Rare Disease Day - Rett Syndrome

You may remember a little while ago I posted about Olive, a little girl who has been diagnosed with Rett Syndrome. This is a condition that only affects girls. It is cruel to both the family and the child as many early skills that have developed will disappear to leave the girl in a wheelchair, with no use of her hands, and no way to communicate. As today is Rare Disease Day across the globe I wanted to share with you this infographic about Rett Syndrome so you can understand a little more about it.
Rett Syndrome has been reversed in the lab using mice and parents are desperately trying to raise funds to ensure the research to find a cure in humans can continue.

Rett Syndrome Infographic by Beyond Analysis

Clicking on the link above takes you to a company called Beyond Analysis who have created the infographic from the cold, hard facts about Rett. It really does make you think.

Please take a look and remember Olive and her family.

How to feed your baby on Car Journeys

Many years ago, we set off from Cornwall for what should have been a very straightforward journey home from a lovely holiday. In the back of the car was our 3 month old baby. In actual fact, that journey took over 9 hours and we were stuck in traffic for a lot of the way. It was extremely stressful on everyone and we weren't properly prepared. Carry on reading for some great advice......


Setting off on car journeys of any length can be a daunting prospect, but add young children into the mix and it only gets more complicated - especially come feeding time. Here’s some advice on how to approach a car journey with a baby.

Your baby’s needs
What you need depends largely on the age of your child. A very young baby will need breast or formula milk, and slightly older babies might need the odd snack for the journey.

• Breast milk: If you are breastfeeding your baby, you’ll need to stop for feeds as taking the infant out of their seat is unsafe and against the law.

If you don’t feel comfortable with the idea of pulling over at the side of the road to breastfeed your child, express some milk at home and give it to your baby in a bottle whenever they need it.
Being able to express milk is not something that comes easily to all women, but there are products out there that can help. Some mothers find Medela breast pumps make expressing easier and faster.

• Formula: Most formula requires mixing and this might not be possible on the move, so plan ahead. Ready-made cartons of formula are widely available and could make life easier on the road.

• Solid food: For little ones who have moved on to solids, eating on the move might not be a good idea because of the risk of choking - so pull over to a safe area before feeding if possible.

Plan your stops
It’s worth looking at a map before you set off. There are some stretches of motorway in England that don’t have service stations. For example, you can travel 71 miles between the M25 and the M40 to Oxford without hitting a service station - so it pays to be prepared.
If your route doesn’t have enough stopping opportunities, find an alternative. Use an online service - such as the Michelin route planner - to choose between different routes for your journey.

When to travel
Sometimes you might not have any choice about when you travel. But if you do, try to consider your baby’s routine and when they are likely to want to feed - and plan your journey and stopping points accordingly.

Prepare the car
Make sure your vehicle is fit for the journey. Does it need a service before you set off? Do you have car insurance cover for anyone likely to take the wheel? Also check you have all the right car seats for the kids.

This is a sponsored post

Rett Syndrome - Olive's Story

A little while ago I was contacted by a mum who had previously brought her gorgeous twin girls to our TinyTalk Baby Signing classes in Nottingham. Unfortunatelythe email did not bring good news. They had just been given a devastating diagnosis regarding Olive.
At 18 months old Olive has been diagnosed with Rett Syndrome.

I'd heard very little about this condition so did a little reading online and found it is a debilitating condition that strikes previously healthy girls and will drag their development backwards. As the symptoms increase, girls will often lose any abilities they have gained, including their early speech and the ability to walk. Many will be in a wheelchair, lose the ability to communicate and lose the use of their hands. It is cruel and there is no cure.

Olive and her parents are an inspiration. They are strong believers in early intervention and we did some work together to bring the family's signing skills up to speed so they can use signs alongside their speech in communication with Olive. Olive's sister Tilda is a signer.

Olive's mum has started writing a blog to record Olive's journey and as a parent you can't help but be moved by the sentiments, hopes and dreams and sheer determination of Olive's family. It's full of love, hope, pain and beauty. Please take a look.

