Babies

Caterpillar Music 2013

Posted by Louise NorthHantsMum on in Babies, Children, Classes, Guest Posts, Toddlers 1 Comment

Jaz has been a long time reader. NHM was one of the first places to announce the new Caterpillar Music classes when they started last year. I’m delighted to welcome Jaz back to NHM and to see that the business is going so well for her. It’s great that she is able to offer such a fab discount to NHM Readers. Please see below for details. Thanks Jaz!

FBinstruments

Looking for fun for little ones? Look no further- Caterpillar Music has everything on offer! As a private music teacher and a mum of 2 young children, Jaz knows how to engage and stimulate your child as well as help them to learn and develop. She aims to make each Caterpillar Music class an exciting experience for both Mum and baby or toddler.

Each unique session at Caterpillar Music will include amazing puppets, exciting instruments, bubbles, parachutes, light shows, ribbons, scarves, sensory toys as well as learning about colours, numbers, shapes and more. Your child will learn through play and song and make friends whilst doing it.

FB monkey puppet

There is a lovely, relaxed atmosphere at the Caterpillar Music classes and your child is encouraged to join in as much or as little as they wish. Ages range from the smallest (3 days is our youngest!) up to 3 years and each can join in and enjoy the music and activities, developing at their own pace.

If you are a Mummy looking for some like-minded friends too, come on down and have some fun and a good old natter!Contact Jaz to book a free trial- 07952 935021 or jasmine.mccarthy@caterpillarmusic.com, check the Facebook page /CaterpillarMusicChineham or look at the website to find out more www.caterpillarmusic.com

FBscarves

If you quote “North Hants Mum” when booking, you also get £10 off.

Siblings are always free of charge.

Current classes are:

  • Mondays 11am Wellington Country Park (With a FREE hour in the park)
  • Tuesdays 11:10am Chineham Village Hall Community Room
  • Thursdays 1:15pm Christ Church in Chineham

Also, if you “like” Caterpillar Music Chineham on facebook to get automatically entered to the competition to win 5 FREE classes.

Spaces are limited as classes are small and intimate so you need to book in advance.

FBscrunchie

Related Posts

Caterpillar Music 2012

9 Foody Places to go as a group of Mums with babies/toddlers

Posted by Louise NorthHantsMum on in Babies, Cafe's, Food, Restaurants, Toddlers 0 Comment

Are you looking for somewhere to meet up with several of your friends, their babies and pushchairs/buggys?

The list below are some of the foody places you could visit that welcome large groups of Mum’s and babies:

1. Queens College Arms – Tadley road

Recommend booking in advance and asking for the “big” table. They have baby changing facilities onsite and bottle warming facilities. Very friendly and welcoming of Mum’s and babies. For bigger children, there is a climbing frame in the pub garden.

2. Little Roses Tea Shop – Elm Tree Garden centre, just up from the Queens College Arms

They have excellent baby changing facilities and even provide free baby wipes and nappy bags! There is a changing station and several highchairs upstairs if you don’t want to take your pushchair in. Recommend looking in the Chests/tables as there is a treasure trove of toys that will keep children amused for a while. Very welcoming of Mums and babies.

3. Dayers – Chineham Business Park

This place is normally empty in the mornings. They do good breakfasts and cake. Gets busy at lunchtime, so maybe not the best place to go for lunch.

Unfortunately they don’t have baby changing facilities (they used too!) but they do have large toilets so if you don’t mind doing emergency nappy changes on your changing mat on the floor, you should be ok.

4. Dobbies Garden Centre – Tilehurst (25 mins from central Basingstoke)

If you fancy going a bit further afield or live near Reading, it’s worth checking out the restaurant of this Garden Centre. They have a large restaurant with a big outside eating area. Seems to be quiet because it’s outside of central Reading.

5. Wyevale Garden Centre – Sherfield on Loddon

They have a large restaurant and outside area. The baby changing facilities are good, but are in the ladies toilets. I recommend signing up for the Gardening Club as you rack up the points quite quickly which give you discounts in the store and restaurant.

6. The Cafe Project, The Dome, behind Asda in Brighton Hill

Open Tuesday to Friday’s from 9.30am.

7. Portsmouth Arms – Hatch Warren

8. Costa Coffee – Hampshire Centrecourt Hotel (Behind the large Tesco’s)

The Service is slow but you can sit indoors or outdoors and there are baby changing facilities

9. Conkers Garden Centre

Related Posts

9 things to do in Basingstoke with a newborn

8 Cheap Restaurants in Basingstoke

11 Places to Breakfast with children in North Hampshire

The Importance of Skin to Skin

Posted by Louise NorthHantsMum on in Babies, New Parents, Newborn, Post Natal, Pregnancy, Wellbeing 0 Comment

This weeks theme is “Babies”.

