Our Weekly Baby Classes

Back in January, Romeca from Beauty, Bump, And Me blogged about her Son’s Baby Class Menu. It was an enjoyable read as I love knowing what others get up to with their Children, and sometimes it gives me inspiration for activities to do with Florence. 

Inspired by Romeca’s blog post I have decided to write about Florence’s weekly Baby Classes. As soon as Florence was born I was eager to enrol us in some Baby Classes so that both of us could spend some special time together, as well as socialising with other Mother’s and their babies. 

Chris and I took Florence to a Baby Group at our local Children’s Centre when she was a couple of weeks old. We then started our first Baby Sensory class when Chris went back to work, Florence was 4 weeks old. 

I’m a very reserved and shy person so the thought of walking into a room of strangers was very daunting. However, I’ve met some lovely ladies through our Baby Classes and we also arrange play dates outside of our Classes. It’s great to be able to talk to Mothers with Children of the same age, especially for advice!

Here is what we get up to!

Monday

We started our Swimming Lessons today! Chris and I have taken Florence swimming a couple of times but I was keen to start lessons alongside fun swims. Florence has an Umbilical Hernia, and since using her Baby Neck Float in the bath and going swimming regularly it has really helped as she is using both her stomach and leg muscles. Swimming Lessons provide some fun time to splash around in the pool, as well as introducing Florence to basic swimming skills. During the lesson we play games, sing songs, and learn how to safety submerge Florence underwater, something that I am not confident doing without the support of a skilled Swimming Instructor.  Once Florence is competent enough swimming underwater there is an opportunity to take part in an underwater photo shoot which I am so excited about! 

 

Tuesday 

 On Tuesdays we go to a HartBeeps Baby Bells class. It’s a lovely, gentle class that combines Baby Yoga, Baby Massage, Baby Sensory, and Nursery Rhymes. Repetition is one of HartBeep’s main philosophies; each session starts and ends the same, and the middle part of the session is the same for every two consecutive weeks, allowing the babies to become familiar with the class. It’s a beautiful class that really allows you to develop a special bond with your baby. There is a lot of touch, cuddles, and kisses involved, we also hum songs that replicate the sound of our heartbeat while our baby was growing within the womb. 

Wednesday

  

We have just started a new class called Discovery Tots for babies from 8 weeks old to crawling. Each session starts with a Welcome Song, and another song where we say hello to all of the babies. Discovery Tots includes elements of Baby Yoga, Baby Massage, Baby Sign Language, and Sensory Play. Just like HartBeeps Baby Bells, parts of Discovery Tots are repeated each week so that the babies start to recognise and respond to the Class. 

 

 Thursday

On Thursdays we attend Jo Jingles with Florence’s little friend, Gabriella and her Mother Leah. Jo Jingles is our only solely Music based class. Each week the babies are introduced to a different theme such as colours, shapes, and numbers through Jo Jingle’s twist on well known Nursery Rhymes. The babies are able to play with musical instruments such as bells, tambourines, and drums. When Florence started Jo Jingles she wasn’t able to grab or hold any of the instruments, but I am now starting to see her change and she’ll often hold the little bells! Again, each session follows a similar format. We start the class by singing the “Hello Song,” and end the class with the “Goodbye Song.” The classes are very small, meaning the lady that runs each session knows each baby by their name which I just love! 

Friday

On Fridays we attend Baby Sensory which is our favourite class. This is the first class that I took Florence to when she was just four weeks old, and we are now on our second half term! It is such a wonderful class and Florence really enjoys it each week. We start the session by singing “Say Hello To The Sun.” The song is just lovely, and it uses sign language which we are able to use at home. We then spend 30 minutes doing carefully planned and structured sensory activities that change on a weekly basis. Once the 30 minutes is up we have a 15 minute “play” session where the babies can play with the mats, inflatables, and baby toys. We then end the session with another 15 minutes of sensory play, ending with our “Goodbye” song. I’ve met many wonderful Mothers and Babies at Baby Sensory, all of which I hope to stay in contact with away from the class. 

Although Florence and I attend Baby Classes on a daily basis they are only 45 minutes to an hour long, meaning that we still spend time going for walks, playing at home, and having friends over for play dates. All of our classes run on a half term schedule meaning that we can trial each class and decide whether we’d like to continue. We are very lucky because there are so many Baby Classes in our area so we always have something to do!

What Classes and Groups do you attend with your baby?

Florence's Three Month Update

Weight

When we went to the Children’s Health Clinic on Monday Florence weighed 12lb 2oz, so she probably weighs around 12lb 5oz – 12lb 8oz now. She is still following her new Centile line which is just under the 50^th Centile. The Health Visitor and I are happy with this as she is still gaining weight and she hasn’t dropped on the chart anymore. 