In 2007 Rett Syndrome symptoms were reversed in mice. There is a huge effort to now raise funds to ensure research into reversing the symptoms in humans can continue and progress. Olive's family are big supporters of the RSRT UK, a charity formed by parents of daughters with Rett Syndrome who want to impact the speed at which treatment for Rett can be developed. This charity needs all the exposure and funds it can get if it is to succeed in its aim. If you do one thing today, take a look at this website and start talking about Rett and its reversal. Shout about it on social media platforms and spread the word.
 
Do it for Olive.
Do it for all the beautiful girls with Rett Syndrome.

www.facebook.com/reverserett

Mums in Business Profile: Emma Rogerson

Today I'm thrilled to present the fabulous Emma Rogerson as our profiled Mum in Business. Part of what I love to do on this blog is showcase and champion mums who are juggling family life with running their own business and Emma is a great example of this. Read all about Emma's gorgeous design business and if you like what you see why not hop over to her website and join her Facebook page. Over to Emma...

1.       What’s your name?

Emma Rogerson

2.       How old are you children?

Tommy is 6 and Olivia is 4

3.       What is the name of your business?

Clarkie Designs

4.       What is your business and when did you start it?

I design and make wall art and greetings cards for children. I started in 2010 using cut paper to collage different designs. It became apparent very quickly that many people bought them as gifts and that personalisation was very popular. Therefore I developed a range of prints around names or initials. My little door name prints came next after many requests for a product that could be hung on bedroom doors. My newest addition is my range of personalised greetings cards which have proved hugely popular.

5.       What was your inspiration for starting your own business?

When I had my little boy I couldn’t find any pictures for his nursery that I really loved, so I designed my own. Then when my daughter came along I didn’t want the usual pale pink theme and designed another set of pictures around bright graphic flowers. It struck me that other mothers may be struggling to find artwork they loved so I slowly built up a range and set up a stall at my little boys Pre-school fair. I had lots of lovely comments (and a few sales!) so I progressed to organised craft fairs and built my own website.

Clarkie Designs: Girls Door Name

6.       Can you share 3 positive aspects about being a business mum?

The flexibility is brilliant! I can work around my children when they are at Pre-school, school or (hopefully) asleep in bed. 

The positive business mum community is fantastic, there are many forums and support groups online to advise and help, day and night!

Doing something for yourself is so satisfying. It has been a very steep learning curve but coming across new challenges and conquering them gives you a real sense of achievement.

7.       Are there any downsides?

Sometimes the flexibility works against you. Working in short bursts can mean its harder to get your teeth into anything . You can be in the middle of something and its time to do the school run!

8.       How do you manage the balance between being a mum and a businesswoman?

Sometimes with difficulty. Working from home does mean its harder to switch off, but I  make sure its only the housework that suffers not time with my kids!

9.       How would you like to develop your business?

At the moment most of my sales come through fairs and other host sites. I want to redevelop my website and work on SEO to gain a better google ranking, so I get more sales direct.

Product wise I am going to develop more pictures and cards specifically for new baby and christening gifts.

10.   What tips would you give other mums who want to set up their own business?

Do something you are passionate about otherwise the late nights on the PC may not feel worth it !

Website – www.clarkiedesigns.co.uk

Facebook - https://www.facebook.com/clarkiedesigns

Thank you Emma! 

If you would like to be featured as a 'Mum in Business' on the blog please do drop me an email or leave a comment below.

What is Baby Signing?

It struck me a few days ago, that I've never actually written a blog post about the most basic point regarding my business - what exactly is Baby Signing? I have tended to assume that readers looking at my blog all know what baby signing is and where it came from; after all I've known about it for over 8 years so wouldn't everyone else?!


Not necessarily true. Not in the slightest.
So here it is at last, the background to Baby Signing.

Ollie signs 'boat'

At TinyTalk we define Baby Signing as:
'using signs and gestures to help preverbal babies to communicate before they can speak'.
We build on the natural gestures that babies have to enable them to tell us their needs, desires and wishes. Babies can understand so much more than we are aware of and giving them a 'voice' from as young as 6 months old is incredibly empowering for them.

