TESTIMONIALS - TROUBLESHOOTING AND SLEEP TRAINING

“Reference for Maternity consultation for 48 hours with Rae Albert

Aim: Basics of newborn care, establishing a feeding and sleeping routine.

“Rae came highly recommended by her agency and she certainly did not disappoint. She carefully assessed our family's needs and quickly set about helping us to learn about all aspects of newborn care including washing, nappy changing, feeding, winding, sterilising and importantly how to settle baby before naps. She also helped us to establish a feeding and sleeping routine and record keeping. As well as being an excellent teacher, Rae was extremely personable and patient! We use the skills she taught us everyday and it has meant our baby is much calmer and more settled and, as a result our whole family have enjoyed the experience so much more. We would happily recommend Rae to our friends and relatives”.

Dr Thivi M. & Dr James T, Stanmore, Middx

Parents to Oscar, aged 4 weeks at the time of consultation.

“Words are properly not adequate as Rae has transformed our daily lives… When I was introduced to Rae I already had a 22 month old toddler so you would think I had done this before. I developed pelvic girdle pain so when I came home with my newborn not only was I unable to walk but I spent hours rocking her, holding her in my arms so she could sleep, breastfed endlessly and it did not stop…After four weeks of this I was exhausted and called an Agency to see if they could send me a nanny so I could get some sleep!

What I got in return was Rae, she is more than a Nanny..The minute she walked through the door she only asked for two things: a swaddle and a dummy..The thought of using a dummy petrified me as I had not used one with my first child and swore I never would. She asked me to work with her and to be fair it was either my breast or the dummy – easy decision at this stage of the matter. She went and bought a dummy and literally within 30 minutes my baby was settled and I have never looked back. The first day my baby slept and fed like she had never before.

Rae introduced a very simple routine which had I not followed I would not believe it worked – but it works.. From month one she feeds every four hours and sleeps on her own cot. Rae is lovely and caring and she has made a huge difference to our lives as I have a beautiful peaceful baby that feeds well, sleeps beautifully and is just a dream…I am not sure I could have done it without Rae and I would strongly recommend her. She is thorough and takes you through things in detail. I love the fact that she is available after being with us and is willing to answer any silly questions one may have..

Her theory of ‘slowly slowly’ is perfect….Thank you Rae and we look forward to seeing you soon.”

A very happy Mom!

Lilian V . Chiswick, W4

“Rae helped us out as a night nanny for 2 days in February 2013, with our 11 week old baby girl, Eliška.

When I first met Rae, the first thing she did was to take the time to really listen and fully understand all the challenges we had been facing. As Eliška was our second child, we had naively thought we knew how to cope but we had really reached breaking point and I was exhausted as a result of the difficulties I was having: Eliška was feeding and sleeping very erratically during the day, and waking every hour or two at night. That combined with the fact that she refused to take milk from a bottle and therefore I was the only one who could feed her had resulted in me being absolutely exhausted and not knowing how to get back on track.

Rae is warm and supportive, and I always felt comfortable in sharing problems. She immediately offered reassurance that we could definitely make some changes and that things could get better. She clearly has a wealth of practical experience to draw on to advise on what normally works with small babies.

Rae quickly diagnosed that baby Eliška was just never getting full, and as a result was hungry all the time and therefore not able to sleep for any length of time either day or night. With Rae's advice to structure the routine more formally, keep track of the feeds, start combination feeding by getting her to take the bottle and formula, and also to get her (silent) reflux addressed we started a new era...

Rae's practical advice and support gave me the confidence and strength to try and make changes, and with a little perseverance we got her to start taking the bottle. I could have (and did) cried with relief! At the same time the GP confirmed the diagnosis of silent reflux and started Eliška on medication to help address that. By the time Rae came to do her first night with us, we were already well on our way - Eliška was finally able to feed well enough to actually be full rather than constantly hungry, and the consequence of her feeding better during the day was that she also slept much better at night.

Now 8 weeks on, we still have our ups and downs (as any family with a refluxy baby will know) but overall we are in a completely different place - Eliška generally only waking once a night, and on good nights sleeping right through.

Rae arrived at a critical time for us: had we not found her when we did and had she not helped us get back on track, we could easily have just struggled on for months without knowing where we were going wrong. Her sound advice and reassurance really helped us turn a corner and although having a night nanny is not cheap, even though Rae actually only did 2 nights with us her support and practical advice will stay with us much longer”.

Lucy M. Gladstone Park, NW10

“Rae came into our lives when my little girl was 8 months old. She was waking once a night and I could just not resettle her without feeding her. I was also spending a lot of time in the day settling her for her daytime naps. Rae spent 1 day and 1 night with us. She is clearly extremely experienced and talented at what she does and has a great love for babies.

