Free Kits Offer Tips on Rearing Children

Hal Aronson did not panic when his 6-month-old daughter, Rachel, began to choke and turn blue while on a family hiking trip to Yosemite three weeks ago.

He knew what to do because he recently watched a video that is part of a new $25-million state campaign to inform parents about the best ways to keep their children safe and healthy.

“I used the technique I saw on the video, holding her in my left arm with her head down and just gave her a smack between the shoulder blades,” remembered Aronson, 45, a Berkeley educator. “It worked like magic. A big chunk of bread popped out and she started breathing again. It was actually pretty simple.

That video is in kits being unveiled today by the California Children and Families Commission, which aims to provide them free to all parents of the half a million babies born in the state each year.

The kits include six celebrity-narrated videos, several brochures, a resource guide, baby book and other goodies such as baby toothbrushes and electrical-outlet covers. The state agency will also launch a related media blitz about parenting skills, targeting people of childbearing age and grandparents.

The campaign, led by movie director and activist Rob Reiner, is funded by Proposition 10 and is described by its backers as the most ambitious effort in the nation to educate parents about the role they play in the intellectual and emotional development of their children. The initiative, approved by voters in 1998, added a 50-cents-a-pack tax on cigarettes to fund programs promoting early childhood health and development.

A University of California evaluation of parents like the Aronsons who tested the kits indicates many learned important skills that benefited their children.

The kits will be distributed to hospitals, clinics and community programs and will be available through the commission’s toll-free information line (1-800-KIDS-025, or 1-800-50-NINOS for Spanish). Several other states, including Pennsylvania and Kentucky, are planning similar efforts.

The campaign was spawned by Reiner’s own experience.

“My wife and I were both college-educated people starting with a new baby, but unless you have grandparents actually involved or some other kind of guidance, you’re at a loss,” said Reiner, who heads the state commission.

The videos are narrated by performers including LeVar Burton, Jamie Lee Curtis, Gloria Estefan, Andy Garcia and Phylicia Rashad.

“People seem to take in videos a lot more easily than the printed word and celebrities make it more enticing,” Reiner said.

It worked for Margalo Weissman, who said she was especially impressed with the child care video hosted by Maria Shriver.

Margalo, 34, and her husband, William, 31, both attorneys for the state Franchise Tax Board, had an early look at the kit as part of its test run.

They were surprised by essential information they might never have learned otherwise--such as the toll-free number they could call to get a background check on a child care provider.

And although they had taken a cardiopulmonary resuscitation class, having the safety video to refer to for emergencies has provided a lot of comfort as they care for their daughters, Bryn Alexandra and Thalia Chase, Margalo said.

William said he never would have guessed that those popular, cozy-looking crib bumpers could also be health hazards or that babies actually like being bundled up like mummies in swaddling blankets.

“A lot of the information is not complicated. A lot of it is common sense, but that tends to go out the window when you have a child and start panicking,” he said.

Another parent from the test group intervened with a neighbor, a teenage mother who routinely shook her baby in the belief that it would strengthen the child’s neck. The baby was in grave danger of being paralyzed or blinded by the shaking, said Linda Neuhauser, principal investigator for the pilot evaluation and executive director of the Center for Community Wellness at UC Berkeley.

Her evaluation of 368 mothers receiving the kit found that 48% reported having changed their thinking or behavior, 50% said the kit helped them make decisions about breast-feeding and 75% said they now knew more about where to find child care. Neuhauser said the kits were almost universally praised by parents, whether well-educated or low-income, and were even useful for families with older children.

One of the most popular videos deals with discipline, especially for parents who discover that practices learned in their own upbringing may not be the best.

Teresa Cruz and husband Herman have two daughters, ages 7 and 4, and a 2-year-old son, yet are finding the discipline video invaluable.

The couple, who live near downtown Los Angeles, attend parenting classes at the nearby Hope Street Family Center, where some of the materials are being used and which is the site of today’s campaign launch.

The video’s value was apparent during an interview, while son Richard and youngest daughter Donna vigorously vied for their mother’s attention. Instead of admonishing the children to be quiet, Cruz deftly redirected their energy to some nearby toys as suggested in one of the kit’s instructional tapes.

“The video really helped me to learn that children have different temperaments and how to deal with them,” said Cruz, 32. “It’s helped to make me a better mother, and it’s going to be a tremendous help for first-time parents.”