We use British Sign Language, (BSL) as our signing sytem of choice. It has hundreds of thousands of users across the UK and gives families a wonderful extra language to use and continue using as the babies grow older. Many nurseries, preschools and schools using some form of sign language as standard in their day to day routines so to have a head start and understanding on this from an early age is wonderful.

Babies can understand signs shown to them from a young age and will start to sign back as soon as their motor skills are developed. This usually happens between 6 and 9 months, but babies as young as 5 months have made signs and been understood.

Ruby signs 'cow'

My own children both started signing at 9 months old. Their first signs? Well for Ella it was always about her 'milk', but for Ruby it was always about 'more'! Both girls had a vast repertoire of signs and used them until their speech was developed enough to not need the signs.

For anyone concerned that using sign language with babies will prevent their speech developing please don't be. The speech of signing babies will actually be more advanced than their peers because they have confidently been using language for many months.

So Baby Signing is an amazing way to gain a window into your baby's mind. Not only will they tell when they want their milk or food, or that their nappy needs changing, but they'll also tell you they've just seen a duck or an aeroplane or that they've noticed Grandad's hanging baskets (as in my Ruby's case).

And you should always respond to the signs your baby makes, even when you are out at the local shopping centre and they sign 'home'!

What was your baby's first sign?

Become a Business Mum: Do you have a great idea?

Thinking time?

I've been running my TinyTalk Baby Signing business for almost 5 years now and you'll know, if you read regularly that I recently expanded my skills and started running the Toddler classes too. I teach in private nurseries and have built fabulous relationships with them over the years. I have a new partner this year which is wonderful (hope this post doesn't come as too much of a surprise for her!) (oh yes, and I do miss my old partner!). But now both children are at school, and we're into the second term of this new routine, I find myself scouring blogs and website looking for ideas for other opportunities to sink my teeth into.

What exhilarates me is that, if you start looking hard enough you can find all sorts of things that fit in with the family and the children; that can give you a part-time or full-time income; that you can do from home or out in the community; that are flexible and fun! And many of these opportunities don't require a large injection of cash to get them going.

Now I've been self-employed for a while I'm more than happy to take on more self employed work and indeed would really like to. It's a huge bonus to be at home to pick up the children and to be there in the holidays of course. I don't see my future back at the office doing the 9 to 5 and I truly believe the way forward is through multiple income streams doing several different 'jobs' that I love.

So, what's next? Well, I need some time to think through my options.

What would you do? Would you turn a hobby or passion into a money making business? Maybe you can make things, lots of lovely pretty bunting, or kids clothes, or beautiful trendy cushions. Or perhaps you are more inclined to writing so why not start a blog as an income stream. Maybe you could start an eBay shop or buy into a party plan business and sell children's books. Whatever it is there is a huge amount of support out there if you look for it, and lots of ways to get started.

My next task? Identify what it is I can and want to do, what I find interesting and can fit in to my life and what will make me some extra money. After all, it's not a solid business idea if I can't make any money at it!

What would you love to do next? Even if it can't happen right at this moment, maybe because the children are too little, what would you love to do as your flexible family friendly business? I'd love to hear your ideas ..... and not because I want to steal them!! Feel free to share.......


 

Developing my Business: A New Challenge for 2012

It's been a very different start to the TinyTalk term here in South Nottingham. I have a new partner (more about that in a later post!) which has breathed fresh life into the classes and business but I am also delivering a new class to children aged between 18 months and 3 years - TinyTalk Toddlers.

  
This class has been part of the TinyTalk repetoire for a few years and it's up to the individual teacher whether or not to train to deliver the class. I hadn't been interested in doing this; I was quite happy teaching what I knew and I wasn't sure I wanted to develop my skillset in this direction. My business was doing well and my families seemed happy. Where was the gain?
So, when my old partner left the business and took her Toddler classes training and experience with her, it was up to me to pick up the reins and  fill the void.

 The Preparation
Well I trained at the end of last term, just before Christmas and picked up my (very extensive) kit. I prepared over Christmas and starting booking in famlies for the classes. I was apprehensive about teaching something new after nearly 5 years of teaching a familiar lesson of baby signing. I practiced and practiced over the holidays and looked through my inherited kit, props and resources. It seemed such a lot to take on board!

