When we were teaching my little girl to sleep in a ‘big girl’ bed – she was around 20 months – we used a light on a timer to show her when she was allowed to get out of bed in the morning.

She knew that she was to stay in bed until the little blue mushroom lamp on her bookshelf lit up at 7 every morning.

It worked as a wake-up system, and still works, really well.

KID’sleep offers a nifty little wake-up system that uses pictures as well as a light to tell your child when it’s okay to wake up. The system displays two pictures; one of a little rabbit having fun in the park and the other is a little rabbit tucked up in bed. The sleepy rabbit shows your child that it’s too early to get up, and when he is standing up, it’s ‘wakey time’.

The rabbit light is blue but there is also a pink one with a cute ballerina cow featured on the display – tucked up for night time and dancing in the park during the day.

Parents can use the timer to set the time for changing the rabbit’s position – so if you feel like a Saturday morning ‘lie-in’, just adjust the timer the night before.

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My daughter is nearly two-and-a-half and I would love to take her to dance classes. Music is an integral part of household – metal, 80s and classical are what we dote on, and my sweet one loves to jam up a storm.

We have ‘dance parties’ for two, sometimes three (me and her, and sometimes dad) but I think it’s be amazing for Amelia to party up a storm with kids her own age at toddler dance classes – even if it is to pop music! I am all for musical indoctrination but my daughter probably needs to increase her repertoire so that she can develop her own ‘taste in tune’.

Google spat out some cool options for ‘toddler dance classes’ but my favourite so far is one called Diddi Dance.

I haven’t been to a session yet but I definitely plan to take my daughter soon – you can even call your local Diddi and book a free trial!

Diddi Dance uses dancing games and exercises, bells, hoops and dance ribbons to improve rhythm and co-ordination but also social and gross motor skills. Children are encouraged to nurture their natural love of movement in a structured yet relaxed 45 minute class.

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There are some really funny films about being pregnant – some really funny ones! I have hunted down my favourite ‘baby movies’ and picked out my top 10 pregnancy movie quotes. I hope you’ll enjoy reminiscing and relating – and feel free to laugh out loud!

1. “I’m itchy everywhere, my ankles are fat and there’s something hanging out of my butt.” – Molly Ringwald, For Keeps (1988)

2. “You better pay for that pee-stick when you’re done with it. Don’t think it’s yours just because you marked it with your urine!” – Rollo, Juno (2007)

3. James: “You don’t look so hot.”

Mollie: “Why don’t you try squeezing something the size of a watermelon out of an opening the size of a lemon and see how hot YOU look?” – Look Who’s Talking (1989)

4. “I want drugs, massive amounts of drugs. I want the maximum legal limit of drugs.” –  Keri Russel, Waitress (2007)

5. “How would you like to go through life with the name Cooper Banks-Mackenzie? The kid’s gonna sound like a law firm.” –  Matty Banks, Father of the Bride II (1995)

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I’ve found a really fun way to teach my toddler about the days of the week – months, years and even seasons. It’s a wooden educational calendar toy called Circa.

Small children don’t really have much concept of time – other than night and day, and that sometimes it’s warmer and other times colder. Life is one big game fest – ‘how long do I have to play’ (oh to be young again!). My two-year-old can say the days of the week; she knows that Wednesday is hair-washing day (yes – I do wash her hair only once a week!) and that Sunday is pancake/church day. But she has no concept of how long it will take to get to those days.

I want to teach her. Time may be irrelevant in her young life at the moment but soon it will become important (but never important enough to ruin the fun of childhood of course).

Circa – the circular calendar toy – rotating and circular stacking design is made to help children understand the cycles of the calendar. It’s all about learning through play.

Circa is divided into four pieces that represent a major cyclical event in the calendar: the days of the week disk; the months of the year disc – including a rotating seasons sub-disc; the days of the month disc; and a perpetual year dial.

Rather than being overwhelmed by the calendar as a whole, Circa allows children to learn about the components of the calendar separately – they can fit the discs together to see how the calendar toy comes together as a whole.

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If you’re looking for an app that is both educational, entertaining, and (most importantly) will keep you little one occupied for ages – I have the one for you.

It’s called Sound Touch and is an award winning app for toddlers.

Sound Touch is really simple; boasting 360 sounds and HD pictures for your child to listen to and learn. The app relies only on taps, making it super easy for little fingers to navigate. It also opens right to the activity, without a main menu.

How it works: the app is broken into 6 categories, which are shown at the bottom of the screen as pictures – animals, wild animals, wild birds, vehicles, musical instruments and household (objects). Each page has 12 items displayed with bright, cute cartoon items.

Each item has 5 different sounds (includes popular classical music pieces in the instrument section) and pictures. Tap a picture, and a real life photo of the item pops open, accompanied by the sound it makes. Tap the picture anywhere, and it disappears.

Such an easy app for toddlers – perfect for children from ages 2-4.

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