"When we called Jo Tantum to come and help with our five month old baby we were feeling completely desperate. Not only did she wake at least 4 times a night, she refused to sleep longer than 20 minutes at a time during the day leaving us and her totally miserable. We had no routine at all. Sleep for every family is a precious commodity but with me up at 4.30 am every morning to go to work life was beginning to feel a little hard to say the least.

Until a friend gave us a copy of Jo's book, "Baby Secrets" (Penguin), before that we felt our only choices were the horrors of controlled crying or just relenting to having her in our bed all night (where she still didn't sleep!).

Jo's techniques however fall somewhere in the middle. She is firm but kind with it and after only one day our baby girl slept 7 til 7 the very first night which was astounding. We couldn't believe it.

Not only that but after a couple of weeks of using the techniques and new routine Jo gave us she now sleeps a good couple of hours at lunch time too! We were lucky enough to have Jo's help in person but if we knew of her book earlier on we would easily been able to follow the techniques from her book which is just so easy to read and gives such clear instructions on her methods. "Baby Secrets" really should be no 1 on the baby book list for any parent.

There are so many books on the market all offering conflicting advice to sleep deprived mums and dads this is the only one to make a difference in our babys routine. Its tried and tested, humane and considered advice that actually works immediately and is easy to understand and follow. A must read for any parent. The best of its kind and a soon to be classic i'm sure."

The Christian O'Connell Breakfast Show on Virgin Radio .

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Dear Jo, I am a new mom, originally from Colombia, but living in New Zealand. My little baby, Gabriel, will be four months next week and he is a fantastic little baby. Some people say that is his temperament, but I know that he is so lovely also because of your AWESOME advice!! I had a pretty hard birth experience, ending with an emergency C-section. I think it totally undermined my confidence and made me completely doubt my capacity as a mom. I suffered a mild case of Postnatal depression, agravated by the fact that my mom, who is my main source of support, had to go back to Colombia when Gabriel was one month. I was lucky because I was able to find a great PND support group, but I also think that finding your book, and starting a bedtime routine when Gabriel was 5 weeks really helped me a lot to get my confidence back. Gabriel is now very happy settled into his routine, I feel more free to go places and do fun stuff with him and I also know when and how to get him to sleep and feed and I can read him and his needs so much better. My husband, who is German and a scientist, was a bit exceptic at first, but now he is also very keen on the routine and helps a lot with the evening routine. After Gabriel is in bed, we have time to have our dinner and have some time to ourselves to do other things and it is great, especially for me, since I am trying to publish some papers from my PhD dissertation, so I get some time for myself!!! Gabriel is such a happy baby and using spaced soothing I can get him to sleep anywhere, in our friends beds but also on the floor during my postnatal yoga class!!!! My friends are amazed about this! I knew about the soothing point in the middle of his forehead from my mom, so I was using that already, but it really works wonders!!!! I feel so much happier and confident and I really think I am now a better mom for little Gabriel. We are now going on an overseas trip around the world to visit family, and yes, I am a bit nervous, but I think that if I follow the advice you give for travelling we will be fine and it will be a great adventure. Thank you SOOOOOO much for your wonderful book! All the best.

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Jo helped my husband and I enormously with our newborn twins Harriet and Evie. She has great twin experience and confidently set about establishing our girls into a workable and adaptable routine. She also made us feel very capable and gave us invaluable advice on how to care for our twins and made the task seem far less daunting. Our babies were 7 weeks old when Jo left us and I am happy to say that they were both sleeping through the night from the age of 12 weeks and are now both extremely easy, happy and settled babies. We are very grateful for all Jo's help.

Vanessa

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Jo Tantum came to us, through a recommendation, to help us after the birth of our second daughter, Amy. Although we were not first time parents and we knew what to expect, it was essential for us to put Amy on a schedule. With our eldest, we had so many sleepless nights and never knew when she would wake, whether she was hungry etc. With Amy, we have stuck to Jo's routine since she was born. She is now 14 months. At 6:30pm she goes up for a bath and by 7:15pm she is asleep and sleeps straight through to 6:30 - 7 am.

