It’s been a hectic week in the Rocknrollerbaby household, I’ve been posting samples to India and corresponding daily with the organic and fair trade cotton farm which is making my tabibs for me. What with the time differences and schedules of the busy people there it’s been quite frantic getting everything done. Satish Chukkapalli who runs the farm is delightful though and so helpful that I have no concerns or worries. I’m very fortunate in the fact that my Father is close friends with his Uncle because I think finding the right people in India could be tricky as it’s such a huge country but the Chukkapallis are most certainly the right people!

When it comes to the blog I’ve been busy beavering away talking to companies who provide items for babies while travelling so that I can incorporate products within my reviews. I’d got lots of activities to do but not many products that I’d be able to recommend until now so a big thank you for the lovely conversations I’ve had with many of you this week, especially the people at www.ergobabycarrier.com, www.kidstravel2.com and www.snoozeshade.com (amongst others who have not been forgotten) who are all submitting their travelling with children made easier products to me for reviews in the coming weeks.

Poor old Florence has watched an awful lot of Teletubbies this week as I’m afraid I have been using the television baby sitting service more than I like! That’s not to say we haven’t been out and about visiting somewhere fun every day though; Florence doesn’t sleep when she is worn out so I can’t imagine what she’d be like if we didn’t have an activity on every day? She’d probably be partying through the whole night instead of just half of it. I don’t know where my girl gets her energy from? She doesn’t eat much of anything substantial and she barely sleeps yet she manages to fire on all cylinders far longer than her Daddy and I do! Perhaps when we’re in Turkey next week all the sea air will ensure she sleeps earlier than at home, it was certainly the case when we holidayed last year so fingers crossed. It’d be really nice to have a slumbering baby in a buggy while we dine out of an evening rather than a marching around toddler demanding Beebies (although we are borrowing a portable DVD player – more TV babysitting so she can at least be in a trance in her buggy if not asleep)! A friend of mine has given me a top tip for holidays; buy a few simple toys, bucket and spade and some books from pound land that we can take with us and then leave in the hotel so that perhaps someone after us will get use from them too! We won’t be going anywhere without her glow worm though, that would not make for a peaceful holiday! The blog will come a little bit late next week and won’t be posted until Sunday the 3^rd, I couldn’t possibly allow myself to move away from the sunshine and swimming long enough to write, plus writing on my Black Berry is not my idea of fun!

It felt a little like holiday music that we were dancing to yesterday actually, when Florence and I attended our very first Latino Bambino class. For yet another day we were off to Islington – I’ve been there so often recently I feel like it’s my second home now. I’m getting to really like the area too which is a shame as house prices are significantly higher than in East London so I’d better stop that line of thinking quick smart! We travelled there with some lovely friends we know from Surestart as they wanted to try out the toddler class with us and this week, thankfully, we arrived dry as a bone as the sun had made another fine appearance! Toddlers were up first, but I’ll come back to that later as I really want to start with the baby class, or rather the Mummy class which incorporates your baby!

