Grandparent 101

New Class at BABY MOON Can Bridge Child-Rearing Gap Between Generations

by Katie Saltz

Grandparents have been around the block when it comes to raising babies, but a lot has changed in the past 30 years or so.

That’s where “Grandparent 101” comes in.

Julie Six, owner of Baby Moon in Lexington, created the class, “Grandparent 101,” when she recognized a need to bridge the communication gap between parents-to-be and grandparents.

“Time and time again, I hear about frustration with well-meaning loved ones who desire to implement parenting standards they themselves used while raising their own children,” said Six, a mother of three.

“While their parenting worked well for them, it doesn’t necessarily work for the new parents who have given thought and dedication to the way they would prefer their new addition to be raised.”

Six describes the class as a casual, non-threatening way to educate grandparents about generational differences in parenting.

Grandparents will learn how they can best care for the family unit during pregnancy and after the birth, as well as big changes in safety measures since they first were parents themselves.

One example of a class topic is car-seat safety. Grandparents will learn the current best practices for installing a car seat, strap protocols and safety standards.

New parents may hesitate to ask grandparents to attend the class, because it can seem like an attack on their knowledge of child-rearing.

One way to break the ice, Six suggests, is to use the class as a pregnancy announcement.

“A gift certificate for Grandparent 101 would be a fun spin and it would be a non-threatening time in which to bring it up to grandparents,” she said.

“I think parents-to-be can encourage grandparents that this isn’t just a class about how to soothe and feed a baby – we know they understand the basics.”

Thanks to the Internet, new research and medical advances, information about child-rearing has drastically expanded.

The class is a way for family members to all get on the same page about what is best for the baby, Six said.

“Grandparents will take back all of the info that they learned and it will correlate with what Mom and Dad are learning,” she said.

“They won’t be on polar opposite sides with information.”

The first class will meet on Saturday, Nov. 12, 2-4:30 p.m. at Baby Moon, 2891 Richmond Road.

Info: visit www.babymoonlex.com or call 550-3395.