I found it was the tiniest tweaks to my routine that have made the hugest differences.Rae gave me the confidence to know that my baby was most definitely not hungry in the night and was waking to see her mum. My little girl woke at 4am the night Rae was with us and to 'wean' her off of her nightime milk Rae gave her water and then left her to go back to sleep. She resettled herself in no time. It was obvious I was not giving my baby the chance to do what she could obviously do herself. Rae came back us for a second night several nights later but my little girl hardly saw her as she slept from 8pm to 6am.

I would have absolutely no reservations recommending Rae to any mother and father. She is warm and kind and very knowledgable. She has made a huge difference to our lives. I can now put my baby in her cot and walk out of the room and she goes to sleep. The dreaded hours of crying I thought would follow have never occurred”.

Melanie H. Brookmans Park, Herts

“Rae spent two days with us and turned our chaotic household into an oasis of calm! Our 6 month old baby was feeding throughout the night and only ever napped for 15 minutes at a time during the day. We were exhausted.  Rae introduced a routine for him and within a day had him sleeping through the night and taking 2 hour naps. It was miraculous! We found all of Rae's suggestions helpful and logical and felt everything was in our baby's best interests.  She gave us advice about all aspects of his life and helped introduce him onto solids.  She was also very loving and affectionate towards him. Rae herself was sweet and gentle, and she had an air of competence and experience that immediately comforted us.  Whilst offering lots of advice she also encouraged us to take control of the situation and decide what was best for our son. I plan on recommending Rae to all my friends with babies and will definitely use her services again myself”.

Bronwyn van der M. Crouch End, N8

For any Moms and Dads out there who have been sleepless as long as we have, I recommend hiring Rae Albert to sort it out! She is experienced, Knowledgeable and Talented. She took great care with BOTH our little 5-month old son and ME; the over protective new Mother.

Our son had not slept for longer than 2.5 hours since he was born, and he was already 5 months old. In the last month, his sleeping habits had worsened, and I found myself up every hour. So in love with our little boy, I felt as if my own sleep didn't matter, but I didn't know how badly I needed my rest until Rae came. Additionally, I didn't realize that my methods were depriving our son from the time and space he needed for his own healthy sleep cycles.

The controlled crying technique was something I was very against, and though I briefly tried it on my own (in desperation), I achieved worse results than afterwards. I was very intent on not traumatizing our little boy to teach him how to sleep, but I understood it was essential and urgent! I hired Rae on the promise my son would not be abandoned in his nursery as he was learning his new sleep regime, like most of the sleep books instruct us to do. She stayed with him through his fussing and crying, which was only once for about 20 minutes, in order to get him to sleep. This was something I was not able to achieve on my own because I worried far too much about every little thing.

She was only here one day and one night yet less than a week after she has left our home there is a huge difference in our son's behavior and sleeping patterns. He is so happy and so well rested now! Now as I swaddle him, he has a big smile and he plays and giggles. (he is happy to go to bed!) I hold him for a brief two minutes before putting him in his crib (AWAKE) and I have found that he actually falls asleep better in his crib by himself than he ever did when I tried to have him fall asleep in my arms. And it is so nice not to have to spend an hour trying to get him to go to bed! It literally takes only the time it takes me to swaddle him and he is down for a few hours.

The other thing I love, is that I know when he is tired and when he needs to go to bed. There is no more guessing or trying. It just is what it is and he will follow the routine that I provide for him, Period. It is a great feeling of strength and confidence in parenting. Thank you Rae!

Paige B. Canary Wharf, E14

“Rae spent two nights with us, looking after our 24-week-old son, Alex. In that short space of time she solved two major problems: bottlefeeding and sleeping. Until she arrived, my son had been exclusively breastfed and refused to drink from a bottle, but I had to go back to work a month later and needed to wean him. By the time Rae left, he was guzzling down the formula quite happily. Before Rae arrived, we had also found it very difficult to settle Alex -- we spent our days outside wheeling him around in the buggy, and at night he woke up every two hours. By the time Rae left he was having three naps a day of between 1 and 2 hours, and would only wake once in the night for a feed. Rae also showed us how to implement a feeding and sleeping schedule which is highly flexible. As a result, Alex is much much happier, more settled and more rested. My partner and I can honestly say that the two days Rae spent with us transformed our life! Alex is now seven months old, eating well and sleeping through the night. We just wish we had found Rae earlier, and if we have another baby we will definitely ask for her help again”.

Tessa M. Oxford

“Wonderful Rae successfully got our very resistant, purely breastfed son onto a bottle in just one day. He now holds it with both hands like an old friend. I cannot recommend her highly enough. We could never have done it without her. She has a fantastic manner with kids - Leo was instantly in love. If only she could come and live with us forever!

Chloe L. Stoke Newington, N16

“Rae came to us last week for the day my baby girl Isabella is 7 months and still wasn't really sleeping through the night, i also condsidered it "normal" to go out with her twice a day to get her to have a nap in her buggy, never in her cotl! I could never put her down for sleep it just wasn't possible without her screaming. We got in touch with rae, she came for just the day and really helped us, Isabella is now sleeping through the night and has been going down in her cot for naps having proper naps for the right amount of time, we're on a proper routine and know where we all stand. I'm very grateful to Rae she worked wonders my only regret is leaving it seven months before we contacted her! She also follows through with aftercare so you’re never on your own. I'd really recommend her”.

