Baby delight!

For me, entering the parallel universe of parenthood – apart from all the other mind-blowing ways in which it changes your life – has also been an exercise in constant, bewildering choice.  Like having to decide which car seat is: safe enough / fits two different cars /comes with an all-singing all-dancing travel system, and also has a fabric pattern you can bear to have daily view of for the next several years? Or whether to go for the cheerful plastic high chair in psychedelic colours, or the tasteful wooden one that goes beautifully with the stylish dining room you used to have in that previous universe. 

And then there are the baby activities… Baby massage, baby yoga, baby music, baby signing, baby swimming, baby astrophysics… Okay, so I made the last one up, but you know what I mean! At 4 months, Jude was already a veteran of several of these, plus an enthusiastic participant at NCT teas and local post-natal group meetings. So when my friend Nicola started going on and on about another amazing baby class, my first response was rather jaded. ‘Baby sensory experience’ sounded all very well – and Nicola was extremely enthusiastic - but was it actually worth squeezing it in to our hectic schedule?  

The whole point of this article is to answer that question with a resounding Yes. And to say, if you have to choose only one organised baby activity then you won’t go far wrong choosing this one. Nicola’s nagging eventually took effect and Jude and I went along to try it out – the first session is free, so there was nothing to lose. And he LOVED it! There was singing, there was signing, there were bubbles, there were bells, there were tickly feathers and silky scarves and balls to roll on and toys to cuddle, and bouncy things and bashy things and splashy things, and… I could go on and on. And not least there was the impossibly smiley face of Lin Day, who clearly just loves what she does and whose enthusiasm for providing fun, bonding experiences for babies and carers is infectious. 

Each week’s class is slightly different, and could include puppets, dancing, hands-on massage or cuddle exercises, amazing bouncy light balls, musical instruments, and goodness knows what else – there’s always something new. Everything is accompanied by fun, upbeat music, some of which is original to Lin and beautifully sung by her daughter. Lin and Howard create a very welcoming, friendly atmosphere and I generally find that by the end of the hour my face aches from all the smiling I’ve done, enjoying how much Jude enjoys it and just having quite a lot of fun myself! 

The bewildering choices will continue to be a part of this parenting adventure, but at least one of the future choices will be easy. We’ll carry on going to baby sensory sessions and we’ll most certainly be continuing on to the ‘Wake Up!’ sessions for toddlers, when we get to that stage.  

Denise Meyer