Caroline Dahill
- By Appointment Only:
- Yes
10 reviews for Caroline Dahill
10 reviews in English
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Review from Adam G.
San Francisco, CA
8/27/2011
My wife and I cannot say enough good things about Caroline. This is a woman who really knows babies! From the time he got home from the hospital and slept beautifully except for one thing -- he would only do it while being held. Whenever we tried to put him down, he would cry and cry. Just as we were resigning ourselves to the idea that one of us would always need to be awake with him, and that he would never sleep in his bassinet, Caroline entered the picture. "I guarantee you -- he will sleep," she said in our first phone call. I was skeptical, but boy was she right. Within a few hours of meeting him, Caroline had him tightly swaddled up and sleeping on his own for the first time in his life. From that night onward, using the routine that Caroline showed us, we got him to sleep persistently between feeds. The whole thing -- and Caroline --felt like a miracle. Thank you, Caroline, for transforming our whole family's quality of life!
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Review from Nellie M.
San Francisco, CA
8/17/2010
Much like many first time parents, we did not know what to expect first thing after coming home from the hospital. Caroline helped ease the anxiety by talking to me in the last couple of months of the pregnancy and advising on various baby products and must haves. And from when we brought our son home, she was there every step of the way. She is technically a postpartum night doula, meaning she feeds the baby during the night hours so the new parents can get some rest. But she ended up being so much more.
She came with her mary poppins bag of tricks for breastfeeding and lactation and all sorts of little things for the baby. For me she was a truly god sent, as i ended up having a bunch of nursing issues. She looked after me like the most dedicated care taker while our baby was napping - making sure i ate and rested and took all the pills and vitamins. More importantly, she always knew exactly what the issues were. She could hear a symptom on the phone and know exactly what it was. She even listened to my delirious recaps of the latest episode of gossip girl, which is more than my husband was willing to do.
As for taking care of our then newborn son, she truly took care of him as if he were her own. Countless nights of lifting his legs just right so he could sleep comfortably, taking care of his hunger and his belly, then the onset of teething and setting up his nap schedule. She was there to see him first double his birth weight, and then even go over some. She normally stays until the baby sleeps through the night, so about 12 weeks. In our case, he was sleeping good 8 hrs by then thanks to her lovely influence, and is still keeping up the good routine first established by Caroline.
We loved the entire experience with Caroline, but perhaps the most important thing was that she just came into our lives with so much ease. I was very nervous about having someone practically living with us for the first couple of months after the baby, but not once had we even thought about it. I was looking forward to hearing the door open every single evening that she was with us. And I still do when she drops by for a cup of tea, that lovely addiction of hers. -
Review from Caterina F.
San Francisco, CA
9/24/2007 2 photos
Caroline provides post partum night time doula services including help with breastfeeding and lactation, baby care, sleep training, as well as, and perhaps most importantly, allowing you to get some rest so you can enjoy the first few months of your baby's life!
Caroline has been fantastic, I can't recommend her more highly! She comes at 10 at night and stays til 6 AM, giving our baby two feedings at night (though it was really more like 4 at the beginning and one at the end). She started right after we came home from the hospital and will stay til our baby is sleeping through the night, which usually happens around 10-12 weeks. Caroline is a delight, fun, loving, and it makes me to happy when I hear her and the baby talking and laughing - she really gives the job 110%. I trust Caroline completely with our baby.
At 10 weeks, and at 10 lbs, our baby has been sleeping 8 hours at a stretch most nights and is on track to be sleeping through the night every night.
Caroline adores babies and loves her career -- and it's the perfect career for her -- she has a natural, easygoing way with both parents and babies, and our daughter adored her. She's there when you need her and gives you privacy and time alone with your baby when you need that too.
She has years of experience with babies and knows all their developmental stages, and can help women having trouble with breastfeeding, bottle feeding, and all kinds of problems such as nipple confusion, post partum depression, colicky or gassy babies, and babies who don't sleep well. Caroline is a veritable encyclopedia of baby and mother post partum care. She is a DONA trained post partum doula, and is Natural Resources certified.