Daily Routine

During the day Florence still follows the pattern of Bottle, Playtime, Nap, Bottle, Playtime, Nap. Florence started to get really grizzly an hour or so before bed time so Chris and I have moved her bath half an hour earlier. We now start her bath and bedtime routine at 7pm. While her bath is running I give Florence a baby massage using Earth Friendly Baby Moisturising Shea Butter Massage Oil. She really enjoys her massage, it helps her to relax before bed time, and it also helps to take the tension off of her body that has been built up during the day. Once she is dried from her bath and in her clean pyjamas Florence has her last bottle. 

We stopped giving Florence a Dream Feed a couple of weeks ago. She started to only take an ounce or so and I figured that she didn’t really need the feed and was only taking some because it was offered to her. Since we dropped the Dream Feed Florence sleeps from 7.30pm to around 2.30am/3.30am for a quick ten minute feed. She’ll then wake for a feed around 6.00am/6.30am as Chris is waking for work, napping again until around 9.30am-10.00am.

Eating

If you follow me on Instagram you would have seen that I went back to using the smaller Dr Brown’s bottles. I was worried about how little Florence was taking at each feed and sought advice from the Health Visitor. She reassured me that Florence was gaining enough weight week to week, and if she only wanted 3oz at each feed then that is perfectly okay. She also advised me to start making smaller 4oz feeds so that I focused on how much she was taking, rather than worrying about how much she was leaving at each feed.

That was three weeks ago, and we changed back to the bigger Dr Brown’s bottles almost a week ago now. Florence had started to drink 4oz at almost every feed, and occasionally she wanted more. Since we have gone back to making 5oz bottles she is drinking around 4oz – 4.5oz at every feed. During the day she is still feeding every 3 hours, sometimes 4 hours. I don’t mind so much because it seems that Florence prefers to drink little and often.  

Clothing

Florence moved up a clothing size around three weeks ago and she is now wearing 0-3 months. It was a sad day when I packed away all of her tiny little clothes, where has our little baby gone?! I can’t bear to give them away so we plan on turning her first sleepsuits into a special keepsake bear! Hannah from Firsttimemummy uploaded a photo onto her Instagram of a lovely puppy dog bear made from Austin’s first clothing. It was made by a company called “Keepsakes From My Sewing Room” and we’ve got our eye on their adorable Giraffe Keepsake Bear! 

Florence is still in Size 2 nappies but I don’t think that it’ll be long before she moves up a size in those also.

Development

Smiling – After smiling for the first time at 7 weeks, Florence has just not stopped! She has turned into such a happy little girl and it brings tears to my eyes every time she smiles! We’re still waiting for that first little giggle though!

Talking – Florence started coo’ing a couple of weeks ago. She loves to talk back to us and will often copy the sounds that we make. I love our little conversations that we have now!

Waking – Florence used to always wake up from a nap crying which upset me. Recently she has been waking up by herself and happily lays in her Moses Basket until I realise that she’s awake! I often don’t know that she has woken up until I need to go into our bedroom for something and I see her laying there, smiling and coo’ing. It’s the sweetest sight! 

Chewing - Florence has found her hands and is constantly chewing them now! She has also started to use her Dr Brown's Flexees Teether and really bites down on it!

The London Baby Show

Image

Chris and I attended The Baby Show last October whilst I was pregnant. We loved it so much that we said we would go back in February with Florence. This time around the event was held at ExCel London. 

The event is huge, with over 150 exhibitors selling everything you could possibly think of for bump, baby, and beyond!

The show is definitely designed with parents in mind. The last time we went we weren’t able to use to free facilities they provide as Florence wasn't born so I was excited to this time! The first facility that we tried was the Baby Changing Area. The space that was created was large; there were 20 changing areas supplied by Stokke, changing mats, and nappy bins, making nappy changes comfortable and easy. Nappies and wipes were provided by Aldi’s award winning brand, Mamia, which is excellent if you want to try a new brand out. You can, of course, use your own nappies and wipes should you wish.   

Florence was then due a feed so we headed through the crowds to the Tommee Tippee Feeding Area. The Feeding Area supplied all the means to make a fresh bottle of milk. There were microwaves, bottle warmers, and the Tommee Tippee Perfect Prep Machine. I usually take readymade cartons of milk if we are out for the day so it was great to have access to a Prep Machine. For the older babies there were complimentary spoons, bibs, and Cow & Gate purée pouches. Again, the space was large and housed plenty of tables and seating for the whole family. If you’re a breast feeding Mother there was a private area with comfortable nursing chairs and complimentary breast pads. 

And then it was time for the shopping!!!

We tend to be like big children in a sweet shop at the Baby Show... As soon as the doors opened we are straight in and running to each stall to see what’s on offer. Before we went, Chris and I had a look at the list of Exhibitors and the products they sold. We generally knew what we were on the lookout for and then highlighted other Exhibitors that interested us. 

