Koola Launch Alert Form
Be the first to know when we launch our Koola Doll™!
Imagine your newborn was so ill they never slept. It was our family’s reality for the first year of our daughter’s life. Hi, my name is Peta. Let me tell you about our experiences as first-time parents and how this led me to create this unique sleeping aide for children.
Baby Indie was born with undiagnosed GERD CMPA as well as both tongue and lip ties. It wasn’t until day 2 we knew something was not right. Our baby girl wasn’t latching. She looked like she was feeding but she wasn’t properly sucking.
Unfortunately, the paediatrician conducted speedy checks over her- buzzing in and out of the hospital room on the morning after she was born. He missed her tongue and lip ties completely. The doctor missing this was pivotal for us. If he’d identified these things early, the hell we all experienced could have been a lot less with a simple instant lip and tongue tie correction.
She couldn’t latch to my breast and she was taking in so much air when trying to feed this exacerbated her GERD, which she has inherited from both myself and my husband. We were unaware she had this until 8 months later when she was diagnosed by a switched on specialist at the Royal Randwick Hospital.
On day 3, the nurses instructed her to be put onto formula because she was dropping weight fast. I was so against this idea. My milk came in and I started to develop mastitis because it wasn’t being removed. So I started pumping my milk with a double breast pump. It wouldn’t come out much even though my breasts appeared to be full. But I did get a small amount. The nurses said it wasn’t enough for Indie to feed.
The nurses were all freaking out, arguing all the time and stressed because Indie appeared so irritable. All giving different conflicting advice, and lactation consultants trying to help but nothing was helping.
We were a mess. We went home after they kept us an extra week- we couldn’t wait to get out of there.
We were first-time parents and we really didn’t know enough about the whole process. We battled on our own for a couple of months with Indie projectile vomiting all day every day. We went to see specialist after specialist – all not identifying anything as the cause. We almost gave up as there were never any answers. Indie cried all day and night and smelled like acid. She slept for 40 minutes at night as her body would crash from being on such high alert for so long.
I was researching all the time trying to figure out the cause of her irritations. I thought because Tresillian helped babies sleep maybe they could help. We spent a week there and they had no idea how to get her to sleep and said because her issues were health related she needed a different level of support. We already tried everything else. While I was there, I was researching cow’s milk protein allergy. Indie had all the indicators, so I was given a tub of the non-cow’s milk formula from a doctor visiting Tresillian. The first feed she was like a different baby. Still projectile vomiting but less crying and less back arching. It was very noticeable so I took her to see an immunologist and she gave her a script for this formula.
The formula was disgusting – made out of potatoes and as a mother passionate about health, I wasn’t happy about the lack of nutrients. At least she was taking my small amount of breastmilk so I changed my diet to be dairy and soy free so my milk was not irritating her gut. After this change, there was a further positive improvement. However she was still not sleeping and clearly displayed her same symptoms, just less than before. I knew there was still something going on with her.
I noticed her crying was further reducing when she was given my breast milk rather than the formula. One day out of the blue, she just stopped taking the formula. She went a whole day with a small cup of only my milk and was rejecting the formula entirely, closing her mouth and turning her head crying.
That day was a bad day that will stay with me forever as the screaming was unforgettable and I was freaking out wondering what to do.
I had heard stories of babies rejecting their feeds and having to be tube fed. She consumed barely anything for 18 hours. So I quickly sought help to find a local milk donor as she seemed to gobble my breastmilk down. I knew nothing about milk donors. What I learnt fast was getting a milk donor wasn’t easy. I needed a milk donor who wasn’t eating any dairy or soy and wasn’t on any medications.
I had one local mother contact me who had one feed for Indie. It was such a relief. That feed got her through until the following day and the next day we found our next closest donor 1 hour drive from us with enough milk to last a few days. Some weeks we would live day to day driving to get enough milk to get Indie fed just for that day. Some donors we had lived 2-4 hours away and would be able to produce enough for us to have milk for 2-4 weeks. These big donations were such a relief as we would be able to breath for a few weeks without worrying about where the next lot was coming from.
Indie was still not sleeping but her symptoms had improved, most notably her stomach not rock hard and so large,, however she still continued projectile vomiting. I spent 6 hours per day/night pumping my milk just to get one small bottle to feed to her. Being on the breast pump every few hours meant I had time to research on my phone. I figured out she had the tongue and lip ties and sought help from 2 specialists who were experts in the field. Once they corrected the ties, it was another level of instant improvement when she fed from the bottle, resulting in less wind.
Unfortunately, her ties were corrected too late and even though she wasn’t sucking in air anymore, the window of her learning the special sucking method for releasing milk from the nipple – we were told by her feeding specialist – was gone, hence why she still wasn’t able to breastfeed when I persisted with her.
