University of Wisconsin - Extension

British parents like Prime Minister Tony Blair and his wife, who gave birth last May, may not realize it, but some of the child rearing advice they have been reading originates with University of Wisconsin-Extension.

An Anglo-American project has translated the "Parenting the First Year" newsletter into British English (a different language than Americans speak, you understand), and is distributing it to new "mums" in Britain. The instructional parenting newsletter was authored by UW-Extension child development specialist Dave Riley, Dori Schatell, and UW-Extension nutrition specialist Susan Nitzke. It is currently used in 15 U.S. states, and is available in Spanish. It was the first UW-Extension bulletin translated into a second language. Riley collaborated with British pediatrician Tony Waterston to create the British version.

Over half of all Wisconsin families giving birth each year receive the newsletter, through 80 distribution networks organized by UW-Extension¿s county-based Family Living Educators. The monthly series offers child rearing advice in an age-paced format, so parents of a 5-month-old baby get information about how 5-month-olds are changing and what parents can look for and do.

Field experiments have shown that parents receiving the series, compared to parents who don't, have child rearing beliefs significantly less like those of child abusing parents, and they also report actually spanking or hitting their babies significantly less often.

The "English" translation changes diapers to nappies, strollers to prams, and also changes the actual content to fit the British social context better.

"The British evaluation report is fun to read," says Riley. "The mothers say that our newsletter is 'Dead lovely' and 'Bang on!'"

In April, Riley and Waterston will present the results of their project¿s impact evaluations at the Royal Academy of Pediatrics meeting in York, and the International Conference on Parenting in London.

For more information about ¿Parenting the First Year¿ and other parenting resources, visit the Cooperative Extension Family Living Programs web site at http://www.uwex.edu/ces/flp/parenting/index.html"> http://www.uwex.edu/ces/flp/parenting/index.html. ¿Parenting the First Year¿ is available through your county UW-Extension office and from UW-Extension Publications at http://www1.uwex.edu/ces/pubs/index.cfm"> http://www1.uwex.edu/ces/pubs/index.cfm.