Attachment & Bonding Playgroup

[allycam]

Hi Canberra mums, dads, carers:

We're taking enrolments for term 3 attachment & bonding playgroup in Canberra.

Run by a qualified facilitator, the program uses massage, touch, songs, and play to help:
~ Bond & connect with your baby.
~ Develop a stronger understanding of your baby's own unique cues and signals.
~ Settle and comfort your baby during times of distress.
~ Develop & strengthen your confidence and trust in your own parenting style.

Held at Weston, we do have fully-funded (free) places for eligible families.

~ People with all parenting styles welcome.
~ Babies with all temperaments welcome.
~ Suitable for cuddly babies, as well as those who don't like to be touched.
~ Friendly and non-judgmental environment.
~ Appropriate for babies up to walking-age. Twins welcomed.
~ Small group sizes guaranteed.
~ Sessions run by an Instructor, fully certified and qualified.
~ Activities delivered using a structured rhythm each week, and are all underpinned by research in infant development, health and well-being.


We have 6 fully-funded (free) places available for parents of a baby (up to 12 months) with additional/ extra needs. Extra needs might include
~ a disability,
~ effects from prem birth,
~ effects of trauma before adoption or foster care,
~ medical condition or dependency on medical equipment
~ developmental delay
~ etc.

If you are interested, please PM me and I will send you details.

Thanks

Alice

[jackie7]

Alice this sounds like a wonderful program.



We have 6 fully-funded (free) places available for parents of a baby (up to 12 months) with additional/ extra needs. Extra needs might include
~ a disability,
~ effects from prem birth,
~ effects of trauma before adoption or foster care,
~ medical condition or dependency on medical equipment
~ developmental delay
~ etc.
Can I ask why though that the fully funded places are only for children up to 12mths, when often you might have inter-country adoptive (ICA) families that would take you up on this but because of the way ICA works that children will nearly always be over 12mths of age. Or is it really more for those children in foster care. Just it seems maybe because of other issues around adoption both local and ICA it might not be worth including them because it seems more like a 'lip service' kind of offer.

[allycam]

Hi Jackie

Really good question & thanks for the feedback. Happy to clarify:

The activities we use in the group are all "evidence-based". For this reason, not all but many of the activities centre around positive, nurturing touch between baby & parent - which as you would know are the "backbone" of attachment and bonding.

Because it is the only baby massage/ positive touch program which has actually has a body of research behind it - particuylarly in relation to attachment - we use the International Association of Infant Massage (IAIM) program as a core part of the playgroup.

The scope of the IAIM program is up to 12 months - i.e. it is not intended for babies older than this

Having said that, the other activities also are specifically focussed on the developmental "place" of many children in this age group, and are not always appropriate for older children. Another reason this particular group only goes to 12 months is that we have actually tried having older children in the past but sometimes (because of their own difficulties and struggles) it has become quite dangerous for the little bubs and tricky for all the respective mums & dads.

Having said all of that, if there are mums or dads reading this with older children and who would be interested in this sort of activtiy group - we may still be able to accomodate them in a variety of ways depending on what is most helpful for people:

(1) Last term we had three mums with older children (all adopted or in kinship care) and the funding people were happy for me to work one-on-one with them. I've no idea if the funding will be there to cover this again this term - but I'd be happy to find out if anyone was interested. The down-side of this is because we do it one-on-one it you don't get to meet the other parents in a nice social way.

(2) If there were enough mums/ dads/ carers with older children who were interested, I'd be happy to run a program specifically for this older age group. The downside of this is that they would either need to find funding, or pay for it themselves - as I am just the facilitator not the person who signs the cheques!

Hope this answers your question - but definately let me know if not, or if you have other thoughts/ feedback that would be good to clarify.

A

[jackie7]

Thanks for answering my questions Alice - it really sounds as though you have worked really hard to meet the needs of your individual community. I think the other options you have offered and completely suitable and yes as a Facilitator you still have boundaries and requirements you need to work in.

It does sound as though the programs you are running are working as effectively as you can within the community you support.

Good Luck I hope the sessions for term 3 run wonderfully.:sunshine::sunshine: