Before Baby™ Course

Parents at a RIE® Before Baby™ Course practice a diaper change modeling the RIE Principles and Practices they explored during the class.

About Before Baby

newborn baby in hat with eyes closed with fist coming close to mouth.

Preparing to Care for Your Baby

An introductory course for those expecting, waiting to adopt, or thinking about becoming a parent, Before Baby is designed to start you on your journey with confidence in yourself as a parent and trust in your baby’s unique ability to show you the way. Before Baby will help you to establish healthy patterns from the beginning of life.

Cost: $350

Prices may vary. For more information: classinfo@rie.org

  • format In-person or Online
  • Frequency Weekly for 3 weeks/Weekends/Other
  • duration 2.5-4 hours per class
  • Total hours 7.5 to 8 hours In Class
Available Courses

Who is this course for?

For those expecting, waiting to adopt, or thinking about becoming a parent and wanting to know more about our relationship-based approach to caring for your newborn.

Before Baby™ Course

Before Baby will help you meet the needs of your baby and establish healthy patterns from the beginning of life. Course content includes:

  • What crying means and how to respond
  • Setting up the baby’s room
  • Sleep for baby and parents
  • Bathing
  • Feeding
  • Diapering
  • Working with baby’s biological rhythms
  • Self-initiated movement
  • Using observation to guide your decisions
  • “Quality” time together

“For expectant parents… I am aware that now you are preoccupied with the birth of your baby, and everything that happens afterwards may seem remote and intangible. Yet this is the ideal time to become acquainted with some basic RIE ideas… it is [easier] to develop good habits from the beginning than to undo and change ‘bad’ habits later.” 

Magda Gerber

Available Classes

Image

  • The course is offered in three sessions, in-person or online.  Both formats are available at our Los Angeles and Pasadena RIE Centers, and worldwide through our network RIE Associates.  In-personal classes week weekly for three one day sessions.  Online classes meet on various schedules and in various time zones to maximize accessibility.
  • All RIE Certified courses currently scheduled are listed below.  Please check back often as the offerings are continuously updated.  For detailed course schedules, pricing and to register, click the Inquire/Register link for the class of interest to you.

 

IN-PERSON

Watch this Space

ONLINE

May 21, 28 &
Jun 4, 11

Tuesdays
6-8:30pm
Central Time

Shannon Carr
Inquire/Register

Aug 24, 31 & Sep 7

Saturdays
7-9:30am
Central Time

Shannon Carr
Inquire/Register

Oct 15, 22 & 29

Tuesdays
6:30-9pm
Central Time

Shannon Carr
Inquire/Register

Dec 3 – 11

Tuesdays, Thursdays
12:00 – 1:30pm
Central Time

Shannon Carr
Inquire/Register

2025
Feb 4-8

Tuesdays & Thursdays, 6-7:30pm
Central Time

Shannon Carr

Inquire/Register 

Testimonials

Read what expecting parents have to say about how RIE Before Baby prepared them to care for their new baby.

“I’m so thankful that my husband and I discovered the RIE Before Baby Class… I appreciate how the RIE approach has taught us to slow down and to really enjoy the simple moments with our daughter.”

RoseCalifornia

“Before Baby was the best thing we did as expectant parents! As a first-time parent, I knew very little (okay, nothing!) about infants and was frankly very anxious about the idea of a baby being entrusted to me. The course…was profoundly supportive to our role as new parents. RIE has given me a framework for parenting in these early months that has been deeply grounding and made has the role of new parent easier and more joyful. I recommend this for all new families!”

PeggyNew mom

“It’s one thing to have an idea of how you want to parent, and entirely another to have the practical skills to put those values into action. My partner and I had the same ideas about how we wanted to raise our child, but not having been parents, were oblivious to how to do things like changing and bathing, or how a newborn could begin to cultivate the love, self-respect, and resilience we wanted for her. The Before Baby course answered questions we didn’t even know we had, united us early in our parenting choices, and, we think, played a big part in bringing about the confidence and character we admire in our child today. ”

MichaelaNew mom

FAQs about this course


We welcome all people who are expecting, waiting to adopt, or thinking about having a baby to this course. Single by choice parents, same gender parents, traditional and non-traditional families of all kinds are welcome here.

You can attend this course at any time when you are expecting your baby. Some people find it helpful to take the course before they establish their baby registry. Others like to take it in the last few months before their baby is born, so the information is fresh. Whatever makes sense to you.

The RIE Associate facilitating your course will use a combination of lecture, discussion, “experiential” exercises as well as hands-on caregiving practice. You’ll learn how to pick up your baby, change their diaper and more.

You will receive either a printed or digital copy of the Before Baby Parent Notebook and excerpts from The RIE Manual.

  1. This course is focused on relational infant care and supporting overall development, and does not include baby CPR.
  2. Baby care classes are covered by many insurance plans. You can read more about it here and check with your insurance to see if the cost of the class can be reimbursed.

https://www.webmd.com/health-insurance/pregnancy-childbirth-coverage

Learn More

Parent-Infant Guidance™ Class
Parent-Infant Guidance™ Class
Parent Guidance<sup>™</sup> Class
Parent Guidance™ Class
How We Love
How We Love
Dear Magda

Dear Magda, As I read Educaring I get the feeling that the RIE® philosophy is rather cold and impersonal. You talk of independence and autonomy for infants, but not of […]
Sleeping at 7 Months
Sleeping at 7 Months
Dear Magda

Dear Magda, It is becoming more and more difficult to put Alison, my seven-month-old, to sleep. I have always nursed her to sleep, but now she wakes up crying as […]