Child Abuse Prevention and Awareness
Hillsdale County

Babysitting 101 & CPR Training

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We have teamed up with the MSU Extension, 4H Coordinator, to bring babysitting 101 to our community.  During this training the students will learn basic babysitting skills and also be certified in adult and infant CPR and the AED.  This training takes place over two 2.5-hour days, and they use one of our BTIO dolls to babysit overnight.  The first day consists of learning babysitting basic skills and taking a BTIO doll home.  Day 2 they will return the BTIO doll and receive their results of how well they cared for the baby overnight and will also go through their CPR training.

 

The Baby Think It Over (BTIO) program was initiated in Hillsdale in 1995 when the Hillsdale County Community Foundation provided funding to purchase dolls and start the program. Since 1995, the Baby Think It Over Program has grown as the old dolls were replaced with more technologically advanced successors. Today teens and students involved in the program interact with extremely realistic baby simulators that cry when they need attention, feeding, or a diaper change.

 

CAPA’s BTIO dolls also require proper head support and proper handling. Rough handling, abuse and missed care are recorded and later translated into a grade through the computer software that interacts with the dolls. The students can then evaluate their performance. Regardless of the student’s score, the reaction is always the same. Students develop deep respect and understanding of the rigors of childcare. 

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We use our time in this training to bring awareness to safe sleep and shaken baby syndrome and what could happen to infants if these occur.  Each student is sent home with brochures on this and encouraged to share what they learned from this program.

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