FIRST Steps for BABIES Training: Learn foundational elements of newborn and young infant development using the BABIES and PreSTEPS Model
 

2 to 2 1/2 Day Training (16-20 Hours)

The FIRST Steps for BABIES Training is a prerequisite to the other trainings programs. This foundational training is the first step in the learning program for interdisciplinary early intervention and health care professionals.

You will learn about the foundations of newborn and young infant development and the progression of the caregiver-infant relationship as the infant develops. These foundational aspects of development yield expertise in support of newborns and young infants with health care needs, developmental disabilities and with those babies who have been deemed categorically eligible for Part C services.

This training focuses on evidence-based approaches to assessment and intervention for an infant’s development of:

B-ody Function
A-rousal and Sleep
B-ody Movement
I-nteraction with others
E-ating
S-oothing

AND

Support for families’ focuses on the evidence-based best practices of:

Pre-dictability and continuity
S-leep and arousal organization
T-iming and pacing
E-nvironmental modifications
P-ositioning and handling
S-oothing supports

The pre-requisite for this training is the FIRST Steps for BABIES 2 1/2-day training.

Time Commitment – 1 year

The goal of the Learning Collaborative is to deepen the practices of the participants and expand their abilities to work with premature and medically fragile babies and their families. Another goal is to develop a higher level of competence in the BABIES and PreSTEPS Model so as to become a confident practitioner in providing neurodevelopmental family-centered care founded on infant mental health principles to families of fragile infants.

The BABIES Learning Collaborative is a year-long training that allows participants to deep-dive into the BABIES and Pre-STEPS Model of family-centered developmental care. Participants bring their own rich, clinical experiences to the Learning Collaborative, as they learn more about the 6 domains. Each domain is studied for 2 months, with a mid-year and final assessment to check skills development.

Participants are required to conduct live observations of infants. They are also expected to bring case studies to each session.

The training is approximately 51 hours. The teaching is a combination of didactic, reflective, and experiential, with a strong audio-visual component.

Participants receive a manual for each domain, as well as observation forms to practice using the Model in sessions.

The Reflective Mentoring Program is offered to professionals who have completed the year-long BABIES and Pre-STEPS Learning Collaborative. It consists of three 2-hour follow up sessions over a 6 month period. During the sessions participants receive reflective consultation regarding clinical challenges with fragile infants and families, as well as support for continued implementation of the BABIES and PreSTEPS Model. Current research will be discussed, as well as long-term planning for participation in the WONDERbabies community.

The goal of the Reflective Mentoring Program is to provide continued support to professionals after they have participated in the BABIES Learning Collaborative.

Faculty: Emily McNeil, LPC, BC,-DMT, IMH-E Clinical Mentor

Suggested Resource:

If you’d like to learn more about reflective consultation, this link may be helpful- https://mi-aimh.org/wp-content/uploads/2019/01/Best-Practice-Guidelines-for-Reflective-Supervision-and-Consultation.pdf

Overview

Babies Adaptive Behavior Inventory (BABI): The BABI Observation Template provides a comprehensive view of the adaptive functioning of the newborn and young infant.

Information from the observation and the structured conversation with the primary caregiver provides evaluators, service coordinators, early intervention providers and other community professionals with valuable information regarding infant adaptive function during formative early months of the infant’s life. 

The Fragile Infant Feeding Institute is a four and a half day intensive study of feeding and nutrition for infants with special needs. The interprofessional institute focuses on hospital and community feeding practices and encourages close interaction between the faculty and participants.

The goal of the M(OTHERS) Program is to provide practitioners tools to support caregiver mental health by exploring strategies that enhance executive functioning, coping skills for stress and to provide tools for mindfulness, self-care and reflective parenting. There is a secondary goal to help providers implement some of these strategies to support their own stress management as they work to support babies and families with special health care needs.

The M(OTHERS) Program is a 6-hour class that teaches providers how to support the mental health of caregivers who are raising medically fragile babies. The program teaches providers concrete strategies across 8 domains to enhance mental health and decrease stress in the caregivers with whom they work.

The domains include: Mindfulness, Organization, Thinking, Holding the Baby in Mind, Environmental Adjustments, Reflection, and Self-care.

Teaching includes didactic, reflective, and experiential styles with a strong audio-visual component.

The M(OTHERS) Program may be taken as a part of our BABIES Model Training Cycle or a stand-alone training for providers wanting to learn more about supporting executive functioning and stress management in caregivers of fragile infants.