Here are all the goodies we bought...

Tommee Tippee

 

If you have read my Newborn Essentials blog post you would know how much I love these Tommee Tippee Milk Feeding Bibs. They are now the only bibs that I’ll use whilst feeding Florence. We probably went a little mad on how many we bought, but for the price they were on sale for you would be silly not to! A four pack of these bibs usually retail at £9, but they were selling them at the Baby Show for half price making a four pack only £4.50. 

Funky Giraffe Bibs

Yes, more bibs! I’ve recently been shopping around for some stylish dribble bibs for Florence. She has recently started the dreaded ‘T’ word and soaks her clothing in dribble every day. I found Funky Giraffe Bibs online and have had a number of bibs in my shopping basket for some time now. While looking at the list of Exhibitors I saw that Funky Giraffe Bibs would be at the show and decided to wait until I could see the bibs in real life. 

Their bibs have been designed with two poppers, meaning they can be worn from newborn right through until the child is a toddler. The front design is made with 100% cotton and is backed onto a fleece material, making them super soft and comfortable to wear. In addition, all of Funky Giraffe’s fabric is certified by OEKO –TEX, making them free from hazardous dyes and safe for our baby’s sensitive skin. 

The bibs come in over 200 wonderful designs so there will always be a bib to match an outfit. There were some designs that weren’t featuring at the show so I may have to put an order in online!

The show price for Funky Giraffe Bibs was 14 for £20 – an absolute bargain! 

  

Cheeky Chompers

My Mother bought Florence a Cheeky Chompers Neckerchew Bibs while I was pregnant and I love it. Its clever designs means that your baby can wear a stylish bib to catch the dribble, and have a teether chew at the same time! I am forever misplacing Florence’s teethers so this product is perfect. 

I had been after this exclusive print from Joules Neckerchew for a while. The ditsy floral print is absolutely beautiful and will compliment many of Florence’s outfits. While shopping at Cheeky Chompers at the Baby Show we saw their new product show cased – The Comfortchew. The comfort blanket doubles up as a teether and can be attached to your pram, car seat, cot, or dummy.

Both products are super absorbent, stylish, and practical.

The show price for the Neckerchew and Comfortchew set was £25. 

Earth Friendly Baby

This Earth Friendly Baby Calming Lavender Bubblebath is our favourite Bath Time product, we typically go through a bottle every 10 days or so.  When we last went to the Baby Show we bought the entire lavender collection ready for Florence’s birth. We haven’t used many of the other products so we didn’t buy the full collection again this time around. Instead, we took full advantage of their Buy One Get One Free offer and bought four bottles of bubble bath.

The show price for Earth Friendly Baby Calming Lavender Bubblebath was £5.50 for two bottles.

Annabel Karmel

We already have a few Annabel Karmel books, including; “Weaning,” “Top 100 Baby Purées,” and “Top 100 Finger Foods.” I really love her books and it makes me excited for when it is time to start weaning Florence. At the Baby Show we bought two more of her “Top 100” books – “Top 100 Meals In Minutes” and “Top 100 Pasta Meals.” Both books have quick and easy meal ideas for babies and toddlers. I think that they are really useful to have in the Kitchen for when you’re stuck on what to cook for the little ones! 

The show price for Annabel Karmel’s Top 100 books were £8.

Fill ‘n’ Squeeze

Fill ‘n’ Squeeze was the product that I was most looking forward to seeing. I’m not sure when the product was first launched, but I came across it in John Lewis a couple of weeks back and loved the idea. The Fill ‘n’ Squeeze allows you to transfer your home cooked purées into food pouches so that you can take them on the go without having to buy branded food pouches. Florence was born in December so she’ll start weaning around May/June time. The weather will start to get warmer and the days longer, meaning that we’ll (hopefully) be spending a lot of time away from home. This product means that I can still give Florence a homemade, healthy meal whilst we are out and about. The pouches are reusable, and can be used in the dishwasher, freezer, and microwave!

The show price for Fill ‘n’ Squeeze was £20 which included the starter kit and a refill pack of 10 pouches.

 

Little Folk 

Chris and I didn’t buy anything from this company, but we did fall in love with their products and took a card home with us. Personalised items aren’t something that Chris and I are usually interested in, but Little Folk specialise is beautiful, hand-made, hand-printed gifts. You are able to mix and match Little Folk’s character illustrations and colours to create your perfect gift. They offer so many personalised gifts from drinks bottles to clocks, to blankets to towels. We just loved everything that Little Folk had to offer and will certainly be taking full advantage of the 10% off voucher we were given, once we finally choose what to purchase that is! 

So that was our Baby Show haul!

 We have a really good time and plan on going back to the next London show later this year.

Did you go to the London Baby Show?

Let me know what your favourite buys were!