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Nottinghamshire celebrates its first Baby Week

Nottinghamshire celebrated its first Baby Week – a national initiative – from 14 to 21 November.

Lots of exciting activities and events across the county culminated in a big celebration event at Kirkby Leisure Centre. There were lots of organisations providing information and there were some taster sessions featuring baby massage, Peep (group for parents and carers) and Rattle Rhyme and Roll.

For information about services have a look at Notts Help Yourself.

Latest news

Christmas can be a hectic, stressful time for families. Here are some tips to think about:

Involve your child/children in the preparation and planning. Keep to normal routines as much as possible during the holidays. During busy parties or family gatherings, make sure your child has somewhere to go where they can be quiet by themselves. Don’t be afraid to say 'no'. Love your list! Lower your expectations and accept that things don’t always go as planned.

Safer sleep with your baby

To reduce the risk of sudden infant death syndrome, (SIDS) the safest place for a baby to sleep is in their own clear, flat, separate sleep space, such as a cot or Moses basket. However, many parents find themselves co-sleeping whether they mean to or not. Wherever you’re planning for your baby to sleep, it is recommended that you make your bed a safer place for baby.

Keep your home safe this Christmas

Christmas is a time when your home might be full of people. One of the good things about Christmas is that there are typically more people around to supervise children and, with a little more care and forward planning, most accidents could be avoided. In the excitement of the season accidents can easily happen. The Royal Society for the Prevention of Accidents (ROSPA) and The Child Accident Prevention Trust (CAPT) provide some simple Christmas safety tips and also provide some tips on how to be a safety savvy shopper!

Low cost, fun play ideas at home

Children’s centre services have produced a new booklet with ideas for play at home. Research on what helps children succeed as adults shows that playing with your child is the most important ingredient. The time you spend is more important than the type of toys and how expensive they are. Raiding your recycling or that drawer with bits and bobs in will give you plenty of things to use for activities. To help you get started, we have come up with a few ideas for you to try.

What's on

What is theraplay?

Theraplay is a range of activities for enhancing attachment, self-esteem, trust in others, and joyful engagement.

It is based on the natural patterns of playful, healthy interaction between parent/carer and child.

We can offer a programme of theraplay based activities, so contact your local centre for more information.

Under 1s groups

All children’s centres across Nottinghamshire provide a free weekly under 1s group.

The groups are a friendly safe space for parents/carers and their baby. Each week different activities are put out for you and your baby to enjoy.

There is a chance to speak to other parents and also ask any questions you may have.

We look forward to seeing some of you there.

Have you thought about volunteering in the new year?

Having received support from the children’s centre in 2021, Hayley felt like she wanted to give something back and help other families.

Hayley started volunteering in a Stay & Play session and started building her confidence. Staff in the group feel that Hayley is a real asset to the group and “don’t know what they’d do without her.”

She has a passion for supporting parents’ emotional health and wellbeing and has also volunteered in the Parents Health & Emotional Wellbeing Group. Recently, Hayley has started a Level 2 ‘Understanding Autism’ course and hopes this will pave the way to future studying.

Here’s what Hayley has to say about volunteering...

“Volunteering has been a brilliant eye opener for me. It’s helped me understand others more and realise that people’s attitudes are not always because they ‘want to be like that’ - it may be because they are in a bad mood, are anxious or have got a lot going on in the background. It’s changed my attitude towards others, and I try and understand why they might respond to me in a certain way rather than backing off and thinking I’ve done something wrong, or they don’t like me.”

If you are interested in finding out about volunteering, please contact your local children’s centre for more information.