Wait wait wait - Cindy knows about that BabyPlus stuff!

So, I was at a holiday gathering on Friday night, and at one point the conversation turned to babies - who is expecting, who wants another, etc.  One gal  is pregnant, and another brought up that her sister is wearing something that is a mother's heartbeat, and that is when I heard it :  "Wait wait wait - Cindy knows about that BabyPlus stuff!"

So, when the mom-to-be began asking me questions, I was a more than happy to talk about prenatal learning, stages of fetal development, the science (30+ years) behind the BabyPlus Prenatal Education System, the critical periods in child development, learning in the womb....and so on and so on!  What I love is that, once you start talking, all heads begin nodding, as if - Yes, this makes complete sense. 

I also love when dads join in the conversation.  Talk about critical thinking skills!  One dad summed it up so well - "So - you wear this for one hour in the morning and one hour in the evening, and your baby sleeps better?  Why wouldn't everyone do this?????" and then another "Honey, we are SO doing this when we get pregnant!

The very best, though, is that the pregnant mom-to-be said, "I feel like I am giving my baby a present that will last forever."  YEP!!!

Click on the BabyPlus logo below to go directly to our site to begin giving your child this amazing gift - a lifetime of learning!

What do we know about fetal development? 

The environment is critical.  Everything that happens in the womb is momentous -  to both early development and later in life development.  The critical periods in child development are the stages of pregnancy.  Babies can now be measured BEFORE the 0-3 milestone.  The articles on prenatal development indicate that babies can now be impacted Prenatal-3.

Now that we know so much about fetal development, we need to do everything possible during this crucial time.  This goes beyond having a smart baby.  This is about giving your baby as much as possible during this critical time.

The more you know the more you do!

Click on the logo below to go our website to learn more about the fascinating topics of learning in the womb, the mother's heartbeat sounds, our prenatal care curriculum, and the benefits of infant stimulation.  Give your baby the very best start possible!

 New year - new baby - NOT a new idea....

2009 will be a new year.  You may be having a new baby. 

However, the idea of prenatal learning is not new. 

As far back as 500 B.C. different cultures began to believe that the fetal environment could determine behavior.  Even before that, many cultures practiced gestational songs and rituals.  Through time, the idea of impacting the stages of fetal development has grown in popularity. 

Even Plato and Aristotle spoke of vibration and prenatal receptivity to external factors, respectively.

Through the 1800's and 1900's, the idea continued to grow and to be researched by psychologists.  In the 1970's and 1980's, with advances in technology, scientists and researches were able to get a better picture of a developing baby. 

From the 1990's to today, even more advances in the study of this fascinating topic have occurred.

So - 2009 is a new year - and you might be having a new baby - but this is not a new idea!

Please click on our logo below to go directly to read about the history of prenatal learning.

I'm always keeping an ear out for blog ideas.  When it was snowing over the weekend, my son reminded me that no two snowflakes are alike.  I immediately went into "blog mode."  I tried to think how I could use this idea for writing about prenatal curriculum, prenatal learning or fetal development during pregnancy. 

Of course, no two pregnancies are alike and no two births or babies are alike.  This is true.  But what about focusing on what is alike?  A perfect example is your heartbeat.  This simple sound is consistent in other pregnant mothers and the main thing your baby hears throughout your pregnancy.  Sure, your baby hears voices, music and other things going on in the outside world but all in a somewhat muffled state.  Your heartbeat is heard 24 hours a day, 7 days a week and stimulates cognitive learning in the prenatal environment.  It makes sense to use another sound that is alike and additionally encourage learning during the critical stages of fetal development. 

So even though there are numerous differences in pregnancies and babies, one can agree that the mother's heartbeat is a constant across the board.  It is such a simple sound that can make such an impact on learning for a lifetime.

As 2008 comes closer to an end, we can look back at all the different events in blogging that took place at The BabyPlus Company.  We learned that blogging can help educate our audience about so many things like the benefits of using a prenatal curriculum during the early stages of fetal development, for example.  We blogged about so many topics such as baby stimulation, breast feeding, expectant mothers during pregnancy, and having a smart baby.  We touched on topics like prenatal care, stages through pregnancy, and what first-time parents have to anticipate.

