About me

Types of challenges Julie can support you with:

• Babies needing to be rocked to sleep – on you or driven in the car
• Falling asleep on the breast and bottle and then waking for this pattern to be repeated
• Separation Anxiety
• Bedtime Resistance
• Sleep Disorders
• Transitioning from Co-Sleeping
• General routines
• Feeding problems including Tongue Tie, Reflux, Breastfeeding.
• Challenging behaviour from Toddlers through to School aged children

Methods

Julie uses gentle methods which do not rely on controlled crying or ‘cry it out’ methods. She does not believe one approach fits all and is therefore sensitive in ensuring all parents have a plan and way forward which meets their personal needs, individual parenting styles and the temperament and needs of the babies and children she works with. Julie believes attachment and emotional security are the foundations on which babies develop in to independent individuals. Helping babies to learn to be dependent on the main carer means they will then become more independent over time. Julie’s approach will support you in understanding how this happens and how to achieve your own goals.

Julie believes in providing a discreet, high-quality service and is known for being both friendly and professional, receiving high praise from families she has worked with. She takes pride in knowing that the parents she has worked with can now enjoy their time with their young children and face problems head-on.

References & testimonials

The help that Julie gave us was, we felt, invaluable. The gift of sleep for any parent is the most amazing thing. We first contacted Julie feeling utterly exhausted and unsure of our ability to help our son to sleep well. With Julie’s carefully thought out sleep plan we saw amazing results within days, Solomon was sleeping so much better and learning to self soothe which felt miraculous. Most importantly Julie helped us to understand Solomon’s individual needs. There is no one size fits all with babies, they are all different and Julie’s approach enabled us to understand what would help our son wind down, and what kind of a routine was needed to help with this. She did this all in a professional, gentle way that gave us confidence in ourselves and in the fact that there was hope! Our son is now 1 and sleeps beautifully. Thank you, Julie! We urge anyone looking for a sleep consultant to go with Julie. – Rachel – January 2019

I’m sure like many of the parents you encounter, when we contacted you we were both exhausted and our 6 months of profound sleep deprivation was affecting all areas of our lives together and as parents to A. 

You really came to us in our darkest hour and even during the most intense 14 hours and having never met you before – you were a constant source of reassurance and support. Your expertise shone through alongside your gentleness and kindness and a clear passion for the babies and families you work with.

All of this meant we gave you our unconditional trust and respect and as a result were able to follow all your plans to the letter. 

You were an excellent listener and observer and were able to tailor each plan to A’s changing needs and our capabilities and anxieties as her parents. 

I would never have imagined that within a week our beautiful baby would have gone from countless night wakings to sleeping through the night and what made it more amazing was that I never did anything that went against my instinct and parenting philosophy. I was there and still am every time she needed me!

Julie – I really don’t have the words to describe the huge impact this change has had on all of our lives! We call you ‘our angel sleep lady’ to all our friends – you have changed our lives and we can never thank you enough nor will we ever forget you! – April 2016

After 2 years of little sleep, rocking, singing, feeding, crying, tantrums we had a lot to deal with, we never thought my daughter would ever learn how to sleep! We had tried everything with her and our patients, energy and tolerance was wearing very thin. We contacted Julie for a telephone consultation, our whole life changed from this point. Julie is very professional, knowledgeable, supportive and a very understanding lady. She individualised our daughters sleep routine gaining information on her and our wishing before tailoring the sleep routine for our needs. We had a lot of work to do with our daughter but having Julie with us made the whole experience positive, even on those nights when I had wobbles and felt we would never get there, Julie was always on hand to be the voice of reason, giving me confidence and support. The end result is absolutely amazing, our daughter now enjoys bedtime and rushes up the stairs for her bedtime routine to start, she goes in her bed beautifully with no worries at all, instead of crying and tantrums, she now wishes us goodnight and doesn’t worry at all when we turn the light off and walk out of her room. We can’t thank Julie enough, she has given us our sanity back as well as our evening as a couple, we now even have conversations not based around our daughter sleep habits. Julie you are amazing ‘Thank you!’ – Kerry – October 2014

Julie has transformed our lives. For eleven long months I have co-slept with our son who woke anywhere between every 20 minutes to two hours. I was tired and missing spending time with my husband and having any time to myself. A friend recommended Julie and from the moment I spoke to her on the phone I felt instantly reassured. At this point we felt like we’d tried everything, bought every gadget and read every book. Julie came to our home and soon devised a gentle plan to get our son to sleep in his cot that met his needs and ours. My main priority was that he didn’t feel abandoned or distressed but I needn’t have worried because Julie was just as concerned for his welfare. The first night was intensive as we stayed with him for most of the night, all three of us, to reassure him there was nothing to worry about. The second night, we left him and within 15 minutes he had gone from grizzling, to chatting, to sleep! The second night is even more miraculous, he slept after a matter of minutes and I’ve just had to disturb him to feed him as I was in a bit of discomfort, having previously breastfed him throughout the night. I’m pretty sure he would have slept through! Words I thought I’d never had uttered. I really don’t think you can put a price on sleep and Julie is worth every penny. Personable, reassuring, attentive and an expert in her field. Now I just need some tips on how to get mummy to sleep through the night! I can’t thank you enough Julie! – Parent, Fiona B., February 2014

