Tweddle Child & Family Health Service

Just finished a 5 day stay and all I can say is wow and Thank you. I have gone from my son waking 10+ times a night, having 4+ bottles over night and cosleeping, to him now getting off to sleep himself and sleeping the night (15 months old). The amount of support you receive is amazing, the staff were so lovely and caring. There is no cry it out, all about comfort and letting your child know you are there for them. They provide everything you need, the meals were okay, decent size rooms, lovely and clean.

I am so glad I attended Tweedle with my daughter who had sleeping and eating issues. We did the residential stay and it was absolutely fantastic. I got so much out of it and loved the staff. It’s nice being involved in the group activities and information sessions as they share useful insights into childhood behaviour and also adult behaviours that may contribute to sleep/eating issues in babies and toddlers. The staff at tweedle work personally with each family towards achieving your sleep goals in a way you are comfortable. It is absolutely not just “cry it out method” although for some parents this method has worked and are happy with it. The only regret I have is I didn’t go earlier but absolutely recommend it.

I had a great stay at Tweddle. We bought our almost 1 year old in together after being referred by our MHN. We have been having sleep troubles for ever since she was born. I as her mother a bit more so because I felt my partner lacked the confidence he needed to be able to help at bed times and settling. Because he lacked confidence he became a little bit overwhelmed or frustrated and would give in.
I do believe one more night stay would have been perfect to feel a little more complete in our routine. I do however understand that staffing issues and long wait lists make it difficult to have people stay for a full 5 days.

With the help of the nurses at Tweddle, both my partner and I have some new tools and the confidence to go home with and continue our progress!
Special thankyou to Mila and Lisa they have been super supportive and made our stay so much more enjoyable, comfortable! Thanks to them I feel so so much confident I myself and my decisions! I can tell they are both very passionate about what they do!

Can't thank them enough. I attended a resi stay for 5 days with my 2 kids. I didn't think there was light at the end of the tunnel, but these people changed my life around for the better. Anyone giving negative comments here probably didn't follow through with the program, but my life has been changed around amazingly

The only 2 positive things about Tweddle sleep school are the staff there and that is a free service. The facility is really old and the state of bedrooms, common kitchen and shared bathroooms are appalling. We were willing to put up with the conditions for the sake of our child’s sleep but my child’s sleep never improved and I left feeling really helpless and discouraged. We were referred due to chronic short naps, multiple night wakings, overtiredness and inability to connect sleep cycles. We practiced their strategies multiple times day and night for an entire week with no result! My child’s sleep were never lengthened and they couldnt offer me any further advice apart from keep doing what you are doing. My child was consistently crying due to overtiredness and we did all the settling and re-settling whilst staying at Tweddle. At discharge, I was encouraged to accept that this was where my child was at developmentally and to manage my own expectations to aid my mental health. Thankfully I ignored them and sought help elsewhere as I knew there must be a solution to our problem. My child now sleeps through the night with 1 feed and is also having 3 solid naps a day. I honestly have no idea why they call themselves a sleep school. I didnt learn anything about sleep associations, different cries, wake windows, when to respond or daily schedules. You can’t improve sleep by just teaching clients the ‘Circle of Security’, Tweddle! Dont waste your time. Go to Masada or hire yourself a private sleep consultant!

I have waited to post as I wanted to see how things went.well I have 5 stars for Kings Park because we now have sleep. We did the day stay and got a lot out of it. Natalie was amazing - empathetic, supportive, reassuring and very knowledgeable!

If you are expecting a miracle overnight, it's probably not the sleep school for you. But if you want an understanding of your babies sleep needs, hands on support to try strategies and guidance on how to implement them at home you are in the right place.

We felt listened too, understood, guided on how to approach sleep and honest feedback on some on the barriers. We also wanted an approach that sat well with our parenting philosophy (basically no crying it out methods). We worked hard at home using the strategies she gave us and it's been life changing.

What to bring with you:
Snacks because the food fuel is important, it's a big day.
Something to take notes on as it's always good to have pointers when you get home.
An open mind to the strategies might be different to what you've tried and tested, heard through the grapevine (friends, other parents and the array of sleep book) or hard to comprehend will work.
Your person/partner who is parenting with you or at least looking after your baby alongside you.
Questions to ask about some potential what-ifs so that you have some ideas on contingencies as it's a journey.

