Winter Baby Babble & Toddler Talk Session #4: Nutrition

This week at Baby Babble and Toddler Talk we talked about nutrition and solid food. Some of the parents had already begun introducing solid food, some had not. We discussed what foods the parents had started with and what their little ones seemed to enjoy the most. Always check with your doctor before introducing solid foods and potential allergens to your baby. Today was not instructional, just a friendly discussion between parents sharing their experiences.

Winter Baby Babble and Toddler Talk Session 3: Car Seat Safety

This week at Baby Babble & Toddler Talk we had a wonderful guest 
speaker at the session. Travis Holeha, Child Traffic Safety Coordinator 
with the Saskatchewan Prevention Institute, came by, car seats in tow, 
to give us all a thorough run-down of the current do’s and don’ts 
of car seat safety. Since these rules are always being researched and 
updated, I will not repeat too much information here, but here are a 
few tips:

- There is not a specific recommended model: choose one that fits your 
car. When car seat shopping, choose a retailer that allows you to test 
before you buy. 

- Read the manual. Seriously. 

- Make sure the seat belt that will be going through the car seat locks 
properly when jerked suddenly. If it does not, take it to a dealership. 

- When you’re wrapping up your little one, be careful how poufy the 
wrappings are. Down-filled jackets and other such plushy garments can 
create a safety concern because if the item can compress, the harness 
will not be as tight as it should be in an accident. 

- Use a car seat/booster as long as you can. Replace your car 
seat/booster when the child's head clears the top or exceeds the weight/height 
limit.

- You can take your car and seat into a technician at any time to make 
sure it is secure.

Thank you so much for sharing your knowledge, Travis! 

Winter 2014 Baby Babble and Toddler Talk: Session 1

Our first winter 2014 session unfortunately happened to be on one of the windiest days of the year. Despite the storm, we had a few brave moms and kiddos stop by and hang out with us for a nice, relaxed afternoon.

Winter 2014 Baby Babble and Toddler Talk Session 2: Literacy

Today at Baby Babble and Toddler Talk we talked about Family Literacy. The staff here at the Centre are big book fans so this was a fun topic for us! We discussed various ways of introducing literacy, besides the usual story time. Here is a collection of ideas to introduce literacy to your child:

• Remember that an introduction to reading can be more than stories- try reading poetry, recipes and cereal boxes together. One family that attends our program uses music and lyrics. Another plays board games.
• Provide your child with a comfortable spot for reading and try to limit distractions during story time.
• Pick a regular day for a trip to the library- it's free! Our province has a wonderful request system if your local branch doesn't have what you are looking for.
• Try to spend some time reading in front of your child. When they are young, they want to do everything you do! 
• Since reading and writing go hand in hand, make sure you, the parent, are demonstrating writing in everyday life (shopping lists, sticky notes, keeping a journal).
• Provide child-friendly resources for practicing writing. Make sure to pick pens and pencils that are comfortable for small hands.

Have fun reading with your little ones!

Digital Mapping Project- Valley Manor

The digital mapping is an ongoing resource tracking project the Youth Engagement Society here in Martensville are working on in conjunction with the Martensville Community Access Centre. On Tuesday, Lori Morphy (President of Board) and Kristee Lynn Adrian (Coordinator of the MCAC) headed out to get some help. Youth from Valley Manor School offered their opinions on a few questions, including: Where are the great places for youth in Martensville? Where are the places that are not so great for youth? What is missing in Martensville, and where would you put it? We provided several copies of city maps and let the youth brainstorm. Here are their Top 3 answers per category: 

Where are the great places for youth in Martensville?
- A&W (a very popular response) 
- the parks 
- the public sports areas, including the rinks, ball diamonds, pool, etc. 

Where are the places that are not great?
 - the industrial area
 - the bar 
 - the dump 

What is needed in Martensville and where would you put it?
- mall with food court (and "epic cool" stores) 
- more indoor and outdoor areas for sports and activities 
- a long list of favorite stores and fast food joints- McDonalds was the most popular request 

Thank you to the Valley Manor students for their help!  Special thanks to Mrs. Chiesa, Mr. Little and Mrs Harack for letting us into their classrooms.  If YOU would like to find out more about our Mapping Project or the Youth Engagement Society, please contact us! 

Are You Smarter Than a Martensville 5th Grader?!

On the weekend we held our annual fundraiser, Are You Smarter Than a Martensville 5^th Grader?! We had a great turnout. Thank you to all our wonderful volunteers who helped with this event! Our all-you-can-eat buffet was entirely provided by volunteer bakers and I must say it was delicious!

Baby Babble and Toddler Talk Session 6: Parenting Types, Child Behaviors and Planning for Baby #2

At this week's session, we discussed the positives and negatives of various parenting styles, keeping in mind that no parenting style is ever perfect. We discussed that families may evolve through many styles. In depth, we discussed Dr Michelle Borba’s of 7 Modern-Day Parenting Styles. You can read the article here. We discussed possible ways of changing those parenting styles to be more positive.

We also touched a little on worrisome child behavior. Some parents were concerned with children becoming reliant on one parent and only going to that parent with their problems. We discussed allowing for children to spend time with a variety of personalities and family members or friends in order to help with this concern.