PARENTING
At REAP we provide parenting courses on demand, and we can tailor the course to meet individual needs.
Some of the courses we can provide are
- Parenting at Work
- You Can Do It
- Play and Your Child
- Fathering
We are also able to provide one to one parenting with experienced tutors in some circumstances.
Links::
How our needs are met within our family unit
Tips from the SKIP booklet on Stress
Audio Resources on Parenting
Brain Wonders: Newborn to 2 months Vision, Hearing & Touch - What Does a Newborn See?
Post Natal Support
How our needs are met within our family unit
Our needs are met in different areas of our life- home, leisure or work. For our family to function effectively we need to be getting our needs met in a balanced way both within and without the family unit. Remember we can't have all we want all the time but if we can have some of what we need we can function okay.
Central Otago REAP offers a range of parenting programmes and is able to develop specialized programmes to meet a request from a group. This year already we have worked with over 30 families to develop new skills or strategies with extremely positive outcomes.
Some tips from the SKIP booklet on Stress:
- If I’m really stressed with my baby I just sing
- Take a break from being a Mum…..sit and read for 10 minutes
- Don’t be critical of yourself, no one does everything perfectly all the time
- Try not to be aggressive towards others, take a deep breath and walk away
- Go outside, open a window and if you can, get into another space
- Put on some really loud music and dance
- Don’t answer the phone for the last 15 minutes before going out!
To read more about these tips and other parenting ideas, check the website www.familyservices.govt.nz or ask for the pamphlets at REAP.
Central Otago REAP has available the Diane Levy Parenting Seminar series of audio tapes. You can borrow these and listen to some practical advice on common issues such as toilet training, tantrums, and separation anxiety. Contact Jean.
Brain Wonders: Newborn to 2 months Vision, Hearing & Touch - What Does a Newborn See?
A newborn has vision at birth, but it is the least mature of the senses. The newborn's eyes can track or follow movement, but only within a distance of 9-12 inches from the infant's face. The eyes of a newborn cannot yet focus as well as those of an adult. As a result, objects and people that the infant sees look a bit fuzzy.
Before 3 months, infants see best when looking at things "out of the corner of their eyes" (peripheral vision). They most easily notice movement and high-contrast patterns (e.g. light vs. dark). At about 1 month, they may get "visually stuck" and cry because they can't STOP staring at one thing! Soon, they learn to "detach" their gaze to look at something else. Older infants gradually develop a preference for staring "right at something" (central vision), and by 3 months most like to watch their hands, and can visually follow an object that is moving in a circle (such as toys on a mobile).
The area of the brain that sends and receives messages about what the newborn sees will continue to develop over the next six months until the infant's vision is as clear as an adult's. Providing infants with opportunities to look at things in the world around them including your warm, smiling face helps to create an environment that supports visual development.
What you can do:
- Hold or place the infant about 9-12 inches from your face; this distance keeps you in the infant's visual field.
- Don't worry if her eyes wander independently or if she looks at you "out of the corner of her eye" in the early months, this is normal.
- By 2 months the infant especially likes to look at your face if you widen your eyes and move your mouth.
- You can move your head slowly so the infant can follow it from side to side or up and down.
- You can hang a mobile within the infant's visual range.
- You can encourage an infant to follow an object with her eyes by slowly moving an object, such as a stuffed animal or toy 10-15 inches from the infant's face.
- Pay attention to each infant's cues
- Remember when looking at infants that they need to take breaks, and may tell you this by looking away. When they do this, be quiet for a moment.
- Give the infant time to "take a breather" from activity. When the infant looks back at you, begin the "conversation" again.
Post Natal Support - this section provides advice for the partner of someone suffering from Post Natal Distress. Read more about strategies to support your partner, support for you and effects on the male partner. more >>