The disturbed nights during the first months are often one of the hardest things to cope with but there are ways that can help settle your child for longer periods.

It can be helpful to understand why babies wake during the night and in many cases this is simply because they wake for feeds more often during the night due to the fact that they have small stomachs and therefore need feeding more often.  Babies generally become more settled in to a feeding routine by about 12 weeks.

Babies also don’t understand the difference between day and night but by between 3 and 6 months old many have established a pattern.

A consistent bedtime routine is also helpful to help their babies understand that they should be going to sleep as it helps your baby understand what comes next.  In most cases this involves bathtime followed by a bottle (or night time drink or snack for older babies and toddlers followed by a story) or by music from baby’s mobile or a CD.

Of course you should also ensure that the room in which your baby sleeps is not too warm nor too cold (the ideal temperature is around 18 degrees) and that it is sufficiently dark with noise being kept to a minimum.  Many wriggly babies wake because they have managed to kick the covers off and this can be solved with a baby sleeping bag.  This can be layered with other clothes and bedding as necessary. 

Research has shown that babies who are allowed to lie awake in their cot with a toy are more likely to drop off to sleep again during the night without a parent present.

Some parents find that an extra late feed in the evening helps babies sleep for a longer stretch through the night.

Breastfeeding mothers often favour co-sleeping as they are able to tend to their baby quicker and more conveniently for night time feeds and some research shows that babies who share the same room as their parents for the first six months or so have a lower risk of cot death.  However the Department of Health makes the following recommendations:

Avoid co-sleeping if one or both parents:

• Is a smoker
• Has consumed alcohol
• Has taken any drugs, prescription or otherwise,, that affect perception cause drowsiness or affect depth of sleep
• Is excessively tired to the extent that this might affect being able to respond to the baby

Co-sleeping should also be avoided if your baby has a fever or shows signs of illness.

Amesbury Baby Centre stocks a range of Grobags, thermometers and the innovative Groclock to help toddlers learn what time they can get up!

Children learn many skills from social games with other children of different ages. However, they don’t usually start to interact fully with other children until they are able to walk and talk. Up to this point the toys that are provided for them are the ones that the ones that will help them to learn these skills.

Colourful toys are perfect for stimulating a child’s mind and certain colours stimulate a child’s brain so the child can associate the colour to real objects around him.

Toys of different shapes and textures help a child to learn about patterns, shapes, spatial relationships and provide different tactile experiences.
Toys also develop motor skills, memory, imagination and hand to eye co-ordination. Playing with craft materials and learning to use safety scissors can help with co-ordination whilst encouraging creativity.

When children act out scenes with their toys it helps them to make sense of what is going on around them and to understand how the object, animal or person that the toy represents works in the real world.

Activity toys such as baby walkers, ride on trucks, and skipping and playing football in the garden all help with physical learning and development.

Many toys and games are centred on maths skills, numbers and counting and help to introduce children to this. The idea being that without being aware of it they will be learning and picking up basic number skills and concepts whilst immersed in the game which will help them in their later maths education.

The same idea applies to games focusing on words, reading and writing. Seeing words written down and learning how to read and understand them will help children significantly as they progress to learning to read and write.

There are many ‘mini’ musical instruments available that are designed for children. Not only do they help children develop coordination and motor skills, they also give an introduction to music, rhythm and musical learning and children can start playing with them from a very early age.

Learning is part and parcel of childhood and growing up. There are many toys on the market that are labelled ‘educational’ but children will learn something new from playing with most toys – ‘educational’ or not. Even if you are trying to teach your child something specific with a particular toy they are generally so busy having fun they don’t even realize they are learning!

Amesbury Baby Centre stock a range of ‘educational’ and just for fun toys. Pop in or visit us at www.amesburybabycentre.co.uk

The car seat law requiring children to use an appropriate car seat until they are 135cm tall has been in force now for three years (see www.childcarseats.org.uk for the current legislation). However choosing the right car seat is still a very confusing task and with so many different car seats on the market it can be difficult to know where to start. Here are a few things to look for when considering a car seat:

• Not every car seat fits every car – if in any doubt seek professional advice from a trained retailer.
• If you are using a car seat in more than one car make sure that it fits each car.
• Different car seats are suitable for children of different weights and ages. The table below gives a brief guide:

• Be very wary about buying a car seat by mail order unless you know it will definitely fit your car
• Never buy a second hand car seat unless you are 100% sure of its history and that it has never been involved in an accident. In addition, older car seats may not comply with current safety legislation and their components can perish and deteriorate after languishing in the loft.
• If your car is involved in an accident you should change your car seat – many insurers now make provisions for this.
• Don’t rush to put your child in a forward facing seat – your child needs to develop their neck muscles so they can cope in the event of a collision. Ideally your child should have been sitting confidently unaided for about 3 months. In Sweden children stay in a rear facing car seat until they are 4 years old!

Amesbury Baby Centre can give you advice on the right car seat for your child, your car and your budget and offer a Britax certified car seat fitting service. They stock a range of car seats from Britax, Nania, Recaro and the Which? acclaimed Kiddy Infnity Pro and Comfort Pro.  Call in and see us or visit us at www.amesburybabycentre.co.uk.

The modern day real nappy is a far cry from that used in our parents’ and grandparents’ day and are completely different to terry nappies and safety pins (although these are still available!). Nowadays reusable nappies are simple to use, don’t need safety pins and come in many different colours and patterns.

Combine this with the cost of disposables and it is easy to see why reusable nappies are an attractive option.  Parents of babies who live in Wiltshire can even get £30 back for each baby using reusable nappies (www.wiltshirewildlife.org for details).  If you reuse your nappies for the next child you will save even more money.

The imminent introduction of fortnightly collections is another factor encouraging parents to switch to reusable nappies.  One baby wearing 5 -6 nappies a day will use 70 to 80 nappies in a fortnight – enough to fill 1/3 of a wheelie bin!  This adds up to about 4,000 nappy changes before your child is potty trained.

Another scary statistic is that every single disposable nappy that has ever been thrown away is still sitting in a landfill site and is likely to sit there for another 150 years at least.

Using cloth nappies needn’t be an all or nothing option simply by using disposable nappies when you are out and about and real nappies when you are at home can make a huge difference.  In some areas laundry services are available so you don’t even have to wash them yourself!

Statistics

• Save £500 or more per baby when using reusable nappies (more if you pass the nappies on to the next child)
• 8 million disposable nappies are thrown away into landfill sites every day in the UK – that makes 3 billion nappies a year.  25 million of these are thrown away in Wiltshire alone.
• They are easy to use and laundry services are available in some areas
• Available in many different styles and colours to choose and not a safety pin in sight!

For more advice and a demonstration of the latest designs pop in to see Paul or Nikki at Amesbury Baby Centre or visit our website www.AmesburyBabyCentre.co.uk