him, talked to him and fed him some more…but for all this love and attention we couldn’t get him to sleep during the night. We had tried everything, read the books cover to cover, worked on a good ‘routine’ and shushed and patted for nights on end, but something just wasn’t clicking. Nearing breaking point I was given Dorothy’s contact details by a friend. I phoned her expecting (business like) to make an appointment, but Dorothy was more interested in hearing about my baby! We talked for over an hour and from that first conversation Dorothy gave me some invaluable tips that were the first steps in getting the baby I thought just ‘wasn’t a sleeper’ sleeping through the night, every night. It was an effort to get there and sometimes I questioned what we were doing, but it always worked. And as we both started to get some sleep the changes were huge – my little man went from nibbling at a few solids to demolishing bowls of veges and porridge.
Although Dorothy’s ‘business’ is babies and the information she gives is professional, it is delivered with a huge amount of empathy for the struggles that us new mums are facing. She always says to go with your heart and that is the bottom line. Thank you Dorothy, looking forward to the book! Kate, Euan and Kereama.
Thanks Dorothy, we had 2 beautiful day sleeps and only one night waking in the last 24hrs!
Tammy-Lee Holmes
Words cannot express how grateful we are that a friend recommended Dorothy. She is truely an amazing woman. So thoughtful and knowledgable, caring and nuturing. She has helped us understand our little treasure more. Her informatind about introducing solids, strategic introduction of vegies, teething, and routines has all been invaluable. But it is the way that she has partnered with us that we are so grateful for. Thank you Dorothy.
Jess Milne
I just want to say a huge thank you to Dorothy for all of her help with our little boy – I can’t recommend her highly enough – she is amazing! Our 7 month old had been a lifelong catnapper and was down to two half hour sleeps per day and not coping. In addition, I was still feeding him in the late evening and in the middle of the night. He started resettling to sleep the same day that Dorothy was with us and within a week was sleeping for 1.5-2 hours at each of his daytime sleeps. And he started sleeping through the night (from 6:30pm until 6am) without a peep as soon as I dropped his night feeds. Dorothy also helped us out with his feeding and eczema and has been fantastic in her follow up She is very sensible, approachable and caring, and came to see us within 3 days of our first phone call to her Anyone having issues with sleeping or feeding or anything baby related should definitely give her a call Thank you so much Dorothy, you are a gem and we can’t thank you enough!
Alison Chandler
Many of you may know we’ve had a few struggles with our little Boy Jude. He’s been an unsettled wee thing, lots of screaming, and not much sleeping or eating. After visiting all sorts of different practitioners, and getting diagnoses from Reflux to a twisted bowel… nothing worked and we were getting more and more frustrated, teary eyed and sleep deprived! Dorothy Waide recommended we see acupuncturist David Craddick – well he was the first person to give us a deadline (2 weeks) for when he would be better. I was skeptical at first having been promised the world from so many others, but I have to report that he was absolutely right! Jude is now so much more settled, and not in pain, thanks to the acupuncture. I can’t thank Dorothy and David enough or recommend them more highly!! 🙂
Carly Flynn – 2012
Just want to say a big thank you to Dorothy for the wonderful advice and support she has given us. Our son is now 11 months old and was still being fed to sleep each night and waking for night feeds until recently. We sought Dorothy’s help after I met her at an OHBaby coffee catch up and was impressed by her caring nature and sensible ideas! I love her approach and I am happy to say that our wee man now goes to bed quite happily at night time and (usually!) sleeps through the night or self settles after only a few short weeks since we implemented the changes. Your kindness has been very much appreciated Dorothy and I will be singing your praises to anyone willing to listen
Chantelle Furlong
THANK YOU!!!
In the lead up to the arrival of my second child my biggest concern was how I was ever going to get out of the house with a newborn and a two year old.
My second son arrived and within hours he was fighting for his life. After major life saving surgery we finally came home when he was 3 weeks old.
