Becoming a parent is a journey full of milestones but when your baby needs the NICU, that journey can feel overwhelming. You suddenly find yourself navigating monitors, medical terms, and unfamiliar surroundings no parent expects. It’s a lot to take in. The last thing you need to worry about is figuring out how to support your baby’s feeding, motor, communication and sensory development, both in the NICU and after coming home. That’s exactly why Pathways.org is here: to provide trustworthy, expert-approved, easy to understand support so families feel informed and empowered to help their baby’s development.

Who Is Pathways.org?

Pathways.org is a nonprofit organization dedicated to early childhood development that has been trusted by parents and healthcare professionals for over 40 years. Their goal is simple but powerful: help babies reach their full developmental potential for motor, sensory, communication, and feeding by empowering parents with tools, activities, and guidance grounded in research and reviewed by pediatric specialists.

Essential NICU & Preemie Resources on Pathways.org

Whether your baby is still in the NICU or has recently come home, Pathways.org offers free, accessible materials tailored to your family’s situation. Download the Pathways.org app to start tracking Baby’s information.

NICU Support Content

• Guides and brochures specifically for NICU families, offering practical tips for bonding, early development activities, and what to expect after discharge.

• Information about prematurity, including how being born early influences developmental expectations.

• Ideas for play and interaction while in the NICU, such as safe Tummy Time suggestions and bonding activities.

These resources help make sense of the many emotional and developmental questions that come with having a baby who was born preterm or required extra care.

Massage+ 30,10,5: A Simple, Research-Backed Tool for Growth

One of the standout Pathways.org resources for NICU and preemie families is Massage+ 30,10,5, a short massage intervention designed to support your baby’s development and parent-baby connection.

Here’s what you should know:

• What It Is: A focused 15-minute session that includes gentle massage, rocking, and talking all in ways babies love and benefit from.

• Why It Works: This intervention is based on over 40 years of research. It’s also known by healthcare professionals as part of Audio-Tactile-Visual-Vestibular (ATVV) stimulation.

• What It Helps With:

  • Improved sleep and feeding habits

  • Stronger parent confidence and bonding

  • Sensory growth and communication cues recognition

  • Support for motor and sleep regulation

• How to Learn It: Pathways.org offers a course and brochure so parents and caregivers can apply these techniques at home. Use Code: RMHCFree to get course for free.

This practice isn’t meant to replace medical care, but it offers parents an active, loving role in their baby’s development.

Why Milestones Are Different for Preemies — and What That Means for You

When a baby is born early, their corrected age—their age based on the due date, not birth date— is often a more meaningful way to track development. Pathways.org explains how prematurity affects milestones and helps parents set expectations based on adjusted age, which can relieve stress and support healthier development tracking. Learn more about corrected age.

The Pathways.org App — Your On-the-Go Development Partner

One of the most practical tools Pathways.org offers is the Baby Milestones App, designed to support parents daily. This free app is built to:

• Track developmental milestones based on your child’s age.

• Adjust automatically for prematurity, so you see milestones tailored to your preemie’s corrected age.

• Provide therapist-approved activities and games that support motor, sensory, feeding and communication development.

• Offer videos, expert answers, and Tummy Time tracking to help make parenting more intuitive.

Many NICU parents find that having a tool like this helps take the guesswork out of development and gives them confidence especially during the transition from NICU to home.

Quick Links

• Download Pathways.org app

• Access preemie & NICU resources

• Learn Massage+ 30,10,5

• Explore milestone explanations and guides

Since 1975, Canine Companions has provided more than 8,400 service dogs, free of charge, to adults, children and veterans with disabilities. Service dogs are bred to be calm, reliable and affectionate, and assist their partner in completing simple daily tasks at home. The dogs can also serve as a social bridge to the public.

Not only does this type of assistance make the physical life of a child with a disability easier, but it can boost their overall confidence and independence.

Canine Companions' service dogs are trained in more than 45 skills. They can pick up items, open doors and drawers, provide calming pressure across a child's lap or body, assist with developing independent living skills, be integrated into structured therapies, help facilitate social interactions, make the recipient’s physical life easier, and boost confidence, self-sufficiency and responsibility

In addition to service dogs, Canine Companions is proud to provide medical alert dogs to individuals experiencing life-threatening blood sugar fluctuations due to insulin-dependent diabetes. These life-changing partnerships are made possible thanks to our organization merging with Early Alert Canines. 

Training & Matching Service Dogs

Children aged five or older can be placed with service dogs with the support of a facilitator. The facilitator is typically a parent or caregiver who handles and cares for the service dog, encourages a strong bond between the client and the service dog, and is responsible for the customized training needs of the dog.

Each Canine Companions service dog spends the first year-and-a-half with a volunteer puppy raiser who teaches the puppy basic commands and socializes them in public and private settings. Then, the puppy will enter professional training at a Canine Companions regional training center for six to nine months, where he or she will learn advanced skills. Once a dog has completed professional training, he or she is ready to be matched with a person. Matching takes place at one of our regional training centers during a two-week group class. During the class participants learn to manage the service dog’s behavior, direct the dog to respond to cues it has learned and to assume responsibility for maintaining the health and well-being of the dog.