Book early! She is much in demand, and can be booked 6-8 months in advance! I was advised that if your pregnancy test comes out positive, call Caroline first, then your partner! -
Review from rachael s.
San Francisco, CA
8/5/2008
Caroline surpassed my every expectation in assisting us in the post-hospital adjustment weeks [the first 10 weeks to be exact]. We have a shelf full of 'what to expect' types of books, but her hands-on explanations and info went further than any book could in helping us to be confident new parents.
Our baby is eleven weeks old now and sleeps for long stretches through the night, which she would almost certainly not be doing if we had not had the wisdom of Caroline on our side. Also, when she kicks up a major fuss, we generally know how to soothe her [again-thanks Caroline!]. She really cares about 'her babies' AND their parents, I like to refer to her as 'the baby whisperer'. -
Review from chloe w.
Milpitas, CA
10/21/2010
When I was pregnant I knew that no matter how much I tried to prepare for the new baby, I knew that I would not know what I was doing and I would just have to learn. I thought it would be hard, but I could handle it. Boy was I wrong. Having the baby was the easy part for me- and I had a 24hour labor. The whole "after" part was HARD. I was going out of my mind and about ready to divorce my husband. I know that every baby is different and some parents might have babies that like to sleep a lot and eat a lot but that is not how my son was. From the first day I brought him home until Caroline walked through my door, my life was a nightmare. My son would eat every hour only one ounce and at night he would get up every 90 minutes. He was fussy and I thought he colicky bc he would cry and I just could not stop him and didn't know why he was crying. After about 8 weeks of not sleeping I was just hanging onto my sanity by a thread. I was not enjoying my son or motherhood. I found Caroline here on yelp and I wish I had found her 8 weeks earlier. There was nothing wrong with my son. I just had no idea what I was doing. Nothing I read on the internet or in books teaches you how to be a parent. I needed someone to help me. Caroline really knows babies. She can tell by their cry whats wrong. She taught my how to read my baby and also how to take care of him and break his bad habits bc by 8 weeks he had some. He was eating every hour bc he was snacking and that was my fault bc every time he cried, I would give him a bottle bc I thought he was hungry. (I read that in a book that the first thing to check for when a baby cries is hunger but I think I took it too literally)
When Caroline came, everything changed. I felt like I had a new baby. I'm not being dramatic. Caroline taught me all sorts of tricks to help my baby when he had gas. She gives tons of great advice and she really cares about your baby. I feel really lucky that Caroline made the time to come help us bc she is so busy. She squeezed us bc she could tell we really needed help. I fully trusted her with my son and on the nights she came, I could finally get some sleep knowing that she was watching my son. But she does so much more than just watching your baby at night. My son had reflux and Caroline could tell that the medication he was on was not working and we changed it and he did so much better. Also, we changed his formula after Caroline suggested it based on what she observed when she was with him and he did better after that. She always went out of her way to get things for him that he needed, whether it was a new toy or nap nanny. Caroline also helped me so much over the phone. Whenever I had a question or was having a hard time with my son, I would call her and she would spend so much time with me on the phone to help me through things. When I had to sleep train my baby, she stayed on the phone with me for hours to get me through it bc my husband was away on business. When I finally got my son in a routine, my husband took us to Hawaii and things fell apart bc his routine was changed. When my baby is fussy and has a meltdown it makes me have a meltdown. I called Caroline when I was in Hawaii and she helped me through it. What she did for us is truly priceless and every penny we spent was well worth is bc she gave us a happy baby and the confidence to take care of him. Because she is so good at what she does, she is always busy and booked. I hope with our second baby, we will be lucky enough to have her come help us again. -
Review from Tim S.
San Francisco, CA
8/16/2008 1 photo
I'll be honest, I did not want a Doula. Well, actually, at first, I had no idea what a Post Partum Doula was, but it sounded like something only rich yuppies had. Then, after it was explained to me that a Doula is a person who comes to your house at night and takes care of your baby, I was even more against it. Having a stranger in our house overnight just sounded weird, especially since we don't have a guest room. And before our baby was born, I always imagined that her first night home would be this very special, intimate time for our family--something I was very protective of and did not want to share with a stranger.
