Bonding with Baby


For Family / Child Care Providers

Mothers & Midwives Nurturing & Caring Campaign

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Bonding With Baby® Kit and Book Donation Program
1. THE MISSION of Developing Hearts Systems, a 501 [c][3] non-profit corporation, is to: "Develop and distribute tools that will bring parents physically and emotionally closer to their children, stimulate them to become enthusiastic first teachers and bring children into schools more ready and eager to learn."
  
  To accomplish this mission we have published the Bonding With Baby® Kit and are advocating 'book-sharing with baby' as a widespread parenting practice. We have recently begun distributing our Kits free to over 11,000 disadvantaged families in the Healthy Families America Program and selling our Kits to parents who can afford them on an all-proceeds-to-charity basis. We are also making the Kits available on a discounted basis to institutions.
  
  THE PROBLEM: Research has shown that early reading in the home not only helps prepare a child for school but fosters a child's healthy social and emotional development. The problem is that too many parents don't take up this ideal shared activity early or often enough. Hence, many children lose out on this important development opportunity and don't acquire the needed pre-reading skills.
  
  The reasons parents don't start reading to their children vary from not being able to afford books, to their own difficulties with reading, to being too busy or bored to do it.
  
  THE INTERVENTION: The Bonding With Baby® Kit consists of an in-home parent education video and a developmentally-geared series of children's board books that stimulate joyful parent-child interaction and "hooks" families into the pleasure of regularly sharing books before reading them. It was independently evaluated in scientific research with representative parents by Dr. Grover J. Whitehurst, State University of New York-Stony Brook, an expert in the prevention of language difficulties in children, and was shown to significantly increase both the pleasure and frequency of book-sharing with infants.
The "Bonding With Baby" Kit
1. Description: Bonding With Baby® stands out as the only research-verified curriculum package for the first year that fosters parenting skills and involvement, whole child development and relationship-building in one self-contained kit. The concept behind Bonding With Baby is to provide an easy to implement and inexpensive Kit that gives parents the inspiration, guide and tools to get started and establish their own comfortable book-sharing routine.
  
  The Kit's unique features include:
  
  A series of books with built-in developmental guides for appropriate stimulation
  In-home instructional video for parents to learn privately at their own pace
  Wordless format so parents of any background, skill or language can "read" with joy
  Real life characters and culturally universal stories that all parents relate to and engage with
  "Point and Share" pictures that stimulate loving, 'give and take' interaction
  A ready-to-use kit that is very cost-effective per family and requires almost no training
  Demonstrated effective in increasing the time spent and pleasure derived from book-sharing
  
  "We found the "Bonding With Baby" materials very appropriate, engaging and creative, and believe they will be very useful to providers and programs working with families and, of course, to the actual families and babies themselves."
  
  - Claire Lerner, L.C.S.W., Child Development Specialist, ZERO TO THREE, National Center for Infants, Toddlers and Families
"Book Sharing With Baby" Parent Education Video
1. This is the main instructional vehicle in the Kit. The video introduces parents to 'book-sharing with baby.' This professionally produced video program features a culturally diverse cast of real families, is 11 minutes long in English and 10 minutes long in Spanish, both on the same VHS cassette. It is an effective teaching tool because it:
  - uses a contemporary, "edu-tainment" approach to interest and relate to young viewers
  - can be watched in the privacy of the home at the learner's own pace
  - takes the struggle and chore out of reading by showing book-sharing as fun and easy
  - inspires and motivates parents by connecting with them on an emotional level
  - shows them how to book-share by using real parents modeling it and enjoying it
  - gives them confidence by having peers and "parents like me" talk openly about how they overcame problems and still found the time to book-share every day
  - uses "real-time" reinforced learning to teach book-sharing in five easy steps with the very books she is holding in her lap.
Healthy Families America - Pilot Field Test Report
1. FIELD PILOT TEST –SUMMARY FACT SHEET
  
  Unlike traditional children’s books that focus mainly on language development, the new Bonding with Baby® books foster the full development infants need most. Created by experts, these books are actively shared between parent and infant to build strong bonds and the social and emotional foundation for school success.
  
