Parenting Doesn't Get Easier When Your Baby Turns One — Introducing Toddler Café

Parenting doesn't suddenly get easier when your baby turns one — the questions just change. As our Baby Café babies have grown into toddlers, we've watched their parents still needing the village, just for a noisier, faster, snack-stealing new stage. So we built one: Toddler Café, a gathering where toddlers can be gloriously toddler-ish while their grown-ups find their people.

And just like that… we have toddlers.

Our babies grew up‍ ‍

Last week we held our very first Toddler Café, and it was manic — in the best way. Toddlers crawling and charging around the room. Food being grabbed from tables (and occasionally from each other). Parents attempting to finish conversations over the heads of their children while chasing them across the room. The wonderful teachers from Julia Gabriel somehow led a Mandarin immersion session through all of it.

There was noise. There was movement. There were half-finished cups of coffee. There was absolutely no sitting quietly in a circle. In other words — it was toddlerhood.

Baby Café has been part of Mother & Child for years: a place to feed your baby, weigh them, ask questions, meet other mothers, and simply go somewhere nobody minds if your baby cries. But babies don't stay babies, do they? They start crawling, then walking, then talking — and then stealing somebody else's snack while you're halfway through a sentence.

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The questions just change‍ ‍

The children had moved on to their next stage. Their parents still needed the village — because parenting doesn't get easier at one. The questions just change: ‍

• Feeding becomes "Why will my child only eat beige food?"

• Sleep becomes "Why are we awake at 5am?"

• Development becomes "Should they be talking more by now?" ‍

And then there are tantrums, biting, hitting, toilet learning, preschool, boundaries, independence — and the extraordinary strength of a two-year-old who has decided they absolutely will not get into their car seat.

(A gentle word on that development question: children vary enormously, and "not yet" is usually just "not yet." But if you're ever genuinely worried about your child's speech or development, it's always reasonable to check in with your doctor — reassurance is worth having.)

Introducing Toddler Café

So Toddler Café was born — a two-hour gathering for parents and their toddlers.

The children can play, explore, snack and make as much noise as toddlers naturally do, while the grown-ups connect with other parents navigating exactly the same stage. We'll have guest speakers and activities on the things that actually matter in the toddler years: language and development, nutrition, sleep, behaviour, big emotions, play, movement, toilet learning, preschool and more.

But just as importantly, it's somewhere to come and find your people.

No sitting still, no judgement, no apologies

Here's the ethos: no expectation that your toddler will sit still. No judgement when they don't. And no need to apologise when you abandon a conversation halfway through because your child has disappeared in the direction of the cake.

Last week's glorious chaos was exactly what we'd hoped Toddler Café would become. A little noisy. A little messy. Full of life.

A village that keeps growing

Our babies grew up — and Mother & Child is growing right alongside them. Toddler Café is part of how we're supporting families beyond the newborn stage, because the village shouldn't end when the nappies get bigger.

If you're parenting a toddler and could use somewhere to land — noise, mess and all — come and join us. You can find out more or book here.