Why learn parenting? It’s a good question. While some aspects of parenting are intuitive, others are challenging to navigate without some deliberate study of the topic. Whether you’re preparing for the birth of your first child or for your baby to turn 13, all members of the family will benefit from any investment you make toward your education as a parent.
What is Parenting?
Parenting is the raising and nurturing of a child, usually by biological or adoptive parents, but sometimes foster families, grandparents, or other adults will assume a parenting role in the life of a child. Anyone acting as a primary or even secondary caretaker of a child will use parenting skills to support them through various stages of child development, including as a supportive presence in the child’s adulthood. Each stage of parenting through a child’s life requires a different set of skills—soothing and diapering through infancy, navigating tantrums through toddlerhood, and supporting a child through their self-discovery as they enter their teens. Meanwhile, boundary-setting, first aid, and other skills are necessary throughout the entire parenting journey.
Families follow many different parenting philosophies in the U.S. today, and what is right for yours may vary greatly from what’s right for someone else. Millennial parents are generally shifting toward gentle parenting, a loosely defined methodology of supporting kids’ growth as mentally healthy humans. Gentle parenting is sometimes used as an umbrella term for mindful, intentional, and even attachment parenting—although the latter involves more specifics focused on the relationship between parent and child. Some still prefer the structure of authoritative parenting, but in any case, the need for specific skills unites all families raising a child. These include childbirth preparation (for biological parents), infant care, health knowledge such as first aid and exercise, self-care, and many other soft skills such as communication, emotional intelligence, and active listening.
Benefits of Learning Parenting?
According to a 2016 study, besides the obvious benefits having an engaged parent has for a child, parenting can “enrich and give focus to parents’ lives, ” too. Raising a child can be one of the most rewarding things you ever undertake, but it can also be stressful and exhausting without the support of a community and other resources like parenting books and classes. Taking the time to study any parenting skill—whether by taking a class, reading a book, or watching YouTube videos—can dramatically increase your confidence, know-how, and success as a parent. When you feel secure about your parenting skills, you’ll experience a reduction in anxiety and a higher capacity for full presence and mindfulness in your day-to-day life with your child.
Childbirth classes can reduce your anxiety and help you feel more prepared for your labor, especially in pain management. Many also take infant care classes—like Birth Day Presence’s Lactation & Newborn Care Basics in New York City—so the whole family can adapt more easily during the fourth trimester.
But parenting certainly doesn’t end after birth and the newborn stage. You can make each step of your journey a bit easier by learning skills like how to get your toddler to sleep, keep your teen safe online, or even adapt to an empty nest. Or enrich the entire parenting process by studying a parenting method you can apply at any age such as Chicago-area Infinity Foundation’s Conscious Parenting or 92nd Street Y’s online course on Parenting Through a Jewish Lens.
Nursing Parent Support for Success
As you prepare to welcome your newborn to the world, you will undoubtedly want to be as confident as possible in your ability to feed your baby. If you plan to breastfeed, this can be especially daunting as it’s a difficult thing to even imagine prior to your first child’s birth. In addition to books and YouTube videos on the topic, a nursing class with a lactation consultant instructor will ease your anxieties and teach you all you need to know to be ready to breastfeed your baby. Birth Day Presence’s Lactation & Newborn Care Intensive in the Upper West Side neighborhood of Manhattan will help you enter your nursing relationship with your newborn with confidence and armed for success. The course also covers essential knowledge for healthy bottle-feeding and infant care basics like diapering, bathing, and soothing.
If you can’t find a lactation class that fits your schedule or simply prefer online courses, you’ll want to check out 92nd Street Y’s virtual Get Ready!—Feeding Your Baby. This class is also a great option if you’re uncertain whether you plan to nurse, both nurse and bottle-feed, or even if you exclusively plan to bottle-feed. The course goes far beyond where most nursing classes end, walking you through pumping and preparing breast milk for your baby’s bottle as well as all you might need to know about formula feeding. Ultimately, all parents want their baby healthy and well-fed, and courses like Get Ready!—Feeding Your Baby empower you to meet your infant’s essential needs.
Keep Your Child Safe
By taking an infant CPR or first aid class, you can join the thousands of parents who sleep better at night, knowing they have the power to keep their baby safe should a health crisis ever occur. While you can learn many first aid skills online, a live in-person instructor is vital for assisting you in practicing the correct CPR techniques you would use to save a baby’s life. Luckily, in-person first aid and CPR classes are in high demand, and you should be able to find one near you easily. Smaller class sizes and certified instructors who stay up-to-date on the latest scientific research are some features to look for in a first aid or CPR class.
Some CPR courses offer certification, which is necessary for some professionals, but some designed for parents and families don’t offer a certificate. For those living in the D.C. area, Lamaze International—DC Chapter’s Infant Care + CPR is a no-certificate course that offers one hour of hands-on instruction in infant CPR as well as essential knowledge on newborn care. And New Yorkers can turn to Birth Day Presence for their Infant CPR & Safety workshop to learn how to keep their baby safe during their first year. The class covers first aid, car seats, choking hazards, and the latest CPR techniques, which you’ll practice on a doll or pillow. Babies are welcome at the course, making it an exceptionally accessible opportunity for new parents to learn one of the most important parenting skills.
