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Original poster

Alison Scott-Wright - have you used her sleep method?

82 replies

Mishee · 15/03/2007 16:03

Met Alison at The Baby Show and wondered if anyone had tried her sleeping plan? If so, how did it go?

OP posts:
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leina · 11/06/2009 14:09

Alison is a truly amazing person. We have just had her stay with us for the last week as I couldnt get my 4 mth old daughter to take a bottle. All the health vistors etc had told me that she was fussy and i just needed to keep trying. Alison immediately saw what the problem was. My daughter has silent reflux, and her symptoms were so hidden that no one had ever spotted them.
Our lives are now completely changed. I couldnt understand why my daughter was always so cranky and I thought I had PND as I couldnt bond with her. Since Alison has left my daughter sleeps through the night (7 till 7 without any night time feeds)
She is taking the bottle slowly and has changed into a happy little girl. Im also doing really well and feel energised and back to my old self. My husband and I are also now bonding and sleeping in the same bed again.
Alison is a miracle worker and she has a unique quality and understanding of babies

shellki · 11/06/2009 14:43

What is her sleeping plan or where do we find out about it?

poshtottie · 11/06/2009 14:57

I found this article from her. here

Very similar to Gina Ford.

rubyslippers · 11/06/2009 15:10

After about 2 weeks of having just the one feed at night, I started to ?water-down? the milk by adding less scoops of formula. This one feed then continued until the 9th week. At this stage, the boys were 5weeks old, corrected age, and were usually waking around 4am for their feed, but then not really wanting their feed at 7am.

watering down feeds for a 5 week old

I certainly wouldn't be trying it

likessleep · 11/06/2009 15:17

agree with rubyslippers. Giving a 5 week old water?

poshtottie · 11/06/2009 16:21

I wanted to know what someone else thought about that before I posted. As a maternity nurse I didn't want to be crytical of someone elses methods but I was a bit
at the watering down of feeds. I always thought it was important to get the ratios of formula to water correct. I've never heared of this before.

Believer1973 · 17/01/2010 14:10

Don't judge without trying! Alison is a savour! A very knowledgable one. Since when is H2O bad for a baby? Isn't 80%-90% of any bottle mixed with formula mixed with water? Water is not instead of it's used as a plus. So perhaps Alison is teaching us something new it doesn't mean it's wrong. Infact when I was a baby my mother used to also give me boiled water plus my milk feeds. Was perfectly normal & ok then. I was a very healthy baby & I still prefer H2o above all.

Heathcliffscathy · 17/01/2010 14:12

clearly this is a pr drive for alison.

so transparent!

Lulumama · 17/01/2010 14:15

boiled water for a newborn is absolutely not necessary , unless you live somewhere really really really hot

it is not a bad thing to give, BUT giving a new born water when they are HUNGRY for milk, their only source of food, is wrong.

training a 5 week old to sleep thorugh and depriving them of nourishment, if htey need it, is wrong

filling their tummy with water just fillls them up for a little while, but does not nourish

i cannot support or agree with any 'baby guru' who advocates giving water instead of milk to a newborn

babies do wake in the night for feeding. that is how it is

their tummies are minute and need filling often

TheBreastmilksOnMe · 17/01/2010 14:18

Very young babies need the calories and fat from milk, filling them up with water is not giving them any nutriton and can lead to weight loss. Reducing a young babies feeds at night so that you can get some sleep seems cruel and selfish to me. They only have tiny tummies that is why they wake often as they need them filling. It's not rocket science. I'd steer well clear of any person who advocates these feeding methods for a 5 week old baby.

Lulumama · 17/01/2010 14:22

watering down feeds also means the baby does not get the right amount of nutrients

this is bonkers

babies need feeding in the night

re Leina - did alison cure the reflux?

this is clearly as Soph has said a transparent PR drive

furthermore, anyone breastfeeding who was advicsed to cut out or cut down on night feeds at 5 weeks, for example, would find breastfeeding coming to a swift end

TheBreastmilksOnMe · 17/01/2010 14:26

Things like this make me so mad Lulumama. It is bonkers. When did people stop listening to their instincts? Why do people feel the need to follow some total strangers ideas on how to bring up their own babies? Strangers who, nine times out of ten don't even have children of their own.

Lulumama · 17/01/2010 14:29

i find it really sad that women will believe that their babies do not need feeding, that they are manipualtive and their behaviour is something that they can be trained out of at such a tender age.

it is saddening that a baby's most basic need for food is not being met

also, feeding is not just about milk going in, but about holding your baby, nurturing them, getting eye contact and loving them

traeting feeding time as something they should be trained out of is horrible

i understand the sleep deprivation etc. but 5 weeks? let's talk again about sleep training 12 months down the line

TheBreastmilksOnMe · 17/01/2010 14:49

It saddens me too. I hear mums talking in mother and toddler groups about their tiny babies as though they are manipulative little creatures hell-bent on ruining the parents lives. Babies needs and wants are the same thing and they need to be held and fed and to feel the warmth from their mother. Not be shut in a room on their own and left to 'cry it out' so that they 'learn' that they cannot 'get their own way by crying'. They are only little for such a short time. Baby your baby and hold them close, respond to their crying as soon as you can and feed them as often as they need it. It won't damage them and you won't making a rod for your own back. You'd be trusting your instincts.

