Freja is a cheeky, confident, smart, clever and strong-willed little girl. We had never managed to get a good sleep routine in place for her. We had tried the ‘cry it out’ method a few times over the years, which just didn’t work for us.
Before we started Amanda’s Platinum Programme, Freja was being sung to sleep whilst holding onto my hair. She was waking up at around 4am and coming into our bed each night. Once our second baby daughter arrived, we realised we really needed to sort out the whole family’s sleep habits. We were all constantly tired, cranky and run down.
As soon as we had had our Initial Meeting with Amanda we knew we were dealing with an expert. Amanda instantly understood our situation and had practical advice for us. She engaged Freja in the whole process, which was brilliant. Freja responded well to the tools such as the Magic Jar, Checklist, Porridge and Chair. Amanda helped me realize that it wasn’t just Freja with separation anxiety – it was also me!
The whole family has been on a change journey and what a change it has been! After going through the Four-Stage Programme, first completely reassuring Freja, then gradually but continually making changes to remove the level of reassurance, the end result is now a little girl who happily goes to sleep by herself and stays in her own bed all night until after 6am.
This is a huge change for us and we are so proud of Freja for going through the programme. It was very tough at times. We had tantrums and tears each time we moved on to a different stage in the Programme, but Amanda was there to support us the whole way through via WhatsApp and calls. This support, advice and reassurance along the way was invaluable and ensured that we stayed consistent and stuck to the plan. At the end of the Programme the nicest thing is how proud Freja is of herself for making the changes. She has even more energy than before and no longer has evening tantrums. Even her nursery teacher commented on how much more chatty and energetic Freja is in the afternoons.
Luckily Freja was already a good eater, so we focused mainly on the sleep side of things in the Programme. However, even making some seemingly small changes to Freja’s diet made a big difference to our bedtime routine such as cutting out snacks after nursery and replacing them with ‘Magic Porridge’. This resulted in less sugar-fuelled tantrums and antics at bath and bed time. Moving bedtime earlier has also made a positive difference to our evenings. With Freja asleep by 7pm there is time to actually cook a dinner and enjoy an evening together. The whole family has benefited hugely. We have just started our youngest daughter Zenia (9 months) on the Silver Programme and she is responding really well so far.
We can’t recommend the Programme highly enough.
By working with Amanda we have improved our own understanding of how we want to parent and to set routines and boundaries. It has been an eye-opening, challenging and ultimately hugely rewarding experience. We had basically given up hope of having unbroken nights of sleep – it’s pretty amazing to have that hope restored and realized.