Classes begin
The focus for TinyTalk Toddlers is about developing language and speech, encouraging sharing and turn taking whilst we learn about themes such as colours, numbers, shopping and our feelings. It's an interactive half hour of singing, jumping, being active and silly! We sit and 'talk' about our signs and words of the week and parents encourage the children to take part. We have interesting instruments, play with the parachute and even do 'Row Row Row your Boat' with an enormous piece of stretchy lycra.
The children enjoy playing with the more grown up toys and the parents relish having a cuppa and chatting to friends.

The reaction
The children and parents/carers seem to thoroughly enjoy the graduation to these classes. And to my surprise I am thoroughly enjoying the graduation too! The children are responsive and engaged, and that is very rewarding as a group leader.

The conclusion
So do I think it has been worth developing my skillset and trying something new?
Absolutely!
I now realise how having something fresh and challenging to focus on has reinvigorated me. It has helped me freshen up my baby signing classes and delivery too! And it hasn't really been as hard as I thought it would be.
My advice would be to not hold back. Obviously the financial side needs to be evaluated, but if the only thing stopping you is a view that you and your business don't need to try something new, then I'd definately have a rethink.


For more information about TinyTalk Toddler classes contact me at jens@tinytalk.co.uk
If you are interested in becoming a TinyTalk teacher contact www.tinytalk.co.uk

Review: Child's Play Baby Signing Books

As it's the start of another TinyTalk Baby Signing term here in Nottingham and across the UK, I thought it was timely to take a look at some products that are out there to help and assist with learning baby sign language.

If you are a regular reader of this blog you will know how passionate I am about children's books and the value of introducing books at a very young age. Child's Play International is a publishing company that holds the same ideals and believes that books play a vital role in building the foundations for learning, and exposure to quality books from an early age helps to develop an enquiring mind and a lifelong love of reading. So when they asked me if I would like to review a sample of their books that support Baby Signing I jumped at the chance.

My First Signs is a first signing guide for hearing and deaf children and contains signs for over forty keywords. The signs are based on British Sign Language, Makaton compatible and designed for parents and carers to use at home and share with their babies. 

Each page contains a useful handy hint describing how and when to introduce the signs. With beautiful illustrations of babies and toddlers, (by Annie Kubler) each picture shows a different sign, in context, with a short description. The book starts with signs such as milk, eat, more and all gone and finishes with the ever popular 'I Love You'. 

My First Animal Signs illustrated by Anthony Lewis, contains 48 animals signs taken from British Sign Language. Babies and Toddlers are shown using the signs for a range of domestic, wild and exotic animals as well as mini beasts and birds. Signs such as cat, dog and hamster, are followed by butterfly snail and spider, as well as panda, penguin, whale and crab! This is a great book for extending basic knowledge of animal signs which is then ideal for using with other books, out at the farm or the zoo, or simply when playing in the garden.

These sturdy board books are just fabulous. Colourful, bright and engaging they are loved by both parents and children and are a great way to encourage signing as a form of early communication in hearing children. The comments and hints on each page give examples of how to use the signs with your baby and emphasise the fun that baby sign language can bring to a family. Priced at just £4.99 each they are great value for money too!


Now don't think that only babies and toddlers will love these books, even my 5 year old, who used signing to communicate as a baby, and now uses sign language at school, sat and read them extensively!


You can order these signing books at www.childs-play.com. 
Also available are Sign and Singalong books, nursery rhymes beautifully illustrated with words and signs, Sign About books, introducing signs for a variety of everyday activities and lots more.
You can also follow Child's Play on Facebook!


Child's Play International sent me the books to review free of charge. The comments and opinions are genuine and my own.

Finding the Balance: Christmas

http://www.flickr.com/photos/61056899@N06/5751301741/

This is the first in a series of posts I'm hoping to write about how important it is to find the right balance in our lives. This is a topic very close to my heart and I believe this is particularly difficult for us girls who are juggling so much all the time. We all find it so difficult to put ourselves first every now and then.

This all became very difficult for me a few years ago when daughter no. 2 was born and after some very lovely Prozac and a little bit of counselling I learned that I shouldn't try to do it all. But that doesn't meant that I don't still try!!

