Thursday, November 11, 2010

Resources for newly adopting parents

I have taught newborn parenting classes and infant massage classes at two hospitals in San Francisco for 9 years to biological parents to be. For adopting parents the resources in the Bay area are limited although the infant massage class I teach is certainly open to adoptive parents. There is a great emphasis on the adoption piece and safety proofing the home, of course, when our families are being created and not so much on the basic parent piece.

I have found that newly adopting parents can benefit greatly in taking some classes in basic infant care/infant massage ( if adopting infants) infant/child CPR/ basic parenting classes. Also, understanding basic child development can help a lot in coming to understand your child and their needs. Here are some resources that you may find useful:
http://www.pactadopt.org/ has wonderful parenting classes and specializes in mixed racial/cultural adoption.
http://www.cprfamily.com/ is a CPR class taught in Marin county by a colleague Georgia Montgomery.
My 'welcome home classes' located in Mill Valley are an attempt to fill this gap in support for newly adopting parents.
http://www.zerotothree.com/ is a fabulous and informative web site about child development.

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