Let's go to the movies

by Amy I have always been a big fan of going to the movie theatre. Whether with friends or by myself it has always been one of my favourite ways to relax and escape. I knew that becoming a parent would mean that Joe and I would not be able to just head out on a given day and see whatever we felt might be good.

I don't remember when I first heard about Stars and Strollers, a program run by Cineplex for parents with small babies, but it has become something I look forward to and I check the schedule every Friday to see what our options are for the next week.

Basically every week some of the theatres in Ottawa (Barrhaven, the Coliseum, Silvercity Gloucester, les Galeries Aylmer, StarCité Hull and Rainbow) pick a couple of current movies and play them on a weekday afternoon. They lower the volume and raise the lights a bit, they put out changing tables, and give parents with small babies the chance to feel a bit normal for a couple of hours.

I went to my first stars and strollers when the baby was about two weeks old. I was desperate to get out of the house and think about something other than the baby and the tired for a little while. I loved being in a room full of other moms and it was clear that a lot of women made this a date with their friends. You get to talk to people, commiserate or just nod knowingly, and no one blinks if your baby starts crying during the movie because yours won't be the only one.

Stars and Strollers makes me feel like I'm not missing out. I still get to enjoy one of my favourite activities, I get to see movies I would have wanted to see, and some weeks I go and see movies I wouldn't have seen otherwise, but that I actually enjoy.

I usually go to the Coliseum because it's closest and they have a pretty good set-up. I have been to Silvercity Gloucester as well, but I really enjoy Barrhaven, because they put the changing table right in the theatre instead of in the hallway. You don't have to worry about missing any of the movie while you do a quick diaper change. All the theatres that I've been to have wipes and disposable diapers on hand at the changing stations, and some have microwaves as well, though I've never made use of them.

Now that my daughter is crawling and standing, close to walking, she doesn't sleep through the movie like she did when we started going, and she's no longer in her bucket, which means I have to hold her on my lap during the movie - which means she keeps trying to steal my popcorn. I'm also close to having to choose movies that are more kid-friendly (today's choice, Easy A, would have been inappropriate for an older child), but I'll keep taking her to the movies because she seems to enjoy the moving pictures as much as I enjoy the stories.

I'll never forget that the first time I went to Stars and Strollers there was a mom who spent the entire movie following her son as her crawled up the theatre stairs, over and over. Today, I was that mom, but I still enjoyed the movie, and I talked to other moms, and I got a bit of a break from reality like we all need sometimes.

Amy is mom to 8-month-old Maggie and a 4 year old schnauzer named Henry. You can read her blog at amyboughner.ca where she writes about motherhood and anything else that’s on her mind.

Driving around in my automobile

by Lara I have a friend whose baby slept through the night - 7pm to 7am - from the time he was 6 weeks old. And he was all happy all the time during the day. I hated her.

Ok, I didn't, but I was a wee bit jealous seeing as how I have had three babies and none of them slept more than about 1.5 hours at a time for the first three months and did A LOT of crying and not sleeping during the days too.

I had to come up with a lot of strategies to not lose my mind and to make sure my babies got some sleep.

Obviously every baby is different but I thought I would share some of what I did :

1) Baby wear.

This was more difficult to do with twins (although I did it and still do it a lot when they are fussy).  I have many types of carriers.  I really liked my long stretchywrap when they were little, and as they got older I really liked my mei teis.  I have a Kozy and a more structured carrier that I found easier to use to get babies up onto my back on my own called a Beco. I HIGHLY recommend just putting your baby on and bouncing around the house (or go for a walk) when they won't sleep. SO effective!

2. White noise

White noise reminds babies of being in the womb. It calms them, it seemingly drugs them into a state of calm.  It was my saviour.

Some people use the kitchen fan, some the bathroom fan, some the vacuum - I used my hairdryer. For about a year both times, my hairdryer lived on the floor in the nursery set on cold.  In really trying moments it would be run on full blast and babies almost always calmed right down, often falling asleep. For us, only REALLY powerful hairdryers worked so it can't be a cheapo low voltage one.

We still have a white noise machine going almost constantly in my daughter's room.  Graco makes  a great one that is also a nightlight and you can plug an MP3 player into for other uses.

3. The car

Do you get drowsy in the car? I know that if I'm not driving I almost always start to pass out on long car rides. I think my parents programmed me for it, and I'm FINE with that.  I have attempted to do the same with my kids :)

When my babies wouldn't sleep I often would say "fine, let's go for a drive!" - with Kiernan it was often one of the few ways I could get a decent length nap.  Not eco-friendly, I know, but driving up and down the highway for an hour sometimes gave me the break we both so desperately needed.

With the twins, I explored back country roads and my husband and I are still known, on occasion, to take a REALLY fussy baby for a drive at night to get them to sleep when nothing else will work.

And I've seen a lot of the city and countryside during my drives!

Oh, and also a lot of this:

What do you do to get through the fussy crying periods?

Lara is mom to 3.5 year old Kiernan and 1 year old twins Quinn and Juliette. You can read her blog at Gliding Through Motherhood.

Driving around in my automobile

by Lara I have a friend whose baby slept through the night - 7pm to 7am - from the time he was 6 weeks old. And he was all happy all the time during the day. I hated her.

Ok, I didn't, but I was a wee bit jealous seeing as how I have had three babies and none of them slept more than about 1.5 hours at a time for the first three months and did A LOT of crying and not sleeping during the days too.

I had to come up with a lot of strategies to not lose my mind and to make sure my babies got some sleep.

Obviously every baby is different but I thought I would share some of what I did :

1) Baby wear.

This was more difficult to do with twins (although I did it and still do it a lot when they are fussy).  I have many types of carriers.  I really liked my long stretchywrap when they were little, and as they got older I really liked my mei teis.  I have a Kozy and a more structured carrier that I found easier to use to get babies up onto my back on my own called a Beco. I HIGHLY recommend just putting your baby on and bouncing around the house (or go for a walk) when they won't sleep. SO effective!

2. White noise

White noise reminds babies of being in the womb. It calms them, it seemingly drugs them into a state of calm.  It was my saviour.

Some people use the kitchen fan, some the bathroom fan, some the vacuum - I used my hairdryer. For about a year both times, my hairdryer lived on the floor in the nursery set on cold.  In really trying moments it would be run on full blast and babies almost always calmed right down, often falling asleep. For us, only REALLY powerful hairdryers worked so it can't be a cheapo low voltage one.

We still have a white noise machine going almost constantly in my daughter's room.  Graco makes  a great one that is also a nightlight and you can plug an MP3 player into for other uses.

3. The car

Do you get drowsy in the car? I know that if I'm not driving I almost always start to pass out on long car rides. I think my parents programmed me for it, and I'm FINE with that.  I have attempted to do the same with my kids :)

When my babies wouldn't sleep I often would say "fine, let's go for a drive!" - with Kiernan it was often one of the few ways I could get a decent length nap.  Not eco-friendly, I know, but driving up and down the highway for an hour sometimes gave me the break we both so desperately needed.

With the twins, I explored back country roads and my husband and I are still known, on occasion, to take a REALLY fussy baby for a drive at night to get them to sleep when nothing else will work.

And I've seen a lot of the city and countryside during my drives!

Oh, and also a lot of this:

What do you do to get through the fussy crying periods?

Lara is mom to 3.5 year old Kiernan and 1 year old twins Quinn and Juliette. You can read her blog at Gliding Through Motherhood.

Babynastics

by Amy My eight-month-old baby girl started kicking in the womb and she’s never really stopped moving. When she was really little we could keep her entertained on her playmat, and then with her Exersaucer and Jolly Jumper, but it didn’t take long for me to start looking for activities for her. She needs to burn a little energy.   She enjoyed her swimming lessons over the summer but since the only class I could have enrolled her this term would have been the same, I decided to look elsewhere. I started asking my Twitter friends about gymnastics classes. I took gymnastics when I was a kid and I enjoyed it and I thought she would like it too.   It was a Twitter mom that told me about the Ottawa Gymnastics Centre in Westboro. I had never heard of it before but a peek at their website gave me the information I needed. They had a program called Babynastics, specifically for the 8-15 month age group. The program promises rolling, swinging, bouncing and balancing – all things my daughter loves to do – in a completely padded environment.   The gymnastics centre is large, colourful and full of things to climb, roll around in, swing and bounce on. My daughter isn’t walking yet but she more than likely will be by the time the class ends in December and I’m happy that she will be able to take something different away from the class every week as her skills develop.   After one class I am already amazed by what she can do and I loved watching her face light up as we went around the gym. The other parents even commented on how much she seemed to be enjoying herself as the teacher swung her on the rings and when I bounced with her on the trampoline.   I would highly recommend the Ottawa Gymnastic Centre for other parents looking to burn a little energy in their kids. They’ve got programs for infants from 8 months to adults who want a little exercise. I do have to say that by the end of the baby girl’s half-hour class, I was sweating myself.

Amy is mom to 8-month-old Maggie and a 4 year old schnauzer named Henry. You can read her blog at amyboughner.ca where she writes about motherhood and anything else that's on her mind. She loves getting active with her family, including husband Joe who blogs about his dad experiences at Grover's Cape.