4-month-old Cody Sakuda is late for his first day of class at the University of Texas at Dallas. His mom, Tamara, rushes into the room with him strapped in a blue-denim kangaroo sack.
But no worries: The Sakudas have more than two months to catch up in Family Infant University. The new program teaches parents about the physical and emotional development of their children while graduate students learn how to work with real families.
The Sakudas are one of three families taking part in 10 weeks of classes and home visits. Tamara Sakuda has read many parenting books, but she and her husband, Kent, thought that Family Infant University would be a good way to interact with professionals.
“I love my parents, but I knew that there were some things that I wanted to do differently,” says Tamara Sakuda, 36.
“This program can teach parents a lot about infants that they probably can’t read in the books from the bookstores,” says Michelle Aldridge, one of the program’s coordinators.
These aren’t classes on parenting. Rather, the parents, who pay a $250 fee, learn about the developmental stages of their kids, including when an infant should learn how to hold up his or her head, crawl, grasp toys and recognize family members.
“Most people with infants are very hungry for information,” Aldridge says. “This helps them understand what’s going on with a child, and hopefully we can relieve some anxiety and satisfy some curiosity.”
Family Infant University is a pilot for a UTD course that began this fall. Two graduate students are paired with a family. Every Friday, mother and child are temporarily separated. The graduate students test the infants’ development while their parents attend seminars such as infant communication and development of motor skills.
Officials at the School of Human Development at UTD started planning the Family Infant University last December. They saw a community need for it, as well as a need among graduate students for practical experience.
Danette Marx, 35, one of the participating mothers, says she and her husband were worried that their son Alex had problems walking and talking. They confirmed that Alex’s development was slower than that of other children but that there’s nothing to worry about. At the Family Infant University, Marx has learned that her 14-month-old son will develop at his own pace.
“I’m fascinated that they are doing assessments on Cody,” Sakuda says of the graduate students. “I think it’s neat when you have other people besides yourself say that he’s right on track. It’s reassuring.”
Since Tamara Sakuda had her first child, Emily, five years ago, she has read more than 25 parenting books.
“The more knowledge I have, the better we can bring my son up,” says another mother, Elizabeth Clay, 35.
Sakuda listens attentively as Tom Bower, a professor at UTD, explains that during their first five months, infants do not really know they have one mother. He says babies know they have someone who feeds, comforts and plays with them, but in their minds, the caregiver is not one person. He says this is partly why babies don’t necessarily fuss in the company of strangers.
But he also says that babies are very perceptive. Bower has tested babies hours after being born to see whether they prefer happy or sad faces. They consistently prefer viewing happy faces. “Babies are born with the capacity to make sense of the world,” he tells the mothers.
While Mom is learning about baby development, Cody is busy flirting with Andrea Fasken and Jennifer Davis. They are the graduate students assigned to work with the Sakuda family.
It doesn’t take long for them to bond with Cody. His constant toothless smile and attentive brown eyes are hard to ignore. Cody has no problem parting with Mom. Just a few smiles from Davis, 26, or Fasken, 23, and Cody is content.
Fasken and Davis test how Cody responds to sights and sounds. They ring bells, place the baby in front of a mirror and watch how he plays with toys. While Fasken is holding Cody, Davis stands behind him and holds a string with a red ring in front of him.
“Grab at it, buddy,” Fasken says. Fasken is working on her master’s degree in speech pathology. Davis is working on her master’s in early developmental disorders. Aldrich, one of the coordinators, says the teams are paired to provide expertise from both concentrations.
While the Family Infant University focuses on the families, the work of the graduate students is just as important.
“It’s so neat to follow them all these weeks, because you get to see things as they happen,” Davis says. “Things Cody couldn’t do three weeks ago, he’s doing now.”
