CPST course q's

Does anyone know who the Mississauga CPST instructor is ... is it someone on this board?

Has anyone taken a very young baby with them to the course? Do some instructors allow that?

Do you have to have any special reasons to take the course (ie employment, etc)? Or can you just take it for personal interest?

I would not recommend taking a very young baby with you to the class. In fact, I *had* a newborn when I took my class and spoke with my instructor about the possibility. She wisely recommended against it.

The lectures are quite long and you can't simply leave if your baby becomes fussy. The practical stations can take multiple hours and your baby will likely not be amenable to being parked in a seat under a tree so your hands are free.

It's a very hands-on, involved experience and just not infant-friendly, unfortunately.

FYI, it's CRST up there.

I originally certified in Mississuaga and recertified in Burlington. I have PM'ed you with the contact information. You can most certainly take the course out of "interest". In fact many of the people in my most recent class were parents looking to make sure they were safely transporting their children.

I recently took my course in Mississauga and I would not advise you take an infant. In fact I am not sure they would allow it. I agree with the above. The days were very long and intense. I would not have been able to concentrate with a small child with me. And I think it would disturb the other students as well.

And I took the course on my own. Most of the students were TRU employees and a few others took the course for their employment requirements. I think myself and one other were the only ones there for our own personal reasons.

If you send a private message to Tam, she can help you out on who to contact for the upcoming Mississauga courses. She's a Mississauga area tech and instructor.

The last class Trudy and I ran together, we had two infants in the class. One, a nursing newborn, I was completely comfortable with being in the class. The second, a nursing mobile almost-toddler, I had been told would not be present in the class unless absolutely necessary and ended up spending a little more time than I would've liked. The mom of the second child ended up missing more content than we would've liked, and we ended up having to recap some of the material when we already had a lot of other things requiring our attention.

It's a long day, and a tiring three days in all. I would highly recommend against having a child older than 3 months in the class. I really don't think it would be to your benefit at all. Just wait it out until you CAN leave the child. If you do have a 3-12m old infant that's nursing, if you can have a nanny or helper off-site with the child to transport for nursing on breaks then this would be your best route if you're unwilling to wait until the child can be left for the day.

-Nicole.

Thank you all so much for the feedback. I was pretty certain that it would be difficult (if not near impossible) with a small infant. I wouldn't want to be distracted myself, nor would I want to disrupt others. I had a chance to take a course this weekend with my just 3 month old (if the instructor would have ok'd it) but it has been cancelled for lack of interest.

Should I take the course next month with my 4 month old, I would hopefully have my DH take the kids and bring the baby for bf breaks. Ideal? Absolutely NOT! My porr DH would have to be given the "husband/father of the year award for that"! Unfortunately, there are no CRST ( ) courses offered near enough to my home to make it more convenient so we would have to make due!

BTW, how many people are in the course? I wonder if I could find enough people around my area to have an instructor come here?!? I've contacted the local sja branch and they haven't gotten back to me.

Thanks everyone!

I, personally, would teach a class with an intimate group of moms--but it may be slightly more costly to go that route...and you would likely end up doing your check event alongside the next full class or under supervision at a regularly scheduled check versus on the day following the last day of class.

If you are comfortable taking your 4 month old, and the instructor team is comfortable with you bringing your child, I would recommend taking a baby monitor into the classroom and placing it near the instructors--that way you can take the listening end of the monitor out into the hallway if your baby became disruptive. You could also ask them if it was alright to use a mini cassette recorder so you would be able to review anything you might've missed.

I do honestly believe that the benefit of having a mom out there advocating, especially with other parents of children under the age of 1, is extremely valuable. It's just a tough situation.. (I pumped in a bathroom during my course!) But keep in mind that you'll likely have an assortment of OPP and Peel officers combined with other professionals in the class, and as such be the "odd one out" as a mom. Add to that also bringing your child, and you may actually end up feeling a bit left out.

-Nicole.

QuassEE said:

If you are comfortable taking your 4 month old, and the instructor team is comfortable with you bringing your child, I would recommend taking a baby monitor into the classroom and placing it near the instructors--that way you can take the listening end of the monitor out into the hallway if your baby became disruptive.

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What an excellent idea, Nicole:thumbsup: I coordinate CRST trainings in my area (I'm not an instructor, though) and a few months ago, we did have a mom who brought her BFing baby (5 months, I think). The dad actually took the course at the same time so they could hand baby off so it minimized the amount of time each needed to be out of the room. They took turns writing the exam as well. We did have a couple complaints from a couple older men (who I suspect were mandated to be there by their workplaces & probably would have complained about something else if there hadn't been a baby there), but it wasn't a huge deal. The instructors didn't find the baby disruptive at all.

QuassEE said:

If you are comfortable taking your 4 month old, and the instructor team is comfortable with you bringing your child, I would recommend taking a baby monitor into the classroom and placing it near the instructors--that way you can take the listening end of the monitor out into the hallway if your baby became disruptive. You could also ask them if it was alright to use a mini cassette recorder so you would be able to review anything you might've missed.

I do honestly believe that the benefit of having a mom out there advocating, especially with other parents of children under the age of 1, is extremely valuable. It's just a tough situation.. (I pumped in a bathroom during my course!) But keep in mind that you'll likely have an assortment of OPP and Peel officers combined with other professionals in the class, and as such be the "odd one out" as a mom. Add to that also bringing your child, and you may actually end up feeling a bit left out.

-Nicole.

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What an awesome idea! Oh, and boo to feeling left out It's a good thing I don't really care all that much

I took my course there and had to drive almost 2 hours each way to take the course (was in Borden, just south of Barrie), but it was quite enjoyable.

If I had to take it now, I'd invest in a good baby wrap and wear baby the whole time, and then have hubby or a sitter come on the last day when you have to do the practical portion. A worn baby is usually a content baby....and even if you have to stand at the back of the room and walk or sway it probably wouldn't disrupt anything.

I took the course when my EBF DS2 was 6 m/o. DH came along and was handy with the stroller should I need him. I wore DS2 when he was sleepy an nursed when he was hungry, DH had him when he was alert. He was likely with me 50-75% of the time and was not at all disruptive IMO. I was able to focus and he did not disturb the other students. Ideal? No, but I would do it again if I had to.