But I agreed to try and be open minded about it, and we set up a meeting with Caroline. Soon after she arrived, I was at least 90% won over. Caroline is just so easygoing and affable, it's hard not to like her right off the bat. And her knowledge of infant care becomes abundantly clear very soon. So we signed up for her services. I was still worried about the money, even though it was much cheaper than I had anticipated. And I still felt in the back of my head, "We can do this ourselves. We don't need anybody." So I held on to my 10% reservations.
Then Lili was born and of course, everything changed. We had plenty of private family time at the hospital, and so we were not deprived of the special bonding period I was hoping for. Then when it was time to take our baby home, Caroline showed up and sprang into action. Lili was crying and we could not figure out why. She had just been fed, her diaper was clean, she was warm, and she was screaming. "Turn your pinky upside down and put it in her mouth, " Caroline said. I did it and instantly, Lili was silent. Happily sucking away at my impromptu pacifier. It was a small thing, but moments before it I felt helpless and ineffective, and now, suddenly, I felt just a tiny bit more in control. There was something I could do, and though it wouldn't work 100% of the time, it was one more thing in a bag of tricks that Caroline would soon begin to create for us.
She showed us how to buckle Lili into her car seat, and Lili started to cry again. "Pick up the seat and give it a little swing," Caroline said. And of course, that put the baby to sleep instantly. Trick #2, and we hadn't even left the hospital yet. And there were many more to come.
The real value came when we got Lili home, and Caroline began to coach my wife on breast feeding. We had two consultations at the hospital, but were still having trouble putting those theories in practice. Caroline set us up with a schedule and got Rachael working with a breast pump, hot and cold pads, and lots of other advice and methods to make sure things were working smoothly. And then the next night, we were left on our own to try to make those methods work on our own. Then Caroline came again the night after that, to find out how it went, and then re-enforce the lessons, because it turns out breast feeding isn't as easy as falling off a log. Who knew? The more mom's I talk to the more I realize what a challenge it can be. So many of them tried breast feeding, but didn't think they were making enough milk for the baby so they gave up. I can see now how easily that can happen, but with what Caroline taught us, we were not just able to make sure the baby always had plenty of breast milk, but we actually had her sleeping through the night at seven weeks old! Most parents can't believe that when I tell them, and maybe we have some sort of miracle baby (we do), but I really think it was the knowledge and coaching of Caroline that got us there.
But let me tell you about the sleep. When I tell people we have an eight-week-old baby, they always make some joke like, "Ah, so you're getting a lot of sleep then, eh? Ha ha." And I guiltily say, "Yeah, actually we do." Even before Lili slept through the night, we were shown how to use the pump and bottle feed so that my wife and I could alternate shifts at night and get longer stretches of sleep for ourselves when Caroline wasn't here. And when Caroline was here... oh man. Hours and hours of beautiful, deep sleep. The kind you can not appreciate until you're a parent.
Having a Doula doesn't remove all of the challenges of having a newborn, but it does give you the gift of sleep, and that makes EVERYTHING else better. Every aspect of life is easier after a night of sleep. I think this is the single biggest effect that having a Doula has had on us. I feel guilty hearing about other parents' struggles with their new babies. We still have those struggles, but they don't seem insurmountable to use because we are not sleep-deprived.
So, that's how Caroline changed my mind about Doulas. I wish I had a Doula for everything now. A Doula to help me keep my plants alive. A Doula to help me work on my car. A cooking Doula would also be nice.
But for now I'm just grateful for Caroline, and how she helped make our first weeks with Lili such a happy experience. -
Review from Natasha P.
San Bruno, CA
11/8/2007
Caroline has started helping us with our 3 1/2 month old son, Gabriel. He is not a big fan of the bottle and since he isn't nursing, we have to be very creative on ways to get him to take his "ba ba!".
