Student Spotlight: Helen Thompson — Tummy Time Instructor, Tasmania

Helen has just studied with us on our Tummy Time Instructor course and you'll not be surprised to hear that it's available as an online distance learning course — perfect for everyone wherever you're located!

What made you want to become an instructor?

“I have worked with children in the child care industry for many years and so many parents asked me questions like ‘what can I do to assist my baby if they have colic?’, ‘how can I strengthen their head muscle and their hand eye coordination?’, ‘I want to encourage my children to crawl?’. Although my child care knowledge was very beneficial I wanted something more and I wanted to be able to help first time mothers with babies between 4 weeks and 10 months old. So I initially trained as a baby massage instructor and then did further study in October 2020.”

Why did you choose To Baby and Beyond for your training?

“I chose to study the Tummy Time Instructor course with To Baby and Beyond as I wanted to learn more about how it could help parents deal with issues such as head control and I found them to be warm and friendly and responsive. I also wanted to study at my own pace and they were able to accommodate that.”

What did you like best about the training?

“I liked the fact that I could do the course online and interact with my fellow colleagues through the world wide web. I was also able to contact my tutor at any time and found the course content very informative and very easy to follow with lots of video demonstrations.”

What's your favourite part of your job?

“My favourite part of being an instructor is that I can work with parents and babies one on one or in small groups. I love it that Dads can be involved as well. I also like the idea that I am my own boss and can provide quality care to my clients and teach in a relaxed atmosphere.”

What qualities are important in a baby massage instructor?

“The qualities I feel are important for a baby massage instructor are to be patient, calm, understanding, friendly and professional — and not be judgemental and respect the parents' opinions.”

What benefits do you see from baby massage and tummy time?

“I find that it aids and supports development, builds and strengthens the baby shoulder muscles and develops a strong neck, core, arm and leg muscles. I find it can alleviate trapped wind and soothe colic and may alleviate constipation.”

Have you learnt anything surprising?

“As I was studying the tummy time course I learnt about how important it is for your baby to learn to move their neck muscles and ways to teach parents how they can help their babies to do that. One of the most fascinating things I learnt was that babies sometimes develop a flattened head if they spend too much time on their backs.”

What's your top tip?

Any amusing experiences in your work?

“One time when I was doing some colic moves half of the babies let off gas or had a bowel movement and we had to open some windows and take a break so the mothers could attend to their babies.” 😄

Who would you most like to teach?

“I would like to teach first time mums who have a baby between 4 weeks and 10 months and are looking for ways to assist their babies with issues such as colic, reflux, and constipation. My ideal person would be a new mum who is a qualified professional, open minded, and enjoys blogs and podcasts about natural therapies.”