Thursday 13 September 2012

My ♥ stopped at the Baby Sense Seminar.

Last Saturday I dragged my husband to the Grand Westin Hotel in Cape Town for the Baby Sense Seminar. It was recommended to me by a friend and considering we aren't going to antenatal classes, I thought I'd go to this quick crash course in newborns.




The tickets were R260 and we bought them off the Baby Sense website (here). I thought I'd be the biggest preggie lady there but was pleasantly surprised to be surrounded by LOADS of others, in fact I've never seen that many pregnant people in one room. And there was a good turn out of dads, albeit disgruntled dads (SA was playing rugby at the same time, oops!). 

We got goodie bags on arrival and I was blown away by how amazing they were!



They included Nuk bottles, Tommee Tippee dummies and a range of other mommy delights. The only 'wild card' was a Driving Manual, which I found quite strange! We all know how to drive by this point surely? Anyhoo...

The Seminar itself lasted 3 hours, with breaks in-between (pregnant women need to pee, a lot) and canapes and tea were served. The talks included subjects like birthing options, from womb to world and the 4th trimester. I found Megan Faure's lecture the best, she's the renowned author of the Baby Sense series and has years of experience. She pointed out the importance of creating a 'womb-like experience' for a newborn in the trimester following birth, everything from swaddling to white noise. Another interesting topic was that of colic, I'm sure we all know that poor mother that dealt with a colicky baby and barely lived to tell the sad tale. The advise given to us was that colic is often a symptom of overstimulation and NOT dietary reflux. Signs of overstimulation include the baby failing to make eye contact and crying (obvs). Also covered were topics like cord care, nappy rash and nasal congestion (joy). 

Basic overview is that I thoroughly enjoyed this Seminar and recommend it to any expectant mom. It's not preachy, it's not too long and it just gives you that edge in terms of trying to understand a newborn. Of course I haven't had the baby yet so I might be cursing Baby Sense next month if none of these tips work! But jokes aside, it was well worth it.