ASHTABULA — Give Sherry Snitcher two hours, and she’ll show you how to become a better mother or grandmother.

Snitcher, a registered nurse and Internationally board certified lactation Consultant, leads the Best Choice Attachment Parenting Class, which is provided through the WIC Program of Ashtabula County Community Action. The classes are funded by a grant from the Ohio Children’s Trust Fund. Community Action first received the $17,000 grant last summer and has used the money to help at least 150 county residents learn how to bond with their children or grandchildren.

Several classes remain under the current grant cycle, and Snitcher hopes the funding will be renewed so the program can continue. One of its unique features is that income is not an eligibility factor.

“Any woman who lives in Ashtabula County is eligible for it,” she says. “It is for pregnant women, women who have a newborn. It’s for adoptive parents, foster parents, grandparents, anyone who provides care to children.”

Snitcher encourages the woman to bring her spouse, significant other or support person to the class, so they can jointly adopt the approaches advocated by the “attachment parenting” approach.

“The most important thing I want people to know is how to be close to their children,” says Snitcher.

Attachment parenting, a term coined by pediatrician William Sears, is a parenting philosophy that emphasizes formation of strong emotional bonds between parent and child to create secure, empathic relationships later in life. Snitcher said the grant for the program was offered to agencies as a child abuse preventive measure.

The meetings are held on Saturdays at either Ashtabula County Medical Center’s education building or a remote location elsewhere in the county. The May 23 meeting is at Andover Public Library; the next ACMC meeting is June 20. Classes start at 10:30 a.m. regardless of the location. Registration is required and class size is limited to 30 persons.

During the two-hour class, parents learn the seven baby b’s: Bonding, breast feeding, baby wearing, belief in your child’s cries, bedding close to the child, balance and beware of the child “trainers” — family and friends who oppose techniques with scientifically based evidence for success.

Parents can select from this tool box what works best for their situation.

The concepts are applied throughout childhood, although they may take different forms at different stages. “It’s not a one-time thing,” she says. “Bonding really deals with from birth through the rest of childhood.”

She said the classes aren’t intended to put guilt on parents for mistakes they’ve made in the past. They are offered to help parents become more perceptive to their child’s cues and use them to bond with the child and earn their trust.

One of the best bonding techniques is baby wearing, in which the infant is worn in a sling next to the mother as she goes about her housework or even at the job. Studies have shown a reduction in crying of up to 35 percent when babies are worn next to the mother.

Upon completion of the class, mothers receive a voucher to get a free sling from the WIC office’s Bellies and Babies program. The slings, which normally cost $56 for mothers not in the WIC program, are paid for by the grant.

The program also offers a monthly support group for mothers who are taking the attachment parenting route. The group meets at the WIC office on Lake Avenue and covers topics like baby wearing, breast feeding and infant massage. There is no charge to participate.

Snitcher also maintains a resource library of attachment parenting books at the WIC office that any mother can access. And the grant also provides breast feeding consultation to any woman in Ashtabula County.

For more information or to register for one of the upcoming classes, call 998-7515.