Coronavirus Updates

(as of April 6)

At Babies Project, we talk (a lot) to parents and other caregivers about the importance of helping their babies transition from their active periods, where their attention is directed outward, to a more inner focus, where they can rest and integrate their experiences. We teach them “baby ball,” a way of holding their baby to support them in this cycling inward. In baby ball, a baby can gather into themself within the enveloping, living container of their caregiver’s body and arms.

As always, what we teach about babies applies to humans at every stage of development. … Read more

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Update: Preparing for Caring at Early Head Start

Our project with Ellyce DiPaola, IDME and EdD candidate at Teacher’s College, Columbia University, which involves offering our Preparing for Caring: Touch, Handling & Bonding Practices (PFC) workshop to an Early Head Start community in NYC, continues.

  • In March 2019, we held a focus group with prospective participants and received valuable feedback about how we can best present the material to suit the population.
  • The three of us (Ellyce, Amy and Sarah) gave a presentation titled Preparing for Caring: Circles of Support about the project at the Body-Mind Centering Association annual conference in July 2019. We were heartened by the
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Developmental Movement for Babies & Toddlers: A Body-Mind Centering® Approach

Idra, 6.5 mos

The study of developmental movement is the study of how we learn to move in our first years of life. In Body-Mind Centering®, we specifically study the basic movement patterns, reflexive pathways and integration of our senses, as well as the progressive layering of rhythms, experiences and relationships that help an infant find a sense of self, integration and ease.

All of the sessions we offer for babies and toddlers are ‘infant-centered’ and ‘baby-led.’ This means that we engage with babies at their own level of perceptual awareness, and respect their rhythms of attention and rest.

We Read more

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Toddlers – Guidelines for Caregivers

We ask caregivers who come to Babies Project with toddlers to follow these guidelines.

  • Transitions can be challenging for toddlers (of all ages).
    • We encourage you to respect their timing about entering the room, choosing to play, and choosing to return to you for orientation, comfort, or cuddles.
  • We encourage you to appreciate that toddlers are fully and intensely immersed in becoming themselves.
    • We believe that allowing each child to tell their own story and make their own meaning supports their sense of agency.
    • We encourage you to comment on your child’s (and other children’s) actions in non-deterministic, non-judgmental ways,
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Babies – Guidelines for Caregivers

We ask caregivers who come to Babies Project with babies to follow these guidelines.

  • You are welcome to come and go anytime. You do not need to be present for the whole class.
  • Please, no cell phones and no photos in the room.
  • Infant Developmental Movement Educators (IDMEs) will be moving around the room to be with different age groups and in different areas of the room.
    • Feel free to listen in on what the IDMEs are sharing with other caregivers — and ask questions!
    • The IDMEs have expertise in developmental movement from birth to walking for the normal developmental
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