Baby Archives - Page 2 of 4

Strong to the core – At what age can a child swim properly?

17/10/2018/0 Comments/in Baby, Expert Articles /by Carla Lett

At what age can a child swim properly? It’s a question we get asked a lot at Water Babies, and it’s all down to water confidence and core strength.

Firstly, it rather depends on what you mean by ‘swim properly’. Thanks to innate reflexes, babies can swim under the water from birth. But to be able to swim on the surface, lifting their head to take a breath, little ones need a degree of strength that comes with age.

As with everything, that age varies from one child to the next. But toddlers from the age of around two-and-a-half years start to be able to swim front paddle on the surface and breathe as they go.

Building strength

The strength that a toddler needs to lift their head while swimming comes from the core. If you’ve done exercise yourself, you may know a bit about core strength. This is a deeper layer of muscles around your abdomen, back and pelvis that supports your body to sit, stand and move and do many other physical activities.

Like any muscle, you can strengthen your core through exercise. And guess what? Swimming is one of those fantastic core strengthening activities. Because you’re supported in the water, you can move your body in ways that you can’t on land. And this is especially true for babies.

In fact, Water Babies’ research has shown that babies who swim from birth are ahead of the curve in reaching physical milestones like sitting and walking. That’s because they swim from babyhood, practising core-strengthening activities in their lessons.

A matter of confidence

But having good core strength is all very well if your toddler won’t put their face in the water. Making sure your child is confident under water is a big deal when it comes to swimming and also water safety.

Swimming regularly from a young age, dipping under the water in a fun, gentle, controlled way means that babies and children will not only love the water, they’ll also be calm and comfortable no matter what.

That first width

One of the very first things we teach at Water Babies is how to prompt babies’ natural reflex to hold their breath. And as they grow up, we teach them how to control their breath. That means that when they are strong enough to swim their first width, they can gently exhale under water and then lift their heads to breathe.

And that first swim across the pool is pure magic! It’s often that moment when parents tell us ‘this is what it’s all about it’. Because there’s nothing that makes you – and your toddler – prouder than learning to swim together.

By the age of 2 ½ to 3 ½ years old, most Water Babies can swim short distances on their own, taking a breath as they go. Swimming since babyhood, they’re confident, able to control their breath and they have developed that wonderful, strong core.

Let’s go swimming

Water Babies has been teaching babies, toddlers and pre-schoolers to swim in Bristol, Bath and North Somerset for the last fifteen years. Our lessons are progressive, positive and fun. Get in touch to find a class that suits your family. Call 0117 946 6919 look at our website www.waterbabies.co.uk or email underwater@waterbabies.co.uk.

Falling Back Without a Bump – The Autumn clock-change

11/10/2018/0 Comments/in Baby, Expert Articles /by Carla Lett

How to help your little one sail through the Autumn clock-change

I used to love the Autumn clock-change – a whole extra hour in bed without having to sacrifice anything else in return…bliss! Like many parents, I am now accustomed to rising with my little lark and whilst 7am certainly isn’t inhumane, the prospect of a 6am wake up on Sunday 28 October appeals rather less! However, some little ones routinely rise at 6am – cue the parental fear that the clock-change will, literally overnight, turn that 6 into a 5!

Here is my step-by-step guide to helping your little one to make the transition out of British Summer Time as smoothly as possible.

The options

Step-change

An incremental approach is usually best for babies and younger children and/or those who have generally fixed asleep and wake times.

Parents should commence this plan on the Wednesday night immediately proceeding the clock change, putting their child to bed 15 minutes later than usual – so 7pm would become 7.15pm. There should be scope for a little one to sleep for 15 minutes past their standard wake time on the Thursday morning. Whilst this may not automatically happen, if it does and can be accommodated, the plan is off to a flying start.

If at all possible, parents should adjust meal and nap-times on the Thursday so that they also sit 15 minutes later than usual.

On the Thursday night, bedtime should be pushed back by a further 15 minutes – so to 7.30pm from a starting point of 7pm. As before, parents should factor in that their little one may sleep a little later on the Friday morning. The process will run much more smoothly if the child can be allowed to wake naturally.

Again, meal and nap times should be moved in line with the “new” (albeit very temporary!) daily schedule on the Friday if at all possible.

That night and during the Saturday daytime, the process of adjusting times by a further 15 minutes should be continued. This will mean that on the night of the clock change, the little one goes down at 8pm but only 15 minutes later than the previous evening.

