About Tweddle

A leading Early Parenting Centre

“Seeking help for Early Parenting baby sleep and settling is usually the first reason parents contact Tweddle. Historically known as a Sleep School, but more commonly referred to as an Early Parenting Centre, Tweddle has evolved to offer a more holistic service including education around attachment and infant mental health.

You may self refer to Tweddle or speak to your health professional about completing an online referral. We’re happy to chat with you about our programs and even offer tours and information sessions if you are still unsure. We understand how exhaustion can impact parenting, relationships and mental health. Call us if you have any questions”

Every year Tweddle’s specialised team of maternal and child health nurses, mothercraft nurses, social workers and early parenting practitioners provide support to over 4,000 families facing parenting challenges.

Parenting challenges can include anxiety, isolation, health issues, addiction, family instability and violence, sleep deprivation, feelings of being unable to cope, financial stress and other factors.

You can either self refer to Tweddle or ask your health professional to complete a health professional referral for our day stay and residential programs. This ensures that we are providing the sort of wrap around services that connect families back to community supports. We offer day stay and residential programs, In Home services, MyTime, our peer support groups for parents of children with a disability, developmental delay or chronic illness, and parenting programs like Working Out Dads and Circle of Security.

Tweddle has a commitment to honouring and celebrating diversity in all staff, volunteers, and families, including full participation in programs, policy formulation, and decision-making. We acknowledge the fundamental value and dignity of all individuals and pledge to creating and maintaining an environment that respects diverse traditions, heritages, and experiences.

Staff at Tweddle

Tweddle’s specialist Early Parenting Centre clinicians that care for babies, toddlers and their families, offer a broad range of qualifications and experience. They include registered nurses, midwives, psychologists, social workers, early childhood practitioners, community health and family violence workers and mothercraft nurses. In the following video, Tweddle Chair Ms Doris Whitmore acknowledges the hard work and dedication of the Tweddle team, explaining how it only takes one person to change a life, and for many families, that person was from Tweddle.

What is an Early Parenting Centre?

Early parenting centres are specialist early intervention and prevention family and child health organisations that provide parenting support during the critical first 1000 days of a child’s life (conception to age 2).

As a public hospital and early parenting centre, Tweddle focuses on health, which is fundamental to wellbeing. Tweddle sees good health and wellbeing as the foundations of resourceful families who are well connected to and within their communities.

Tweddle offers interventions to babies, toddlers and their families to promote the preservation, reunification and restoration of health and wellbeing where there is distress and disruption in the infant-parent relationship.

The vulnerability of parents, children and families to distress occurs along a continuum. Tweddle understands that this vulnerability may occur at any time, for any family, depending on the balance of stressors applied and resources and supports available.

Vulnerability may also increase when parents experience high levels of stressors at times when they have depleted resources and limited supports. Vulnerability can also be reduced when parents are helped to build their resources and their supports in order to manage stressors and the impact on themselves and their children.

Tweddle has a range of parenting programs, both for voluntary and mandatory (child protection) family admissions. These include residential and community-based day stay programs, assessment and intake services, psychology and social support services,  parenting support programs in prisons, childbirth education, in home parenting support and peer support programs for parents of children with a disability, developmental delay or chronic medical condition.

All Tweddle programs are underpinned by the growing body of evidence relating to the adverse impact on infants who experience traumatic stress in the crucial early childhood development phase.  The quality of interactions and attachment relationship between a baby and its parents is the core process for brain development and impacts on lifelong health, relationship and wellbeing outcomes.

Tweddle’s aims and objectives as an early parenting centre are to demonstrate expertise in relation to the first 1000 days of life and the impact of trauma on the development of babies and toddlers. We are committed to hearing and promoting the voice of the child in all areas of our service. Importantly, our role is to provide excellent care to every family, every time.

Tweddle is a Child Safe Organisation dedicated to the protection of all children. Please call Tweddle if you have any questions on (03) 9689 1577.

Tweddle would like to acknowledge and pay our respects to the Traditional Custodians, past and present, of this land Wurundjeri on which Tweddle provide its services.

Child Safe Organisation  

Tweddle offers a Child Safe environment by putting the best interests of children first to ensure their rights and needs are met.  We apply this principle in policy and practice, screen applicants for suitability to work with children and promote a culture of child safety, wellbeing and identification and prevention of harm.  Tweddle has a duty to respond to any concerns, disclosures, allegations or suspicions of harm.