When I first had Florence I remember someone telling me about Latino Bambino and have meant to try it ever since. They told me that it was a Salsa class especially for women with babies who could be in a sling! As I had Florence in a sling from day dot and carried her everywhere I thought it sounded perfect, yet life and other things got in the way and I didn’t end up giving it a go… Until now! I wrote to Urska, a trained dancer, who is the brains behind the idea of dancing off your baby weight WITH your baby (how fab is that!) and she asked me to come along and try both of her classes, one being for your toddler and the other, her original concept of Salsa fitness classes. It is exactly what it says on the packet, you turn up with baby, plus sling and learn fun Salsa moves to work out your post pregnancy body. If your baby is young enough they inevitably will fall asleep as you rhythmically move to Urska’s instructions and although you are most certainly working out it doesn’t feel too jumpy or overly energetic for the baby. “Move only from the hips” she insists and leave the top of your body to concentrate on carrying your baby. The class was fun and fresh and it made me feel as though I had just done a proper workout – oh hang on! I had just done a proper work out it’s just I hadn’t had to get anyone to look after my baby, something that would have been impossible in the beginning as not only did she refuse a bottle but none of our family live close enough to us to do the honours! I think the idea of Latino Bambino is inspired and in practice it’s even better! When its fun, has the desired effect and your baby goes to sleep it’s actually perfect! I only wish I had taken the time to go when Florence was a newborn and I could have had months of enjoying these classes. Unfortunately for me now, even though Florence is a tiny girl and still very much enjoys going in her sling, she is now old enough to have many opinions and only wants to be in her sling when she wants to be in it so I think it probably wouldn’t work for us long term now. I would suggest that if your baby is very confident and strong willed then perhaps Latino Bambino Salsa classes would only be suitable for them up until about 12 months but if you have a more placidly tempered child then keep going as long as you can physically carry them cause it’s great! If I went again now I would need to wait until Florence is extremely tired to be able to enjoy the class properly and as I’ve said before, those times don’t happen very often, we were just very fortunate that yesterday she was!

While she was probably just that little bit too old for the Salsa class I think she was a tiny bit young for the toddler group. I could see what Urska was trying to do with the class and some of it worked very well, children love dancing to music and enjoy playing instruments but I think this class was a little bit too structured for a strong minded 18 month old. The friend who came with us found a similar problem for her daughter who is 22 months. In theory they are the right age for the class but practically speaking I’m not sure children under two can cope with instructions for dance in the way this class dictates. The class is Urska doing very basic dance moves for them to copy with the aid of props such as maracas and streamers and while my daughter can do the moves she was being asked to perform she just didn’t want to keep doing them and wanted to run round the room for most of it dancing in her own inimitable style, but then she’s 18 months old, that’s what I’d expect! Certain things she enjoyed such as dancing under a feather boa for the Limbo dance but she much preferred her own little freestyle which frankly we could do at home, though it is fun taking part with others… I’m afraid I had a few problems with the toddler class. While Latino Bambino is on the money with regard to the salsa with your baby I think, for me, it was very wide of the mark for the toddler group. I found some of the props such as the streamers to not be very suitable for my daughter at all. Florence’s streamers were stuck to her stick with a sharp pin and during the class another older child who was twirling hers accidentally got it caught round Florence’s neck. I presume the props had all been certified safe for the under threes but I didn’t like them. Lastly I found it all just a little bit inappropriate. At one point in the class we were given scarves to tie round our children’s waists with jingly jangly coins on them and then the children were asked to belly dance and wiggle their hips. Florence has the rest of her life to wiggle her hips and gyrate to music in this way; I don’t think she needs to be doing it at 18 months… So while the class definitely has a good idea, and it could be very good, it’s just not for us as it is today. I don’t read up on things before I go to review them, I just learn the bare minimum so that I can get a really fresh and unbiased opinion of things. I had assumed the toddler class would also incorporate a workout for Mum and it’s a shame it didn’t as I think that could be the real winner! After the toddler class I felt deflated, it just wasn’t for us but the salsa baby class really picked me up. All the other Mums were with their new babies who were between 10 weeks and a few months and they all had glowing things to say afterwards, I’d go back again and again to the Salsa class if I had a baby at a suitable age and think it’s a shame there aren’t more things like this out there for new Mummies and babies!

Just like Gymboree, Latino Bambino offers a taster for all classes before you sign up to a course, but unlike Gymboree they are not free. A taster session (all sessions are around 40-45 minutes) will set you back £10 but this can be knocked off the price of a course. A 6 week course reduces them down to £8 per class or 12 weeks makes them £7. They are currently being held in eight different locations around London and are all taken by Urska. She told me that she is looking into the possibility of franchising her business and making them accessible to all nationwide. With her salsa classes I can only see them becoming super popular everywhere so watch this space and as soon as your baby has had their 6 week check book your spot! For more information on Latino Bambino see www.latinobambino.co.uk.