I was devastated. Indie was still suffering but lucky for her I wasn’t the type to give up even in the face of defeat. I needed her out of pain. I came across someone discussing in a forum a similar situation where she had found a specialist who had changed her child’s life. I contacted her and luckily the paediatric gastroenterologist was only a few hours from where I lived. I contacted him and made an appointment.
When he saw us, he said we were very lucky because if it was any later, Indie’s oesophagus would have been permanently damaged and her incoming teeth would have rotted from the acid.
It worked and she was like a new child completely. Experiencing this new child made me feel robbed of the peace we should have had from day one.
Indie had three interrelated problems, which is why doctors struggled to identify any cause. Removing the dairy and soy (CMPA), then reducing air intake with the TT and LTs corrected, and finally neutralising the GERD. Now she’s older and eats solid foods, we have eliminated her trigger foods for her GERD so she ceased taking the medication.
If only the ties were identified and corrected from day one, we could have simply avoided dairy and she could have had a normal breastfeeding and sleeping experience.
So back to baby Indie’s sleep… After she was healed (around the 1 year old mark), her pattern of sleeping (or shall I say lack thereof) was now ingrained. She was not crying or in pain but her body was so accustomed to not sleeping she stayed awake until 1:30am every night and continued to wake after 30-45 minutes. This is what a fresh newborn sleep cycle looks like. I was extremely sleep deprived – a walking zombie.
My friends with kids the same age would complain about their lack of sleep and I would just laugh and not even bother to discuss our family’s level of sleep deprivation. I didn’t have the strength to socialise so my interactions were barely ever face to face at this time.
There were no mum groups for us. Not a chance.
I researched everything to do with babies and found attachment parenting had huge benefits over all other styles. The science tell us that co-sleeping and attachment style practices are outstanding for the child’s development, however I personally could not co-sleep with Indie. I am the lightest sleeper you could ever imagine. Any distractions close to me keep me awake. I can even hear people down the street talking and walking! So once Indie’s health was improved and I didn’t need to worry about her choking on spew in bed, I moved her out of our bedroom so I could finally get some rest.
This is when I started to do something that got Indie to sleep and I found the benefits were backed by lots of science and there wasn’t anything available like it.
This is what led to the development of the Koola Doll™. I cannot discuss the doll and what it does until the production is complete and it is made available to the public.
If there are no more alarming economic problems between now and then – The Koola Doll™ will be available around the end of January. The pandemic caused a lot of delays in the final development phase and production. Originally it was planned to be ready long ago. Now I am accustomed to not getting my heart set on a particular date.
Once I have it in ready for purchase, I will announce everywhere the functions and features that make this doll so special, and publish the second part of my journey on how and why I developed the doll.
Don’t miss the announcement. Click here and fill out our launch alert form to be the first to be alerted before anyone else.
I cannot wait until I can tell you the second part of this journey.
I have been working for 4 years to bring the Koola Doll to the world. I could do with Aussie Mums’ support for the second half of this journey.
Also, any mums going through similar struggles and want to connect, please do.
Much love to you all,
Imagine your newborn was constantly in pain so much so that it barely slept. It was our family’s reality for the first year of our daughter’s life.
Hi my name is Peta I am a mum from Newcastle NSW Australia.
I would love to share with you our story. Our experiences as first time parents and how this led me to create this unique sleeping aid for children.
In late 2016 baby Indie was born with undiagnosed GORD [Gastro-Oesophageal Reflux Disease], CMPA [Cow’s Milk Protein Allergy] as well as both tongue and lip ties. It wasn’t until day 2 we knew something was not right. Our baby girl wasn’t latching. She looked like she was feeding but she wasn’t properly sucking.
Unfortunately the pediatrician conducted speedy checks over her- buzzing in and out of the hospital room on the morning after she was born. He missed her tongue and lip ties completely. The Dr missing this was pivotal for us. If he identified these things early the hell we all experienced could have been a lot less with a simple instant correction.
She couldn’t latch to my breast and she was taking in so much air when trying to feed this exacerbated her GORD which she has inherited from both myself and my husband. We were unaware she had this until 8 months later when she was diagnosed by an amazing Specialist at the Royal Randwick Hospital.
On day 3 the nurses instructed her to be put onto formula because she was dropping weight fast. As a person who was passionate about natural health I was so against this idea. My milk came in and I started to develop mastitis because it wasn’t being removed by Indie because of her inability to suck. So I started pumping my milk with a double breast pump. It wouldn’t come out much, even though my breasts appeared to be full. But I did get a small amount. The nurses said it wasn’t enough for Indie to exclusively feed.
The nurses were all freaking out, arguing all the time and stressed because Indie appeared so irritable. All giving different conflicting advice and Lactation Consultants trying to help but nothing was helping.
We were a mess. We went home after they kept us an extra week- we couldn’t wait to get out of there.
