O'Connell family centre

[Sharon]

Has anyone been to the O'Connell family centre?
What was it like?
What happens there?
Did it work?

[muso mama]

If it is a sleep centre then i would STAY AWAY. IMO all they do is erode a mother's confidence in knowing what to do when her baby needs her. I know of people who have had staff almost holding them back from going to their baby when it is screaming hysterically and the father has pushed them aside, picked up the baby and walked out. Other couples have felt like 'failures' because a few weeks/months down the track their baby is waking again and they have already been to 'sleep school' so what now?? I had one nurse try to tell me that by not control crying my son i was stunting his intellectual growth because the brain (and body) grows during sleep - now if that isn't using guilt rather than empowering a mother a dont know what is....however a very sleep deprived mind will believe anything now matter how ridiculous! (BTW my son is 4 and can read most books in his collection word for word so i don't really have any concerns for his intellectual development!)
C

[michele]

Hi Sharon,

There is other options you can get people to come to your home and help. The problem with sleep schools is when you get home it can all go out the mindow. I went with my baby and he was an angel slept all night every night we were there I felt like I had made it up that he was waking 6 times a night. i could have cried when they told me he slept all night. i really felt like a liar. When we got home he woke again five times on the first night home this didn't change for months untill a friend of a friend gave me the number for a saint. Tizzie she came and stayed the night to see for her self what was happening. And he woke just like I said he did. Two nights later he was sleeping 7pm to 7am and still is 3 months later. please don't go to sleep school if you don't have to. I now believe baby's need to learn how to sleep in there own beds.
Hope this helps from Michele.

[Sharon]

hi michele

i saw your other posts regarding Tizzie, i even went to her website and nearly purchased some of her articles, but backed out.

anyway can you tell me out of interest how much she is and what she does that is soooo good?

our boy is 4 months and he has settled. we are now trying to get him to skip a few bottles. when he is not constipated he is still having 4 hourly bottles. the 11pm is ok its when it is 3am and i can't get back to sleep. it's been over 1 week now of trying to get him to miss this bottle. it requires us to put him back to sleep when he wakes, which varies from 5 mins to 1hr. I think it would be easier to just give him a bottle.

any tips of getting him to miss a bottle/feed?

[michele]

Hi Sharon,

She comes to your home and makes you feel really at ease as soon as she walks in it feels like she is a long lost friend. I can't really go into what she does because I know from all my friends that have used her she does different things with different mother's and babies. The thing that ia amazing is that she lets you call her 24 hours a day 7 days a week. She has told a few of my friends that they don't need her to come out she just guides them how they should go. She has helped other friends with potty training and eating issues.I hope this helps. you can also just register for phone suport.

[michele]

where has this thread gone?

[QualifiedChildcarer]

If it is a sleep centre then i would STAY AWAY. IMO all they do is erode a mother's confidence in knowing what to do when her baby needs her. I know of people who have had staff almost holding them back from going to their baby when it is screaming hysterically and the father has pushed them aside, picked up the baby and walked out. Other couples have felt like 'failures' because a few weeks/months down the track their baby is waking again and they have already been to 'sleep school' so what now?? I had one nurse try to tell me that by not control crying my son i was stunting his intellectual growth because the brain (and body) grows during sleep - now if that isn't using guilt rather than empowering a mother a dont know what is....however a very sleep deprived mind will believe anything now matter how ridiculous! (BTW my son is 4 and can read most books in his collection word for word so i don't really have any concerns for his intellectual development!)
C

I don't normally reply to threads but I felt I needed to set the record straight on this one. O'Connell Family Centre DO NOT do controlled crying!! Staff would never stop you going into your baby and the whole stay is around getting parents to trust their own gut instincts and listen to what your baby is trying to tell you through the cues they are using. Of course when you go home, there are trying times as that is the environment your child is used to and comfortable with. Staff don't hide the fact that the baby/child can start waking up again down the track as there are always such things as illness/teething/family situations/environment changes/childs development that can disrupt the childs sleeping. If this was to happen and you need extra support all you need to do is call up O'Connell to come back in again.

I personally dont believe in controlled crying as in the first year of life is all about trust. Your child needs to trust that you will be there if they need you, not standing behind a door listening to them crying. Controlled crying isnt the only way of settling babies and children, there are alternatives and O'Connell Family Centre provide that.

If you have ever seen the book/dvd called "Safe, Sleep, Space" this is the techniques that O'Connell use.

If you have any questions, please let me know!