Happiest Baby Educator Certification Program

We are an educational program created to:

  • Strengthen Families
  • Promote Parent Confidence
  • Increase Sleep
  • Reduce Crying
  • Prevent Postpartum Depression
  • Improve Breastfeeding Success
  • Promote Safe Sleep Practices
  • Reduce Child Abuse and Neglect

Core Concept:

Parents routinely leave their new babies alone – in dark quiet – for many hours each day. Yet, since infants are cuddled, shushed and jiggled 24/7 in the womb…this deep stillness is actually a form of sensory deprivation! Removed from all soothing rhythms, infants cry more and sleep less. And, the stress this may cause can crush a new parent’s confidence and provoke depression, breastfeeding failure, risky sleeping practices and shaken baby syndrome.

The Happiest Baby promotes three key concepts based on Dr. Harvey Karp’s insights into infant development:

  • The Missing 4th Trimester – During the first three months after birth, babies need many hours of rocking and holding, mimicking the constant nurturing they enjoyed in the womb.
  • The Calming Reflex – A newly observed, neonatal reflex that can soothe a young baby’s crying.
  • The 5 S’s – Five specific ways to imitate the womb and turn on the Calming Reflex.

In this training, educators learn exactly what is needed to know to quickly boost parent confidence and teach valuable skills to quickly calm most crying and to promote better, safer sleep.

Certification Program Components:

Happiest Baby offers the Educator Certification Program in a physical version (materials shipped to the educator) or an online version (materials accessed via our website). Upon enrollment in either option, you will receive training tools, certification exam, and a class preparation kit.

Training Tools:

  • Happiest Baby Educator Training video (2-hour)
  • Happiest Baby video + Book* (2015 edition)
  • Happiest Baby Guide to Great Sleep: Birth-5 Years Book*
  • Super-Soothing Sleep Sounds
  • Swaddling Blanket*
  • Certification exam (open book exam)
  • Certificate of completion

Class Preparation Kit:

  • Class curriculum, supplemental reading & handouts
  • Marketing video loop
  • Referral list on website
  • Regular updates detailing recent research and best practices

*Enrollees in the online certification program purchase books and swaddling blanket separately.

Requirements:

Individuals interested in certifying for the Happiest Baby Educator Program must have one of the following:

  1. Certification or licensure in a pregnancy/infant care related specialty (for example, childbirth education, lactation, doula, nursing, midwife, massage therapists, PNP, PA, etc.)
  2. At least 1 year of teaching experience as a parent educator (for example, La Leche League, teen or adult parenting classes, child care instructors, WIC counselors, adoption and foster care workers, and child abuse counselors)
  3. License or advanced degree in a mental health profession

Learn more about program requirements here.

Cost of Program:

  • $195 per person (online program); $275.00 plus shipping & handling per person (regular program);
  • Institutional Discount — Any institution that chooses to certify four instructors via the regular program will receive a free certification program for a fifth participant.

Parent Kits:

The Happiest Baby Parent Kit includes The Happiest Baby on the Block video (contains both Spanish and English tracks) plus our Soothing White Noise Sounds that are specially engineered to either reduce crying and enhance sleep. (Certified educators can purchase Parent Kits and other products at a special discounted rate.) Parent kits are available as DVD/CD or by streaming/download.

Course:

The Happiest Baby class curriculum is presented to parents as a 1-3 hour course or on a 1:1 basis (for example, on home visits, WIC visits).

Each parent or couple attending a class must receive a Parent Kit because they maximize success. Parents often forget critical aspects of the 5 S’s and greatly benefit from reviewing the video weeks/months later. The video also allows parents to correctly share the techniques with family and other caregivers. Parents are encouraged to use the unique white noise sounds for the entire first year of life to promote better sleep.

Instructors:

Certification ensures that every educator has a high level of competence and understands the nuances of teaching the 5 S’s correctly and safely. All sites teaching Happiest Baby methods agree to utilize only certified instructors (and to give a Parent Kit to each family) to reduce parental misunderstanding and serious mistakes. These steps are designed to ensure educator competence and to reduce educator liability.

To enroll, please visit the Get Certified page to get started. For additional information, please contact us at education@happiestbaby.org