Table 3.

Parent and Infant Program Components, Core Topics and Objectives

Components	Core topics	Objectives
Incredible Years Parent and Baby program (8 sessions)	Getting to know your baby Babies as intelligent learners Providing physical, tactile and visual stimulation Parents learning to read babies’ minds Gaining support Babies’ emerging sense of self	▪ Strengthen parent knowledge and self-confidence through learning about babies’ development and developmental milestones ▪ Enhance parent-infant relationships and parental competencies, prevent infant maladjustment and promote infant wellbeing through skills and techniques to support learning and development and healthy behaviors (feeding, sleeping, calming babies) ▪ Empower parents through learning about self care and gaining support
Baby Massage (4 sessions)	Relief – Colic and wind; Emotional stress Relaxation – Soothes and aids sleep Stimulation – Build immunity and help gain weight Interaction – Aid bonding and reduce postnatal depression	▪ Enhance parent-infant bonding and alleviate infant stress ▪ Promote parental sense of competence and wellbeing (e.g. reduce postnatal depression)
Weaning workshop (1 session)	Stages of weaning, timing, quantities, feeding techniques Food safety and hygiene Healthy eating principles Practical cookery demonstration and advice	▪ Enhance parents’ knowledge/competencies in relation to healthy eating ▪ Increase healthy eating behaviors ▪ Prevent early weaning
Paediatric First Aid workshop (1 session)/Child safety† (1 session)	Child resuscitation Dealing with injury, poisoning, choking and medical emergencies Recovery position Threats to child safety and child proofing home environments	▪ Prevent/Reduce incidents of injury to infants through parents learning first aid skills and baby-proofing home/environments techniques; and ▪ Enable parents (promote sense of competence) to identify, remove and respond to threats
Dental health† (1 session)	Principles of dental health	▪ Increase parents’ awareness of oral health ▪ Improve parents’ knowledge/competencies in relation to oral health
Toddler Healthy Eatinga (1 session)	Food safety and hygiene Healthy eating principles Practical cookery demonstration and advice	▪ Enhance parents’ knowledge/competencies in relation to healthy eating ▪ Increase healthy eating behaviors
Returning to work workshop (1 session)	Information on childcare options Guidelines for choosing childcare	▪ Empower parents/reduce parental anxiety in relation to returning to work
Active Play† (2 sessions)/ Play & Oral Language Development programa (4 sessions)	Play skills and strategies Language development milestones Practical play sessions and advice	▪ Strengthen parent knowledge and competencies through playing skills and strategies ▪ Enhance parent–child relationships and encourage child wellbeing through play ▪ Promote child language development and pre-literacy skills
Incredible Years Parent and Toddler Program (8 sessions)	Child directed play promotes positive relationships Promoting toddler’s language with child directed coaching Social and Emotion coaching The art of praise and encouragement Spontaneous incentives for toddlers Handling separations and reunions Positive discipline – effective limit setting Positive discipline – handling misbehavior	▪ Strengthen parent knowledge and self-confidence through learning about toddler development ▪ Enhance parent-infant relationships and parental competencies, prevent child maladjustment and promote socioemotional wellbeing (e.g. self-regulation and self-esteem) through building parent’ coaching/modelling skills and play skills and strategies ▪ Promote child language development and pre-literacy skills

†Delivered in Site 2 Drogheda/Dundalk only

^aDelivered in Site 1 West Dublin only