Online Infant Care Classes for New Parents

After carrying your sweet baby for the last nine months, you are excited and anxious to bring him home from the hospital. While this is a joyous time, it can also be a tad intimidating as well. You likely have many questions and yearn to learn more about how to meet your baby’s needs.

If you were unable to attend a parenting class, there is still time to attend an online infant care class, where you’ll learn about feeding your baby, getting him to sleep and keeping your baby safe.

 

Types of Infant Care Classes

You’ll find a variety of infant care classes online. The Texas Department of Family and Protective Services suggests some online courses that deal with shaken baby syndrome, SIDS, growth and your baby’s brain development, which are offered through the Texas A&M AgriLife Extension.

Amma Parenting Center offers online classes on infant sleep and breastfeeding. There are also online breastfeeding courses taught through Northside Hospital. Another helpful, and potentially life-saving, online class is Infant CPR, available at FirstAidWeb Inc.

 

 

What’s Taught

The Developing Appropriate Learning Environments for Infants and Toddlers course through Texas A&M AgriLife Extension teaches about infant and toddler senses and how they learn through experiences. It covers safety, health, how to create learning areas and creating a language-rich environment.

Amma Parenting Center offers two online sleep courses that teach parents about age-appropriate sleep interventions, which aim at preventing cry-it-out training. Additionally, you’ll find a class on boosting milk supply and a breast pump basics course that goes over how to purchase and use a breast pump, as well as how to store breast milk and use it later.

The Infant CPR course at FirstAidWeb Inc. teaches about checking an infant’s pulse, how to perform compressions correctly, how to look and feel for signs of breathing, and the proper way to give an infant breaths.

 

 

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Additional Information

Online courses are ideal for parents who are unable to attend a class in-person, whether it’s because the mom-to-be is on bed rest, there are conflicts in scheduling or because classes aren’t available nearby.

Keep in mind that an online class should not replace the advice of your baby’s pediatrician. If you have concerns about your baby, you should speak with the pediatrician.

While in the hospital, nurses often teach new parents about basic newborn care, including how to change a diaper, preparing a bottle and how to burp your baby. Don’t be afraid to ask questions while you’re still there, where help and advice is readily available.

 

Other Options

Taking infant care classes in person or online are not your only options when it comes to learning about how to care for your new baby. Medline Plus, the website provided by the U.S. National Library of Medicine and the National Institutes of Health, recommends some websites regarding infant and newborn care.

Additionally, the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention provides information about developmental milestones, newborn screenings, infant health, parenting tips and calming a crying baby.

 

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