I have nothing nice to say about this silly place just pure rude and make up lies and criticise and discriminates character and extremely disrespectful!

Tweedle, what can I say… to be honest I was scared, anxious and nervous when I first arrived there for the PASDS programme with my daughter and when I left I didn’t want to as you all felt like family and the centre felt like home. I would especially like to thank Joanne, Andy, Charlotte, Sav and AJ without you guys around me I don’t know how I would of coped. I learnt so much and the support was there when I needed it. I highly recommend this place as it feels like a friendly family environment and they are so supportive on helping you meet and learn your child’s needs. If I need help in the future I’m definitely coming back. Again thank you to all staff, support people and AJ the therapy dog.

I wouldn't recommend, this place I was still in the recovery process. Just had our new born son didn't get the Chance to Recover. I was very un well collapsing but had no choice but to do the assessment straight after having our son. They have labelled me as a psychological problem/disability I have been having supervision from the day my son was born.cause the male that runs the place by the name Peter finalise assessment I was physically unwell I was weak and couldn't help by collapsing on the floor. I didn't pass. And they want give me another chance to do another assessment.and did not take me into consideration falsely labelled. I have recovered over the years.and they still want give me the opportunity To have no supprovision or in fact let me do another assessment. Cause they believe that my comprehension isn't good. From last assessment when I was unconscious.after having our son. "

Tweddle was the third place we tried for help with our almost 3 year old’s sleep (or lack of…) All the staff were super welcoming and the facilities at the centre were very accomodating. We loved how Lucas, our sleep consultant, took the time to discuss the goals we hoped to set in our day stay. Initially I was skeptical, as our son no longer has day naps when at home with us. But because Lucas took the time to explore our backstory and carefully observed our son’s temperament and attachment to us, our son fell asleep within 10 minutes of his nap time! This is unheard of! We then used the same strategies at home and once again, our son fell asleep within 15 minutes. What a remarkable improvement on the 3 hour night time sleep battles we have become accustomed to. Thank you Tweddle team!

Called tweddle as a friend of mine said it saved her marriage (although she used them 8 years ago)
The lady who came out was lovely, although I felt their method did not work and a huge waste of time. I also felt their was not much information for my 2 children (16 months apart) and no follow up support.
I waited 5 weeks for an appointment and tried their method (basically rocking in the cot) for 3 weeks with the tiniest improvement.

I wish I could give this place 0 stars if possible. Avoid like the plague! We were offered zero support whilst there and made to feel like awful people and parents. Our children have NEVER and will NEVER be in harm's way, yet we were reported to CPS due to me being honest with them about how I was struggling emotionally.
The only help we received was from one lovely consultant via zoom calls who offered great ideas for settling a toddler. Aside from that, there was no benefit and it only added stress to our life. Overall this place did more damage than good and it's heartbreaking that when asking for support services as a parent it was used against me. Better to suffer silently than say a word to staff there.

I did the Resi stay so Monday to Friday the staff were absolutely amazing the facility was very clean and tidy the rooms were so comfortable and beautiful the other lady’s and families that were there were so lovely and welcoming it was like a little family away from home the support you get here is nothing i have ever seen before the staff go above and beyond to care and support you I absolutely loved Leslie, Nat, Julie, Liz, And Pina all the staff were exceptional you really get taken care of here I learnt so much in my stay I came here for issues with sleep and routine and left here with the knowledge and skills to confidently settle my little one and gained more i now have a new sense of empowerment and a whole lot of skills and strategies you honesty do feel 100% supported here it’s like a little sorority of sisters bonding together to support comfort and be there I wish the stay was longer as I’m sad to be leaving but happy to be leaving with a whole new set of skills i learnt all thanks to tweedle. Thank you so much to this beautiful organisation and the lovely ladies that made my stay nothing short of amazing. I highly recommend anyone wanting to come to tweedle.

Every first time mum needs to come to tweddle. My son and I loved it. It's home time tomorrow and I am very emotional to leave this wonderful place. Tweddle has provided a safe haven for new parents/family allowing me to feel safe and unjudged to voice my issues and concerns. The staff are so amazing. Each and every staff are so eager and happy to educated and help, constantly letting us know that during our stay here we are never alone and always supported. I am truly grateful to all the staff here and highly recommend this to families who are struggling with their little ones.

