Flourishing Mum ★★★★★

I first met Vicki by telephone, a warm bright voice answered and willingly answered my many questions. Our first conversation was somewhat of an interrogation and Vicki to her credit did not flinch. She answered every question in full and each one with a confidence I had not heard before. At the time I had a 5.5 month old little boy, who had not slept during the day since he was 9 weeks old. I had comforted myself with the fact that he slept an entire 12hours at night. But as I explained to Vicki, recently he had started waking during the night, I was getting very concerned. A friend had heard Vicki speak at a SPACE meeting and thought she might be able to help me.

I am a well-educated person, I have a Masters in Finance, a First class honours degree in Finance and Economics. Prior to having our first child I had enjoyed a very successful career in Corporate Banking spanning almost 10 years. I have negotiated incredibly difficult and complex transactions in Energy & Infrastructure, worked long hours for months on end and faced very stressful restructures (during the 2008 financial crisis). Personally I have successfully faced many resilience requiring events. I have a wonderful loving and supportive husband and financially we are able to provide for our family. However, I can honestly say, nothing had prepared me for the challenges that occur when motherhood arrives at your door.

I could not crack this 'challenge of sleep'. I could make our wee boy smile and giggle, but sleep - forget about it. I read books, searched the internet, asked other mothers and tried to replicate what they were doing. Nothing helped. I spent hours trying to fix the problem and ended up with a crying unhappy baby, I decided if he didn't want to sleep he didn't have to. But what happens if they start waking in the night too - the only part of the day where there is peace. Needlesss to say, I was extremely sceptical that Vicki could help after all I had tried everything. I gave her a serious grilling yet she sounded genuine - that perhaps she had a way I hadn't tried, so finally I asked her "you aren't going to come in to my home waving crystals or some other strange crap are you?". She laughed and assured me she had no strange beliefs or powers. She was hired.

Vicki arrived the next morning. She taught me so much in two hours. Within 24 hours our wee boy was having day time sleeps day and back to sleeping through the night. It took a few more weeks of phone calls before I had "Vicki's rules of thumb sorted" and she was always there answering her phone when I needed advice. She often asked me, "what do you think needs to happen". It was not Vicki telling me what to do, it was Vicki coaching me. She said "I want you to be a confident mother, I want you to know what to do". It was frustrating at times because I just wanted someone to solve my problem and tell me what to do. But I am so glad she does not work that way, because I needed to learn and be independent. I had lost so much confidence and Vicki helped me get it back, she also gave me that tools to be successful. I learnt some valuable lessons and equally important we had a happy family again. Everyone is much happier with sleep, mothers, baby's and the daddy too!

Of course baby's are continually changing, we hit a bumpy road when Daniel was 12 months so I called Vicki again. The response was the same. Yes we can sort that. And she did. At 18 months when I was struggling to keep Daniel in a day sleep, she sorted us/him again. Thanks to Vicki he is an amazing sleeper, what gift to have a child that sleeps happily is bliss. With so much research pointing to the detrimental effects of sleep deprivation in children - leading to behavioural issues - it really is critical that baby's sleep - happily. I continue to use many of her tools and he is almost 3 years old. I currently have a newborn baby girl, Hannah is 9 weeks old. She is a delight. I called Vicki when we were pregnant. She met with me the week before Hannah was due. She has supported me since the birth and again I have learnt so much. Second time around does not necessarily make a wiser mother. I was very concerned about making the same mistakes again, while I was sure I knew what not to do, I had no idea what I should do! Vicki has been amazing. Hannah is a wonderful baby and I am a much happier mother. Our home is happier, expectations are realistic and we are not as worried when the inevitable bumps occur along the road.

What makes Vicki so successful? Perhaps it is that she doesn't treat babies or mothers like textbooks. She gets to know you. She gets to know your baby. She doesn't need long because she has an incredible natural affinity with people. She listens and makes recommendations based on your individual situation - always working alongside you making sure you are comfortable with every suggestion. She is encouraging and patient and she knows how to coach tired, exhausted, emotionally weak mothers. It is a rare person who can understand and help a mother in need by tailoring the advice to the mothers emotional state/capacity and then coaching her in to a healthy confident place. Vicki has this ability. She is a wonderful person indeed. I am so pleased to have met her because with her help I have been able to enjoy motherhood and benefit from happy well rested children.

I highly recommend Vicki to all mothers, first time or not, you will benefit from wonderful advice that will help you with all aspects of having a baby. She is incredible with advice from newborn to toddlers. She is a genuine sleep expert who knows babies and children. I am one of the most skeptical people, but if you are willing to learn she will teach you the keys to a happy, sleeping baby… and family! I am happy to provide further verbal recommendation should you require any further assistance in your search for a "Baby Whisperer".