Caroline has been so incredible with us in trying new techniques and just being so patient with Gabriel. Every time she comes to help us he ends up drinking his full bottle one way or the other. She then wraps him up and sends him to bed full and peaceful.
You can easily tell that Caroline LOVES babies. Our son giggled the first time he met her and just loves her. Caroline has a wonderful spirit and is truly a master of all things baby. I highly recommend her! -
Review from ALICIA W.
San Francisco, CA
11/21/2008 4 photos
What can I say about our dear Doula Caroline? She came into our home in a whisper and brought calmness to chaos! We were ever so fortunate to have had Caroline as our night Doula for a little over 12 weeks. We didn't plan on having a Doula but out of sheer exhaustion, colic, severe gas, constant crying and being new parents we just had to do something. Thanks to Noreen, another very seasoned Doula, we were blessed with the most wonderful Doula!
Caroline did everything from allowing me to rest, getting me up to breastfeed, pump and take my fenugreek. She had a magic bag of tricks that contained everything from passies, swaddles, breast shields, nail files you name it. If ever there was a person that knew babies Caroline is surely that person. She always went above and beyond her call of duty. She loved my son as though he were her own. She helped us get through the toughest of times, through emergency room visits, my son being diagnosed with acid reflux and so much more. She always stood by our side providing support in every form and way. She was my blankie and it hurt to say goodbye. Even though I know that she's only a phone call away and I know without fail that she would come to our side if we ever needed her- it was still so sad to watch her move on to her next baby. Caroline is the baby whisperer. She's so amazing and magical with babies. It's as though they know that she is there to bring comfort to all. I would trust her with my next baby if that were in God's plan.
Words fail miserably at trying to describe the amazing Doula and person that Caroline is. Her calm nature, upbeat spirit and loving soul will care for you and your baby as though an angel were with you. You simply can't go wrong with Caroline. We love her and always will. She is family to us. -
Review from michelle r.
Los Altos, CA
6/9/2009
Caroline has been absolutely amazing for our family. She gave my husband and me the confidence, knowledge and piece of mind that first time parents really need.
She met with us before our son was born to give advice on how to prepare for his arrival and what to expect in the hospital. When our son was born he had a bit of jaundice and had to stay in the hospital for an additional night; this was obviously an emotional time for us. Caroline came to the hospital that night and helped me with breastfeeding and was our advocate in the nursery. Once we were home she came over and helped us get on track with breastfeeding, sleeping, etc. She really got us get off to the right start. We found ourselves always saying, "Caroline says we should do this..."
It's readily apparent that Caroline genuinely loves babies and wants to do what is best for them. She looks after her moms as well to make sure they are taking care of themselves in a time that all of the attention is focused on the baby. Her years of experience with babies really shows; like other reviewers have said, she is the "baby whisperer." On a couple occasions, we called her in the middle of the night and let her hear our son cry so she could give us different techniques to settle him down; it worked every time! She has a magic touch!
Her caring and warm personality made our entire family feel comfortable, in fact our son LOVED her, he would get so happy to see her and would just listen to everything she said to him. At each visit, she would give us advice and what to expect in the upcoming stages of our son's development.
Caroline was such a pleasure to have around during such a new and exciting time in our lives. I have recommended her to all of our friends that are expecting. -
Review from Karin V.
San Francisco, CA
9/21/2009
We did not plan to have any help after our little boy was born, but after sleeping (trying to) in the glider chair for several nights in a row with our son because he would only sleep on us, we called Caroline. She came in and made a huge impact night one - by getting him to sleep in his bassinet. Her confidence and positive attitude immediately helped put us at ease and the love she feels for children radiates from her.
She is a joy to work with and one of those rare people that so absolutely love their job that they live and breath it. She makes herself amazingly available to her clients, even during off hours. And her experience of working with children is so helpful to a first time parent to help you gain confidence in what you are doing. My husband and I highly recommend her to anyone who is looking to take superb care of not just the little one, but the whole family, provide loving care for the baby and educate the parents on too many things to count in handling a newborn. She is wonderful!
