Baby Observation

[aguacate]

I am starting an Observational Course at the Tavistock Clinic. In order to develop observational skills, preclinical practice and understanding of early infancy the course requires me to observe a parent(mum/dad) and baby for one hour a week for two years. It is not to provide advice and the observation is carried out in a non-judgemental way.

Ideally I am looking for a family who is having a baby in October.

If you think you would be interested please do get in touch. We can set up an informal meeting to answer any questions you have and of course you can change your mind after the meeting. The observations can happen on a day/time convenient to you (it does need to be the same day & time every week) in your home/ a baby group/ routine trip out. All my observations will of course be confidential and anonymous.

I have further information that I can e-mail if anyone is interested, a letter from my University confirming who I am and a recent CRB check. Please do get in touch if you think you are able to help.

[JessM]

Sorry aguacate I can't help you, but just thought I would mention that I was an "observee" for someone on a similar course when my youngest was a baby (he's 3 now! How time flies!). It wasn't at all onerous, in fact I quite liked it because it gave me a weekly opportunity to notice what was new since the previous week. So if you read the OP and think it sounds weird, it's not!

[Pugwash]

Child observation is a requirement of Social Work training - I did 3 hours a week for a term in a nursery of an 18 month old child. It is surprising what you notice i.e the interaction between various adults/carers and 'your' child.

I would imagine observing a parent and child is more fascinating, as an outsider you can see the differences over a period of time I see my youngest grandchild ( 6 months) roughly every 6 weeks as she is not local, but I can see the changes and the developmental progress more clearly than her parents.

[verds]

My baby was 'observed' for two years and it's a nice thing to do - we had someone lovely and we still keep in touch.

[aguacate]

Thanks JessM, Pugwash and Verds for your positive posts. I understand from those who have taken part in the past that they have felt it was beneficial which is encouraging. Somebody who is interested has been in touch so hopefully it will work out.

Kind regards