We were first time parents and we really didn’t know anything about babies. We battled on our own for a couple of months with Indie projectile vomiting all day every day. Then we decided to seek help and went to see specialist after specialist- all not identifying anything as the cause and fobbing us off as fast as possible. We almost gave up as there were never any answers. Indie cried all day and night and the stench of acid filled our house and clothing. Even after she was bathed, an acid smell came from her skin.
The nights were bad as she was always more irritated at night. Her first sleep was at 1:30 am every single night. Her body would crash from the continuous screaming and back arching. She would wake up screaming and I would hold her and try everything possible to make her feel better. Nothing worked. Across the night she would have no more than two 20 minute sleeps after her main sleep. I was researching all the time trying to figure out the cause of her pain. I thought because Tresillian helped babies sleep, maybe they could help us.
We spent a week there and they had no idea and said because her issues were health related she needed a different type of intervention. We didn’t know what to do next as I hoped it would all be resolved at Tresillian. While I was there I was researching cow’s milk protein allergy. Indie had all the indicators so I was given a tub of the non-cow’s milk formula from a Doctor visiting Tresillian when I requested it. The first feed of the formula she was like a different baby. Still projectile vomiting but less crying and less back arching. The improvement was very noticeable so I took her to see Immunologist and she gave her a script for this formula.
It was disgusting- made out of potatoes and as a mother passionate about health I wasn’t happy about the lack of nutrients. At least she was taking my small amount of breastmilk so I changed my diet to be dairy and soy free so my milk was not irritating her gut. After this change there was a further positive improvement. However she was still not sleeping and clearly displayed pain symptoms of screaming and arching as well as the acid smell emitting from her skin.
I noticed she was less irritated when she was given my breast milk rather than the formula. One day out of the blue, she stopped taking the formula. She went a whole day with only a small cup of my milk and was rejecting the formula entirely- tight lipped and turning her head away with a high pitched cry each time I would attempt to give it to her.
That day was a bad day that will stay with me forever as the screaming was unforgettable and I was freaking out with worry about what to do.
I had heard stories of babies rejecting their feeds having to be tube fed and I would do anything to avoid that. She consumed barely anything for 18 hours. I had heard of milk donors before but never thought it would be for us but I had no more milk left to feed her. At that moment I was running out of ideas so I quickly sought help to find a local milk donor community. I knew nothing about milk donors. What I learnt fast was getting a milk donor wasn’t easy. I needed a milk donor who wasn’t eating any dairy or soy and wasn’t on any medications.
I had one local mother contact me who had one cop full of milk for Indie. It was such a relief. That feed got her through until the following day and the next day we found our next closest donor who was a 1 hour drive from us with enough milk to last a few days. Some weeks we would live day to day driving to get enough milk to get Indie fed just for that day. Some donors we had 2-4 hours away would be able to produce enough for us to have milk for 2-4 weeks. These big donations were such a relief as we would be able to breathe for a few weeks without worrying about where the next lot was coming from.
Indie was still not sleeping but her symptoms had improved, most notably her stomach not rock hard and like a balloon however she still remained to be projectile vomiting. I spent 6 hours per day/night pumping my milk just to get one small bottle to feed to her. Being on the breast pump every few hours meant I had time to research on my iPad. I figured out she had the tongue and lip ties and sought help from 2 specialists who were experts in the field. Once they corrected the ties it was another level of instant improvement when she fed more securely from the bottle resulting in less wind.
Unfortunately, her ties were corrected too late and even though she wasn’t sucking in air anymore, the window of her learning the special sucking method for drawing in milk from the breast we were told by her feeding specialist was gone, hence why she still wasn’t able to breastfeed when I persisted with her.
I was devastated as breastfeeding would have made life so much easier as my milk would have increased from the latching and we wouldn’t have had to run around getting milk donors. But on the positive side her air intake was reduced. It was clear Indie’s pain was a lot less but she was still irritated and smelling acidic. I wasn’t going to give up as I knew she was still experiencing pain.
I came across someone discussing in a forum a similar situation where she had found a specialist who had changed her child’s life. I contacted her and luckily the Paediatric Gastroenterologist was only a few hours from where I lived. I contacted him and made an appointment. When he saw us and after examining Indie he said we were very lucky because if it was any later Indie’s esophagus would have been permanently damaged and her incoming teeth would have rotted from the long term acid exposure.
He was shocked and disgusted about everything we had been through and how the system had failed us. He gave her an adult strength medication for her GORD as she was far beyond a mild strength treatment.
It worked and she was like a completely new child. Experiencing this new child made me feel robbed of the peace we should have had from day one.
Indie had three interrelated problems which is why doctors were baffled and would throw it into the too hard basket. All three problems needed to be solved by removing the dairy and soy (CMPA), then reducing air intake with the TT and LT’s corrected, and finally neutralising the acid with her GORD.