BeckyE · 01/02/2010 16:48

I am due in 5 weeks and about half way through Alison's book which i was given after a friend read an article about her in the paper.

I haven't (yet - although as i say - only half way through) read anything telling you to water down the feeds. Basically, she tells you to feed about every 3 hours in the day and that you should feed the baby at night if he/she wakes, but that if you feed every 3 hours during the day, it is likely they will sleep through the night after about 8/10 weeks.

Obviously, have no experience of this in action yet (so will stand corrected if nec), but I think perhaps people are being a bit harsh without knowing what the book actually says (no offence intended) (smile).

BeckyE · 01/02/2010 17:49

Ah...(blush). I have just picked the book up and literally turned 1 page to find a point about diluting a nighttime feed to reduce reliance on nourishment during the night!!!

lisianthus · 01/02/2010 17:54

"if you feed every 3 hours during the day, it is likely they will sleep through the night after about 8/10 weeks."

I wish ... I clicked on the thread hoping I'd find the "magic solution", but this plus the dodgy advice on watering down formula has put me right off. Drat.

Jamieandhismagictorch · 01/02/2010 17:59

sophable thank God someone else has said it. My first reaction too.

AFAIK watering down is not correct. The baby will be getting the same volume of liquid, but with less nutrients. I would not do that at 5 weeks

beammeupscotty · 03/02/2010 21:38

Honestly cant see point of watering down feed. Whats it meant to achieve.? If they wake because they are thirsty giving watered down feed quenches their thirst - but so does formula. If they are hungry watered down feed doesnt satisfy them! Just dont get it, seems pointless - just feed as normal and both needs satisfied. Dont believe for one minute babies will 'get it' either - they give up night feeds when theyre ready - end of Sounds like another nutty GF moment

Flibbertyjibbet · 03/02/2010 21:51

Why has Leina found an old thread from 3 years ago and raked it up with her piece of obvious copywriting

Re Alison, I am of the opinion that any baby expert wanting the best for baby would be encouraging breast feeding on demand.. not watering down formula.

And if I had tried to feed either of my boys at 3 hourly intervals, well the neighbours would surely have called social services by day 3 because they'd have had their feed then screamed for another for the next 2.5 hours.

Another baby guru with just no idea about babies imo.

TheGruffaloMami · 07/02/2010 22:34

I've borrowed the book from a friend to help with suspected reflux.

Page 8 declares 'I fail to understand why parents are encouraged to respond to a 'demand' from a baby in the first few months wheras a 'demand' from a toddler is then deemed to be unacceptable behaviour. Parenting starts from Day 1....surely it is you, the parent, who needs to be the one to put the boundaries in place, rather than your baby?'

I won't comment on how strongly I feel about that statement until I can do so without getting mumsnet sued, or my message deleted.

ChristianaTheTwelfth · 07/02/2010 22:39

Message withdrawn

Original poster
Mishee · 12/02/2010 16:33

It was me who posted the original message, nearly 3 years ago. In desperation (my 6 month old would only sleep in a moving pram or car during the day and fed from my breast ALL through the night in my bed, while DH was in the spare room). I don't know about watering down night feeds or anything like that. What I do know is that I did decide to book Alison for 3 nights. Within 9 minutes (seriously) of her helping me & DD, DD was asleep in her cot. On night 3 DD slept through (11 hours) and we have had no problems with her sleeping ever since (other than when she had chicken pox & that sort of thing). I haven't read the book, & so am not commenting on that, but through Alison teaching her HOW to sleep, DD's personality changed overnight. I remember the day Alison left, someone I had never met before saying what a delightful personality DD had and that was the first compliment anyone had ever said about her, (other than about the way she looked) because she was always so grouchy before because she was so tired. I hope I'm not slated for being a fan of Alison - certainly for my daughter's sleep problems she was a star.

OP posts:
BertieBotts · 12/02/2010 16:49

It's more dangerous to water down formula than give water separately anyway, because water in food (like water blended into soups or baby purees) will fill you up, whereas water drunk on its own doesn't (it will fill a baby up, to some extent, but not nearly as much as it would do when mixed with formula).

There was a study on this but I don't know what it was called or who did it, sorry.

TheGruffaloMami · 12/02/2010 16:51

I confess - I'm curious.... what exactly did The Magic Sleep Fairy do in those magical nine minutes?
As far as I could see, her book gave appalling and IMO dangerous advice on sleeping, feeding and weaning.