A guide to surviving the festive period If you are going to visit family or have some to stay during the five day Christmas period, here are some survival tips for Christmas with a baby or little one you can use to help make sure both you and your baby or small child will…
Helping your child learn to cope with their emotions Emotional development for your babies starts as soon as they are born, and they will go through many stages in this process. Initially their emotional experience is limited to reacting to painful, pleasurable, or surprising stimuli. These responses are mainly governed by an old, primitive…
Understanding your baby better One of the more challenging (and interesting) aspects of parenting is the realisation that your baby’s personality is not a replica of yours – they have their own unique temperament. This can be even more challenging for you when their temperament traits are completely at odds with your own! What…
Discovery or “Heuristic” Play Babies and toddlers learn best through play and an important part of this learning is through interaction with objects. It is sometimes forgotten that it is vital for your baby to be able to learn heuristically, which means allowing your baby to discover or learn something for themselves. The words “Heuristic”…
Whole Body Movements: Gross Motor Development Gross motor development involves the group of large muscles that control the head, shoulders, arms, back, abdomen and feet. The ability to control our muscles is behind every movement we make. Both gross motor skills and fine motor skills are what enable us as adults, as well as children,…
Why is Visual Stimulation important for our Infants? This article was kindly written for Baby College by Jo Holden, Orthoptist (eye specialist), who also runs Baby College Sutton and Epsom with classes in Cheam. At birth, a newborn baby can see very little, their pupils are very small and they can only see light…
You are not alone Having a new baby can be an overwhelming experience for new parents. Many of us struggle at some point during pregnancy or during the first year, in fact statistics show that 1 in 5 mothers experience emotional difficulty during this time period and 1 in 3 partners are also concerned with…
Does it matter and when will you know? It varies from child to child when handedness emerges and at what age they will show a definite preference for one hand. Newborns are born with equal ability in their left and right sides, but over the next few years the adult pattern for handedness…
What are your baby’s two hidden senses? You will know that we have 5 senses: sight, sound, taste, touch, smell. These are our extrinsic senses, senses that we have some control over. But did you know we have 2 intrinsic senses: vestibular and proprioception? These two senses along with vision, combine to make our…
How to help your baby learn to talk How much are you looking forward to your baby’s first words? My son’s first word was “book” (apart from mummy and daddy of course). Did you know that “daddy” is a more common first word than “mummy”? Babies and toddlers learn to talk and understand…
Babies Your baby’s memory will start developing through their first few months, and there are lots of things you can do to help this process. Simple, repetitive routines are a great way to help your baby start to remember how their world works. Repetition, in fact, is key to all their development 1. Always say…
and what are they? Why do we use the words Play – Move – Learn at Baby College? It is because at our core our Baby College parent and baby programme concentrates on your baby’s correct neurological development. We do this by having activities and exercise throughout the ages that to help mature your baby’s…
Guest Article written for Baby College by Nikky Smedley Nurturing and being responsive to babies is important as it helps to reinforce attachment and bonding. The part of the brain responsible for experiencing and expressing emotion develops from the way in which parents interact with their baby. A nurturing environment is vital for healthy brain…
and how can you help? In our carefully designed Baby College classes, we encompass many activities throughout the age groups to help you support and encourage sensory development for your babies and young children. Sensory integration forms part of the basic building blocks of a baby’s development and will become a secure foundation for future…
A graphical outline of the foundations of learning We all aspire for our children to develop to their full potential and to reach maturity with a healthy set of higher level skills. It is useful in the early years to be aware, however, of the fundamental development of foundation skills that needs to take place…
The different stages towards forming proper friendships Written for Baby College by James Woodward, Durham University Helping your children to create lasting relationships with you and other babies is central to our goal at Baby College. A few weeks ago, we explored how you can help your baby to make friends and today we’re going…
Why wait till around 6 months? The World Health Organization and the UK Department of Health both recommend that breastfeeding continues for two years and beyond, introducing complementary solid foods around the middle of the first year. Breastfeeding provides everything your child needs for the first six months, and its nutritional and emotional value continues…
How to help your baby or toddler make friends Baby College classes provide a safe and secure environment for babies to interact with each other and with the adults attending the classes. Having fun, learning through play and understanding how to connect with other babies and children is very important to us at Baby College.…
Our vestibular affects all other senses and areas of development! Your baby’s balance system is particularly important to their overall neurological and physical development and we at Baby College are very aware of its importance and the problems that children can face with an immature balance system. How does your balance system work? …
How you can and can’t help As you know babies are born almost completely unable to control their bodies except a few important reflexive actions for survival, but they develop very quickly, and their individuality emerges in fascinating ways. Your parental role in this development is very important and there are many ways in which…
Singing and music play an important role in our culture and are present in many of our social and educational activities: theatre, television, cinema, celebrations, worship etc. From birth we instinctively use music to calm and soothe our babies, to express our love and joy, and to engage and interact with our children as they…
How do young children build resilience? Taken from the Baby College Weekly Handout Article written for us by Dr Nina Politmou, University College London (UCL) In both academic and practice contexts, the meaning of resilience is generally associated with doing better than expected in difficult circumstances. Resilience refers to general coping skills and mechanisms that…
Understanding your baby better One of the more challenging (and interesting 😊) aspects of parenting is the realisation that your baby is not a replica of yourself and that they have their own unique personality. This can be even more challenging for you when their temperament traits are completely at odds with your own! What…
What is the midline? The midline is an imaginary line that runs horizontally from head to toe through the centre of the body. Crossing the midline is the ability to use a hand or foot to cross over this line and use this hand or foot in the opposite area of the body. Why is…
As a new parent coping with the nightly disruption to your sleep is one of the hardest and most challenging aspect to your new parenting role. Understanding how your baby sleeps and why they sleep like they do can be really helpful. Firstly, it helps you become more realistic about the length of time your…