I know we have enjoyed blogging and learning about what readers want to hear about and ways to deliver that.  Next year, we will continue to blog about expectant mothers and pregnancy, prenatal learning in the womb, and critical times in prenatal development and how BabyPlus affects the unborn child.

We look forward to bringing in the new year and bringing you more of these and additional topics in the world of prenatal learning!

Fads are trends that come and go with time, even though they may pop up in culture later on.  Think about some of the past fads like parachute pants, breakdancing, and leg warmers.  Every now and then, you see a glimpse of something trying to come back in a different form.

Some people might think that prenatal learning is a fad.  However, they may not know that it has been around in many countries for many, many years in some form or another.  It is an idea that is becoming more mainstream in American culture and more well known. 

Even though prenatal learning might seem like a fad, I think as more and more people learn about the benefits, society will realize that it is an idea that isn't going anywhere.

BabyPlus - Learning in the Womb

BabyPlus may be the most valuable educational system ever developed.  It is the first educational curriculum designed for prenatal use that has been scientifically proven effective. 

The BabyPlus is a single system, a little bigger than a bar of soap, that contains 16 audio lessons.  These lessons are an auditory exercise that are developmentally appropriate for day be day infant development.

During the prenatal months, the spoken word is too hard to understand and music is too random and complex to truly have long-term benefits for the developing child.  BabyPlus is a series of 16 developmentally appropriate designed rhythmic sounds that resemble a mother’s heartbeat that become slightly more complex as the lessons progress.  Your developing baby can very clearly hear the rhythmic sounds of BabyPlus and compare them to the similar sounds of the natural environment.  Thus, learning begins - in the womb!

Click on the logo below to go immediately to our website to learn more about prenatal education.

Parents have many worries, especially first-timers.  You want your baby to be happy and healthy.  A lot of parents want their babies to be smart.  They will do everything they can to have it happen, whether it's listening to music, reading or using BabyPlus.  But you may ask, "Didn't you say in an earlier blog that BabyPlus will not make your baby smarter?" 

This is true.  While using BabyPlus will not make your baby smarter, it will give him or her the foundation for strengthened learning the rest of their lives.  Without getting too technical, this simple prenatal curriculum (based on the mother's heartbeat) encourages cognitive learning during the important stages of fetal development while in the womb.   This will enhance what smarts your baby will already be born with, not give him or her a higher IQ. 

I guess the reason I stress this point is that one of the arguments I hear is, "Why push your baby?"  I want to shout from the rooftops that BabyPlus strengthens and enhances, not creates something that isn't already there!  Prenatal curriculum improves cognitive development and improves the foundation for learning for a lifetime.  This is not "pushing" your baby but giving him or her the tools for a future of benefits for the rest of their lives.

New on our website!

We have added an interactive lesson calendar.  You can type in how many weeks you are pregnant, and you can create a "timetable" that personalizes your use of BabyPlus.  There is even a place to write in notes of how your baby reacts during each session.

This is a fun way to keep track of your day by day pregnancy as well as the interesting reactions your developing fetus has to the mother's heartbeat sounds of our prenatal care curriculum.  Keep in mind that your heartbeat is the one constant sound your baby hears all the time.

Click on the picture below to go directly to our website to create your personalized lesson calendar today.

I just love this picture!  Not only is it so cute, but it also stresses the fact that BabyPlus is universal. 

The mother's heartbeat is also universal; we know that.  It is not a language specific to any one nationality or race.  All expectant mothers experience this same thing during pregnancy.

By basing a prenatal curriculum on this simple sound, the benefits of stimulating cognitive learning during fetal development are plentiful.  Over 150,000 babies all over the world have benefited from using BabyPlus.  Moms have told us that their babies are more relaxed and alert at birth, can self soothe and more readily nurse in the beginning months.  Later on in life, these children demonstrate improved school readiness, earlier developmental milestones and longer attention spans, to name a few.

Universal means applicable to or common to all members of a group or set.  This means all babies, regardless of what country, experience the same sound of the mother's heartbeat.  This means BabyPlus, which is based off this sound, can be used by all mothers in any country.  It is a common denominator all over the world.

I love to hear when customers call and ask about BabyPlus then say "That makes so much sense."  And it does!