I only picked up on how important skin to skin is when my little one turned a month old. We didn’t have a very easy time with breastfeeding, for several reasons, but it was only when I went to see Lorraine, one of the breastfeeding counselors at North Hampshire Hospital, that it became apparent to me how important skin to skin is. I am eternally grateful to Lorraine for her pearls of wisdom.

I made sure that in the morning I spent as much time as possible skin to skin with my little one. This was fairly easy to do as it was summer time (this was last year, so nowhere near as much rain!) but I can imagine that in winter time it can be quite difficult to do this. My husband also found skin to skin very rewarding and whilst we spent our first few days as a family in hospital, he spent a lot of time with our little one on his chest. The nurses at the hospital were all cool with it as I’m sure they’ve seen it all before!

Even if you aren’t breastfeeding, skin to skin is still very important. Once my little one switched to bottles I had to make a conscious effort to make sure that skin to skin still happened.

My little one is now 17 months old and if I am not dashing to work in the morning I always make sure that the first feed of the day is skin to skin. My little one has always had her milk first thing in the morning so it’s worked out pretty well to be able to do this. I’ve noticed that my little one always needs to touch my skin when I’m holding her now. She puts her hand on the edge of my top or around the back of my neck. It makes my heart sing when she does this and reminds me of when she was really tiny. I’m sure that the skin to skin approach has helped us to bond as I really miss it if we haven’t been able to make time for it.

Whether you agree with skin to skin or not, and based on my experience,  I would really recommend trying to do this as much as possible, especially in the first few months. I can imagine this is really difficult to do with your baby if you have more than one child. Does anyone have any suggestions about to manage this complexity?

If you would like more information about the importance of skin to skin, please check out some of the links below:

http://www.naturalchild.org/guest/jack_newman2.html

http://www.nbci.ca/index.php?option=com_content&view=article&id=82:the-importance-of-skin-to-skin-contact-&catid=5:information&Itemid=17

http://www.nhs.uk/Planners/breastfeeding/Pages/skin-to-skin-contact.aspx

13 Things to do in Basingstoke with a newborn

Posted by Louise NorthHantsMum on in Classes, Mums, New Parents, Newborn, Parents, Pregnancy 2 Comments

IMG_0717

1. Subscribe to NorthHantsMum

Obviously! :-D. 

The best way to ensure that you receive each post is subscribe using the “Email Sign Up” box” on the right hand side of the home page of NorthHantsMum.co.uk. Every time there is a new post on NHM you will receive an email in your inbox.

I get the most interaction on” Louise NHM Smith” on Facebook . The best discussions and comments are always via “Louise NHM Smith“, so I also recommend adding me as a friend. Don’t worry, I don’t ever look at anyones’ profiles. I don’t have the time or interest! lol.

Also ask to join the secret “Newborn”  (or “Pregnancy”) facebook group that I have set up on “Louise NHM Smith” for parents of Newborns. It’s a great way to meet other Mum’s who are in the same stage of babyhood as you.

2. Join a Baby PEEP course

Click for more details about what a PEEP course and Baby Sensory.

3. Go swimming with your baby

Go swimming with your baby (after 12 weeks old) at the Sports Centre in the week or QMC swimming pool at the weekend. See Swimming with Babies for more details. You can check out other baby and child friendly swimming pools. Or maybe look into structured classes with Water Babies.

4. Go to a baby weighing clinic

Go to The Nest at Chineham Church on a Monday morning. I always found the cafe area to be lovely as everyone was very friendly and willing to chat to each other, even if you didn’t know them beforehand! You can check out other baby weighing clinics: Baby Weighing Clinics in Basingstoke. 

5. Visit a local coffee or tea shop

Visit the Little Roses Coffee Shop in Elm Tree Garden Centre for coffee and cake with your friends who are also on maternity leave. You can find other baby friendly tea and coffee shops: Reasonably Priced Afternoon Tea‘s and NHM Recommended Children friendly Coffee Shops.  I also recently reviewed The Parlour TeaRoom which also comes highly recommended.

6. Go to the Newbies cinema

Go to Newbies cinema on a Monday morning at the Odeon. It’s specifically for parents with babies. The sound is reduced and it’s half lighting so you can still see your baby. Much cheaper than normal cinema tickets and includes free biscuits and tea and coffee (if you get there before the Senior cinema oldies demolish the lot at 11am!). Also recommend signing up to their Odeon Club as you get points and it’s amazing how quickly they rack up and convert into free tickets or free food! Miss NHM went to the cinema every week from 3 weeks old till 6 months old!