Healthy Movement for You and Your Child
Exercising and moving with your child supports your own wellness and offers many benefits for both you and your child. By enrolling in a parent-and-me movement class, you’ll increase your wellness, however long it may have been since birth. Especially in your postpartum period, you’ll appreciate having a live teacher to guide you in learning how to move your healing body again safely. Led by skilled instructor Robin Simmonds, Yoga for Parent and Baby (Ages 6 weeks-9 months) is a wonderful opportunity for new parents in NYC to learn gentle yoga poses for strengthening and stretching their core muscles. You’ll bond with your infant through the process and have the opportunity to make friends with other new parents.
You can find parent-and-me movement classes for older children, too. Liberate Hollywood’s Intuitive Movement for Kids invites parents and kids ages six and up to move together in their space on Ventura Boulevard in the Sherman Oaks neighborhood of LA. While many movement classes are more focused on specific guided exercises, this class allows children and their parents to connect with their intuition and confidently express themselves through movement.
Self Care
Some classes focus on the health and other self-care needs of the parents, which is as vital to a successful parenting journey as learning to care for the child. Attending to your own needs allows you access to the resources—including health, energy, and a clear mind—to care for your baby. Some of these cover physical wellness, especially for the expecting and postpartum parent. Classes like Birth Day Presence’s virtual Finding Your Core & Pelvic Floor, Pre and Postpartum help both those preparing to give birth and those who recently have to stretch and strengthen their core and pelvic floor muscles to increase stability and alignment. It also covers back, shoulder, and neck stretches to alleviate the tensions often caused by pregnancy and the caretaking of an infant.
Connecting to yourself and nurturing your creative side is an essential component of healthy and sustainable parenthood. For professional artists of any medium, this is also vital to continue your career through the parenting journey. Knowing the importance of this component of self-care for parents, instructor Katherine Akey leads a unique online course through the Penumbra Foundation, Little Sips of Selfhood: Professional Practice. The biweekly remote course offers mentorship and space for parent artists to work on their individual goals, whether they be to clean their workspace and restart their artistic endeavors again postpartum or to search for family-friendly residency opportunities.
How to Start Learning Parenting
Most people begin learning to parent when they first find out they’re expecting a new little one. Childbirth or the adoption process will be among the first topics you’ll want to master. While books and videos can be helpful, you’ll benefit even more from a class featuring a live in-person instructor to guide you step-by-step through such major transitional events in your life. If you’re in NYC, Birth Day Presence offers many different childbirth class options in terms of location, time, and course length. If you want a class on the quicker side that covers Childbirth Education Basics (3 Hours), their Prospect Heights class option is the one for you. This interactive workshop features a small class size, allowing you to receive individualized attention through your education in the birthing process.
Parenting classes, whether on childbirth or another topic, are offered both in-person and online. Both feature live instructors who can answer your questions in real-time and provide detailed instruction on the subjects that matter to you. You’ll need an in-person class—or at least one that is partially in-person—for any study of lifesaving techniques such as Pediatric First Aid and CPR (EMSA Approved), offered by SureFire CPR in Orange, California. In-person classes often provide your materials such as birth balls for childbirth classes, supplies to practice diapering in infant care courses, and crafting supplies for parent-and-me art workshops. Online classes, on the other hand, often require you to purchase these items for yourself.
However, many people prefer virtual classes or even find them their only options due to their location. Online parenting workshops and courses open up your options when it comes to topics, instructors, schools, and other factors while releasing you from the limitations of geography or your ability to commute. For instance, if you’re interested in learning the Hypnobirthing approach to labor, you may be hard-pressed to find a local class on the lesser-known birth method. But wherever you are in the U.S., you can sign up for Sakinah Birth’s Hypnobirthing (Online) course to prepare yourself for the most calm and joyful childbirth possible.
Key Takeaways
- “Parenting” refers to the raising and nurturing of a child, usually by a biological or adoptive parent, but other caregivers can benefit from learning parenting skills.
- Some parenting skills can be learned entirely by intuition but classes, books, and videos can be helpful when studying a parenting method or a single skill like childbirth.
- The benefits of parenting classes are as diverse as their range of topics but can include boosting your confidence and know-how on feeding your infant and keeping them safe.
- Bonding with your child through movement and meeting your own self-care needs are other benefits you can receive from parenting classes.
- but can include bonding with your child through movement
- While books and videos can be helpful when learning childbirth and other parenting topics, you’ll benefit from a live instructor’s assistance in an online or in-person class.
- You can contact CourseHorse for online or in-person workshops to learn a wide variety of parenting skills, as well as for private parenting classes for groups.