Managing the one hour change in these smaller steps means there is less scope for a child to become overtired. It also enables their body-clock to adjust and a one-hour time difference split over three or four days is manageable for almost all children.

All in

For less sensitive sleepers and older children for whom overtiredness isn’t so much of a risk, parents may find it works well to just push bedtime back on the Saturday night by as close to an hour as the child can manage. A child who still naps in the day can be given a helping hand by their nap on the Saturday afternoon being nudged back slightly to better balance the awake time in the morning and afternoon. However, for a little one who does still nap (some daytime sleep is typically helpful until around 3 years old), a full hour is a long time and pushing a child too far into the red of tiredness is likely to have a horrible unintended consequence – they will get up even earlier than usual the following day!

Yes, as counterintuitive as it sounds, a child who goes to sleep too late is likely to wake super-early. This is due to a hormone called cortisol which they will have secreted in order to stay awake. Cortisol is released naturally by the body to wake us for the day, with levels gradually starting to rise from around 3am. Whilst this would typically build sufficiently to rouse a little one between 6 and 7am, if there is some residual cortisol in the mix, the process kicks in too hard, too early, leading to a child who is wide-awake at 5-something (or the “new” 4-something!).

A middle-ground

The final option is to essentially split the difference and stretch a little one to a bedtime on the Saturday night that is 30 minutes later than usual. As before, in order to reach that later bedtime whilst avoiding the dreaded “second-wind” of overtiredness, Saturday’s nap(s) can also be nudged back by 15 minutes. This means the extra half hour of awake time will be split evenly across the morning and afternoon.

As a little one won’t have made it all the way to 8pm with this approach, parents should expect him to wake a little early by the new clock time on the Sunday morning. However, this will iron itself out pretty quickly over the course of the following few days. For some little ones, it can take up to a week before things feel fully settled onto the new timings but they will adapt.

Lighter mornings

One helpful aspect of the clock-change when it comes to child sleep is the darker evenings. Melatonin, the hormone which makes us feel sleepy and helps us to stay asleep, is secreted by the body in low levels of light – which is why we typically find it much easier to sleep in a dark environment. However, as the evenings darken, the mornings will, for a short time at least, be a little lighter. If this daylight is creeping into a child’s room, it is likely to drive them towards wakefulness. With this in mind, blackout blinds can be one of the best purchases a parent ever makes!

Little Sleep Stars creates gentle, bespoke sleep plans to enable babies and children up to 6 years to reach their sleep potential. The business is owned by Lauren Peacock, a former tired mummy who was never prepared to leave her own little boy to cry. Through a detailed assessment and consultation process, Lauren is able to identify what is causing an individual child to struggle to sleep well. No two children are the same and nor are any two sleep plans but with right, tailored and gentle plan in place, any child can learn to sleep well. All consultations are carried out using web-based video-conferencing, enabling Lauren to work with clients throughout the UK and even overseas. Little Sleep Stars offers a free, no obligation, 15 minute call to any family needing support with their child’s sleep so to take the first step on the path to better rest for your whole family get in touch today.

Click here to claim your FREE 15 minute call with Lauren

www.littlesleepstars.com

lauren@littlesleepstars.com

Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/littlesleepstars/

Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/little_sleep_stars/

10 Reasons to Book on a Baby Yoga Course

13/09/2018/0 Comments/in Baby, Expert Articles, Guest Posts /by danny

What are the Reasons you should Book on a Baby Yoga Course?

I have been working as a baby yoga instructor for nearly 3 years now but before this I worked in Early Years for well over 10 years and have a degree in Early Childhood Development. For me, it is all about development and boy does baby yoga promote this massively!!!!

Just like Baby Massage, the Baby Yoga groups have all the same lovely social and emotional benefits to them and the loveliest bonds and friendships are made within them. They are fun and stimulating for little ones with lots to keep them entertained, because there comes a point where all babies get bored of lying down just chilling (however lovely that may be for us parents) and movement becomes life!

For me, my interest came when I could actually see the benefits the class had with my own child. The moves used are specifically designed to help target muscles that enable babies to reach their developmental goals. Now all babies are different and have different ability levels and the important thing about Baby Yoga is that it is adaptable using age and stage appropriate moves with variations offered when needed meaning it can be enjoyed by all families and babies.

By using my knowledge of early childhood development and the skills I have learnt becoming a baby yoga instructor, I have made sure each class focuses on not only physical development but emotional and communication using important sensory aspects. If that’s not enough the classes also focus on the parent too, bringing in light exercise that can be focused upon and used at home should parents wish, all done in a relaxed environment with no pressure or judgement.