7. Take a Baby Massage Course

You can book independently here or investigate whether one of the local children’s centres has a course. (this tends to work out much cheaper!) Gail who often does the courses is lovely and a real calming influence.

8. Go to a Baby Rhymetime session

Go to a Baby RhymeTime session (normally hosted at one of the libraries).

9. Visit “Coffee and Chat on a Friday morning

Visit “Coffee and Chat” on a Friday morning. This group also host a “Sling Day” on the 1st Friday of the month (see Slings for previous posts about slings) and they also do bra fittings on the 1st and 3rd Friday of the month.

10. Have a photography session with your newborn

You can click Family Photographers in North Hampshire for a list of family friendly photographers in the area. Some do specific newborn packages, so have a look through.

11. Join a local baby class

There are LOADS going on in the area (Tots Play, Buggy Fit, Baby Signing and Baby Sensory are just a few). To find more details about which classes are available have a look at the Activities Page on NorthHantsMum.co.uk which lists classes by day.

12. Take some hand prints whilst your baby is tiny

Get a head start on those all important first Christmas presents at Pots2Paint. Perfect for creating keepsakes from your baby for your loved ones.

Finally…

I found it really important to get out and about with my little one in those first few months. The house became thoroughly neglected but it was totally worth it for my sanity!

If you have any friends who have just had a baby, don’t forget to share this post with them!

Don’t miss out on future posts like this – you can receive updates directly to your inbox by email by adding your email address to the box on the top right of this page and hitting subscribe. You can also follow NorthHantsMum onTwitter,Google+, Facebook Profile, LinkedIn and Feedly. I hope to see you there! 

Amber Teething necklace’s

Posted by Louise NorthHantsMum on in Babies, Health, New Parents, Post Natal, Pregnancy 0 Comment

I was incredibly sceptical about the Amber teething necklaces. Someone at my Husband’s work recommended them to him and gave him the link so he ordered one. I thought it was a total waste of money and probably wouldn’t work. However, my husband isn’t the kind of guy to buy into “New Age B****ks” (his words, not mine) but the fact that he’d gone to such effort made me think I ought to at least try the necklace out on our little one.

Much to his delight, I’ve had to eat my words. I cannot praise this small necklace enough. You can totally tell when my little one isn’t wearing her necklace. Without it she’s grimbly, she dribbles lots more and she constantly has her fingers in her mouth pressing against her gums. With it, she’s a delightful, smiley, happy child. In fact, several people have commented that she’s one of the happiest babies they have met and I often wonder if it isn’t down to this little necklace.

She also looks very cute when she’s wearing it and is just in her nappy. Like a little Oompaloompa or Pygmy Tribal Warrior! Annnyway, I couldn’t recommend the necklaces enough. Just don’t lose it at swimming like I did so we had to buy another one!

Amber Teething Necklaces

One point I hadn’t picked up on but have just seen whilst reading the blurb is to: Avoid getting the necklaces wet and occasionally allow the amber to recharge by exposing to natural sunlight.

This is NOT a sponsored post and I’m receiving no money or any other perks for recommending Amber necklaces. 

Ballet/Dance classes for 2 year olds (Nov 2011)

Posted by Louise NorthHantsMum on in Babies, Classes, Exercise, Things to Do, Toddlers 1 Comment

Baby & Toddler Dance classes in North Hampshire Vicky asked the question on NorthHants Mum on Facebook: can anyone recommend ballet/dance classes for 2yr olds? I’m not able to recommend any specific classes but I’ve done some research about what is available at the moment. Details are below. If you have any recommendations, please don’t hesitate to add them. Vicky – thanks for your question, hope this is what you were looking for.

Ballet Classes

Basingstoke Academy of Dancing One of the more professional dance schools in Basingstoke.  They hold Mother and Toddler Classes – 18 mnths – 3yrs, Monday morning 9.30am to 10.30am

J.L.D. School of Dancing

They say: Being easily accessed from anywhere in Basingstoke & Deane, J.L.D. School of Dancing has 50 scheduled classes per week and offers dancing lessons for boys and girls from 2 – 18 years of age. Dance classes for children aged 2 – 5 years are lively and fun, exploring music, movement and mime.

Lynden School of Dance

I couldn’t find the timetable online for this dance school but I know they do Ka Motion classes at Basingstoke Sports Centre for little people and I’m sure they will have classes for under four’s. To find details you can contact them through their website.

Chandelle Stage School

I don’t have any further details about this apart from that it’s based in the Sycamore centre in Winklebury.

Stage School’s

There is also a stage school in Basingstoke: http://www.basingstokestageschool.co.uk/ Please add a comment if you know of more dance classes for toddlers in or near Basingstoke. Thanks!