Boho Boxmoor

Nappuccino morning - part of Real Nappy Week

Real Nappy Week is this year taking place from Monday 16 May to Sunday 22 May. In support of Real Nappy Week, Dacorum Borough Council is holding a ‘Nappuccino’ morning.

Parents with young children and expectant parents are invited to the Nappuccino morning at Sportspace Hemel Hempstead on Wednesday 18 April from 10am to 11.30am

There will be lots of information on modern real nappies available, including a run-through of their benefits and how to use them. A real nappy advisor and the recycling team will be on hand to offer advice and information, including details of the Council's £50 real nappy cashback offer.

There will also be a real nappy information display board all week at Hemel Hempstead Sportspace. Of course there will also be an opportunity to ask questions and share information with other parents about real nappies and/or other information.

Autumn nights: Are your kids ready for bed?

Last month Worlds Apart, makers of character branded toys for children, kindly sponsored the Toy Story comeptition on Boho Boxmoor which had nearly 400 entries.

This month they're running a campaign that's well worth highlighting: their Ready for Bed Week. Many parents struggle to keep bedtime routines on track. But with kids back at school after the half-term break, and the new early evenings, now's the perfect time to get on top of the problem. 

Eight out of 10 parents admit that their children go to bed later than they would like. And 7 out of 10 wish their children would stay in bed a bit longer in the mornings.

World's Apart Ready for Bed site has top tips to help you create the perfect routine, and bedtime reward charts that you can download to help you stick to good habits.

For every 100 downloads of the reward charts, Worlds Apart will donate a bed kit to a child in an undeveloped or developing country, who may not have a decent place of their own to sleep. Last year Worlds Apart donated 20 kits, and this year they hope to make it 50.

On the Ready for Bed website, you can also find out more about SCAW (Sleeping Children Around the World) and how you can fundraise, if it's a charity that feels close to your heart. And while you're there, there's the chance to win a bedroom set worth £200 - visit www.worldsapart.co.uk/readyforbed.

Top tips for better bedtimes

Ready for Bed reward charts

Visit the Worlds Apart site for great Christmas ideas

Competition: Win a Close baby carrier worth £64

Thank you to everyone who entered the Close Parent baby carrier competition. The winner was LEANNE MCLOUGHLIN - congratulations Leanne, and thank you very much to everyone who entered. I had some lovely messages along with entries and wish I could have given a prize to all. 

Close baby carriers
Close baby carriers caused a sensation when they appeared on Channel 4's Bringing Up Baby in 2007 and for good reason. Made from 100% organic cotton, with a special design that snuggles baby into a parent's chest while at the same time supporting their developing neck and spine - there's nothing like them.

More about Close Parent
Close Parent was set up by two mums from Hertford in 2004 who shared a passion for ethical, environmentally-friendly products for parents. Their other signature creation is the Close pop-in nappy, which is designed to be reusable from birth to potty time.

Build a business from home
Close Parent also offers the opportunity for mothers to become work-from-home Close consultants, selling to other mums. Click here to find out more. You can also email Close Parent's sales manager Heidi Brown (did I mention she lives in Boxmoor?) at heidi@closeparent.com to find out more about becoming a Close consultant in Hemel Hempstead. Or ring 01992 554045.

FIND OUT MORE about Close baby carriers, Close pop-in nappies and all Close Parent's products and opportunities on www.closeparent.com. You can visit Close Parent at the Baby Show at Earl's Court in London on 22-24 October.

Hemel Hempstead & Berkhamsted NCT

If you are pregnant or have just had a baby, the Hemel Hempstead, Berkhamsted and District National Childbirth Trust (NCT) offers you the chance to meet other women like you and enjoy some friendly chat in a relaxing atmosphere. 

There are two NCT Bumps 'n' Babes cafes a month in the local area, as well as an NCT coffee group that meets on a rotating basis in people's homes.

Bumps 'n' Babes cafes

Every second Tuesday of the month, pregnant women or mothers with babies who are not yet mobile can meet at the Bumps 'n' Babes cafe at Jack & Jill’s Day Nursery (Wood Lane End, off Breakspear Way, HP2 7HY). There is a dedicated room with a play area, parking for buggies, tea and coffee facilities and play space in a section of the garden, and lots of free car parking. This is a new venue, replacing the cafes at Esporta. 

Another Bumps 'n' Babes is held on the fourth Thursday of every month at South Hill Centre's lower ground cafe, 9am-11am. Bumps ‘n’ Babes cafes are open to mums to be as well as mums with babes in arms. NCT members and non-members welcome.