So here are 10 reasons to book on to a Baby Yoga course;

SLEEP (The Holy Grail)

Baby Yoga absolutely promotes better sleep as regular movement promotes a more settled behaviour with less extreme ups and downs. It is a time where babies can use up all that stored energy they have when they have yet to learn the skill of on demand movement.

Builds muscle strength and promotes development

A balance of activity and relaxation helps build and encourage muscle strength e.g. – tummy time, head holding, sitting, and eventually standing. Through carefully planned stretches and activities Baby Yoga helps build muscle and promotes muscle suppleness so that early development milestones such as rolling over, crawling and sitting independently can be reached.

Calmer Babies (Holy Grail part 2)

Baby Yoga can help to development muscle tone and encourage the muscles to react in the correct way or positions to encourage movement or others development milestones such as sitting independently. This in turn reduces frustration during the transition between developmental changes because boy is it annoying for a baby trying to make your hand move in the right direction to reach that foot and get it in your mouth!!

Helps Develop those little brains

Through stimulation provided by sensory activities and objects brain stimulation is encouraged helping with development such as hand eye coordination. Activities used encourage muscle development in the eyes to promote focus and co-ordination.

Communication

Babies learn through repetition and mimicking Baby Yoga will encourage early language development as baby will watch parent/carers mouth movements and we sing and rhyme throughout the class.

First baby friends

Helps develop and build social skills by encouraging early social interaction etching and being with babies their own age.

For Mums

The simple moves we do during our parent and baby stretches can help mum to regain strength and maintain posture, safely tone abdominal muscles and pelvic floor.

Fun and enjoyment

Parents/Carers enjoy activities with their baby spending a happy hour sharing in their child’s enjoyment

Social time for parents

Parents/Carers can enjoy a relaxing hour away from the demands on daily life enjoying and socialising with people in the same position as themselves

Learn new skills

Not only can parents learn a few stretches that they can do at home to improve their own muscle strength. Fun activities and songs are introduced that can be used at home and shown to other family members often giving ideas of what to do to keep a young baby entertained.

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This article was written by Kyleigh Gregson a Baby Yoga expert from Lytham St Anne’s, Lancashire

Kyleigh Gregson
BA Honors Degree Early Childhood studies and Development. Qualified Baby Massage and Baby/Toddler Yoga instructor
Owner at J’adore Mama – The Maternity & Infant Centre

Website: www.jadoremama.co.uk
FB: www.facebook.com/jadoremama
Tweet: @jadoremama
Tel: 07719 901271

Top 10 List of our Newborn Essentials for Parents

06/09/2018/0 Comments/in Baby, Carla's Blog, Carlas Favourites /by Carla Lett

Becoming a parent can be a little what’s the word overwhelming, daunting, scary ….I could go on…. I mean honestly how much is there to think about? I for one, spent most of my pregnancy worrying and I began seriously worrying when my pregnancy app sent me an update announcing that my 12 week bump was now the size of a Grapefruit!!! Anyway, he is here now and all is well with the world so don’t worry about that part!!

As you make your way through pregnancy you will see that there are so many products and magazines out there that lure you and state “you need this, you need that” but in reality you don’t need everything they are throwing at you!!!

In todays blog I am going to be sharing with you my personal top 10 newborn baby essentials, the top 10 things that I personally bought, found really useful and would use again and I will also be sharing our comparison tables with each mini review so that we can ensure you find the best price across hundreds of retailers (this is updated automatically).

The Tommee Tippee Prep Machine

When you are pregnant, do you find that people keep telling you how hard it is being a parent? I did and I was like HELLLOOOO he is clearly inside me now, perhaps you should have told me before I had sex… unprotected, anyway that is another story!! I would constantly get told about how difficult night feeds are and how you have to make up a bottle and then wait for it to cool down all whilst the baby is screaming. I was truly terrified!!! Then like an angel my friend stood before me and whispered the sweetest words I have ever heard “Tommee Tippee Perfect Prep Machine”.

Tommee Tippee is a well-known brand for baby feeding accessories and it is one of the most loved and trusted brands in the baby world. “So, what is this Machine” you ask? Basically this amazing machine makes up a ready-to-drink bottle in literally 2 minutes. Can you believe it…? “Impossible” you say??? I thought the same but ITS TRUEEEEEEE.

This is a great buy for any parent who want to make up baby’s bottles quickly and accurately. It is aimed at parents who are ready to make the move to formula milk.

Read our full review on this item by clicking here.