Descriptions of My Baby and Me parent training sessions

Session	Description
1. Introduction	Mothers completed semi-structured interviews about families’ everyday routines and general beliefs on childrearing including current discipline practices, interpretations of children’s behaviors, and goals for infants’ futures. Families became acquainted with concepts and procedures, while facilitators gathered information to increase their sensitivity regarding family needs, wishes, and personal objectives beyond those outlined in the curriculum
2. Positive and Negative Signals	Videos revealed a wide range of infant social and distress cues. Discussion and hands-on practice assisted mothers in correctly interpreting their own babies’ cues as positive or negative. Mothers were encouraged to acknowledge infant cues as forms of communication about needs rather than indications of babies’ acceptance or rejection
3. Linking and Sensitivity Behaviors	Videos, discussion, and practice helped mothers link their responses to correctly recognized infant cues. Emphasis was placed on acting quickly and appropriately when responding to infant signals. Mothers were taught specific skills called sensitivity behaviors (such as positioning, pacing, tone of voice, or affect) to help improve responsiveness to both positive and negative signals
4. Review	Mothers led this review session by teaching an alternate caregiver concepts learned in Sessions 1–3. While mothers explained ideas, parent facilitators evaluated the mothers’ grasp of previous topics. If mothers were unable to demonstrate baseline mastery on topics from any previous session, an extra session repeating the earlier topic was inserted into the curriculum before Session 5. Alternate caregivers were included to enlarge mothers’ support networks for new parenting practices. The review session also gave mothers the opportunity to execute an “expert” role
Extra	Any material from Sessions 1–3 was reviewed, if required by Session 4
5. Six-month TTFK	Discussion of TTFK booklets centered on age-appropriate parenting behaviors in the areas of eating, sleeping, and safety. Infants’ developmental milestones at 6 months were highlighted. Facilitators also introduced loving touch procedures via direct teaching and hands-on practice
6. Maintaining and Redirecting	Videos demonstrated specific strategies for maintaining infants’ interests on a single object or activity. Mothers used hands-on practice to try “maintaining” with their child while facilitators coached. During this time, facilitators discouraged redirecting babies’ behaviors to promote child-centered learning. Additionally, mothers’ practiced loving touch techniques with guidance
7. Introducing	Videos and discussion clarified favorable times for mothers to introduce infants to a new toy or activity (like face-to-face interactions or games). Mothers were reminded to use sensitivity behaviors (such as tone of voice or hand-over-hand instruction) to maintain babies’ attention
8. Words and Actions	Videos, discussion, and guided practice advanced mothers’ use of language to introduce activities and maintain babies’ attention. The importance of rich language use (such as labeling, describing, and connecting) was underscored. The inclusion of language strengthened mothers’ appropriate responses to infants’ signals while introducing something new or maintaining attention
9. Eight-month TTFK	Discussion of TTFK booklets developed focused on mothers’ recognition of children’s changing developmental milestones, especially at 8 months. Facilitators paid particular attention to coping with baby stranger anxiety, reinforcing the value of reading to infants, and generating ideas for developmentally appropriate play
10. Review	The second review echoed objectives presented in Session 4, but mothers revisited Sessions 5–9 rather than Sessions 1–3. Again, an extra session was added before Session 11 if mothers did not meet a baseline mastery level
Extra	Any material from Sessions 5–9 was reviewed, if required by Session 10
11. Generalization	Videos, discussion, and practice stressed tactics for integrating newly acquired parenting behaviors into everyday activities such as feeding, bathing, and dressing. Mothers’ were reinforced for identifying several times throughout the typical day to use new parenting skills
12. Final Review	The final review reiterated the entire key parenting skills discussed in Sessions 1–11. Mothers had a final opportunity to demonstrate and practice those skills as well as ask facilitators questions. Videos, discussion, and practice helped mothers consolidate information one more time