This allows me to have dinner with my husband and my eldest daughter at a civilised time. It is also very unusual for Amy to wake in the middle of the night. In most cases she will put herself back to sleep, if not, she is up for a reason either teething or growth spurts. Although in theory the routine sounds harsh, I can assure anyone that babies love routines and it really does make your life easier and more manageable, just stick it out. Thanks Jo!!

Sandra

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When I found out I was pregnant with my second set of twins, I hired Jo who came highly recommended. It was very difficult for me to get my first set of twins on a schedule, it took me months and their napping or bedtime routines were never set in stone. It made mine and my husband's life very hectic.

Jo showed me how to put the girls on a routine, how to eliminate day/night confusion, and how to get them to sleep through the night. She taught me how to organize and showed me numerous time saving tips. She made such a difference in our lives. The girls were in bed by 7pm and I had time to spend with my older twins and my husband. Two years later and Sophia and Cara still nap two hours a day and sleep 11 hours a night!! Jo was a pleasure to be around, my older twins loved her. She made a huge impact on our family.

Kate

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'We will never be able to thank you enough for everything you have done, I have no doubt that the girls are much happier now and me and Marc get time to be a couple again…You’ve given me back the most important things in life, laughter, joy and the best bit…..sleep.

Thanks a million and good luck with your book & future TV appearances…we’ll be watching

Lots of Love Marc, Amanda & Sophie and Chloe XXX - 'GMTV Family'

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'She is very experienced in looking after new-born babies and brought a host of calm and useful tips and advice to two parents who had forgotten what small babies could be like.

We have no hesitation in recommending Jo as a highly competent maternity nurse with. in our opinion, a wealth of relevant experience. She is also an exceptionally genuine person. It was a pleasure to have her stay with us and we would re-employ her without hesitation.

Charles and Emma Thompson'

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'Before I had my first baby, I had never held a baby for longer than five minutes or ever changed a nappy! So there was a lot to be learnt and Jo was certainly a font of knowledge (not only on looking after a baby but also what I, the mother, could do to help post-birth recovery), as well as possessing a very down-to-earth and un-patronising manner.

When Jo came into our lives, she not only worked her magic powers on putting baby into a routine from day one, she also showed my husband and I the ropes and helped establish a routine that we could maintain once she'd moved on. We are huge fans of having a routine as it also meant that we, as a couple, had some time together in the evening. What Jo does obviously works as our first baby, Lydia, slept through the night (from 7pm-7am) from 12 weeks, and our second, Amaya, slept through after 9 weeks! Even Jo considers that a record!

Annabel XX'

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'We arrived home with our 7 week premature twin daughters. As first time parents and with zero prior baby experience, we were both anxious in view of all the happy circumstances.

Jo proved not only unbelievably capable, but also helpful and supportive, unobtrusive yet very friendly, helping us to help ourselves. She got the babies into a routine, necessary if we were to achieve any sleep overnight, and which we managed to extend upon her departure. Although nervous we were able to continue her principles and effort. Her evident love for children endeared her to our babies who responded to her warm character.

Perhaps the most amazing thing about her competence and her enthusiasm is that we would feel confident about leaving our children exclusively in her care if we were ever away. I certainly never envisaged being able to say that about anyone outside my family. I doubt there are many nurses around like her.

Jo's help was indispensable and all the confident mothering I now display I owe to her. fi my praise of Jo is in abundance, I remain unapologetic. I would highly recommend her to anyone.

Mindy'

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My husband and I can not recommend Jo Tantum highly enough. She came into our lives when our twin boys, Jonathan and Jacob, were eleven-and-a-half weeks and had no fixed routine. The only break I had was nipping off to the loo! Within ten days Jo changed our lives. She taught as all about routine, spaced soothing, play time, feeding, black-out blinds, and most importantly how to get our babies sleeping through the night. When Jo left our boys were sleeping from 11:00pm to 8:00am and then a few weeks later they were sleeping from 8:00pm to 8:00am. Now at 18 months they are sleeping 8:30pm to 8:30am!

We think of Jo everyday in all that we do and still keep to her routine. She truly is a caring genius and I treasure all that she taught us. We are so grateful to her for her brilliant care and counsel and feel very blessed to have her in our lives.

Tara

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