If only the ties were identified and corrected from day one we could have simply avoided dairy and she could have had a normal breastfeeding and a much better sleeping experience.
So back to baby Indies sleep. After Indie was fully healed (around the 18 month old mark) her pattern of sleeping (or shall I say lack thereof) was now deeply ingrained. She was not crying or in pain but her body was so accustomed to not sleeping she stayed awake until 1:30am every morning and continued to wake after 30-45 minutes. This is what a fresh newborn sleep cycle looks like. I was extremely sleep deprived- literally a walking zombie. Read my short rant about sleep misconceptions here.
My friends with kids the same age would complain about their lack of sleep and I would just laugh and not even bother to discuss our families sleep deprivation. I didn’t have the strength to socialise so my interactions were barely ever face to face at this time.
I see mum’s today in their mother’s group meetings and wish we could have had those experiences.
I went from someone who had no idea about babies to researching everything to do with babies all day every day. I discovered attachment theory also known as attachment parenting. This method results in huge benefits for children – over all other approaches. The science tells us that co-sleeping and attachment style practices are positive for the child’s development however I personally could not co-sleep with Indie.
When she was first born we built a side bed connected to our bed. We still live by the attachment model but unfortunately the skin to skin co-sleeping was only going to happen when Indie was unwell or could not cope as my sleep deprivation would have been even worse. So we had her cot mattress on the floor next to our bed. I am the lightest sleeper you could ever imagine. Any distractions close to me keep me awake -I can even hear people down the street talking and walking! So once Indie’s health improved and I didn’t need to worry about her choking on spew in bed, I moved her out of our bedroom so I could finally get some longer blocks of sleep.
This is when I started to do something that got Indie to sleep. I found the benefits were backed by lots of science and there wasn’t any product out there using this method
This is what led to the development of the Koola Doll™.
After implementing her night routine of feeding, bath and bedtime consistently I would sing to her and when she appeared to be asleep I would wait 15 minutes and walk out of her room and once I was out my voice was gone and she would cry-out for me to come back.
Something sparked me to start researching the connections between the mother’s voice and the baby’s brain.
I found there was a lot of research that showed that the mother’s voice being heard throughout the child’s development in the womb was very soothing for the infant after birth. There were not only soothing capabilities, there were neurological improvements found - amongst many other things.
I was so happy to learn there was more to singing to a baby than how it helped with sleep. Learning about the neurological benefits of the mothers voice singing to her baby as well as the recognition songs heard from the womb gave me the motivation to take this idea further. I started playing around with a recording box and found when I recorded my voice it also worked effectively for soothing Indie to sleep.
Her sleeping improved week after week since using the sound recorder.
She would wake and hear my voice and then drift off again (connecting sleep cycles). It also allowed me to walk out of her room faster when I was putting her to sleep.
I started to look at options like building an app but with child safety as a focus I knew this wouldn’t align with my values. Through my years of studies I have learnt that smart devices and Wi-Fi devices emit Electromagnetic Frequencies [EMF’s] which research shows in animal and human studies as hazardous for humans, especially in close proximity. Making a baby sleep app would be the easiest and most profitable way to go about this but the health of children is the entire reason for creating this product.
So I made a low tech sound box without the need for WI-FI or a SMART phone.
Babies love toys and create sleep associations around tangible objects, so I decided to build my special sound box into an Earthy natural looking doll.
Infants get heavily attached to comforters alone, imagine a comforter that also had those emotional connections with the mother embedded.
I know many of my natural parent friends are aware of all of the harmful toxins in velvety plush dolls and baby lovey’s being mouthed and in contact with babies skin, so I discussed the options and settled on creating the doll using linen.
And as an Aussie mum I really love our unique Australian culture so decided to make the doll a strong Aussie theme and gender neutral as I know many parents do not want to learn the baby’s gender before birth and this way they could have the doll before the birth – ready for day one. The other benefits of using natural tones was to be less stimulating, as the main objective is calming and sleeping so I was happy about the sleep toy not being colourful.
When it came to developing the plush doll component of the Koola, I decided on the doll being a koala and hunted down the best handmade doll designer in Australia who ironically just happened to live only 10 minutes from my house. She designs the nicest Koalas so together we incorporated the sound box into the back of a koala in a functional way that can be accessed by the parents to click a button if needed at any time without disturbing the baby.
It was time to name this doll and after a lot of discussion I decided to call the doll “The Koola Doll™” as the word Koola is an indigenous word for Koala.
The Koola brand was born.
Unlike all other sleep aids on the market there are many ways the Koola Doll™ can be used.
The most effective application is for parents to start planning for the use of the Koola Doll™ before the baby is born.