  “Mothers in the Bonding with Baby intervention condition reported spending more time in shared book reading with their infants and reported that they and their baby enjoyed it more than mothers in the comparison condition.” –Dr. Grover J. Whitehurst, Ph.D., Assistant Secretary of Education for Research and Improvement, U.S. Department of Education. Address at the White House Summit on Early Childhood Cognitive Development, July 26, 2001.
  
  Bonding with Baby/Healthy Families America Pilot Field Test Report
  
  SUMMARY FACT SHEET-4/28/04
  
  Overview: The Bonding with Baby® Kit, published by Developing Hearts Systems of Stratford, CT, consists of a Parent Education Video and a series of four developmental board books designed to promote pre-reading skills, child development and a stronger parent-child bond during the first year. Seeking new tools to help strengthen families, the Freddie Mac Foundation funded the pilot distribution and evaluation of the Kits in 74 Healthy Families America (the exemplary home visitation division of Prevent Child Abuse America) sites in four states over a period of two years starting in October of 2002.
  
  The Pilot Test: Sought to determine if the books and book-sharing techniques prescribed in the video promoted positive parenting and child development in a home visitation setting during the child’s first year. The videos were shown to parents of newborns during the first two months and a new book in the series was brought to the parent every three months. At seven months, following the use of two books, home visitors were asked to observe a book-sharing session and record behaviors and to survey parents on their attitudes and practices.
  
  The Sample: A diverse mix of 74 rural and urban Healthy Families sites in Maryland, Virginia, Connecticut and the District of Columbia used the Kits with parents of newborns facing multiple stress factors. A total of forty-one sites provided full-year parent survey and observational data in time for the report cut-off. Surveys and observations were obtained from a sample of 126 families, representing 5% of the 2,600 families who received the Kits. Data was independently tabulated.
  
  The Results: This report is based on a full twelve months usage of all four books and is presented in a summary form to make it more readable and usable. Although this field test was not a controlled study, the results parallel earlier scientific research showing that pairs using the Bonding with Baby books spent significantly more time sharing books together and derived significantly more pleasure from the activity[i]. Since the Bonding with Baby books were the first books and techniques most of the parents in the field test were exposed to, the results seem to confirm that the books brought parent and child closer together and sparked an early love of sharing books together –the first step in emerging literacy. Listed below are the target outcomes that the intervention sought to achieve and the corresponding percentages of parents and children observed exhibiting those behaviors together with parent responses to the survey.
  
  POSITIVE PARENTING SKILLS:
  
  A. Parents would become comfortable and confident sharing books with their infants
  - 84% of parents were observed interacting and playing with baby around books
  - 96% of parents reported feeling proud when sharing books with their baby
  B. Parents would establish their own frequent and pleasurable book-sharing routine with baby
  - 98% of parents stated book-sharing was an OK or favorite activity
  - 84% shared books at least three times a week
  - 88% borrowed 1 or more new books in the last month
  - 99% of parents stated they planned to continue book-sharing
  C. Parents would use books to support relationship-building and appropriate child development
  - 94% of parents believed that book-sharing has helped their baby
  - 96% of parents reported that book-sharing made them feel closer to their baby
  - 78% of parents praised baby’s actions and sounds during book-sharing
  - 63% of parents asked baby questions and listened for a response
  D. Parents would exhibit appropriate skills that fostered pre-reading
  - 88% of parents encouraged baby to point at pictures and turn the pages
  - 72% of parents were observed elaborating on pictures that interested baby
  CHILD DEVELOPMENT TARGETS:
  
  A. Children would actively participate in book-sharing
  - 91% of children showed pleasure during book-sharing
  - 78% played and physically interacted with parents during book-sharing
  B. Children exhibited appropriate development during book-sharing
  - 76% of children were observed pointing at certain pictures in the book
  - 91% of children used babbly words connected to the pictures or story
  C. Children exhibited appropriate pre-reading skills and interest in books
  - 93% of babies help hold the book or turn the pages
  - 69% sat still during book-sharing and focused on the books
  - 89% sometimes or often brought a book to parents to share
  COMPARISON BETWEEN 7-MONTH AND 12-MONTH ASSESSMENT:
  - 48% of parents showed improvement in stimulating pre-reading between the first and second analysis, 31% stayed the same and 27% had lower scores
  - 56% of children scored higher during the second evaluation, 11% the same and 33% lower
  HEALTHY FAMILIES HOME VISITOR FEEDBACK:
  - 98% of home visitors reported that Bonding with Baby materials were helpful to them
  - 95% of home visitors felt the materials helped their families
  SUMMARY
  
