Course stresses communication, provides life lessons.
By: Erica Hammond
Putting a child in the care of another person can be difficult for any parent. But some local students are learning some extremely important lessons about baby-sitting from a pair of enthusiastic educators dedicated to helping kids take care of kids.
A group of 11 attentive youngsters convened Nov. 6 at Pond Road Middle School to learn how to care for infants and school-age children at a baby-sitting training course offered by the American Red Cross. The two-part course (the second session is slated for Saturday) is being sponsored by the Washington Township Recreation Division.
Practical tips, life lessons and communication skills were dispensed with anecdotal humor under the watchful guidance of Hopewell residents Sarah and Alstyn Hart.
The Harts, who have a combined total of 108 years of varied volunteer service for the American Red Cross of Central New Jersey, have been married for 45 years and have been teaching the baby-sitting training course for nearly 20 years. They have so much experience that they also train other Red Cross volunteers to instruct baby-sitting and other courses.
Mr. Hart, 73, and Mrs. Hart, 66, communicate with each other in the unique and reassuring manner couples married for 45 years can by finishing each other’s sentences.
"We’re to the point where we get some senior moments," Mrs. Hart said and noted that it’s much easier to teach as a pair.
"When she’s talking, I’m thinking and when she’s thinking, I’m talking," the jolly and affable Mr. Hart quipped.
Their considerable knowledge is gleaned from their experience of raising five children and they share the desire to help others care for children. They are the proud and doting grandparents of 16 grandchildren ranging from 4 to 21. According to Mr. Hart they plan to continue volunteering for the Red Cross "until we can’t do it anymore."
Baby-sitting basics
Most students in the class ranging in age from 11 to 14 attend Pond Road Middle School but each has their own reasons for enrolling in the baby-sitting training course.
"I wanted to learn how to treat babies and feed them," said Nikita Janodia, 11, a sixth-grader, who hopes to become a baby sitter soon.
Laura Sanders, a seventh-grader, said she’d "been baby-sitting for years and wanted to learn some more." Christa Jaskir, 14, a freshman at Robbinsville High School, also has prior experience as a baby sitter and thought perhaps the course could provide her with more useful tips.
Eighth-grade twins Lisa and Erin Gange decided to enroll in the class together.
"I have lots of young cousins and watch over them all the time," Erin said and added she hopes to expand upon other baby-sitting opportunities. "A lot of our neighbors said, ‘Call us after you do your baby-sitting class.’"
"I wanted to learn to take care of a child I’m baby-sitting better," Lisa said.
Sixth-grader Kelly Vogel said she has lots of neighbors with little kids and would like to "learn how to baby-sit properly" and mentioned that she learned much about Sudden Infant Death Syndrome (SIDS).
Kelly also noted that she learned some practical tips for communicating with youngsters.
"I learned that when talking to a child, make sure they really know what you’re talking about."
Other class participants include sixth-graders Danielle Buseck, Nicole Gerdes, Meghan Hayes, seventh-grader Alexa Ponti, and eighth-grader Rajesh Kuppuraju who held the distinction of being the only male in the class.
"I have a little sister who I baby-sit sometimes," Rajesh said. "And when she gets bored I learned some fun things to do with her."
Tools and tricks of the trade
The Harts led the class through role-playing activities and used videos to illustrate their life lessons. They demonstrated proper methods of holding infants, how to feed babies as well as how to change diapers.
"This is the big stuff," Mr. Hart commented as Mrs. Hart pulled on a pair of rubber gloves and showed the class the different ways to change diapers for boys and girls.
"It’s not unusual for a baby to require 12 diaper changes per day," Mrs. Hart said and advised the students to "always wear gloves."
Advice on how to play safe, properly heat a bottle (never use a microwave), and the importance of having a family emergency plan was stressed. Other topics included details on burping an infant (always keep a towel on your shoulder to prevent messy spit-up mishaps) as well as the importance of frequent hand-washing.
Mrs. Hart offered some homespun advice to encourage a finicky toddler to wash his or her hands.
"Sing a song while they’re washing their hands," Mrs. Hart said. "Tell them ‘We’ll wash until the song is over and then rinse and dry.’"
One useful tool that plays a big part in the course is the "Babysitter’s Training Handbook" which was distributed to each participant. Each child also received a messenger bag filled with first-aid supplies, a flashlight and a fill-in-the-blank notepad for emergency and safety information.
The course, which costs $55 per student, does not focus solely on baby-sitting. Helpful information on how to write a resume is also dispensed. Class participants learn to interview the families they are babysitting for and find out what allergies the children may have, the kids’ favorite activities, where in the house the children are permitted to go, when and what they should eat and very crucial their bedtimes.
Learning to communicate with themselves and each other as well as how to sell themselves as baby sitters is also stressed. The Harts pointed out that the students in this particular class have an impressive variety of interests and talents including music, crafts, sports.
"These kids are nice kids, extremely cooperative," Mrs. Hart observed. "We always have nice kids in Washington Township."
"We like it here," Mr. Hart added.
Not just kid stuff
One learning strategy the Harts employ is something they refer to as "The Mailbox." Students are welcome to write questions on Post-Its and place the queries in The Mailbox.
And some of the questions aren’t easily answered, such as: "What happens when you send them to time out but they are really crazy and won’t listen and run around?" and "Why would you shake a baby?"
The couple deftly fielded queries ranging from how much a baby sitter should charge for their services to how to handle emergency situations such as choking and poisoning.
"Communication is the most important thing," Mr. Hart said. "The best thing to do in an emergency is stay calm."
It’s very important to the Harts that the students learn how to better communicate not only with the children they’re baby-sitting, but also with themselves, each other and their parents.
The course also covers taking care of people with special needs as well as dealing with the Heimlich Maneuver and CPR. Next week the students will get a chance to bottle-feed a model infant and will further explore safety issues.
The class is encouraged to employ the FIND strategy in any given situation Figure, Identify, Name and Decide.
"Look at the positive and the negative," Mr. Hart said. "Somewhere you have to meet (them)."
When the class concludes, each student will receive an official American Red Cross card certifying they’ve completed the baby-sitting training course. But the most important thing they will take from the course may be a stronger ability to communicate combined with confidence in themselves and the ability to handle a plethora of baby-sitting scenarios.
And for most of the students, the learning has just begun.
The Washington Township Recreation Division sponsors the American Red Cross baby-sitting training course approximately twice a year. The Recreation Division can be can be reached at 259-7082. Contact the American Red Cross at (800) 667-2968 or www.redcross.org for more details.