The mother’s and father’s voices are the first sounds the baby hears from around the 20 week mark. There are several ways to use the Koola Doll™, however to get the most magic out of this sleep aid there’s something you can do when the mother is pregnant. Either mum or her partner should sing a song to the baby (the baby bump) on a daily basis. Then when the baby is born the Koola Doll™ can be turned on playing your voice and the familiar song – reminding the baby of that same sound they heard when they felt safe and comfortable in the womb.
There are no right or wrong ways to use the Koola Doll™ as every single baby has developed in the womb with their mother’s voice. A child will always remember their mother’s voice. If the father was close by when the child was in the womb his voice will also be remembered. The magic is there whether you have prepared a song pre-birth or not.
My husband snored throughout my pregnancy and I found that my daughter today still relaxes and is soothed by the recording of his snoring!
Since I was going to the trouble of making this doll to help other families I figured I may as well pack in more unique features that support a pre sleep routine and calmness for the day time. Every child is different- why not pack the Koola Doll™ with extra magic while I am there as what works for one child may be different for another child – so the more options the better.
As a science lover and a big fan of scientist Nicola Tesla I decided to use my knowledge of sound frequencies and incorporate them into some sleep melodies.
With the support of a team of sound experts we created four programmed sound options that parents can choose from in addition to their own recorded sound. I predict this decade is going to be a big one for innovation and new technologies that will shock you. I believe frequencies will be at the forefront of these innovations. with the use of frequencies has been around since ancient times but is rarely discussed in mainstream. Many indigenous people say the didgeridoo is a healing device when played at certain frequencies. Learn more about the healing frequencies here.
Parents can either play their voice to their baby or select one of the four programmed sounds.
The research found when young rats were exposed to unchanging, random sounds like white noise, the development of their brain's hearing center was postponed. White noise, which lacks any discernible auditory patterns like radio static or the hum of an air conditioner, differs from speech or music.
If parents want to use something other than their voice for soothing the baby to sleep, they can use a safer option and choose from relaxing melodies and music that doesn’t encompass all audible sounds. Our sound team ensured the Koola Doll™ songs still have a similar effect to white and pink noise that aim to lessen the exterior noise and prevent startling the child. While still providing opportunity through patterns and space for the development of the brain’s hearing center. Read more about why White Noise is potentially Bad for Babies here.
The sound box includes four specially designed sleep songs that promote alpha and delta brain waves for the promotion of the deep sleep state.
Research has shown exposing our brain to alpha and delta sounds waves increases our ability to reach deep sleep. It is in this sleep state that neurons are making important connections especially important for infant brains. While other songs are using the ancient frequencies used by our ancestors for healing and relaxation. All four programmed sounds are pack with useful sound frequencies.
This doll has been in the testing and development phase for 4 years.
This doll has been in the testing and development phase for 4 years and will continue to do so. With a built-in rechargeable battery you no longer need to worry about running out of batteries. To our timer options where you can plan any of the sounds for as little or as long as you like. To the colour of the lights supporting melatonin production. There are so many wonderful things about the Koola Doll™ that makes it such a special baby sleep product. Our daughter is 6 years old and still carries her Koola around with her (she called it stuffy).
The Koola Doll™ is unlike other products purchased for children today that will be ignored and tossed out after a few months.
This doll is special! It is a keepsake that children will cherish for years and also want to hand down to their own children.
Children who have anxiety are also responsive to the Koola Doll™ as hearing their parent’s voice or a personalised sound is a calming tool. As a Special Educator myself I know how challenging life is for many children with Anxiety and Autism and I hope many children benefit from the Koola not only for aiding babies sleep.
There are so many helpful possibilities – another example is how the doll can assist parents who have a surrogate mother carrying their baby. Playing the mothers voice singing a song daily to the baby while it develops in the womb can help the parents form attachment after birth.
Life is a journey and I can honestly say the Koola Doll™ wouldn’t be here today without the birth and those challenges we went through in our journey with our daughter Indie.
I hope the Koola brings your family as much joy as it has for us.
With Love, Health and Happiness,
Imagine your newborn was constantly in pain so much so that it barely slept. It was our family’s reality for the first year of our daughter’s life.
Hi my name is Peta I am a mum from Newcastle NSW Australia.
I would love to share with you our story. Our experiences as first time parents and how this led me to create this unique sleeping aid for children.
In late 2016 baby Indie was born with undiagnosed GORD [Gastro-Oesophageal Reflux Disease], CMPA [Cow’s Milk Protein Allergy] as well as both tongue and lip ties. It wasn’t until day 2 we knew something was not right. Our baby girl wasn’t latching. She looked like she was feeding but she wasn’t properly sucking.
Unfortunately the pediatrician conducted speedy checks over her- buzzing in and out of the hospital room on the morning after she was born. He missed her tongue and lip ties completely. The Dr missing this was pivotal for us. If he identified these things early the hell we all experienced could have been a lot less with a simple instant correction.