  Based on consistent findings in both scientific research and in extensive field testing, it can be concluded that the Bonding with Baby Kit is an effective new tool for use in Healthy Families American Home Visitation Programs. Parents who used the books and book-sharing techniques as modeled in the video showed strong skills at stimulating their child’s social, emotional, cognitive and emerging literacy development while being responsive to the child’s needs and interests. The vast majority of children exhibited broad, appropriate child development behaviors and excellent pre-reading skills during book-sharing. Perhaps most importantly, almost all the parents and children in the study enjoyed book-sharing enough for it to become a favorite activity. In summary, the Bonding with Baby books and techniques appear to provide the stimulus and structure for parent-child bonding and building an early love of books and learning together.
  
  CONCLUSIONS
  
  Because of the demonstrated success of this intervention as delivered and supported by the trusted home visitor, a good case can be made for the widespread adoption of the Bonding with Baby materials in other infant/family programs. The advantages and benefits of these materials include:
  - The Kit is self-contained and easy-to-implement with the video providing most of the training
  - The Kit contains a developmental series of books that foster whole child development and a strong
  parent-child bond which goes beyond the literacy focus of off-the-shelf books
  - The books are multi-cultural and wordless, so parents of any background and skill can enjoy
  talking about the pictures in her own language and natural way
  - The Kits are an inexpensive tool, costing less than $10 per family
  - The use of the Bonding with Baby materials can help support agency goals of promoting early parent involvement and school readiness
  - Because the Kit is a state-of-the-art, research-verified intervention, its’ use can help make an agency’s case for measured results, credentialing and fund-raising
  ®©2004 Developing Hearts Systems. All Rights Reserved.
  
  “Developing Heart’s Bonding with Baby Books: A Randomized Trial, Dr. Grover J. Whitehurst, SUNY Stony Brook 2002
Research Abstract
1. Research Abstract: Developing Hearts' Bonding With Baby® Books: A Randomized Trial
  
  Developing Heart’s Bonding With Baby® Books: A Randomized Trial.
  Author: Dr. Grover J. Whitehurst, Ph.D., State University of New York at Stony Brook
  
  Background: Book reading provides an ideal context for learning language and for emotional development. Correlational studies have shown that the frequency of a child being read to is related to children’s language skills. Other studies have found that less securely attached mother-child pairs engaged in less shared book reading than securely attached pairs.
  
  The Bonding With Baby materials are the first available intervention package in the emergent literacy arena that is designed specifically for parents of infants under 12 months.
  
  The measurable goals of the Bonding With Baby intervention are: 1) to increase the frequency and regularity of book sharing during infancy; and 2) to have parents and children experience book sharing as pleasurable. The assumption underlying the program is that success in achieving these measurable goals will set in place patterns of interaction around books and literacy what will enhance family literacy and the long-term cognitive/emotional trajectories of children.
  
  Method: Participant families were recruited from patient lists at two hospitals on Long Island, N.Y., and screened for children whose birth dates would make them between 5 and 11 months of age at the time of the onset of the study. Participants in the study as represented in the data were the 102 families out of 150 initially enrolled.
  
  Demographically, 57% of the 102 participants reported family incomes of less than $25,000 per year, while the remaining 43% reported incomes between $25,000 and $35,000 per year. Education levels of the primary caregivers were 21% without a high school degree, 22% with a high school degree and 46% with some college or a college degree. In terms of racial-ethnic categories, 58% of the principal caregivers identified themselves as white, with 21% identifying themselves as black and 21% as largely Latino.
  