Learn More & Apply

Visit the Canine Companions' webpage to learn more about the process of applying for a service or medical alert dog, or to find a Canine Companions training location near you.

Children love books. Reading has a calming effect, strengthens the bond between caregiver and child, builds a foundation for literacy and a lifelong love of reading. That alone would be reason enough to read together, but as a librarian, I have seen that children’s literature often does far more than that.

What is Bibliotherapy?

Children’s books can be healing tools to help young people face their fears, cope with life’s challenges and manage strong emotions in a safe, relatable way. When stories use characters that reflect real struggles, kids feel less alone and more prepared to handle tough situations. Reading stories together can help children and adults find the right words to talk about their feelings and tackle tough conversation topics. When used this way books become a tool to promote mental health and wellbeing. Librarians and clinicians refer to this use of literature as bibliotherapy.

Bibliotherapy is used in clinical settings along with other therapeutic methods, but you don’t have to be a therapist to use books in a healing way. In this New Horizon Academy podcast, child mental health specialist, Amanda Mason, offers some excellent strategies for parents using books in a bibliotherapy way with their children.

Using Bibliotherapy with Your Child

While bibliotherapy can help all children, it takes on special significance for families facing complex medical problems or chronic illness. Along with the usual ups and downs of childhood, your child may need:

• Help understanding what’s happening with their body and treatment

• Preparation for medical visits and hospital admissions

• Confidence for coping with pokes, and procedures

• A sense of control when so much is out of their hands

• Tools for handling fear, discomfort, and big emotions

Using books with a bibliotherapy approach, you can help your child navigate the special challenges of a medical journey.

How to Use bibliotherapy with your child

Talk with a librarian or child life specialist about the best literature for your child. Children’s librarians can guide you to high-quality accessible titles on any topic you need. If your child is in the hospital, or an admission is planned, a child life specialist will have age-appropriate books on hand to help your child cope with their hospital stay.

Here are some special booklists curated by librarians or child life specialists to get you started:

• Indianapolis Public Library’s Health Librarian – Bibliotherapy Books for Kids

• Carnegie Library of Pittsburgh – Here to Help Booklists

• Children’s Hospital of Philadelphia (CHOP) – Recommended Children’s Books

• Rady’s Children’s Health – Book Resource List

Pre-read the book: Read the book yourself first so you know what’s in it and can make sure it’s right for your child. During a hospitalization, be on the lookout for more intense images or themes, what feels fine at home can become overwhelming during a stressful time in the hospital.

Set the right environment: Choose a time when you can both be free of distractions and find a comfortable spot. This is easy at home, but much harder in the hospital where interruptions happen often. If your child can leave their room, ask about a family lounge, family resource center, or children’s library for a change of scenery. If they need to stay in the room, let the nurse know you’d like some quiet time if possible. You can also work with a child life specialist or art therapist to make a Reading Time: Please Knock sign for the door. It won’t stop staff from coming in, but it gives you a moment to pause the story and gives your child a small sense of control over their space.

Introduce the book: Look at the cover together and flip through a few pages. Ask your child what they think the story might be about. If the topic is new or unfamiliar, offer some context. For example: “The girl on the cover is a princess, but she doesn’t look very happy. The book is called I Don’t Want to Go to the Hospital! What do you think might be happening?”

Read together: Read the story aloud, take turns, or follow along with an audiobook or read-aloud video. What matters most is sharing the story together.

Let your child lead: It can be tempting to suggest to your child how they might feel or think about the story or tell them how it makes you feel. Try to resist that urge and let your child lead the way.

• Let your child guide the reading.

• Some children want to talk; others prefer to listen.

• If your child wants to skip a page, or read the same page twice, or change the ending, go with that.

Encourage participation: Talk about how the characters feel and encourage the child to name the feelings they see. You can follow up with simple questions that can lead to powerful conversations.

• How do you know she is scared?

• Why do you think he is worried?

• What helped them feel brave?

If your child seems ready, you can help them relate the story to their own experience.

• That reminds me of the first time you went to the hospital.

• That fancy ball gown is a lot better than a hospital gown!

Be present and responsive: Let your child stop to ask questions, comment, or just listen quietly. Respond to any questions with honest, simple, and clear language. If they seem uninterested, don't push; you can always try again later.

After Reading

Get creative: If your child is interested, try activities related to the story – drawing pictures, writing their own story, making a collage, engaging in medical play, or acting out the story. When in the hospital, art and music therapists can help with ideas and supplies.

Reread the story: While it may get a little tedious for you, reading the same story again and again can be comforting for your child, and help them gain confidence and master the feelings related to the story.

Continue the conversation: Stories and characters may come up in conversations at other times during outings, medical visits, mealtimes, or at play. Take advantage of these moments to expand on the conversations and see where it leads. Over time, not overnight, you may notice your child becoming a little more confident, a little more resilient, and a little better at speaking up for themselves and handling big feelings. All that plus the joy of reading books together!