She couldn’t latch to my breast and she was taking in so much air when trying to feed this exacerbated her GORD which she has inherited from both myself and my husband. We were unaware she had this until 8 months later when she was diagnosed by an amazing Specialist at the Royal Randwick Hospital.
On day 3 the nurses instructed her to be put onto formula because she was dropping weight fast. As a person who was passionate about natural health I was so against this idea. My milk came in and I started to develop mastitis because it wasn’t being removed by Indie because of her inability to suck. So I started pumping my milk with a double breast pump. It wouldn’t come out much, even though my breasts appeared to be full. But I did get a small amount. The nurses said it wasn’t enough for Indie to exclusively feed.
The nurses were all freaking out, arguing all the time and stressed because Indie appeared so irritable. All giving different conflicting advice and Lactation Consultants trying to help but nothing was helping.
We were a mess. We went home after they kept us an extra week- we couldn’t wait to get out of there.
We were first time parents and we really didn’t know anything about babies. We battled on our own for a couple of months with Indie projectile vomiting all day every day. Then we decided to seek help and went to see specialist after specialist- all not identifying anything as the cause and fobbing us off as fast as possible. We almost gave up as there were never any answers. Indie cried all day and night and the stench of acid filled our house and clothing. Even after she was bathed, an acid smell came from her skin.
The nights were bad as she was always more irritated at night. Her first sleep was at 1:30 am every single night. Her body would crash from the continuous screaming and back arching. She would wake up screaming and I would hold her and try everything possible to make her feel better. Nothing worked. Across the night she would have no more than two 20 minute sleeps after her main sleep. I was researching all the time trying to figure out the cause of her pain. I thought because Tresillian helped babies sleep, maybe they could help us.
We spent a week there and they had no idea and said because her issues were health related she needed a different type of intervention. We didn’t know what to do next as I hoped it would all be resolved at Tresillian. While I was there I was researching cow’s milk protein allergy. Indie had all the indicators so I was given a tub of the non-cow’s milk formula from a Doctor visiting Tresillian when I requested it. The first feed of the formula she was like a different baby. Still projectile vomiting but less crying and less back arching. The improvement was very noticeable so I took her to see Immunologist and she gave her a script for this formula.
It was disgusting- made out of potatoes and as a mother passionate about health I wasn’t happy about the lack of nutrients. At least she was taking my small amount of breastmilk so I changed my diet to be dairy and soy free so my milk was not irritating her gut. After this change there was a further positive improvement. However she was still not sleeping and clearly displayed pain symptoms of screaming and arching as well as the acid smell emitting from her skin.
I noticed she was less irritated when she was given my breast milk rather than the formula. One day out of the blue, she stopped taking the formula. She went a whole day with only a small cup of my milk and was rejecting the formula entirely- tight lipped and turning her head away with a high pitched cry each time I would attempt to give it to her.
That day was a bad day that will stay with me forever as the screaming was unforgettable and I was freaking out with worry about what to do.
I had heard stories of babies rejecting their feeds having to be tube fed and I would do anything to avoid that. She consumed barely anything for 18 hours. I had heard of milk donors before but never thought it would be for us but I had no more milk left to feed her. At that moment I was running out of ideas so I quickly sought help to find a local milk donor community. I knew nothing about milk donors. What I learnt fast was getting a milk donor wasn’t easy. I needed a milk donor who wasn’t eating any dairy or soy and wasn’t on any medications.
I had one local mother contact me who had one cop full of milk for Indie. It was such a relief. That feed got her through until the following day and the next day we found our next closest donor who was a 1 hour drive from us with enough milk to last a few days. Some weeks we would live day to day driving to get enough milk to get Indie fed just for that day. Some donors we had 2-4 hours away would be able to produce enough for us to have milk for 2-4 weeks. These big donations were such a relief as we would be able to breathe for a few weeks without worrying about where the next lot was coming from.
Indie was still not sleeping but her symptoms had improved, most notably her stomach not rock hard and like a balloon however she still remained to be projectile vomiting. I spent 6 hours per day/night pumping my milk just to get one small bottle to feed to her. Being on the breast pump every few hours meant I had time to research on my iPad. I figured out she had the tongue and lip ties and sought help from 2 specialists who were experts in the field. Once they corrected the ties it was another level of instant improvement when she fed more securely from the bottle resulting in less wind.
Unfortunately, her ties were corrected too late and even though she wasn’t sucking in air anymore, the window of her learning the special sucking method for drawing in milk from the breast we were told by her feeding specialist was gone, hence why she still wasn’t able to breastfeed when I persisted with her.
I was devastated as breastfeeding would have made life so much easier as my milk would have increased from the latching and we wouldn’t have had to run around getting milk donors. But on the positive side her air intake was reduced. It was clear Indie’s pain was a lot less but she was still irritated and smelling acidic. I wasn’t going to give up as I knew she was still experiencing pain.
