Everyone who raises a child needs a wide range of parenting skills to succeed in their significant role as caretaker of a young human being. You may be overwhelmed and uncertain about where to start or what you may need to learn to be the best parent you can be. This guide will break down some parenting skills you may want to study and offer suggestions for simplifying your learning journey to allow you to be as present with your child as possible.
What is Parenting?
While parenting, or the raising and nurturing of a child, is most commonly a task relegated to mothers, fathers, and nonbinary parents, grandparents and other caretakers often take on parenting roles in children’s lives. According to the American Psychological Association, parents across the globe share three main goals: maintaining the child’s health and safety, empowering the child for a productive adulthood, and sharing their cultural values with the child. Parenting requires many different skills to achieve these goals, ranging from maintaining a healthy pelvic floor during pregnancy to healthy communication and active listening. Infant and pediatric first aid is as much of the parenting journey as supporting your teen through the challenges of high school. Every parent brings unique strengths and weaknesses to the journey of raising a child, and some skills that one finds intuitive, another may need a six-week course to master.
While virtually all parents have the same three goals, their preferred parenting philosophy will define their methodologies in pursuing those goals. You’ve likely heard a lot of buzz lately about attachment parenting, gentle parenting, and conscious parenting, all similar philosophies that fall under the umbrella of what has been dubbed by the New York Times as earnest parenting. While the number of 21st-century parenting methods seems never-ending, scientists categorize all parenting styles into four categories: authoritative, authoritarian, permissive, and uninvolved. Some parenting philosophies require different skills than others, and many opt to take classes in their preferred parenting methodology, especially when it differs vastly from how their parents raised them. Other parenting classes focus on more specific skills useful for any parent such as childbirth, getting your infant to sleep, and internet safety for your teen.
Benefits of Learning Parenting?
Some parents approach raising their children with the hope that they can figure it all out as they go. While many skills associated with parenting are intuitive, an experienced mentor can coach you on how to consistently access your intuition when it comes to raising your child. For areas of parenting where you feel exceptionally uncertain, you can make a specific plan to learn parenting skills and methodologies. That plan may include books, videos, coaches, formal instruction, or a combination of those resources.Â
When you take a childbirth class, study attachment parenting extensively, or attend a workshop on getting your child to sleep, you’ll feel more confident in your parenting journey. An infant or pediatric first aid and CPR class may or may not come with a certification, but it will always come with significant anxiety reduction and peace of mind. When you take a parenting class, you’ll have the opportunity to connect with like-minded moms and dads with children the same age as yours, creating the opportunity to make friends for the whole family. With the confidence you build, the peace of mind you forge, and the community you create, you’ll feel more secure and supported in your parenting journey, allowing you to be more present with your child through your daily life.Â
Is Parenting Easy to Learn?
Parenting encompasses many skills, some easier to learn than others. As many aspects of parenting are kinetic and hands-on, guided instruction in an in-person or online class is highly beneficial for parents and parents-to-be. While much of the childbirth process is intuitively trusting your body, few first-time parents have witnessed a birth before their own. Many opt for childbirth classes to prepare for the mystery of labor and delivery, the number of possible medical emergencies that may arise, and the unknown aspects of navigating the hospital and delivery room. You can find classes like Baby Beginnings New England’s Childbirth Education and Preparation throughout the U.S. to help you feel more prepared for and fewer anxious about your labor.
Other parenting skills vary in levels of difficulty to master. Some who choose to breastfeed find it easy to learn, but tongue ties, baby temperament, and parent anatomy are just a few factors that can make it a challenging skill to master. Plus, nursing is more than just providing nourishment for your baby: it’s also reading your baby’s cries and body language about hunger, gas, and milk flows that are too fast or slow. Knowing how to burp your baby, pump, and prepare a bottle—including formula supplementation, should the need arise—are also skills involved in the lactation journey. Wherever you are in the U.S., you can take advantage of 92nd Street Y’s online class, Get Ready!—Feeding Your Baby, to learn everything you need to know to be ready to nurse or bottle-feed your child.
What You Need to Know Before Learning Parenting
Before enrolling in a childbirth class, it’s good to know what is most important to you in your labor and delivery experience. For virtually every expecting parent, the top of that list is a healthy baby, but birthing parents can differ vastly when it comes to everything else. If you are committed to managing your pain without an epidural, you’ll want to look for childbirth classes focusing on natural pain management techniques. Or, if you would like to involve your partner in the process as much as possible, you can find courses that involve both partners from beginning to end. And if you believe in the possibility of a calm and joyful natural birth, a course on HypnoBirthing can support your goal.
When searching for other parenting classes, the most important thing to keep in mind is your family’s needs during your child’s current stage of development. Parents often attend classes to prepare for infant care, first aid, and CPR. Before enrolling in a course on any of these topics, you’ll want to think about what you’re most anxious to learn. Some classes focus exclusively on breastfeeding, while others explore Lactation & Newborn Care Basics. On the other hand, Infant Care + CPR classes cover simple parenting skills like diapering and swaddling as well as life-saving techniques that will give you more confidence in your daily life, knowing you are prepared should the worst occur.
What You Need to Learn Parenting
When preparing for a childbirth class or labor itself, you’ll want to have any items that might assist you in your labor. These items most commonly include a birth ball, which can be helpful for virtually anyone who plans to spend the early moments of their labor at home. If you’re taking a class on a birthing method such as HypnoBirthing, you’ll also want to invest in books, videos, and audio files about the topic. The required materials will vary considerably from class to class, but most in-person parenting classes will provide the necessary supplies. Online classes are available in many parenting areas, but you’ll need in-person classes for high-stakes hands-on skills like infant or pediatric CPR.
A Doll or Stuffed Animal
Many infant care, first aid, and CPR classes require you to provide a doll, stuffed animal, or pillow to practice the skills you’re learning. Some in-person ones will provide these, while nearly any online one will assume you have something like this at home.
Yoga Mat, Yoga Blocks, and Other Exercise Equipment
For your parent-and-me movement and baby-and-me yoga classes, you’ll likely need specific equipment like a yoga mat and yoga blocks if you practice what you’re learning at home. Many classes will provide what you need onsite, however.
Time and Patience
When you’re learning any parenting skill, it’s likely the first time you’re performing a relatively high-stakes task. Whether it be childbirth, breastfeeding, or changing a diaper, you deserve plenty of time and patience with yourself as you work towards mastering things you’ve never done before.
Key Takeaways
- Parenting is the raising and nurturing of a child, and taking time to learn the skills required in that important task can dramatically enrich your parenting journey.
- Parenting and childbirth involve many kinetic skills that are easier to learn with the guidance of an instructor, whether in an in-person or online class.
- Before you sign up for a childbirth or parenting class, you’ll want to have a clear idea of your goals and what aspects of the topic are the most important to you.
- Parenting classes require various materials, from birth balls to yoga mats, but time and patience will help you get the most out of every course.
- CourseHorse has a wide selection of online and in-person parenting classes, and you can contact them to arrange private group sessions on the topic of your choice.