It makes sense that a mother's heartbeat influences cognitive development; it's a constant sound in the prenatal environment.  It makes sense that by using the same simple sound, that too would influence cognitive development.  It makes sense that by influencing cognitive learning in the early stages of fetal development, it would give a head start in learning for the rest of their lives. 

It's such a simple concept that makes so much sense if you think about it.  By using a prenatal curriculum of simple sounds early on in pregnancy, many benefits can be realized for a lifetime. 

Another blog from Dr. Logan, regarding some humorous adventures in the early days:

After developing the invention I was asked to help launch it as a product in several countries, and for a decade found myself inhabiting airplanes (these journeys were all business, no sightseeing--30 to 40 hours awake across the Pacific, immediately plunging into press conferences, professional presentations, and public lectures, then on to another city).  Apart from learning that one Borneo affiliate's jungle home had a pet python--very alive--hanging over his door, swimming out of a taxi on my way to speak before faculty at Madras Medical University in Chennai, India (as the monsoon season struck), or being delayed hours by a freak April snowstorm in Turin while physicians keen to hear about BabyPlus waited with rare Italian patience, Russia provided real challenges. 

Leaving Novgorod in a hurry for a Moscow flight, about an hour later two soldiers ran from a guard post carrying machine guns pointed at us; they demanded my passport . . . which I was shocked to discover had been left with the hotel desk clerk.  However, a minute later, another car arrived, its driver waving that needed identification (the hotel owner's brother was one of the guards, and he had phoned ahead, dispatching his chauffeur)--everyone else found this highly amusing.  Worse, upon landing in Germany, I was told its eastern border had been sealed, and mine was the last flight because the plague (yes, that same Middle Ages pandemic) had broken out in western Russia; within days I became dizzy, nauseous, weak, and feverish--symptoms thoughtfully passed to my wife--grounding me for three months.

But special memories are reserved for England.  At its annual spring baby fair in Wembley stadium outside London (where the Beatles played many concerts), I had to compress my usual three-hour slide show to ten minutes before thousands of literally expectant parents--repeated endlessly over a weekend for each new audience.  And after a BBC interview I was rushed to Bristol for a live television discussion (on the heels of their Miss Swimsuit Competition), complete with surprise.  The producers' skepticism about how unborn children often respond to BabyPlus, by moving their arms or legs in concert with its rhythms, suddenly surfaced when a quite pregnant mother--of six siblings--had been recruited from pedestrians outside to experience a sonogram while BabyPlus was placed on her abdomen; I pointed out that normally physical reactions by infants in the womb would result after days if not weeks of exposure to my heartbeat-based curriculum, but debunking was clearly on the agenda.  Astonishing to all of us, the baby's perfectly syncopated and vigorous movements kept the station's phones ringing for hours . . . .

Other stories would wear out this blogger's welcome, therefore I will close by underscoring that not only is BabyPlus an exciting innovation in its own right, what has taken place off the record has been hardly unstimulating.

Brent Logan, Director
Prenatal Institute, Seattle

This is a guest blog from Paula Ryan, a Pediatric Physical Therapist and BabyPlus mother of three.......

"As a pediatric physical therapist, the developmental strengths of the BabyPlus children I've seen in my practice are very convincing.  These children consistently demonstrate very strong fine and gross motor skills, early milestones, and long attention spans. 

Now, I am a BabyPlus mother of three and have seen countless additional benefits in my own children.  What a wonderful investment!"

We know Paula took the time to research about prenatal development before she became pregnant.  Her work with children who had benefitted from the use of our prenatal care curriculum caused her to want to provide these same benefits for her first pregnancy.  She saw the tangible benefits, and went on to use her BabyPlus two more times!

Thanks to Paula for sharing her thoughts!

We are celebrating my birthday to day here at the BabyPlus office!

Birthdays are such fun!  I cherish celebrating with my children because each birthday is such a milestone in their eyes.  For example, turning 8 is "turning the snowman."  Turning ten is "double digits."  Turning 13 is "being in the teens, finally!"  So, today I turned.........nope, not saying!

How do you prepare for the actual birth day?  Well, first,  talk to your doctor or healthcare professional and ask what to expect at this amazing time.  Take notes!   You may decide to take a class or two to prepare for the big day.  You may also decide to take a tour of the hospital.  Try to remember to get as many questions as you can answered beforehand.