Once you realise this is the way you are programmed then it's very hard to maintain an awareness of how much you are taking on, and even harder to stop yourself taking on too much.


 

http://www.flickr.com/photos/stanrandom/83867154/in/photostream/

 

Christmas is one of those times of the year when finding the right balance seems to elude so many of us. It's a time packed full of wonderful activities for the family, of fun festive nights out, and lots of excitement for the big day itself. But it's also packed full of stress, worry and lots of work!

For me this is also a crucial time for my business. At this time of the term we are starting to take enrolments for our next group of Baby Signing and Toddler classes that start in January. Next year they start really early too, as we can only just fit in 12 weeks worth before the Easter holidays. So there are potentially 130 places to fill all before 4th January!! That's a lot of admin. Coupled with that my business partner of 4 years is leaving me and a new partner is joining. There is such a lot going on!

The children are busy at school, as many of you know. There are costumes to make, (grr my pet hate), Christmas fayre's to donate to, and various concerts and nativities to attend. The children are tired too. As am I!

So how do I try to find the right balance at this time of year?

• Well firstly I do my shopping early. This year I started in late August. It has felt a little drawn out and I had to save a little in the budget for when the children started seeing TV adverts and requesting various things. But it seems to have worked out ok.

• I try to be vigilant and cut down on the things that don't really matter or that others won't notice. For example we have a very big family party coming up and I usually cook a dish to take with me. This year though I'm going to buy it in and make life a little easier for myself. It's worth remembering no-one will think any less of you!

• Even though I like everything to be perfect I try to let go of this for a while and not to be too hard on myself (and others around me) when things aren't quite as I like them!

They are only little things but they do make a BIG difference. At this time of year we need to find a balance and not get too stressed. How many women find themselves ill on Christmas day because they've just overdone it in the preceeding weeks?! Quite a few, I bet. So give yourselves a break Ladies, find a little bit of balance; you'll enjoy Christmas all the more!


Let me know what you do to keep the balance at Christmas time. Add your comments below!

Review: My First Holidays Book

Several years ago when baby no. 1 was born my husband starting chatting about how it would be fantastic to record all the holidays we had started to take as a family.
Now don't get me wrong, we weren't travelling the world, in fact, we were rarely going far in a car, let alone getting on a plane in those early years. We were having a very different type of holiday to those of our previous life, but it was great fun.
As our daughter started to get older my husband was still talking about how we should write it all down in a scrapbook so she could look back on it and see the kinds of adventures she went on.
We are now a family of 4 and still the scrapbook idea rolls around every holiday, but, like many ideas, we've never really put it into action.

So imagine my joy when I came across Rachel Hollis and her fabulous 'My First Holidays...' book at the recent East Midlands Baby Show in Nottingham. We got chatting and shared our stories of how we had always wanted a place to record all those wonderful early holiday experiences.
I applaude her for getting her idea and book into print!

Rachel has very kindly sent me a copy to review here.

What do I love about this book? Well apart from the fabulous concept, at first glance it is bright and colourful and as it's a hardback it appears that it would be hard wearing. As a book that has to last many years then that's a key feature in my eyes! It has sections for recording up to 20 of your child's holidays and includes maps to mark off the places you've visited (we won't be needing too many of them just yet but you never know!)

For each holiday you can record and include:

• photos
• who went along
• how you got there
• what you did like
• what you didn't like
• how long we stayed for
• what the weather was like
• how old I was
• what I did on holiday

I love the colourful toucan theme which is fun and inviting for children. On showing the book to my 7 year old she was intrigued by the concept and decided that she could record her own adventures now she was old enough.

What else might I like to see in a future edition? Well maybe a few holiday sections within the book where we could record the adventures of multiple children on the same holiday.
Would I buy this book? Definitely! A great idea for new parents, or a Christening gift, or, of course a Christmas present. At £11.99 I think it's well priced as a gift and should do very well.


So it's a big thumbs up from me that's for sure!! Well done Rachel for getting your fantastic idea in print.
To order a copy you can go to Rachel's website www.myfirstholidays.co.uk.
Follow her on Twitter @myfirstholidays and her Facebook page too.