When Bibliotherapy Isn’t Enough

Reading healing books together can help kids cope with the challenges and big emotions that come with a serious medical diagnosis or disability, but it isn’t a substitute for professional help. Children facing trauma, depression, or anxiety do best with a clinical assessment and guidance from a counselor, psychologist, or child life specialist. If you have mental health concerns related to your child, speak with your child’s medical team.

To learn more, take a look at the list of signs that your child needs professional help from the article Mental Health in Kids with Chronic Illness on the Child Mind Institute website.

For more information about books and your child, visit these resources:

Choosing Books:

• Nemour’s Children’s Reading BrightStart: How to Select Books for Different Ages

• Reading Rockets: How to Choose Read Aloud Books: Babies to Third Graders

• Finding the Right Book for Your Child

Finding Books:

• Reading Rockets - Bookfinder

• Novelist K-8 – Subscription database often available free of charge through your local public library. Full of curated booklists, and offers read-alike suggestions/recommendations

Reading Aloud with Your Child:

• Child Mind Institute: Why is it Important to Read with you Child

• Reading Rockets:

  • Reading with Your Child

  • Kids with Special Needs

• Video: The ABCs of Active Reading

Whether planned or unexpected, hospital visits can be scary for children. Reading this book with your child can help validate their fear, without adding new concerns. This book brings a bit of absurdity, casual silliness, and fun to a challenging experience, and the diagnosis of “a lump in her nose” is non-specific enough that It could fit many situations.

Watch a read-aloud here: I Don’t Want to Go to the Hospital! — a full narrated version of the story you can share with your child to help them hear the book in a comforting, fun voice.

The Little Princess series by Tony Ross, also includes books about bedtime, baths, independence, and common early-childhood struggles. The ink and watercolor illustrations add much to the story with simple lines and vivid colors, and the unconventional characters and chaotic scenes add unexpected details that can spark discussion.

Little Princess is a relatable character—stubborn, expressive, dramatic, and always contrary, but lovable. Children can revel in her mischievous behavior without getting themselves in trouble! This can lead to insightful conversations about what your child is thinking and feeling around their own hospital stay.

Take Note:

• The book uses humor to ease fear; if your child is very anxious, it may be helpful to insert simple explanations of their own upcoming visit while reading about Little Princess.

• There are no graphic medical details—just child-friendly (and funny) scenes of checkups and hospital care.

• Little Princess does get worried, and strongly resists going to the hospital, which can validate your child’s feelings but might also spark fears or concerns – take some time to talk through those feelings.

• The ending is funny, sassy, and reassuring, making it safe to read before most hospital stays or procedures.

What Resonates with Kids:

• Little Princess’s dramatic reactions and the book’s expressive artwork.

• Many fun details to find in the illustrations (Is that a cat dining on the roof?).

• Humor that makes scary things feel a little safer.

• Absurd behavior of adults from a child’s point or view.

• Seeing the special treatment Little Princess gets from the grown-ups taking care of her in the hospital.

• A funny and comforting ending that shows Little Princess back to herself again.

Follow-up Activities & Conversations

• Use the book as a guide while planning what to pack for a hospital admission.  (What would Little Princess bring?)

• Make a Little Princess crown and add a jewel, sticker, or ribbon each time a poke, procedure or treatment is completed.

• While waiting for discharge, ask your child what they would tell Little Princess about what to expect at the hospital.

• Read another title from the Little Princess series to see how Little Princess reacts in a different situation.

Other Recommended Titles

• Bennett, Howard J. Harry goes to the hospital: a story for children about what it's like to be in the hospital. Illustrated by Michael S. Weber. Describes the experiences of a young boy after he is admitted to the hospital and walks children through the hospital experience in a straightforward, informative, and reassuring way.

• Brown, Lisa. The Hospital Book. Neal Porter Books, 2023. A young girl with appendicitis recounts her strange and scary trip to the hospital, and the nine times she cried--and a few times when she did not. The comforting tone and step-by-step descriptions of everything that happens are calming. Cartoon illustrations gently depict procedures such as an ultrasound and IV insertion and add some humor.

• Fergus, Maureen. You’re in Good Paws. Illustrated by Katheryn Durst. Toronto, ON: Tundra Books 2019. Slightly distracted parents accidentally take their son, Leo, to the animal hospital to get his tonsils out. Luckily, taking care of a human doesn't ruffle any feathers among the hospital staff. The chicken at the admissions desk is welcoming, the bear orderly is friendly, and wise Dr. Stan inspires tremendous confidence despite being a mouse. Is the plastic cone really necessary, though?

Bibliotherapy, using books in a supportive, intentional way, helps children explore feelings safely, connect with characters who understand their struggles, and open up conversations that might otherwise feel overwhelming. With the right book and a few simple steps, reading together becomes more than a quiet moment, it becomes a pathway to coping, confidence, and emotional wellbeing. Learn more about Bibliotherapy here:

• Bibliotherapy: Healing with Literature