Become a Certified Parent Consultant: Baby specialist

Offer the BabyCalm Education programme

Join a community of change-makers 

Change the world...

Do you want to help parents understand their babies, and the incredible developments they whirl through in their first year?

Baby specialist consultants have a width and breadth of knowledge about baby development and behaviour that is completely unrivalled with any other training we have ever encountered, and believe us, we have checked out a lot!

You will be able to support and educate parents on neurological, psychological and physical development, normal infant behaviour, communication, reflexes and common health issues (from a non-medical perspective). You will be able to cover infant sleep from a normal, biological perspective and in the context of modern society, infant feeding and nutrition in all forms, cover baby play and exploration, the importance of attachment and bonding and much, much more. Additionally, you receive training in carrying and handling babies in arms and in slings, the use of loving touch, massage and movement, and a whole toolkit of practical calming techniques  that you can share with parents and providing solid foundations for having calmer relationships in the future. You can read a full outline of the training content below. 

We are educators, consultants and specialists, but not experts. Families learn how to be the experts in their own unique situation more and more as we facilitate their understanding, and their calmer relationships.

BabyCalm from CalmFamily

With this knowledge you will offer bespoke parenting consultations for parents of babies 12 months & under and a programme of workshops and courses under the BabyCalm brand (with membership of the community). These include:

The training process

Interactive learning

As part of a blended learning experience, you will receive interactive learning with CalmFamily leadership.

Interactive learning

Choose whether to train in a live, interactive online training group, or in person in the UK, or you can set up one-to-one private training
Find out about training experience

Assessment process

Not as scary as it sounds, we promise. You have 12 weeks from the completion of your interactive training to complete the assessment.

Reflective assessments

The assessment is a reflective process. You work through how to prepare to support parents in different contexts. You also create a couple of resources.
Contact us with queries

Online modules

Alongside your interactive training, as a member you get access to online modules that inform the deeper knowledge our consultants have on a wide range of topics.

Online modules

The modules include written content, videos, and assessments. They are comprehensive, and you are fully supported to succeed.
Read about them below

Mentoring

After your training we support you to get going through our online community. We also offer a mentoring process to work one-to-one supporting your development in your chosen areas.

Mentoring

Mentoring is a voluntary process, to help you develop in areas you identify. You can enter into to this at any point, whether you trained last week or 5 years ago.
Learn about mentoring

You will study modules online, covering:

Anyone who joins CalmFamily as a consultant gets access to our 10 core modules providing them with a basic understanding of human beings, and our approach to working with families, and leading for change. We suggest working through these before moving onto specialist module content. However, how you direct your learning process is up to you. You can read the online written content alongside the interactive training events. Some people begin working through modules before attending the interactive training, and others use them afterwards to add depth and breadth to their knowledge once they are trained in supporting families. 

Each specialism also has a literature review, of recommended reading and reflective questions to consider. The reading list is not compulsory, but is beneficial for many trainees. If you are wondering whether or not training is right for you, we are happy to send you a copy of the literature review with reflective questions to see if it piques your interest. We also offer CPD sessions open to the public where you can get a taster of life as part of CalmFamily. 

Core CalmFamily modules

A relatively quick module that takes you through the history, structure, values, approach and programmes within CalmFamily, including information about our projects in development.

In this module you will gain understanding of the social, legal, political, historical and anthropological concepts surrounding child-bearing, childhood and family life. You will also consider the complexity of the concept of family in our modern society and how this impacts practice.

A brief introduction to the body systems forming a basic understanding needed for other modules that involve discussion of things such as hormones and digestion.

A brief introduction to developmental neuroscience, the evolutionary process that created the human brain, factors influencing the development of the brain, and how motivation works.

This module provides the basic theories of developmental and social psychology including attachment, human needs, motivation and resilience.

In this module we look in depth at the science of the senses, looking at the most up-to-date concepts of the 5 external senses, the 3 internal senses and the balance of regulation.