Why not leave me a comment and let me know your favourite holiday memory with your baby or little one?


Rachel Hollis from My First Holidays... sent me a copy of her book free of charge to review. No payment was received. The comments and opinions are genuine and my own.

The Power of Women: Inspirational TinyTalk Teachers

This year at the TinyTalk International Professional Development Day held a few weeks ago, I won the award for Most Experienced Teacher of 2011. Wow, how fabulous!

I am thrilled and honoured (not only by the lovely bottle of bubbly now sitting in my wine rack watiting to be opened!) but because this award is voted for by the other TinyTalk teachers; my peers. That makes it really extra special.

Over the past 4 and a half years I have met some wonderful women, particularly here in the East Midlands. Some have come and gone; moved on to pastures new like our fabulous Baby Budgeting blogger Becky Goddard-Hill, and many I am still in touch with. With the development of social media over the last few years, and with many more people using it, I have been able to get to know many more TinyTalk teachers across the country.

Many of these women have amazing stories and backgrounds which they share with us, and I am often humbled by the struggles others go through.
There are many reasons why the women I have met have become TinyTalk teachers; for some it is a purposeful decision and for others like Miriam, they stumble across the opportunity. Some overcome incredible personal difficulties to become a teacher, and I am frequently in awe of those women.

So, why did others vote for me this year? Well this is something to which I have given it quite a bit of thought!
I am now in my 5th year of running my business and teaching TinyTalk Baby Signing in Nottingham and I've tried quite a lot of things. If I haven't tried them I've read about others trying it, and have found out all that I can on how to run our business. I like trying new things and am quite happy to take a few risks along the way.
I've taken the time to improve my knowledge and skills and to keep them up to date. But more than that, I've been inspired by the amazing group of women I work with to share what I've learned. I would like to think I take the time to help others, and that what I can share is useful to them. Maybe others have a different view, but this is why I think I have won.

A huge THANK YOU to my fellow TinyTalk teachers who voted for me this year, and for being such an inspiring bunch!

Review: Rory's Story Cubes - Great fun for all the family

I was recently sent a set of Rory's Story Cubes to try out with my children who are 7 and 4.
The cubes come contained in a small neat box and container, very easy to store and more importantly, very easy to transport!

The game contains 9 small cubes, very much like dice, with iconic images that spark the imagination of the player. The idea is you roll the cubes out in front of and use these images to tell a story.  Ther are 54 pictures and apparently 10 million combinations! The challenge is to use all or as many of the cubes as you can in one continuous story. Sounds simple doesn't it?

The fun comes from the fact the images are diverse and varied and, often quite challenging to pull together into the same story. We took the cubes on a recent holiday to the Lake District, and the girls were very excited to have a new game to play. In fact, we did nothing but play Story Cubes after tea each evening! It was a big hit.
Even my youngest who has only just started school created her own, very imaginative, stories. They may not have always made sense, but they were her stories and she was stimulated and challenged by the game.

I was really impressed by the extent Story Cubes encourage a use of your child's imagination and vocabulary and older children can be encouraged to use their connectives and interesting adjectives.

So, will I be recommending Story Cubes as stocking fillers for Christmas? Absolutely!
Will I be checking out Story Cube Actions which uses the most important verbs to be learned in second language development? Absolutely.
And for those times when a physical game just isn't feasible, I've got the Story Cubes app on my phone! Fantastic for killing 20 minutes at Swimming Lessons.

Check out their Rory Story Cubes website for further information.

How to Sing and Sign with your Baby: Incey Wincey Spider

For my latest post, I'm using the medium of video and venturing into the unknown world of a vlog!
Please be kind, I know it's not perfect but I promise I'll get better.

The topic? Well I thought those of you who love baby signing or sign language generally might like to see how you can spice up your nursery rhymes with a few signs. Your babies will love it when you start to sign with your singing. Yes, that's right, I'm going to sing!

Hopefully, if this proves popular I'll be popping a few more singing vlogs on the blog showing to you how to sing along to all your favourite children's rhymes. (I may even take requests!)

So, off we go. Please post me your comments and let me know what you think!

