WILD offers insight on infant development to BBC Children in Need.

Last week, WILD CEO Jo Davies was invited to present our learning on infant development with BBC Children in Need’s Impact Team for the South.  BBC Children in Need has supported us since 2011, funding some of our most compelling work in parent infant attachment. Most recently they granted WILD £78,000, over three years, to contribute towards the salary of an integral leadership role as well as ongoing management and support costs. 

The session was an interesting opportunity to reflect on the journey WILD has been on since its early days as a youth-work organisation for young parents. Our work was just as important back then, but it was primarily designed to help young people adjust to parenthood, with far less focus on their babies' experiences.  Over 30 years later, we are child-focused and family-centred, which means we put the infant and child at the heart of everything we do, but we also support the family in fulfilling its role as the child’s primary support system. 

The child’s voice has become increasingly important in health and social care settings with leading organisations like the NSPCC claiming it is essential for understanding the experiences of babies and children and ultimately keeping them safe. But hearing and facilitating the voice of children and babies is complex. It requires curiosity and creativity. BBC Children in Need were particularly interested to hear how WILD approaches child and baby participation, as it is an area that often raises questions for grant applicants.  

At its core, WILD’s participation approach is designed to meet the rights of babies and children to be heard and to have their views considered regarding decisions that affect them, as set out by The United Nations Convention on the Rights of the Child (UNCRC).  

Historically, the babies of young parents have been denied that right, and this is why they currently have poorer health, education and economic outcomes than other babies (more on that in a future blog). Our vision is a fair and equitable start for the babies and children of young parents, and that begins with listening to them, but how do we do that? 

WILD is evidence-led and trauma-specific – this means we respond to emerging evidence and research about the needs of babies, children and their families, such as brain development and impact of early childhood trauma and adversity. Essentially, how we work is steeped in rich evidence and data!  

we are in a very privileged position to hear the voices of babies and children

To listen to and facilitate the voice of babies and children, we turn to the work of Professor Laura Lundy, whose model for meaningful child participation has been adopted worldwide, not least by the World Health Organization and UNICEF.  The Lundy Model sets out four components needed to truly give babies and children a voice. It is often used by charities, governments and organisations who want children to contribute to important decision-making but engaging those children can be difficult. Lundy herself said, “The biggest challenge is getting the children who need to be in the room, in the room” (source). Last year, WILD worked with 558 babies and children, so we are in a very privileged position to hear the voices of babies and children. We have a responsibility to listen to and act upon those voices. 

We adopt the LUNDY model in our day-to-day work at WILD, facilitated by practitioners who have many years’ experience working in early years settings. To the untrained eye, our babies might be taking part in sensory play at a WILD group, but for us, they are developing important physical and cognitive skills and communicating with us. They will be observed with that in mind, and those observations will be used to understand the needs of the family and shape the support we offer them. It will inform the design and development of our work, help us to understand the impact of our work, and be used to amplify the voice of young parent families.  

The Lundy Model in practice at WILD

The model provides us with a robust framework to:  

• Understand babies and parents  

• Participate in evidence-based observation  

• Gather evidence  

• Monitor progress and risk  

• Present babies’ experience  

While we strongly advocate the Lundy model and the rich evidence it gives us relating to what babies want and need; we believe that for babies, it is not specific enough, so we also lean into the work of the Scottish Government and its national Infant Pledge.  

We have adopted the Scottish Government’s Infant Pledge, which encourages mindful commitment to: 

• Facilitate infants to express their feelings. 

• Consider their views. 

• Uphold their rights. 

• Take action accordingly.

This means our practitioners will notice, facilitate and share the infant's feelings, ideas and preferences with each other and with the wider programme team, taking part in regular reflection and evaluation. 

At WILD, this gives us confidence that we are always hearing and responding to the voice of WILD babies and children and meeting their wants and needs. For Impact Teams like our friends at BBC Children in Need it provides assurance that grant-making is meeting their goals and objectives.