Hemel Hempstead NCT coffee group

Are you new to the area or don’t know anyone here yet? Want to find mums with similar interests? Free on a Friday morning? Then why not join the Hemel Hempstead coffee group.

The local NCT meets every Friday morning at each other’s houses. Enjoy a chat and a cup of coffee, whilst the children play in familiar surroundings with a different selection of toys. The group also arranges nights in (without the children) and nights out to local eateries! If you are interested in finding out more, contact Janet Davies on 01442 255579.

For more information about the Hemel, Berkhamsted and District NCT, ring 08442 436 159 or email infohemelberko@nct.org.uk. Visit the website.

Baby massage with Cathy Johnson

Cathy Johnson has been teaching baby massage in Berkhamsted since 2000, and estimates she's had over 1,000 local babies through her courses. 

I attended her course with my first daughter in 2002 and again with my second in 2004. It was one of the nicest things I did with them as infants - particularly in those early months when there's very little babies can actually do.

Baby massage is a wonderful way to bond with your baby and meet other mothers with small babies. It also equips you with massage techniques that you use to soothe and stimulate your baby at home. 

Cathy has 15 years' experience as a midwife and an aromatherapist, and worked at St John's and St Elizabeth's hospital in London. She is a calm, reassuring presence - the perfect person to run a course that may contain nervous first-time mums (like I was) or unpredictable small babies.

Cathy has recently launched Womb to Bloom, a collection of services for pregnant women, new babies and mothers. For dates and details about her four-week baby massage courses,  click here. 

Cathy Johnson: 0789 9995 622, cathy@wombtobloom.co.uk. www.wombtobloom.co.uk

Mummys Online Baby Shop

The former Chelsea and Leeds footballer Michael Duberry and his wife Natasha, who live in Felden, Hemel Hempstead, have set up their own website catering for trendy tots: www.mummysonlinebabyshop.com.

The local couple have four children and say they struggled to find stylish kids' clothes - not to mention presents for their friends' children. Natasha was formerly a fashion buyer for House of Fraser and, with an eye to the future when Michael has to hang up his boots on his football career, in 2008 they set up their kids clothes, toys and gifts website, full of "funky, cool, unique" items.

Michael, who is now on the books at Reading, said: "We've sourced a lot of products and had a good response. But I don't go home after football and sew products for it. We sell unusual gifts for baby showers, different types of babygrows with names on - presents with a wow factor."

Some of the more quirky items on the site include a gold edition dummy in jewellery box (£24.50), camouflage bottles and beakers (£6.99) and Rockaby Baby, a CD of lullaby renditions of Bob Marley songs (£14.99). Featured brands include Taggies (toys covered in labels that babies love to touch), Dolly and Dimples baby socks and Elodie Details baby accessories.

To find out more, visit www.mummysonlinebabyshop.com. Natasha also takes Mummy's Online Baby Shop to local events. Mummys Online Baby Shop, PO Box 1296, Hemel Hempstead HP1 9JF. Tel 01442 269756.

Copyright © Boho Boxmoor 2009

Childcare in Boxmoor

DAY NURSERIES

Smiles Day Nursery - An independent community nursery located on Foster Road, Boxmoor, HP1 1EL (next to the post office on Horsecroft Road). Tel: 01442244565. www.smilesnurseries.co.uk

Lime Grove Day Nursery - Part of the Child Base group of nurseries, and located in Park Road (near the sports centre), Hemel Hempstead, HP1 1JT. Tel: 01442 236506. Visit the website.

A Wheelie Good Idea

Top of most new mums' wish list is getting their figure back. There's just one catch - how do you stick to an exercise plan now that you've always got a baby in tow? Personal trainer Jane Trenchard thinks she's come up with an answer, with her Wheelie Workouts held twice weekly in Wendover Woods. At £5 a session, mums can just show up to the hour-long class with their baby (over six weeks) or toddler in an everyday stroller. That's it - they don't need any thing more.

Wheelie Workouts combine power walking with short but frequent stops to exercise the lower and upper body. Near the end of the class, those abdominal muscles are given a good old work-out too. Jane says she designed the classes based on her routines for personal clients who had just had babies. And she swears the infants sleep through the class while older babies and toddlers are kept entertained by the seemingly bizarre goings-on around them!

Wendover Woods has a play area as well as a cafe, so mums and babies can relax over a cup of tea or squeeze in a quick bit of play time after the session. WHEELIE WORKOUTS: Wendover Woods, Bucks, Tuesdays 2pm-3pm and Fridays 11am-12 noon. Tel: 07926 296683. www.wheelieworkout.co.uk