How to promote your Baby Signing Business Part 3: Baby Shows

This is the 3rd in a series of posts that concentrate on promoting your Baby Group or Baby Classes business. As I'm running Baby Sign Language classes, I'm focusing on how I do it, but this approach could be applied to lots of different groups and businesses.
In the first article we looked at the benefits of Personal Appearances and the second detailed promotion through the wonderful world of Social Media. Today, however, I'm looking at the value of attending local Baby Shows.

On Sunday I was part of the TinyTalk Baby Signing group of teachers who had a stall at the East Midlands Baby and Toddler Show, held in Nottingham. It's a big show with a big variety of stands from baby goods like prams and clothing, through to cupcakes, pregnancy seat belt harnesses and pregnancy fitness.
Personally I really enjoy working at Baby Shows. They are quite fast paced and hopefully busy, and as long as you are running a show offer, expectant parents and new families are happy to chat to you.


Preparation
Baby Shows are hard work! You need to ensure you've got a good show offer to entice people to your stand, and you need to run a competition or similar to gather details for a mailing list. I spent a fair bit of time liaising with the organisers and the team of teachers manning the stand. 


On the Day
You always need to arrive early to set up the stand. Show organisers want you to be ready and all rubbish cleared away in plenty of time before the public start walking through the door. Now we weren't there as early as we should have been, but that's another story (and probably another post!) but we still managed to set up in time.
It became busy by about 10.30am and the hours then flew by. We ran a competition to win one of our TinyTalk DVDs and people were more than happy to enter and leave their details, particularly if they were keen on joining a particular class.
We all took essential breaks away from the stand, which is a good time to check out the competition, network and mingle.
Shows do become quieter at the end of the day and we were packed up and ready to go by 4.30pm.


Benefits
A larger local show like this costs around £200-£250 for a single stand for the day. You can also book to run taster sessions, have a bigger stand, have leaflets in bags and adverts running the show magazine. All great for exposure and publicity.
Many baby groups and activities were at this show, so it was important we were there too. We all need to keep our group name fresh in new parents' minds so being present at shows like this is essential.
Networking is an important part of days like this too. I managed to speak to some new nurseries and hope to liaise with them further over the coming months. It's always a good idea to go and meet people face to face and build that relationship.
We came away with a long list of families who are keen to join our classes over the next few months so it's well worth doing.



So, all in all Baby Shows are a great way to gain exposure for your brand and business, although they aren't always the cheapest way to advertise, but we had a fabulous day at this one!

Have you had a good or bad experience from Baby Shows? I would love to hear your comments or views.

Taking your Baby to Work: What's it really like?

As many of you probably know by now, I run a baby signing business where parents and carers bring their little ones to my classes to learn how to use baby sign language to communicate before speech happens. I've been doing this now for over 4 years, and recently decided to share my experiences of running a business alongside a family, through this blog.

Not a baby anymore!

What you may not know is, I started the business when my second daughter was only 5 months old and she came with me when I went out and ran the classes. For the first 3 months I ran 2 classes but this increased very quickly to 3, and then 5 per week. I certainly learned a lot about juggling motherhood alongside a new business in a very short space of time!

So, here are my Pros and Cons of taking your baby to work with you. If you are thinking of running your own baby classes business this might be useful to know!

The Pros:

•  No childcare costs! When you are running a part time business, and particularly in the early days when you are trying to establish yourself you don't need extra outgoings, and the fact that you can take your baby with you is fabulous for your profit.

• No separation. Want to be a mum and run your own business but wonder if you'll feel guilty about leaving your baby behind? My experience was brilliant in that I didn't have to drop her off at nursery before work and she could come with me.

• Social skills. My daughter is  now very confident and outgoing and I put a lot of that down to the fact that she was with me at my classes 3 times a week and socialising with up to 60 babies in that time!

• Advertising. Well she was a fantastic little advert for baby signing! She had a fabulous repertoire of signs and was happy to show them off when we went to do taster sessions and presentations. 

The Cons:

• Boredom. There comes a time when they aren't happy being with you! As my classes grew to 5 a week, with some mornings meaning double back to back sessions, it was obvious that she was getting bored and frustrated and she started to take that out on some of the other children.