  Procedure: Data on the effects of the Bonding With Baby intervention were obtained from daily ratings by parents of the frequency and emotional tone of their interactions with their baby around picture books, and around four other common settings for interaction. In addition, data were gathered from pretest and posttest questionnaires completed by parents.
  
  Participating families were randomly assigned either to receive three Bonding With Baby books and video during the period in which they were providing daily ratings of activities, or to receive those materials at the conclusion of the study
  
  Results: Analyses of results indicated clearly that the Bonding With Baby intervention increased the frequency of book sharing compared to parents in the comparison condition [F (1,99) =10.84, p =.001]. Also, parents in the Bonding With Baby condition were much more likely [F = 9.76(1,99) p =.004} to indicate that they felt good while sharing a book with their baby and parents in the Bonding With Baby condition were much more likely to rate their baby as enjoying book sharing than parents in the control condition [F =10.37(1,99), p =.002]. The size of these effects ranged between moderate and large and were consistent across a variety of measures.
  
  Parents in the Bonding With Baby intervention indicated that they liked the books and video, would continue sharing the books with their infant, and would like to have access to more of these types of books. The author concluded: "Because of its low costs and the significant effects achieved in the present evaluation, it is a very promising mechanism for enhancing emergent literacy interactions in families with infants."
  
  Author
  Dr. Grover J. Whitehurst: Grover J. (Russ) Whitehurst is Leading Professor of Psychology and Pediatrics at the State University of New York at Stony Brook, and is currently serving as Assistant Secretary for Research and Improvement in the U.S. Department of Education. His research focuses on the prevention of reading problems in children from low-income backgrounds and the nature and consequences of language delay. He is the recipient of the Microsoft Innovators in Higher Education Award. The NIH, the Pew Charitable Trusts and the U.S. Administration for Children, Youth and Families have supported his research.
Zero to Three Review
1. This set of four interactive board books is designed for both literate and non-literate parents to share with their children. Each book has a clear plot (conveyed in drawings featuring diverse families) but no words. An accompanying parent education video has been distributed to parents in 82 Healthy Families America sites and is available to infant-family service providers.
  
  An evaluation of the impact of the Bonding with Baby books and video on families' book-sharing habits was conducted by Grover J. Whitehouse, formerly on the faculty of SUNY stony Brook and currently with the US Department of Education. Findings showed that parents who received the books at intervals shared books of all kinds more frequently with their babies than parents in the second group. Parents who had received the books during the study also were much more likely to report that both they and their children enjoyed book sharing. A second evaluation of the Bonding with Babies intervention is underway.
School Library Journal Review
1. This kit is perfect for introducing new parents to the joys of sharing books with their babies. The video, hosted by a journalist, highlights families reading to their infants and offers advice on how parent scan use books to interact with their children. This advice is provided along with footage of various multicultural families sharing books with their babies. Mothers and fathers are both shown reading. Parents are encouraged to have fun with their babies and realize that it is all right if babies don't pay attention at first. The vieo runs first in English and then in Spanish. A nice touch is that the books are wordles, allowing parents of any background , skill or language to read wit their babies. The four books are each geared towards a different age range, from birth to 12 months. The inside cover of each book provides information in English and Spanish about the story and how to use the book to interact with infants. For example, in Baby's Busy Day (4-6 months) parents are advised to "use a lively voice and point out objects and activities in your daily routine." The other books are Spanish Lullaby (0-3 months), which emphasizes lullabies and rocking with baby; Play with Me (7-9 months) focusing on playing with baby; and Joyful Noises (10-12 months) which points out animal sounds.
  
  The books' illustrations are engaging and many feature multicultural families. This kit is a wonderful way to encourage reluctant parents to read and interact with their children. While it is intended to be a part of a family's home library, it also would be valuable in public libary collections and childcare settings.
Institutional Bulk Ordering
1. "Bonding with Baby" Books: Reduced to $14.95 + $4.95 shipping ORDER NOW for single orders
  
  Institutional/Bulk Orders:
  
  Put the Bonding With Baby program to work for the families and infants served by your organization. To order Bonding With Baby kits.
  
  Call toll-free: 1-866-LAP-TIME
  
  or click to download an printable order form:
  - in Word Format
  - in PDF Format

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