In this module you will study the neurological and physiological processes of sleep, what is normal for humans and the issues society faces in this regard.

​We will also look at the science of the different states of relaxation according to various schools of thought and research.

In this module we examine the basics of nutritional biology, human infant feeding, introducing solid foods, how humans intuitively eat, and the science of taste.

This module covers the principles of how humans learn, and the essential role that play plays in this at all ages. 

We often dismiss play as something that only children do, but the loss of play and a playful approach to life is associated with many problems for adults too. This module helps you understand what play is, and why it is so crucially important.

Everyone who joins CalmFamily to educate and support for a calmer future is a leader. In this module we explore what this means, how to do this authentically for you, and what bravery really means, especially when you rarely feel brave. We also talk about some important business stuff that is practically very helpful.

Baby specialist modules

The recommended reading list and reflective questions. This does not need to be completed first. 

An in-depth module exploring all aspects of infant development, including applying what we learnt in the neurology and psychology core modules to babies specifically. You will also explore how our understanding of infant development impacts parenting.

This module will provide a good understanding of what it is like to be a baby and how we can support parents to understand them, in order to better meet their needs and establish the relationships they want with them. This module covers:

  • The fourth trimester experience
  • Infant states
  • Infant communication
  • Play and learning in the first year
  • Common infant health issues

With the underpinning understanding from previous modules, we will explore how the CalmFamily approach to promoting calmer relationships with babies. This includes how we use our frameworks to support parents in an empowering way.

In this module we look at how babies experience and interact with people and the world through play, and the fundamental role that this has in underpinning all learning.

This module takes you through:

    • The biological science of sleep
    • Gives a historical and evolutionary perspective of our societal sleep practices
    • Provides a good understanding of normal infant sleep
    • Critically analyses common baby sleep training strategies
    • Covers infant sleep safety in depth
    • Takes you through our frameworks for supporting parents with baby sleep​

This module was co-written by Emily Wilding, Sarah Oakley IBCLC, and Gill Rapley. (PhD), and on completion with practical elements taught by Emily on the training days, provides you with certification as a CalmFamily infant feeding practitioner. This is equivalent to being a breastfeeding or mother peer supporter with other breastfeeding organisations.

For infants of 0-6 months it covers:

  • The feeding guidelines
  • Types of milk and milk feeding
  • The science of human infant feeding
  • Normal infant feeding behaviour
  • Common feeding challenges
  • How to support parents with milk feeding

This section was written by Sarah Oakley.

For babies of 6-12 months this module provides an in depth understanding of the process of weaning, meaning the whole process by which milk feeding is replaced by solid foods over a period of several years.

It covers:

  • The guidelines on introducing solid food
  • The science of weaning
  • Readiness for solid foods
  • The practicalities of introducing solid food
  • Understanding baby food products
  • Our approach to supporting infant learning of food and eating
  • Our approach to supporting parents through this period 

In this module we take a quick look at some important information and options around the remaining basic practical baby care activities, including:

  • Bathing
  • Changing and elimination
  • Swaddling
  • Carrying

This module is a little different.  there is nothing to read. Instead you find a mini research project. You are asked to find out about a list of mainstream baby “experts”, to summarise their approach, and the pros and cons of this approach using the understanding you have developed in the rest of the course.This comes with no judgment at all, many people, including some of the directors of CalmFamily, have followed their advice in the past. The purpose is to understand what information parents are receiving from other sources, to recognise the principles on which the advice is based, so you can understand how and when it may work, and when it may not. This module also helps you to understand the challenges faced by parents when trying to find out about an expert before buying into their approach. This module can really help you to understand the experience of struggling parents, and support them appropriately.

This final module, alongside your face-to-face training days, will prepare you for being a baby specialist consultant. You will gain a good understanding of the BabyCalm programme, of our principles and approach to facilitating learning for families, and you will have the chance to re-visit material covered in the face to face training.

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