At 9 weeks of age my little boy was struggling to gain any weight and I was constantly feeding. He would wake and I would feed him. After 5 minutes he would fall asleep and 20 minutes later he would wake screaming again.
I was totally exhausted. After discussing this with numerous doctors it was suggested he had colic and eventually that perhaps the lack of weight gain and general unsettled behaviour was due to my milk supply. I was totally devastated, overwhelmed and extremely stressed.
In desperation I contacted Dorothy. She spoke to me over the phone for some time before we even discussed her visiting us. She spent the day with us and I can honestly say she sorted the feeding issue within 20 minutes of her walking through our front door. She taught us how to settle him and for the first time in weeks he slept for hours!!!
Dorothy sent my husband and I out for lunch. It was the first time we had been out together just the two of us in months! This lunch did a huge amount for our combined mental health.
The past 9 months have been very hard and filled with huge challenges due to ongoing medical issues. My son has struggled to eat solids and we have struggled to find answers. Throughout it all Dorothy has been a text, visit, email or phone call away. I can’t begin to explain how grateful I am for her help.
I never thought I would need the services of a baby whisperer. Now I wish every mother could have Dorothy!!!
Thank you so very much Dorothy!!!
Thanks also to Mama’s Little Helper for telling me about Dorothy!!!
Rebecca Lewis
I just had my very own ‘Dorothy Experience’ and I am now a new woman/mother/wife!! I can’t express in words how much her help has changed our lives for the better! Who knew sleep was so important (especially for mums!) and could affect so many areas of your life!! All i can say is Thank You Dorothy, Thank You, Thank You, Thank You!! x
Emily Silby
Thank you Dorothy for all your help in getting Jack (and Mummy and Daddy!) on the right path to self-settling and sleeping through the night. It was great to have someone with your experience come into our home and tailor a routine not only for baby, but that will fit all the family, including our two and a half year old. Day sleeps have now gone from 45 minute catnaps to 1.5 to 2 hour decent naps. This has give me much more time during the day to also spend quality one on one time with my daughter. We really appreciate all your advice and assistance
Kylie Gibson
HI Dorothy, thank you for all your advice and support in helping us get our little man sleeping through the night. Your personalized advice benefited us greatly and we found you really tailored your advice to our unique situation. I have already recommended you to friends and will continue to do so. I wish had contacted you months ago!! Many thanks
Merryn Robertson
Thanks Dorothy for all your support and help with getting our wee man settled into a routine and for the confidence to stop feeding during the night. Aston is much more settled now and is starting to resettle during the early hours of the morning. we have noticed a huge difference and will not hesitate in contacting you again if we need further help or for our next child. thanks heaps. x
Kerri Law
Dorothy Waide is a wonderful woman. She has helped and supported us for the last 5 weeks and I have to say it is the best money we ever spent! I breast fed my beautiful little boy to sleep, day and night, since he was born and by the time he was 6 months I decided I needed more sleep as he was still waking 8-10 times a night. So after meeting Dorothy at an Ohbaby coffee group catch up, I decided to seek her help. My boy has made so much progress in 5 weeks and is no longer breast fed to sleep. He still wakes during the night but only half as much. We are still very much following Dorothy’s advice and working with her until we can get our boy to self settle and resettle on his own. Dorothy has taken us through things step by step in a way we can cope with. Her ‘nuturing within boundaries’ philosophy is great, especially for couples like us who find it breaking listening to our baby cry. Any mums that are having baby issues should talk to Dorothy. She is better than any book I have read!
Elizabeth Willoughby
Hi would just like to thank Dorothy for her advice and support in helping me teach my 8mth old son to self settle and sleep through the night, at times it felt like an uphill battle and time to throw in the towel, but with Dorothy’s continued support and guidance, we now have a baby who I can put in his cot awake who will self settle and on waking is happy to play in his cot, and the biggest bonus will sleep thru the night, we still have the odd nights that he does wake but he will go back to sleep. Can’t thank Dorothy enough, and would not hesitate to pass on to my friends!
