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The Chicco Open Seas Playpen was delivered during Mothers Group at my place, amongst the chaos of Mums and Babies in every corner of my house. All of us were curious to see this portable playpen. The last time Australia saw this type of “portable” playpen was nearly 10 years ago.

Initial impressions were the playpen was very attractive in appearance. As the name suggests, the Open Seas Playpen has a sea theme – complete with a dolphin, fish, crab, starfish, sea horse and turtle. The playpen is surrounded on all four sides by a strong sheer netting in a beautiful hue of blue. As baby was lowered into the playpen, there were many comments from the other Mums that she did look like she was submerging into an underwater world.

Once inside the playpen, baby looked around and explored her new aquatic environment. The big play area of one square metre was sufficient for baby to freely crawl around. She crunched the tactile starfish, played with the dolphin’s tail and pulled herself up to stand on two of the soft handles. There is a soft handle on each side of the playpen and the handles are cleverly designed to be a helpful height to assist a baby learning to stand. These handles can also be used to attach toys. Two soft toys come with the playpen, a turtle and a sea horse – these toys have proven to be a hit with Baby and her friends.

The portable playpen was easy to assemble and very similar to assembling a portacot. The frame clicked easily into place and the colourful mat featuring all the sea creatures was placed at the bottom. In fact, the mat can be removed and used as a playmat or used as a mattress if needed. The playmat is also fully washable.

Another cute feature of the Chicco Open Seas Playpen is that one of the netted sides unzips – to allow baby to get in and out. There is a small height difference between the playpen and the floor, so it’s sensible to put a mat or rug to compensate for the height difference to make it easier for baby to crawl in and out. Once Baby left the playpen, she turned around to crawl back in! After Baby had finished playing in the playpen, another baby was quick to explore the playpen.

We all agreed the Chicco Open Seas playpen would be great to take in the boot of the car when visiting Grandparents or friends that may not have a suitable play space for baby. It’s easy to assemble, bright, fun and when the babies have finished playing is compact to fold up. The playpen comes with a very practical bag with a handle to make it easy to transport.

The playpen is made by Chicco, a company which is over 60 years old and is still family operated. To find out more, visit the Chicco website www.chicco.com.au The Chicco Open Seas portable playpen can be purchased online from Baby Kingdom www.babykingdom.com.au. To purchase the product, click here – http://www.babykingdom.com.au/shopexd.asp?id=4974&section=search&cat=

In the haze of the early days at home with our newborn baby, I remember watching a Water Safety DVD. It showed a swim instructor with babies of various ages, chanting “Baby’s name, Ready, Go” before the instructor released a cup of water onto the respective baby’s head. The DVD encouraged us – as parents – to do the same chant during bath time to teach our baby about water awareness. The chant became part of the bathtime ritual with our baby.

Fast forward 8 months to Baby’s first swimming lesson with Hampton Swim School. It’s Saturday morning and we’re at the pool at Morningside State School in Brisbane. Hampton Swim School runs classes at pools in the Brisbane suburbs of Bulimba and Norman Park too. Dad is doing his best to look confident in the pool with baby as the class is about to commence. Since it’s a Saturday, he find himself in the company of many other Dad’s (and one Mum) sharing the experience of swimming lessons with their babies for the first time.

They are all in good hands, the class is being instructed by the Hampton Swim School Director, Julia Ham. She is a former Australian swimmer competing in the 1997 Pan Pacs, 1999 World University Games and 2001 World Championships and Goodwill Games.

It is clearly evident that Julia is passionate about introducing babies to swimming. She has developed the Baby Steps Program for Hampton Swim School  which is made up of 4 creatively named levels – 3 to 9 months (Starfish), 10 to 14 months (Jellyfish), 15 to 24 months (Turtles) and the transition toddler level (Penguins). Each level is made up of 20 progressive lessons, so in total there are 80 lesson plans.

Baby is attending the ‘Starfish’ class which has a variety of songs and activities, to teach Baby about water safety, floating, paddling and submersion. I’m pleased to say the chant I’ve been practising in the tub with Baby since she was a newborn features just before Baby’s first “submersion”. I think I held my breath at the same time as Baby went under. She emerged with a smile and giggle for Dad. She thoroughly enjoyed her swimming lesson with Hampton Swim School.

If you’d like your baby to learn to swim at Hampton Swim School, contact Julia and the team on (07) 33992004. When enrolling in the Baby Steps Swim Program – mention www.babyreview.com.au to receive your “First 2 lessons FREE”. To find out more visit the Hampton Swim School website www.hamptonswimschool.com.au

I was 39 weeks pregnant when I first contacted yogababy to attend an Active Birth Practical Session. My email read as follows…”Hello there, I am interested in attending your Active Birth Practical Session with my husband this Saturday. I have read Janet Blaskas book and I am hoping to use Active Birthing Techniques in the Birth of our child. This Saturday I will be 39 weeks. Is this too late to attend the class? Bye Diana”.

The response was a very relaxed, “It will be fine for you to attend the class this Saturday” with the details of the when and where the class will be held. I imagined a well grounded and calm sender typing the response on her keyboard.

It was evident that I was the student “most advanced” in her pregnancy, when my husband and I arrived at the class. We were greeted with a warm welcome and started the class. The class was a balanced mixture of information and practical active birthing postures – my attempts at some of the postures must have looked humorous!

Our instructor and director of yogababy, Suzanne Swan, was just as I had imagined, understanding and calm while providing clear guidance on the best postures to remain active during labour. The workshop was beneficial for both of (or should I say all three of us). We had a very positive birth experience and drew upon the helpful advice and information given during the workshop.