• Extra costs. Once the boredom had set in (banging on the door to leave whilst I was half way through singing Dingle Dangle Scarecrow!) it was time to pop her into nursery which of course hit my profits. She was around 15 months when I needed to do this so she'd been with me at work for about a year.

• Parenting skills. You really are on show when you have your own baby with you, and you do need to feel comfortable with that. I remember that my daughter used to 'shout' herself to sleep during the second class on a back to back class morning, and this was unsettling for some of the new mums even though I was perfectly happy with it. You do need to take this sort of thing into consideration!

Overall my experience of taking my daughter to work with me was a very positive one. She became my little class helper, loved the attention, and gained in confidence and self-esteem. I did have to allow extra time for feeds, nappy changes and cuddles, but the families in my classes were always so helpful and could see that as well as a business person, I was a mum just like them too. It really did help build strong relationships with my baby signing customers.

Do you have experience of taking your baby or child to work with you? I would love to hear your thoughts on how this has worked for you.
Would you like to be featured on the blog and share your story? Drop me a line or leave a comment if you are interested!

Guest Post: Running a Baby Signing Business

This week, I am thrilled that the successful author and blogger Becky Goddard-Hill from Baby Budgeting is sharing her TinyTalk Baby Signing story with us. Several years ago Becky bought and ran an existing TinyTalk franchise in Nottingham and tells us here what that experience meant to her. I actually attended Becky's classes with my eldest daughter (and subsequently bought the business from her!) and we had great fun and felt so welcomed. Becky was my inspiration for starting my franchise business - so I really do owe her a lot!

My experience of being a baby signing teacher

Hi my name is Becky Goddard-Hill and I ran a baby signing franchise from 2005 – 2007. My son was just 9 months old when I began teaching. I bought my franchise from TinyTalk as an established business with 2 full classes running in my local area. 

Background

As a social worker, working for children with special needs I was qualified to use Makaton and had lots of experience of it really helping non-verbal children who did not have hearing impairment. It was an easy transition to learning basic BSL.

I knew from my son who could clap copy and wave goodbye meaningfully that hand gestures and understanding of meaning kicked in long before vocal chords.

I had also worked as a music therapist for several years in an American summer camp and was used to singing in front of groups.

How I got involved

I called to book my son on a course to be told the classes may not continue the next term as the business in my area was up for sale. This intrigued me. I had decided not to return to work and this seemed right up my street. I shadowed the teachers for a couple of weeks and realised how perfect this job was a for a stay at home mum like me who needed to earn a little money.

Training

I went to Guildford for my training which was hard work and a lot of fun and I was excited to start. Everything was explained and provided and I felt totally supported and confident (although my knees shook a little on day 1!)

The classes

Wow! I think over 2 years I helped teach about 300 local babies to sign. I say helped because of course the parents do most of the work reinforcing the signs at home. Each term 60-90 babies would come to my classes run over 2 mornings. My son ended up in  a school class with 4 of them! 

What I liked about it.

Classes were great fun, straightforward but never the same. I made good money and lots of local friends plus I could take my son with me. It was wonderful to see the babies begin to communicate and the sight of both them and their parents bonding through the singing warmed my heart.

Why I finished

When I got close to having my daughter I realised that even though my gorgeous mum was helping me, managing the classes with a toddler who was becoming unruly and a breast fed baby may be a bit much. I did consider just having a break but realised there was interest to buy. I got a good return for my investment.

Overall

I had a couple of lovely years as a baby signing teacher and I am glad I did it. 

Since TinyTalk?

Since TinyTalk  I have written a book called How to Afford Time off with Your Baby (Vermilion 2009) which shows 101 ways to ease the financial strain of babies from pregnancy to pre-schoolers and includes lots of ideas for making money (including of course TinyTalk teaching!)

I now make my living as a part time writer and blogger and I blog at www.babybudgeting.co.uk and I review parenting books at www.bookreviewsformums.co.uk.

Do pop over and say hello! 

Thanks so much to Becky for sharing her experiences of running her own baby signing business. Feeling inspired to share your story with us? Just drop me a line if you would like to be featured!