Also, you will need to pack - for yourself and for baby!  Search online, in pregnancy magazines, or in pregnancy books to find a compiled list.  While you are online, read some articles on prenatal development, learning in the womb, and the critical times in child development.

Remember to take a car seat to the hospital since most hospitals won't let you leave without one.

Once you give birth - the real fun begins.  Think of how many birthdays you will celebrate with your new baby! 

Happy Birth Day!

 While on BabiesRUs.com, we found that BabyPlus is front and center on the "Just For Mom" Featured Category!  How exciting!

There are many reasons it's exciting.  My favorite reason is that someone browsing on the site who doesn't know about BabyPlus might investigate further and learn the lifetime benefits of prenatal learning.

By searching for BabyPlus and going to our website, www.babyplus.com, they would read about using a prenatal curriculum during important stages of fetal development.  They would read about the many benefits of learning in the womb, such as breastfeeding more easily, being more relaxed and alert at birth and having an increased ability to self soothe.  They would also read and hear about other families' experiences with using BabyPlus and what they are seeing today.

So, thank you BabiesRUs.com for featuring BabyPlus and letting us inform families about the benefits of prenatal curriculum.

 For many people, this is a time of preparing...

You are preparing your house for the new little person who will soon be living with you.  How exciting it is to choose room color, bedding, furniture, a theme, pictures......the list goes on!

You are also preparing your family.  Perhaps you have older children, and you are preparing them for their new little sibling.  Or, if this is your first baby, you are preparing yourself for the addition of a baby in your life.

However, the preparation is not only external.  You can prepare your child for a lifetime of learning by using the BabyPlus Prenatal Education System.  The patented curriculum of a mother's heartbeat sounds used during the stages of fetal development prepares your baby for many things to come, such as an ease of breastfeeding, self-soothing, and a relaxed and alert birth.

You are also preparing your child-to-be to have the long term benefits of improved school readiness and longer attention spans.  Everything you do prenatally prepares your child for life.  The information contained in articles on prenatal development indicates that what happens in the womb during the stages of fetal development will impact your baby for his or her lifetime!

Get an early start - prepare you child with our prenatal care curriculum.

Click on the logo to learn more about preparing your child in the prenatal environment.

Can You Spot the BabyPlus Baby?

You guessed it!  The BabyPlus baby is more relaxed and soothed herself to sleep.  That means better sleep for parents, too!  The advantages of this incredible developmental tool go far beyond just better sleep.  Used during pregnancy, the patented BabyPlus lessons strengthen a child's earliest learning ability.  Parents report that the BabyPlus infant is born more relaxed, alert, and more responsive.  And, later in life, parents report that the BabyPlus child has a longer attention span and enjoys improved school readiness.

To find out more about the lifetime benefits of the BabyPlus Prenatal Education System, click on the logo below to go directly to our website.

I really love to use the analogy that "prenatal learning does not create a genius baby any more than a prenatal vitamin creates a bodybuilder."  

That makes complete sense to me.  I think the best way to summarize BabyPlus and prenatal curriculum is that it just enhances what your baby is already born with.  It doesn't promise you a perfect baby or an IQ that rivals Einstein, but there is enough evidence from testimonials to show that it will help your baby to nurse better, to self soothe and to be more relaxed and alert at birth, to name a few of the benefits. 

Learning in the womb during fetal development is not completely new.  It's based on Oriental practice from thousands of years ago called "Taikyo."  If prenatal learning such as this promised smarter babies, we would have a planet of geniuses, but we can say we have over 150,000 BabyPlus babies who have experienced the wonderful benefits of using such a curriculum.  And they will continue to experience these benefits for a lifetime.

Finding information about pregnancy on the Internet can sometimes seem overwhelming, especially if you are searching for specific topics.  The key is to be creative and know some tips.

For instance, if you are searching for prenatal curriculum, you can search the term prenatal but get results such as prenatal vitamins, prenatal learning, prenatal care, prenatal development and the list goes on.  But since prenatal curriculum is quite specific, you could eventually come across it in your search but searching for "prenatal curriculum" with quotes should give you results for that specific term much faster. 

With the wealth of knowledge regarding pregnancy all the way from stages of fetal development to breast feeding, efficiency on the Internet is key!  When you know some shortcuts, you can find what you're looking for much easier.