There’s plenty of baby business in NDG

Savvy NDG mommypreneurs have recently opened businesses in NDG targeted to moms and dads and babies that are not only baby-friendly but are also baby-smart.

Quebec experienced a mini baby boom in 2006 due in part to Quebec’s generous parental-leave program and its subsidized day-care program and also by the proverbial biological clock that is always ticking for

30-somethings. But that commitment to parenthood has left many mommies and daddies out of their corporate world and they are finding themselves isolated from friends and co-workers and undereducated in the how-to’s of parenting.

Enter maman, bébé et café, located at 5814 Sherbrooke St., that offers an opportunity for moms and dads and their babies a place to meet with other moms and dads for coffee or lunch from a full menu of healthy food while their children play in a healthy environment around them. “Following the lead of what is happening in New York City and Toronto, I opened the café in January,” said owner Naomi Goldapple. A 30-something mom of two herself, Goldapple recognized that parents need a place where they can meet other parents of young children for coffee, or take part in an interesting course or just have some time out either with their children in the café or away from their children enjoying a massage or a manicure/pedicure in the spa downstairs. “They can relax knowing their baby from birth to three years is being taken care of by a professional day-care worker in the onsite day-care centre.

The café also hosts an eclectic array of classes that run throughout the week including baby and mommy salsa, daddy and baby percussion, and mommy and baby pilates. The café also offers fitness classes for just the mommies including training classes, belly-no-more classes, bootie camp and Haatha yoga. For babies, there is and kindermusik and for older children, an introduction to art classes. There are no membership fees. Participants sign up and participate in the ones they want. Mothers have the opportunity to meet other mothers and their children get a head start on the fine art of socializing with peers. “The idea is that the moms don’t feel so isolated while raising their babies,” said Goldapple.

For more information about maman, bébé et café phone at 514-509-7494 or go to www.mamanbebecafe.com

Nestled into the café mothers find La BoutiqueAzurewraps, an inhouse natural parenting boutique that offers the latest innovations in cloth diapering and baby wearing systems. Owners Ilana Grostern and Amy Venum, both moms of young children, realized there had to be a better way to carry an infant or toddler and researched and developed the Azurewrap a baby-wearing system that grows with the child until he or she is five years. “It is a system that is hip and fashionable and more importantly is comfortable and doesn’t hurt the parent, yet lets the child feel safe and close to her

parent,” said Grostern.

In addition to the Azurewrap, the savvy ecologically friendly team realized the need for a better cloth diaper. They have

developed their own cotton-diaper system that can be easily washed at home,

uses flushable biodegradable liners and is made of a durable cotton-hemp blend that will go through multiple children. In

addition, the diapers do not use diaper pins or plastic pants so babies are as or more comfortable as they are in disposable

diapers. The pair also offers a variety of

relevant workshops including breast-

feeding and home-birthing.

The wraps are available at the store

and also online at their website www.azurewraps.com For more information phone 514- 816-5635

Last September, Patricia Briand opened Bébéssimo, a discovery and enrichment studio where she and her staff of professionals offer a variety of practical classes for

expectant and new moms. From pre-natal yoga to courses for mommy and Itsy Bitsy Yoga™, mommy and baby classes for

children six weeks to four years, Briand’s goal is to keep mothers and babies physically and spiritually fit.

One of the most unique courses she offers is American Signing Language, a tool known for its use with hearing-impaired that is proven to be successful for communicating with young babies that she used with her own daughter. “Signing is a

language babies can learn as young as five months and gives both baby and parent a way to communicate before she is able to speak a spoken language,” said Briand. “Within a few weeks of being taught how to sign a child can express words like milk or juice, dad or even help. Learning to sign takes away the frustration of parents not understanding and the amount of frustrated crying goes down so patents can better enjoy their babies. “Parenting is the ultimate joy, but it is also the ultimate challenge,” she says. “Babies don’t come with instruction manuals, so we organize special events and workshops, offered by experts, to give parents the latest information out there.” The Free Friday workshop series offers timely workshops on a variety of topics including infant massage and the power of touch, back to business, a workshop about returning to work after maternity leave, and the best of baby-

toddler friendly Montreal. For expectant moms she also offers a course on hypnobirthing — the Mongan method.

All workshops are free but participants must e-mail or call to reserve your spot as space is limited. For information about the workshops and classes and Bébéssimo go

to www. bebessimo.com or e-mail info@bebessimo.com or phone 514-572-7260. Bébéssimo is located at 6056 Monkland Ave., at Hampton.

For first-time or experienced parents, NDG mothers and authors of Yummy in My Tummy, Lianne Castelino and Andrea Howick offer a free monthly newsletter

that offers fun recipes, tips on parenting, tips for moms and contests. For more information or to subscribe go to www.Liandrea.com.

Quebec’s unique parental-leave program

that replaced the federal government’s plan

in January 2006, helped 97,692 parents

in Quebec with 66,000 births and 640

adoptions. The provincial program pays up to 75 per cent of insurable earnings and the average weekly payout was $450 a week. Encouraged by new paternity benefits, the number of fathers taking time off rose from 18 per cent to 36 per cent fostered by new “paternity benefits” that are paid over three to five weeks.