I came across someone discussing in a forum a similar situation where she had found a specialist who had changed her child’s life. I contacted her and luckily the Paediatric Gastroenterologist was only a few hours from where I lived. I contacted him and made an appointment. When he saw us and after examining Indie he said we were very lucky because if it was any later Indie’s esophagus would have been permanently damaged and her incoming teeth would have rotted from the long term acid exposure.
He was shocked and disgusted about everything we had been through and how the system had failed us. He gave her an adult strength medication for her GORD as she was far beyond a mild strength treatment.
It worked and she was like a completely new child. Experiencing this new child made me feel robbed of the peace we should have had from day one.
Indie had three interrelated problems which is why doctors were baffled and would throw it into the too hard basket. All three problems needed to be solved by removing the dairy and soy (CMPA), then reducing air intake with the TT and LT’s corrected, and finally neutralising the acid with her GORD.
If only the ties were identified and corrected from day one we could have simply avoided dairy and she could have had a normal breastfeeding and a much better sleeping experience.
So back to baby Indies sleep. After Indie was fully healed (around the 18 month old mark) her pattern of sleeping (or shall I say lack thereof) was now deeply ingrained. She was not crying or in pain but her body was so accustomed to not sleeping she stayed awake until 1:30am every morning and continued to wake after 30-45 minutes. This is what a fresh newborn sleep cycle looks like. I was extremely sleep deprived- literally a walking zombie. Read my short rant about sleep misconceptions here.
My friends with kids the same age would complain about their lack of sleep and I would just laugh and not even bother to discuss our families sleep deprivation. I didn’t have the strength to socialise so my interactions were barely ever face to face at this time.
I see mum’s today in their mother’s group meetings and wish we could have had those experiences.
I went from someone who had no idea about babies to researching everything to do with babies all day every day. I discovered attachment theory also known as attachment parenting. This method results in huge benefits for children – over all other approaches. The science tells us that co-sleeping and attachment style practices are positive for the child’s development however I personally could not co-sleep with Indie.
When she was first born we built a side bed connected to our bed. We still live by the attachment model but unfortunately the skin to skin co-sleeping was only going to happen when Indie was unwell or could not cope as my sleep deprivation would have been even worse. So we had her cot mattress on the floor next to our bed. I am the lightest sleeper you could ever imagine. Any distractions close to me keep me awake -I can even hear people down the street talking and walking! So once Indie’s health improved and I didn’t need to worry about her choking on spew in bed, I moved her out of our bedroom so I could finally get some longer blocks of sleep.
This is when I started to do something that got Indie to sleep. I found the benefits were backed by lots of science and there wasn’t any product out there using this method
This is what led to the development of the Koola Doll™.
After implementing her night routine of feeding, bath and bedtime consistently I would sing to her and when she appeared to be asleep I would wait 15 minutes and walk out of her room and once I was out my voice was gone and she would cry-out for me to come back.
Something sparked me to start researching the connections between the mother’s voice and the baby’s brain.
I found there was a lot of research that showed that the mother’s voice being heard throughout the child’s development in the womb was very soothing for the infant after birth. There were not only soothing capabilities, there were neurological improvements found - amongst many other things.
I was so happy to learn there was more to singing to a baby than how it helped with sleep. Learning about the neurological benefits of the mothers voice singing to her baby as well as the recognition songs heard from the womb gave me the motivation to take this idea further. I started playing around with a recording box and found when I recorded my voice it also worked effectively for soothing Indie to sleep.
Her sleeping improved week after week since using the sound recorder.
She would wake and hear my voice and then drift off again (connecting sleep cycles). It also allowed me to walk out of her room faster when I was putting her to sleep.
I started to look at options like building an app but with child safety as a focus I knew this wouldn’t align with my values. Through my years of studies I have learnt that smart devices and Wi-Fi devices emit Electromagnetic Frequencies [EMF’s] which research shows in animal and human studies as hazardous for humans, especially in close proximity. Making a baby sleep app would be the easiest and most profitable way to go about this but the health of children is the entire reason for creating this product.
So I made a low tech sound box without the need for WI-FI or a SMART phone.
Babies love toys and create sleep associations around tangible objects, so I decided to build my special sound box into an Earthy natural looking doll.
Infants get heavily attached to comforters alone, imagine a comforter that also had those emotional connections with the mother embedded.
I know many of my natural parent friends are aware of all of the harmful toxins in velvety plush dolls and baby lovey’s being mouthed and in contact with babies skin, so I discussed the options and settled on creating the doll using linen.
And as an Aussie mum I really love our unique Australian culture so decided to make the doll a strong Aussie theme and gender neutral as I know many parents do not want to learn the baby’s gender before birth and this way they could have the doll before the birth – ready for day one. The other benefits of using natural tones was to be less stimulating, as the main objective is calming and sleeping so I was happy about the sleep toy not being colourful.
