O'conell family centre - Melbourne

[wysiwyg]

Any thoughts on whether O'Connell would be any good for an 18 month old, who is not too bad overnight in general but is a nightmare to get to sleep at night (in day he has is one sleep after a feed fine and 3 days is in daycare and sleeps well for them) - but who is already in a bed (due to climbing issues) and shares with his sister (no other choice apart from back in with us) - DD is now on top bunk earlier than I would have liked but we had to put her out of his reach as he was just getting up and tormenting her (squirting her with water, trying to force feed her water, jumping on her, pointing out her nose etc etc).

A few people I have spoke to think wouldn't be much help as in not sure what they would tell us that don't do, and because he is in a bed and they share a room - but also because he is not actually that bad sleep wise in comparison with many people. We have the odd bad night (usually when he hasn't slept in day and just goes to sleep easy at night through exhaustion) but that is just usually two wake ups with the first one being awake for an hour or so - but in the main after eventually going to sleep at 9:00 ish he sleeps till 4:30 - 5:00 and then resettles with a feed ok till 6:30-7:00 depending on when DD gets up.

I may fingers crossed have a job soon, so DH thinks (probably because he will have to do more in terms of getting DS to sleep etc) we should look into whether would help or not.

He just won't stay still, so the whole leave for 30 seconds then reassure is no good because he is out of bed behind me before I am out the door, and he won't stay still to be patted, stroked, shhhhd basically until he decides he is ready which is around 8:30 - 9:30 but I can see he is tired much before then - and he just behaves like a maniac. When DH has had to put him to bed, he has just held him still until he gives in and goes to sleep but those nights his sleep is terrible overnight so not sure I should try replicate his approach.

[Santosha]

I found O'Connell generally fantastic - receptive to my ethic and willing to work within what I was comfortable with, whilst still providing a structured plan. They do however, do a fair bit of crying. It may be with you right there, holding your child's hand, or their ideal would be with you coming and going from the room, but there was certainly a whole lot of crying coming from most rooms whilst I was there. I wasn't up for crying... so we didn't really get far with settling but came away with a routine that helped.

My gut feeling is that they would tell you to get him back into a cot and then work with his reaction to that. I don't know what else they'd have to offer but I think they're certainly worth chatting to.

ETA - oh, and crossing fingers and toes that you get the job!

[*EJ*]

I'd call them and get on the waiting list for a phone interview, in doing that you can have a chat to them and figure out if they are what you need/they feel they can be of help. They provide more than just the sleep settling side of things and for children up to 4 years of age.

Be it like others or not it's an issue for your family and you are intitled to help just as any of us are. It does sound like a challenging process and definately not something you want to go through each night if you can help it.

I found them extremely supportive and caring to each individual and benefitted a huge amount from having a residential stay there.

Good luck

[wysiwyg]

Right will call them and see - I am not willing to go back to cot - he is a danger in there I would rather spend ages settling him than sat on tenterhooks in the lounge wondering if he is getting out. I could cope with him crying when I am there I think (there is crying and crying he already seems to have mastered the fake crying thing -learnt from DD no doubt) - he no longer seems to get upset about it all and just laughs in my face or tries to force feed me water!

[*EJ*]

He sounds like a gorgeously sprited little guy... What a cheeky little man xo

[wysiwyg]

He sounds like a gorgeously sprited little guy... What a cheeky little man xo

Yes must keep repeating "spirited" :-)

[Santosha]

Hmm, yet he remains with you when out.

Thinking about this again, i think I'm just assuming they'd suggest the cot again because he's so little. But if he can get out, then he's just like the older kiddles who do the same thing and they've got to have dealt with thousands of little people who don't stay in bed.

I hope they have some helpful tips for you and you get some peace in your evenings. xoxox

[wysiwyg]

Hmm, yet he remains with you when out.

Yep is because he likes me to witness his mischief - there is no fun in it when you can't torment your mum :-)