Think Baby

Capturing the Voice of the Baby: In Practice

Babies have much to tell us—if we slow down, notice, and hold space to listen. The Think Baby project seeks to honour that perspective. It invites practitioners to tune into the rich inner world of babies and to reflect on how their interactions nurture early thinking, feeling and relating. We are exploring why a better understanding of the world from baby’s perspective matters so much.

Better Start Think Baby Toolkit

We have designed our toolkit to support practitioners in deepening their connection with babies and their families. It should offer a chance to self-reflect, consider your approach and strengthen confidence in how to keep baby in mind and capture the voices of our youngest children in practice.

Bringing together local and national insights from early years leaders, practitioners and parents through conversations, events and surveys, we have identified key principles and practical strategies that help us all embed infant voice into everyday interactions. At the heart of the toolkit is the belief that babies are already forming their own ideas about the world, shaped by these everyday moments.

In this test and learn phase, we are inviting practitioners to adopt the key principles and apply some of the practical strategies over the next few months, then feedback their experience. Using this knowledge we then hope to create a refined version of the toolkit, to launch for this year’s Infant Mental Health Awareness Week.

When babies’ voices are recognised and recorded as common practice, we make great progress towards putting infants at the heart of shaping policy and practice – one of the driving objectives of Better Start’s vison.

Download Toolkit (pdf)

The ‘Think Baby’ Conversations

The Think Baby Toolkit was conceptualised from first bringing together experts, practitioners and parents to talk together about their experiences in capturing the voice or thinking about baby’s voice in their practice.

On this page you will find videos and resources from those conversations, including a full recording of our webinar where we launched the Think Baby Toolkit survey.

Focusing on three distinct areas of early years practice, our discussions look at ways we can all strengthen our confidence to keep baby in mind and capture the voices of our youngest children.

Conversations with national and local experts – including practitioners and parents – share experiences, insights and tips around:

Capturing the voices of babies in the everyday – including Family Hubs ~ Creative approaches ~ Parent-infant relationships
Capturing the voices of babies in targeted services and early help – including Health Visiting ~ Early Parenthood Service ~ Community
Capturing the voices of babies in challenging times and specialist services – including Neonatal ~ Born into Care ~ Family Justice System

Huge thanks to our contributors for generously sharing their time:

Dr Ben Yeo, Child and Adolescent Psychotherapist and Clinical Advisor, The Parent-Infant Foundation
Lucy Morton, Scotland Development Lead, The Parent-Infant Foundation
Vicky Nevin, Policy Manager, NSPCC
Bez Martin, Head of Participation, Anna Freud
Kaisu Fagan, Lived Experience Lead, NWC Clinical Network
Dr Josephine Ross, Professor of Developmental Psychology at the University of Dundee and co-founder of Art at the Start
Heather Armstrong, Head of Early Years Development, Starcatchers
Dr Lisa Wardle, Consultant Clinical Psychologist / Clinical Lead, NHS Blackpool Parent-Infant Relationship Service (PaIRS)
Hannah Clark, Parent Carer Panel Coordinator, Blackpool Council
Hilda Beauchamp, Perinatal & Infant Mental Health Lead, Institute of Health Visiting
Emma Hobbs, Community Connector, Better Start
Aneliesa Stewart, Community Connector, Better Start
Julie Spencer, Early Parenthood Specialist Nurse, Early Parenthood Service, Blackpool Teaching Hospitals NHS Foundation Trust
Shirley Dawson, Health Visitor and Clinical Lead, Blackpool Teaching Hospitals NHS Foundation Trust
Beth Luxmoore, Clinical Network Manager – Perinatal Mental Health / Parent Infant and Early Years Relationships, North West Coast Clinical Network
Dr Beverley Barnett Jones MBE, Associate Director (Practice and Impact), Nuffield Family Justice Observatory
Dr Crystal Webster, Clinical Psychologist, NHS Blackpool Parent-Infant Relationship Service/ Neonatal Unit, Blackpool Teaching Hospitals NHS Foundation Trust
Ruth Butterworth, Clinical Psychologist, NHS North West Neonatal Operational Delivery Network