THE City of Ballarat’s Sleep and Settling Program is helping families and carers with evidence-based settling strategies.<\/p>\n
Molly Di Cato and her husband Frank were facing sleep deprivation and anxiety with their newborn Max.<\/p>\n
They tried private sleep therapists, self-help books and online guides but did not find the solutions they were looking for.<\/p>\n
Ms Di Cato then discovered the municipality’s Sleep and Settling Program through her maternal child health nurse and she said this transformed her outlook.<\/p>\n
“Sleep deprivation can be brutal, and you can feel like there’s not a light at the end of the tunnel,” Ms Di Cato said.<\/p>\n
“We had tried so many things but when they don’t work, it sort of feels like you’re being set up to fail.<\/p>\n
“From the moment we joined the program, we realised that we had a great support system in place.”<\/p>\n
The program includes group sessions, individual consultations and home visits at no cost.<\/p>\n
“It was just so reassuring being able to speak to somebody and have realistic expectations while figuring out all of the different issues,” Ms Di Cato said.<\/p>\n
“For Ballarat families to have services available like this free service available to them, it is just so beneficial. It’s a whole new support system everyone should know about.”<\/p>\n
The City of Ballarat has created 17 educational videos with sleep settling information for children aged six months to two years old.<\/p>\n
The videos were filmed with local families in collaboration with MRL Studios, and are available to be auto-translated in more than 150 languages.<\/p>\n
“We are incredibly proud to be a city that offers all of these vital services to our residents free of charge,” Cr Ben Taylor said.<\/p>\n
“I encourage all families to see what services we have on offer as we know how important those early stages of life are.”<\/p>\n
For more information visit Parent Place or the City of Ballarat website.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
THE City of Ballarat’s Sleep and Settling Program is helping families and carers with evidence-based settling strategies. Molly Di Cato and her husband Frank were facing sleep deprivation and anxiety with their newborn Max. They tried private sleep therapists, self-help books and online guides but did not find the solutions they were looking for. Ms […]<\/p>\n