This was a Night Nanny position looking after 2 month old twins
Julie Heginbottom worked with us in January, giving me a couple of nights rest whilst she cared for our baby twins. Julie made me feel at ease straight away and was very caring and considerate towards the babies and myself, maintaining the overnight routine we already had in place. The twins responded positively to her and were immediately comfortable being held and played with Julie gave me some advice on routines and feeding and also recognised one of the twins was having difficulty with his breathing. Even though I had already been to the doctors I had been told there was nothing to worry about. Julie suggested my baby had infant asthma and from our discussion I had the confidence to return to the doctors and see a different GP. I was prescribed immediate asthma medication and antibiotics. I am grateful to Julie for her advice, reassurance and support and would highly recommend her to other parents needing some overnight rest and the opportunity to catch up on some sleep.’ – Parent, Cate B, February 2014

I’d really just like to say a very big ‘Thank you’ from myself and my partner for all of the support you have given us as a family with helping with my daughters sleeping. I must say I was very surprised and shocked at just how thorough and accurate you phone consultation was! You hit the nail on the head every-time and each bit of advice and routine detail you have given us has made a knock on effect from the very first night! Night one I felt very supported and strong thank you to you! And I kept it together with your advice and it has paid off! I cannot thank you enough and if their is anyone reading this that is thinking of enquiring to Julie for help, just like I did, the DO IT! You will not regret it and it will be the best thing you do. Do not wait! – Parent, February 2014

“When chatting to a friend about how desperate I was to get our 7 month old baby napping for longer than half an hour and help with sleeping through the night she recommended Julie telling me she had been great when supporting her friend and establishing a routine. Julie at this time gave such valuable and sound advice in an hour’s consultation that soon our son was increasing his nap time significantly and was getting himself naturally into a nice routine.

We have called upon Julie’s help since when our son was a year old. When I returned to work he seemed to struggle to relax and drift off to sleep on his own, something that was not previously a difficulty. It was taking us up to two stressful hours to get him to sleep and he was frequently waking through the night and crying when we left the room. Julie was amazing she was so calm and guided us through the whole night step by step in person. It was so reassuring to know that she was there, I instantly felt relaxed and comfortable listening to her guidance. Our little boy now manages to settle himself to sleep if he does wake at night and goes to sleep peacefully almost as soon as we lay him down in his cot which has resulted in a much happier, calmer household.” -Parent – Jodie G, January 2014

“Julie helped us with our twin boys sleeping at night. They used to wake frequently and took ages to settle back to sleep usually with the aid of a feed which they didn’t need. With her help, we were able to reassure them that we were there for them but not feed them.
I would recommend Julie to anyone who needs her!” -Parent of 10 month old twin boys, Ipswich, March 2013

“Mrs Heginbottom has been helping us as a maternity nurse since the end of January 2013, on average two days and one night a week, with twin girls from when they were about 2 months old. Most of the time she has been taking care of the two girls entirely, sometimes together with their mother. Julie has also been helpful with baby-related household work, and we are grateful that she is flexible with scheduling changes at short notice. She is experienced with young babies and patient and seemingly inexhaustible when they are difficult. We feel the babies have gained from interacting with Julie through playing, chatting, as well as from having their day gently structured according to their age.”

“Julie was a wonderful nanny. She was in a sole charge role and my daughters were very well cared for. She was punctual, reliable and conscientious.”

“Julie was very professional and knowledgeable.  She had a lovely manner with my son and he warmed to her immediately.  I felt very happy to leave him with Julie and felt that he was looked after extremely well.  Julie was always very punctual and flexible.  I would recommend her without reservation.  I am hoping that Julie will continue to do some nannying for us in the future.”

“Julie Heginbottom worked with myself and my seven-month old son in January 2013.  She was excellent.  I was having difficulties getting him to sleep in his cot during the day and also difficulties in swapping him from breast milk to formula milk.  Julie gave excellent advice and support with both problems.  He is now only breast feeding twice a day and is sleeping in his cot without any crying.”

“Today, is the first day in a very long time that I have felt vaguely human and not desperately tired, so it’s a huge improvement on where we were!” – Amba

“I contacted Julie for a telephone consultation because I was sick of trawling the internet reading conflicting opinions on what was best to do for my baby. You could spend hours trying to find the answer. Now I realise whilst Julie’s advice is simple, when you are in the thick of it trying to bring up a baby, sometimes the obvious things don’t occur to you. The follow up document I received soon after our conversation meant I had my action plan to hand and it was personalised to my baby, not a generic list of advice. I will use Julie in the future as I’m sure there will be something else that crops up!” – Emily H, Mother of 8-year old girl

“Julie has been fantastic and I would recommend any parent who needs some advice on feeding or sleeping to use her services” – Parent of 6 month old

“Julie has always been a well organised person with activities for the children that were stimulating and fun. The children were always safe and felt secure and happy in her care. Julie was always firm but fair and the children were happy knowing the boudaries. Julie is a reliable person who keeps calm in any situation and can deal with anything thrown at her” – Helen, a Nanny