When it came to developing the plush doll component of the Koola, I decided on the doll being a koala and hunted down the best handmade doll designer in Australia who ironically just happened to live only 10 minutes from my house. She designs the nicest Koalas so together we incorporated the sound box into the back of a koala in a functional way that can be accessed by the parents to click a button if needed at any time without disturbing the baby.
It was time to name this doll and after a lot of discussion I decided to call the doll “The Koola Doll™” as the word Koola is an indigenous word for Koala.
The Koola brand was born.
Unlike all other sleep aids on the market there are many ways the Koola Doll™ can be used.
The most effective application is for parents to start planning for the use of the Koola Doll™ before the baby is born.
The mother’s and father’s voices are the first sounds the baby hears from around the 20 week mark. There are several ways to use the Koola Doll™, however to get the most magic out of this sleep aid there’s something you can do when the mother is pregnant. Either mum or her partner should sing a song to the baby (the baby bump) on a daily basis. Then when the baby is born the Koola Doll™ can be turned on playing your voice and the familiar song – reminding the baby of that same sound they heard when they felt safe and comfortable in the womb.
There are no right or wrong ways to use the Koola Doll™ as every single baby has developed in the womb with their mother’s voice. A child will always remember their mother’s voice. If the father was close by when the child was in the womb his voice will also be remembered. The magic is there whether you have prepared a song pre-birth or not.
My husband snored throughout my pregnancy and I found that my daughter today still relaxes and is soothed by the recording of his snoring!
Since I was going to the trouble of making this doll to help other families I figured I may as well pack in more unique features that support a pre sleep routine and calmness for the day time. Every child is different- why not pack the Koola Doll™ with extra magic while I am there as what works for one child may be different for another child – so the more options the better.
As a science lover and a big fan of scientist Nicola Tesla I decided to use my knowledge of sound frequencies and incorporate them into some sleep melodies.
With the support of a team of sound experts we created four programmed sound options that parents can choose from in addition to their own recorded sound. I predict this decade is going to be a big one for innovation and new technologies that will shock you. I believe frequencies will be at the forefront of these innovations. with the use of frequencies has been around since ancient times but is rarely discussed in mainstream. Many indigenous people say the didgeridoo is a healing device when played at certain frequencies. Learn more about the healing frequencies here.
Parents can either play their voice to their baby or select one of the four programmed sounds.
The research found when young rats were exposed to unchanging, random sounds like white noise, the development of their brain's hearing center was postponed. White noise, which lacks any discernible auditory patterns like radio static or the hum of an air conditioner, differs from speech or music.
If parents want to use something other than their voice for soothing the baby to sleep, they can use a safer option and choose from relaxing melodies and music that doesn’t encompass all audible sounds. Our sound team ensured the Koola Doll™ songs still have a similar effect to white and pink noise that aim to lessen the exterior noise and prevent startling the child. While still providing opportunity through patterns and space for the development of the brain’s hearing center. Read more about why White Noise is potentially Bad for Babies here.
The sound box includes four specially designed sleep songs that promote alpha and delta brain waves for the promotion of the deep sleep state.
Research has shown exposing our brain to alpha and delta sounds waves increases our ability to reach deep sleep. It is in this sleep state that neurons are making important connections especially important for infant brains. While other songs are using the ancient frequencies used by our ancestors for healing and relaxation. All four programmed sounds are pack with useful sound frequencies.
This doll has been in the testing and development phase for 4 years.
This doll has been in the testing and development phase for 4 years and will continue to do so. With a built-in rechargeable battery you no longer need to worry about running out of batteries. To our timer options where you can plan any of the sounds for as little or as long as you like. To the colour of the lights supporting melatonin production. There are so many wonderful things about the Koola Doll™ that makes it such a special baby sleep product. Our daughter is 6 years old and still carries her Koola around with her (she called it stuffy).
The Koola Doll™ is unlike other products purchased for children today that will be ignored and tossed out after a few months.
This doll is special! It is a keepsake that children will cherish for years and also want to hand down to their own children.
Children who have anxiety are also responsive to the Koola Doll™ as hearing their parent’s voice or a personalised sound is a calming tool. As a Special Educator myself I know how challenging life is for many children with Anxiety and Autism and I hope many children benefit from the Koola not only for aiding babies sleep.
There are so many helpful possibilities – another example is how the doll can assist parents who have a surrogate mother carrying their baby. Playing the mothers voice singing a song daily to the baby while it develops in the womb can help the parents form attachment after birth.
Life is a journey and I can honestly say the Koola Doll™ wouldn’t be here today without the birth and those challenges we went through in our journey with our daughter Indie.
I hope the Koola brings your family as much joy as it has for us.
With Love, Health and Happiness,
Koola Launch Alert Form
Be the first to know when we launch our Koola Doll™!
