Parenting a FASD Infant
The primary developmental task of all infants is to develop trust (in self and in others). Failure to develop “trust arrests development in all other areas. This task is immeasurably more complicated when the child has FASD. The development of “trust” is facilitated by the following guidelines:
a) CONSISTENCY – the child will benefit from high quality care from the same caregiver in the same environment. More caregivers = more problems.
b) ROUTINE – strive to have the same pattern each day
c) HELP – assist the child’s early (and probably unsuccessful) attempts to achieve normal development tasks
d) TOUCH – caregivers must be sensitive to the babies particular senses (sound, light, movement, touch, etc.) . Too much will be too stimulating
e) FEEDING – probably frequently and small amounts