Staff very carring, very helpful with the routine of my 8 months baby.
It does work straight away for them to calm my baby, for me I needed time to learn. They are encouraging your own routine too, whatever works best for you and baby, but they promote their way too which is safer.
Staff are very kind, the food is excellent delicious, they even asked you if any special diery requests. And all care is free!
Overseas in Yugoslav this care doesn't exist, you do everything by your self and family members.
I cannot be more thankful, for provided free daily play groups, activities and advices, night staff, psychology, amazing! Thank you all for your hard work!
I don't want to go home after this experience and stay of 5 days. It is so nice!
In regards of the negative comments, remember doesn't always magically works straight away, needs time for you and your baby to adjust and apply that new routine which can be very challenging. Needs time and lots of patience. It takes up to 6 weeks for the little human (baby) to learn the new routine:)

Brooke and Hayley at Whittlesea were exceptional during our day stay today. Made my partner and I feel we were in control of the intensity at which we would try and wean our 5 month old son off his "feed-to-sleep" routine. The techniques we learned are promising, and a few sleep cycles into our first night we are instilled with much more confidence than before. Fingers crossed more sleep is on the horizon for the whole household in the not-so-distant future. Thank you ladies!

The school is good however 4 days is not enough x teach the kids to sleep
they need to improve the riutine as we not spend all day inside they need to give a possibility to go out x walking or playground then back x other
information time is sometime you know but as a Parents you need a people teach us to be less stress
for my opinion during the time they can teach yoga for baby and mum
however some staff are amazing
thanks

I highly recommend Tweddle if you are having sleeping problems. My son was waking up every hour for the first six months of his life. I was totally exhausted. After our Tweddle stay he now sleeps for 12 continuous hours at night. This has been life changing for us. The staff at Tweddle were extremely friendly and really helpful. Can’t recomend them enough.

We brought our 18 weeks old daughter to Tweddle because she couldn't self settle in bed and would wake up quite easily and often at night. We were both exhausted having to rock her and hold her sometimes for hours to sleep. At some point things got so bad we even tried Cry It Out method ourselves with no success but ended up with a baby who cried so much and almost completely lost her voice.

What I like about Tweddle is that the plan is tailored for your baby, and you really shouldn't expect the same method works for every baby since they are all different. The plan is also holistic as the sleep improvement is a result of better sleep habits, feeding and playing. During our stay in Tweddle we received advices from all those aspects, and the result is a happy baby who can now self settle in the cot and sleeps 6 to 7 hours for her longest night sleep. Her sleep could be even better and I believe that the skills we developed in Tweddle can help us get there.

In regards to sleep training in particular, I was really surprised that it did not involve a lot of crying for my baby as the program is based on the principals of "Responsive Parenting" and the "Circle of Security". So understanding your child's needs and responding appropriately is the key. And to our surprise such a gentle method did turn out working way better than the Cry It Out, at least for our daughter.

Highly recommend this place!

We got home from Tweddle today with our 13 month old and I wanted to write a review because I checked the reviews of different Early Parenting Centres before I requested a referral.

I have nothing but amazing things to say about Tweddle and all the staff working at Tweddle. Our main issues were poor sleep and frequent waking overnight. But we also wanted to reduce breastfeeding, teach our baby to drink out of a cup and encourage food intake. The first day was discussing what we wanted to achieve at Tweddle and documenting our goals.

I was so nervous about going and was worried there would be a lot of “crying it out” when trying to improve his sleep. What a huge misconception that was! There was minimal tears and a lot of hands on and off comforting (responsive settling). The staff were completely consistent in their advice, which was extremely helpful after receiving a lot of conflicting information from my local MCH nurse and reading books.

It was honestly such a great week and the only disappointment was that we didn’t go down sooner. We have learnt so much and have made huge progress in getting our son to self settle and improving his sleep, as well as reducing breastfeeding, increasing food intake and getting him more familiar with drinking from a sippy cup. Some of the tips we received were great and I have not read in any sleep programs or books.

They have qualified staff including nurses, early childhood staff and even a play therapist. I felt incredibly supported the whole week.

I highly recommend going to Tweddle and if you’re struggling, definitely request the referral sooner rather than later, because there is a wait time. I will be forever grateful for the support we have received.