Andrea Nicol
Thank you so much Dorothy for the great advice and help that you have given us! you are just what we needed and things are already getting better! XX
Lara Fisher-Samara
So we were supremely lucky to have the wonderful Dorothy visit our madhouse for the day today, she gave us such wonderful advice for caring for our “tricky” fella Jude, who is tonight a much happier little man (& mummy too!), can highly highly recommend!!
Carly Flynn – 2012
“Dorothy, I wish I’d known you when I had my first baby. Your gift for understanding babies and communicating it to parents is immeasurable. With your guidance, my home is so much more efficient and I finally have precious time to myself. I’m no longer lost in the fog of parenthood. Thank you just doesn’t seem enough”.
Lana
“Dorothy’s knowledge of babies and small children is vast, and her skills both as a baby nurse and nanny are phenomenal. Dorothy made us feel safe both in our role as parents and whenever we left her in charge of our son when travelling”.
Michael Douglas & Catherine Zeta-Jones
“Taking us step by step through the realities of being parents so joyfully and simply has certainly helped us make the transition from a family of two to a family of three”.
Russell and Danielle Crowe
“Dorothy is a maternity nurse par excellence. She is diligent, intelligent, reliable, and has a vast knowledge”.
David Hill
“We have never come across anyone in our private or professional lives whose work ethic and passion for her job can compare with Dorothy’s”.
Nicola-Maria Riley
Dorothy you’re simply amazing; you offer solutions which actually change lives in such a positive way! You came in to our home and saw the chaos we were living in and you turned our lives around. You quickly established a routine that worked for us – not a text book routine that I had to try and make fit, but a routine that dealt with all the realities of a busy family. You have a real gift – thank you for sharing it with us.
If we’re lucky enough to have a third, we hope you’re not too busy to come back!
Sarah, Auckland
My name is Maureen Mckenzie , i live in New Zealand and have a 21 month old son Cody
When Cody was 5 months old, i contacted Dorothy Waide, while she was overseas, and we emailed back and forth, she helped me a great deal with the problems i experienced with him.
Since about 1 month old he had not slept well during the day, he had a very short sleep cycle of about half hour to forty minutes, problems with reflux, and was on Losec. he wasnt feeding well at all, and was a very windy baby. i had also got into the habit of rocking him to sleep because of him being so unsettled. this was my main prob at the time as well as the wind.
I wrote to Dorothy explaining the problems i was having and how it was affecting Cody and myself as a mother, i explained his routine, what i fed him at that point, times i breastfed , his night time routine,and asked questions of what i should do. so she could get a picture of it all.
Dorothy was an amazing help to me, emailing me back, suggesting i try different formulas which i did , and suggesting an osteopath for his reflux, she gave me advice on what to feed him at this stage.
She gave me extensive advice on the formulas, acid reflux and food intolerances, how to burp Cody effectively and set up a routine for him that was easy to follow and helped me immensely!
Over time and lots of advice given , Cody settled nicely into a routine, his reflux slowly disappeared, and sleeping became amazing!! i did have other advice along the way of course…what mother doesnt?!, but I feel Dorothys had the most impact, as she gives thorough sound advice that works
All of the advice given was through emailing and looking back on them now, having a healthy happy, almost 2 year old, its hard to believe all i went through!
I would definately recommend Dorothy with any problems you have with a baby or child as she has amazing intelligence and experience, even though she never met Cody in person she had the intuition to be able to help him with advice that was appropriate for me and my child.
Maureen Mckenzie – 2010-2013
“I have nothing but praise for Dorothy’s expertise and style of training. This is such a cliche, but she’s a SUPERNANNY!! The results were almost instantaneous. I now have a contented baby who has been removed from my hip during the day and sleeping through the night. I’m clearly a happier mummy (which I might add has been noticed by a lot of people). Thank you Dorothy for your unrivaled support and experience. This was the turning point that I needed.”
Lana Pham – 2011