I recently had a Mothercraft nurse come to my home for 3 hours to assist me with my 12 week old baby. My main problem has been a catnapping baby during the day. The nurse was lovely and had a warm and approachable manner. She suggested that I leave the baby to cry for 1 minute and then spend 3 minutes settling her - repeating the process until the baby had drifted off to sleep. We spent most of the 3 hour session on this issue. What she suggested is essentially a form of controlled crying. After she left and on reflection, I didn't feel comfortable implementing this strategy - particularly given that my baby is still quite young. Everything that I could find online suggests that this form of "comfort settling" isn't really recommended for babies under 6 months.

If you are going to book a session through Mothercraft, I recommend that you find out on the phone beforehand what their general approach is to the issue that you have. If you don't feel comfortable with their approach, it's a waste of money having a session. Her advice actually left me feeling conflicted and anxious after the session, rather than reassured (especially once I started doing some research to see if this approach was generally recommended for young babies).

As for the post consultation follow-up, it was a very brief text message so don't expect a high level of engagement from the consultant after the session.

Approximate cost: $302