It seemed only fitting that when Baby was old enough at 12 weeks that we should enrol in the “Mummy and Me” yoga classes together. As the name suggests, the class includes some yoga practice for Baby and some for Mummy. The first half of the class involves sequences of movements for Baby. I’ve found Baby is usually very tired afterwards and usually has a rest in one of the many hummocks hanging up in the room, which leaves me to concentrate on my yoga practice for the second half of the class. The yoga for Mummy is designed to regain strength and tone in those postnatal months. I find it a great way to unwind, stretch the body and focus the mind. I love that it is an activity I share with my baby and a connection we have together.

I think it is no coincidence that my baby is very active, already crawling and attempting to stand very early on. Upon observing my baby’s physical prowess and flexibility at a Mothers Group, one mother remarked to me, “It’s like your baby does yoga”. I had to admit that in fact she does – Yoga Baby!

Yoga Baby is directed by Suzanne Swan, certified Active Birth Yoga teacher, experienced childbirth educator, mother of two and birth attendant. Courses offered include: fertility yoga, yoga for pregnancy, active birth yoga, couples birth education as well as Mummy and Me yoga.

I purchase lots of my baby products online. The convenience of clicking and having the products delivered to your door is fabulous with a little one.

I recently came across the Baby Kingdom website http://www.babykingdom.com.au and I’ve found it excellent for ordering baby products online.

The Baby Kingdom website offers quality baby products, organised in neat categories, with detailed product descriptions, including product dimensions and photos. I’ve found the user interface easy to navigate and best of all the products are competitively priced!

I ordered the Jolly Kidz Smart Hexagon Playpen in Natural from the Baby Kingdom website. It arrived in a couple of days in a convenient flat pack. I chose the Jolly Kidz playpen because it was simple, large, made of solid timber, represented good value for money and seemed easy to assemble.

So I unpacked the playpen and started to assemble it. The playpen comes with six timber segments to form the hexagon, twelve durable blue plastic safety corners, an Allen Key and some screws. My advice is to screw the rounded safety corners on each timber segment first and then the playpen fits neatly together with simple press buttons.

I was impressed by the proportions of the playpen. The timber frame is an ideal height for baby and the large area gave the playpen a spacious feel. The timber frame has a smooth natural toxin free finish, so Baby will be safe if she decided to test the timber with her two new teeth!

So with the playpen assembled, I scattered Baby’s favourite toys around and placed Baby in the centre of the playpen. I watched closely for her reaction. She crawled around her new playpen a few times, smiled at her toys and after a while of playing gave what appeared to be a nod of approval. It was rather a ‘nod of approval’ or a ‘very tired nod’ – after playtime in her new play space her afternoon nap was much longer than usual!

The playpen comes with six straight connectors for extension and a play mat is also available to compliment the playpen. For more information on the playpen and accessories, visit the Jolly Kidz website http://www.jollykidz.net

Here is a direct link to the product on the Baby Kingdom website. While you’re there, have a browse around the Baby Kingdom website and see some of the other great products available.

To purchase the product, click here… http://www.babykingdom.com.au/shopexd.asp?id=4332&section=10&cat=Play+Pens

After only having fed my baby breastmilk, the thought of giving ‘real’ food to Baby was a little daunting. I thought Baby was ready when she displayed an active interest in the food I was eating, her jaw would drop as she watched me place food into my mouth and then she would mimic my chewing. Another clue to Baby being ready, was her improved ability to sit upright with good control of her head and neck.

Baby was five and a half months old when she first tried rice cereal mixed with breast milk. It was a tiny quantity of rice cereal mixed with a small amount of breast milk until it had a smooth and runny consistency. I had to laugh – as it was like spoonfeeding my baby breastmilk!

I then introduced bananas which were an instant hit. The look of wonder when Baby first tried banana was unforgettable.

In those early days, I attended a ‘Foodplay’ workshop run by Embrace Holistic Services in Brisbane. The workshop encouraged me to promote healthy food preferences with Baby through play. I must admit I do get a sense of satisfaction when I see Baby happily gnawing at florets of broccoli and enjoying cucumber sticks.

I think the adage is true ‘what you put in – is what you get out’ (and I don’t just mean dirty nappies). I have an active healthy baby and I attribute that partly to her enjoyment of healthy foods. What are your baby’s favourite healthy foods?

A beautiful gift for Baby is a classic board book. Babies love looking at the illustrations in the book,  listening to your reading voice, touching the book and sometimes chewing the pages.

‘The Very Hungry Caterpillar’ by Eric Carle is always a favourite. From comments on earlier posts, this book seemed a popular Christmas gift for Baby. The caterpillar with his insatiable appetite for all sorts of things, teaches Baby to count as he carries on eating and helps Baby learn about nature with his final metamorphosis. A brilliant book which recently celebrated it’s 40th anniversary.

Another classic book which is celebrating it’s 60th anniversary, is ‘Goodnight Moon’ written by Margaret Wise Brown and illustrated by Clement Hurd. A perfect read for Baby at bedtime, with rhythmic words and calming images.

I am finding that my Baby is currently enjoying ‘Ten Little Fingers and Ten Little Toes’ written by Mem Fox and illustrated by Helen Oxenbury. Reading this book is like taking my Baby on an adventure around the world, as my Baby is introduced to babies from all corners of the globe. The illustrations are gorgeous and Baby inevitably tries to touch the illustrations of hands in the book – very cute.

What book is your baby’s favourite?