When Molly Di Cato and her husband Frank found themselves in the grips of severe sleep deprivation with a newborn child, even life's simplest things became an ongoing battle.
Struggling to get their first-born Max to sleep both overnight and during the day was a never-ending source of anxiety and exhaustion.
Despite several appointments with private sleep therapists, countless self-help books and attempts at following online guides, nothing was achieving the desired result.
The end result? Both parents felt the all-too common impact of debilitating sleep deprivation, without a solution in sight.
It was at this stage Molly discovered the City of Ballarat's Sleep and Settling Program.
And from that moment onwards, her outlook changed.
An appointment with her Maternal Child Health nurse led to a referral to the Sleep and Settling Program and she never looked back.
"Sleep deprivation can be brutal, and you can feel like there's not a light at the end of the tunnel," Molly says.
"We had tried so many things but when they don't work, it sort of feels like you're being set up to fail.
"From the moment we joined the program, we realised that we had a great support system in place."
The City of Ballarat Sleep and Settling Program for babies and toddlers provides safe, evidence-based settling strategies that allow parents and caregivers to make informed choices to suit their individual needs and preferences.
The program offers a range of different resources, including group sessions, individual consultations and even in-home visits, all free of charge.
For Molly, having these face-to-face sessions with a qualified expert could not have been more valuable.
"It was just so reassuring being able to speak to somebody and have realistic expectations while figuring out all of the different issues," she said.
"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."
City of Ballarat releases new sleep and settling videos
Sleep and settling concerns are common issues affecting families with children aged from birth to school age. Up to one third of families have concerns about their child's sleeping patterns which can have a major impact on the child and on family functioning.
As a way to make it easier for all Ballarat families to access sleep and settling information, the City of Ballarat has produced a series of 17 different online educational videos for children ranging from six months to two years old.
Filmed using local families, in partnership with local business MRL Studios, the videos provide practical sleep support, accessible to all families from anywhere and at any time.
The videos are also able to be auto-translated with captions in more than 150 languages, making them even more accessible.
Aligning with the City of Ballarat's commitment to removing barriers to access and inclusion, the videos offer a new approach to address barriers to inclusion, ensuring young families in our community all have the same opportunity to access learning and support.
The videos are online now at the City of Ballarat website.
Help for families is available
In addition to the videos, the City of Ballarat offers a range of free programs that offer different options and supports for families to address sleep concerns for children aged 0-5 years.
Featuring a sleep drop-in clinic at Parent Place, free individual sessions by appointment, group sleep sessions and even an in-home outreach program, there are many options available to help families navigate the difficulty of helping babies and toddlers sleep.
City of Ballarat Deputy Mayor, Cr Ben Taylor said the new videos, in addition to all of the sleep and settling services offered by the City of Ballarat, were vital in helping Ballarat families.
"We are incredibly proud to be a city that offers all of these vital services to our residents free of charge," she said.
"I encourage all families to see what services we have on offer as we know how important those early stages of life are."
Visit the City of Ballarat website or visit Parent Place at 39 Sturt Street to learn more.
