Meet Laura Liebig of Baby Parent Steps in Tempe

Today we’d like to introduce you to Laura Liebig.

Thanks for sharing your story with us Laura. So, let’s start at the beginning and we can move on from there.
My family moved from Wuerzburg, Germany to Tempe twelve years ago after my husband accepted a position in Arizona. Our daughters were still in the baby and kindergarten stages and I thought it would be nice to find new sources for parenting support and training. After settling into our new home, I began looking for baby-parent education classes like those I attended in Germany with both of our girls. I was surprised to learn that the greater Phoenix area lacked in providing these kinds of services. I found classes introducing babies to music, story time, or gymnastic mat play. Nothing to help moms connect with babies in their first year of life. After our daughters entered school and I had more free time, I had a deep desire to share my experience of early childhood development with my new community in America. I returned to Germany many times to complete certification training in the Prague-Parent-Child-Program, also known as PEKiP®. On July 22, 2015, Baby Parent Steps was born and my website www.babyparentsteps.com and www.Facebook/BabyParentSteps.com followed soon after.

Great, so let’s dig a little deeper into the story – has it been an easy path overall and if not, what were the challenges you’ve had to overcome?
The language barrier has been my biggest challenge. Translating the program into English and developing marketing materials continues to be time-consuming for me. I teach my classes using both English and German languages, so I am continually translating between the two. Another road block I’ve encountered in developing my business is educating the public on this specific form of early childhood development for the first year of life. The type of service I provide is new to most Americans and it takes time for the community to understand and embrace these teachings.

Baby Parent Steps – what should we know? What do you guys do best? What sets you apart from the competition?
Baby Parent Steps helps new parents discover their baby’s natural potential through sensory stimulation. Our goal is to support baby development through age-appropriate activities and to support parents in their role as new moms and dads. Parents learn the joy in connecting with their baby as they assist them in reaching important milestones in physical, cognitive, social and emotional areas. Class categories range from 6 weeks to 12 months or until the child is walking. Small classes with a maximum of 6 babies and 6 parents and private sessions are also available.

We offer over 100 enriching sensory-motor activities through play, observation, and interaction. We focus on movement stimulation of the whole body, supporting baby brain and body development in a purposefully arranged environment, and on enhancing the bonding and attachment process during the most sensitive period in a baby’s life. Individual attention to each baby-parent interaction and activity helps transfer the learning success into everyday life at home or on the go. Gaining confidence as a parent, connecting parents with babies of similar age in one class, sensitizing parents’ perception of daily routines, developing increased awareness of their baby’s skills, improving baby body awareness and experiencing games and activities that encourage play and movement are just a few of the benefits of this baby-parent program.

Being the first PEKiP® instructor in the U.S. is an exciting and challenging adventure. I am lucky to be able to offer this inspirational program for parents with newborns with enriching activities, to provide support for a healthy natural development of the baby and to enhance the bonding process from the very beginning of life.

What moment in your career do you look back most fondly on?
Watching babies thrive and seeing parents gain confidence by the end of each, baby-parent class are some of the proudest moments I experience in my teaching. Babies are the future of our society and our country! The opportunity of introducing the baby-parent program PEKiP® to the U.S. and the role I play in changing the way our society views parenting in the first year of life is a dream come true.

Contact Info:

• Website: www.babyparentsteps.com
• Phone: 480 252 5148
• Email: laura@babyparentsteps.com
• Facebook: www.Facebook.com/BabyParentSteps

Image Credit:
Baby Parent Steps

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