Felicity F. Hampstead Garden Suburb, N2

“I enlisted Rae's help as I was struggling to get my four month old to sleep in his cot and he was also feeding several times per night. Rae is extremely professional and very experienced with baby routines. I do believe she could solve any sleep problem. She very quickly settled my lovely baby and he was soon sleeping through the night. I would definitely recommend her to any family needing help to settle their baby”.

Sarah J. Sloane Square, SW1

Reference 1

“I had just had an another baby and my 2 ½ year old, was getting more and more difficult to handle, he would not listen, he would run off when we were out and was generally badly behaved. The worst part of his behaviour was displayed at mealtimes. Every mealtime was stressful. We had to feed him by playing games or diverting his attention, whilst at nursery he fed himself and used to ask for seconds. And he was apparently very well behaved at nursery! At mealtimes half the food would be on the floor, a quarter on the table or on himself and the rest, somehow, in his belly. Mealtimes were not enjoyable for us to say the least. The other problem was settling him down for his nap, he would always fight his sleep even though he was really tired and then he would be really cranky for the rest of the day. I was concerned that his behaviour would rub off on the baby. My friend suggested Rae to me and it took me about a month to actually contact her, as I thought that this terrible phase of his would end and in the meanwhile I tried reading books on toddlers to control his behaviour. I did eventually ring Rae and it was the best thing I ever did! She was really understanding and spent a long time with me on the phone advising me. When Rae came to visit us she changed our lives. She taught us techniques as to how to deal with mealtimes, naptimes, how to deal with the other problems we were facing and she also set a routine in place. She was with us for the whole day and in that time showed us where we were going wrong as parents and how to better understand our son. I wish I had called Rae when I first started to experience these problems. In one day she transformed my son into a toddler that sits on his high chair until mealtime is over, who naps willingly, who listens (well most of the time) and who appreciates me now (he tells me he loves me at least 5 times a day!). I would highly recommend Rae, she is a godsend and is a very sweet and kind person who is soo amazingly in tune with children!

Kavita P. Ilford, Essex

Reference 2 (Baby sister of above)

My baby was 9 months when Rae came to visit us. She was still in our room and was waking up a few times at night. She refused to take a bottle so I was still breastfeeding her. I was trying giving her various dairy products as a substitute for formula milk as I didn’t feel she was getting enough milk from me. Her weight was on the low side and I felt she didn’t sleep much as she was hungry. I was also finding it very hard to slot her into a routine with her being breastfed. Rae spent a day and night with my daughter and got her to take formula milk from a bottle. She also moved her cot into her nursery and got her going through the night. She devised a routine for her during the day to suit her needs. Rae is absolutely fantastic and knows what to do and when to do it when faced with a problem that a child is having. I would recommend Rae a million times over. My daughter now loves her milk is a contended little baby! Thank you Rae!

Kavita P. Ilford, Essex

“Rae was introduced to my family back in May after my normally contented little baby became fussy and unsettled. Before she came over for her assesment on my 4 month old daughter we had a very good, long chat on the phone and she seemed very confident that she knew what was wrong with my little girl. She came over the next morning and went straight to work with her. We felt so relaxed in her company. She was so friendly and kind and felt more like a family member. We determined that my little girl was getting overtired and as a result she wasn't eating well. We established a new routine together which made me feel much more at ease and we notice a difference in her straight away. Rae only needed one day with us and she solved the problem!

We wouldn't hesitate to recommend Rae, our little 'Rae' of sunshine!

Joanne L. Whetstone, N20

“We cannot thank Rae enough for the help she has given us. Her methods have given us results that we could not imagine were possible this time last week. Before she came our 8 week old son refused to sleep in his moses basket so would always have to be held by us to get to sleep during the day or sleep in our bed at night. She showed us what to do to stop this and now he happily will go to sleep in his own bed!

Rae also helped to structure out a routine which means I have some time to myself during the day which is invaluable”.

When Ethan is awake he is now a very happy and contented baby. This was all achieved in a short 24 hours, truly amazing!

Lesley L. Stanmore, Middx

“We booked Rae so that we could get some sleep as our five month old was still waking every hour or so through the night. Rae was amazing, far better than we could ever have hoped! She helped us get him into a routine, and suggested ways to help him sleep. We even starting swaddling him, which he loved! I had seen a sleep consultant before for the baby, but wasn’t happy to let him cry as I felt that he was too young for that sort of solution. I was so relieved when Rae said that there is no need to let babies cry as there shouldn’t be anything for them to cry about. She found out why he was crying, and gave us solutions to help him. We are so grateful to her for all her help, her continued support and advice and her kind and gentle manner at a time when we were at our wits’ end”.

Ellie H. West Hampstead, NW6


I am happy to provide contact telephone numbers and email addresses for all the above testimonials