Wishing on a star for silent nights

Within months they had moved into their new home in Edinburgh and were eagerly awaiting the new arrival, a son they would call Kian.

Stephen, 20, was a steel fabricator and Lindsay, also 20, who worked at Optical Express, decided to give up her job to be a full-time mother.

"Between myself and? Stephen, we decided I wouldn't go back to work," she said. "We had a son, and maybe we would miss holidays, but we wanted to raise him our way."

Like all babies Kian woke several times a night but, unlike most, he never grew out of it. Days became weeks, weeks months, months years and still Lindsay would get up several times each night to see to her restless child.

"He was never a good sleeper - until quite recently," she said. "It used to be difficult to get him to sleep unless he had his bottle of milk with him.He would wake up between two and five times a night."

Her salvation came in the form of Children 1st's Young Parents Group, which has a branch in south Edinburgh.

It is aimed at protecting young parents from becoming isolated and unsure of how to cope with all the challenges parenthood brings.

Lindsay said: "We were given different tactics on how to deal with it. Now he sleeps right through."

The Young Parents Group also cushioned the blow of Stephen twice being made redundant, leaving the young family, who had always been self-sufficient, struggling to cope.

"When Stephen got made redundant twice in one year, without them giving us advice I don't know what we would have done," Lindsay admitted.

"We were used to paying the rent, council tax bills, and everything else ourselves. When he lost his job we had no idea.

"We had always had jobs - we didn't know how to get housing benefit."

The Young Parents Group did not only ensure they were able to access benefits, they also gave Stephen a few tips on his CV, and last month he found work as an engineer.

Like many of Children 1st's services, the Young Parents Group, which has branches across Scotland, faces high demand and low resources.

That is why Scotland on Sunday, and sister newspaper The Scotsman, linked up with the charity to launch a Christmas fundraising appeal "Build a Brighter Future".

The charity - formerly the Royal Scottish Society for the Prevention of Cruelty to Children and has been in existence for 125 years, costs 10.5 million a year to run.However, the Young Parents Group in south Edinburgh can still only afford to open a day a week, on Thursdays, and has to limit the families it helps to 12 due to limited creche provision.

Louise Wilson, project worker at the Young Parents Group, said: "We piloted this programme three years ago to find out if there was any need and there certainly is.

"There has been so much demand we have had to close the waiting list.

"A lot of young parents feel unable to link in with mainstream society."

The group also helps parents with more severe problems than Kian's and offers support and advice on drugs, alcohol, sexual health, behaviour management and nutrition.

The Scottish Government and other agencies have stressed the importance of early intervention - reaching children as young as possible to try to ensure they do not struggle in later life - and Children 1st believes Young Parents Groups offer an excellent opportunity to do just that.

• You can donate to Children 1st here