Sleep and Settling Initiative

The Victorian Government made a significant investment to provide additional support for families through the broader 2018 election commitment, More Help for New Mums and Dads. As part of this initiative a Sleep and Settling Model of Care has been developed. The Sleep and Settling Model of Care is intended to be implemented across three different platforms:

• parent information sessions
• outreach consultations
• the 24 hour Maternal and Child Health Line

The biggest challenge facing new parents is coping with broken sleep, night after night. It is worth remembering that the sleepless nights don’t last. Difficulties with your baby settling and sleeping are common. Around one third of babies experience a disrupted sleeping pattern, but it is only a problem if you feel that the family can’t cope with the disruption.

Sleep and Settling Fact Sheets

A suite of fact sheets have been developed to provide information and support to parents, caregivers and service providers. These will support consistent and evidence-informed approaches to sleep and settling information sessions. Simple English Fact Sheets are also being developed.

• Fact Sheet 1 – Newborns – 3 months (typical sleep behaviour)
• Fact Sheet 2 – Babies 3 – 6 months (typical sleep behaviour)
• Fact Sheet 3 – Babies 6 – 12 months (typical sleep behaviour)
• Fact Sheet 4 – Toddlers 1 – 2 years (typical sleep behaviour)
• Fact Sheet 5 – Toddlers 2-3 years (typical sleep behaviour)
• Fact Sheet 6 – Preschoolers 3 – 5 years (typical sleep behaviour
• Fact Sheet 7 – Babies 0 – 6 months (positive sleep patterns)
• Fact Sheet 8 – Babies 6 – 12 months (positive sleep patterns)
• Fact Sheet 9 – Toddlers 1 – 3 years (positive sleep patterns)
• Fact Sheet 10 – Preschoolers 3 – 5 years (positive sleep patterns)
• Fact Sheet 11 – Babies  – 12 months (solutions to sleep concerns)
• Fact Sheet 12 – Toddlers 1-3 years (solutions to sleep concerns
• Fact Sheet 13 – Preschoolers 3-5 years (solutions to sleep concerns
• Fact Sheet 14 – Support for parents and caregivers

The fact sheets can also be found on the Better Health Channel Sleep and Settling page Information included in the fact sheets is also available on the Maternal and Child Health (MCH) App.

Sleep and Settling in Community Languages

Fourteen fact sheets have been developed on typical sleep behavior, preventing sleep concerns and solutions to sleep concerns for families with children from birth to school age in the following community languages.

• Arabic (العَرَبِيَّة)
• Burmese (မြန်မာစာ)
• Dari (درى)
• Khmer (ភាសាខ្មែរ)
• Persian (فارسی)
• Punjabi (ਪੰਜਾਬੀ)
• Simplified Chinese (简化字)
• Spanish (Español)
• Vietnamese (Tiếng Việt)

Sleep and Settling MCH Training Program

The Sleep and Settling Initiative commenced in February 2020. In June 2020 Tweddle partnered with Centre for Excellence in Child and Family Welfare (CFECFW) to develop and deliver the Sleep and Settling training program for the entire MCH Workforce. As a first step, an online training program is currently being developed. This is planned to go live early in 2021. All eligible practitioners will be notified at this time.

Are you part of the Victorian MCH Workforce and want to know more information about the Sleep and Settling training program? Please email your questions to sleepandsettling@tweddle.org.au

Tweddle acknowledges the support of the Victorian Government.