The wheels on the bus go round and round…” — the tunes remain long after our nappy-changing days are long gone. For new parents, surviving the sleepless, emotional fog of early parenthood often requires a solid support system of grandparent back-up, baby clinic nurses, au pairs, nannies and handbooks, and the lifeline of other mums and dads to share your worries and moans, and accompany you to play-groups and parks.
But now you don’t need to move from your sofa. Welcome to Cbeebies’ The Baby Club the TV offspring of producer and ideas generator Emma Hyman. Inspired by her own local synagogue baby group, Hyman’s programme brings a real-life baby group to our screens, complete with teething babies chewing on wooden spoons, breast feeding and nappy crises, and ordinary mums and dads singing Heads, Shoulders, Knees and Toes, while making that all-important eye contact with their children.
Unlike the various chaotic baby groups I attended, The Baby Club is calm and tidy, a happy, shiny, colourful place where the mums and dads do not look exhausted and the babies are largely perky and engaged unless they have dozed off, only emitting the occasional whinge or whimper.
It’s easy to like it, with its friendly formula of simple songs, repetition, charming animation and friendly, smiling presenters, gently inviting us to check out “what’s in the bag?”
Hyman, 42, has found her dream job combining her love of babies with her creative skills. Growing up in Cheadle in a traditional Jewish family, where her father owned Manchester’s famous deli, Titanics (which sadly closed a few years ago) and her mother was a teacher, Hyman was always drawn to children.
“As a teenager I used to do a lot of baby-sitting,” she says. “I took a year off in Israel with Habonim and worked in the kibbutz nursery. I learnt a lot about kids and what affects them in and out of the home environment, and that good helpings of effective interaction with a child can make a big difference. I loved to entertain the children and I ended up doing drama at university.”
Hyman took her own baby steps in television at Endemol, the production company behind Big Brother. “Endemol was flying at that time; everything they touched turned to gold. I had a year’s training with them, which has stood me in good stead.”
As a young married couple Hyman and her husband joined Brondesbury Park shul, where she was a regular at the baby group with her first child Ruby.
“It connected me with lots of other mums, and I found a lovely group of local friends. It got me out of the house and chatting about other things. It was a very special time, and we continued our friendship outside of the group.” Once she took over the running of the group, the seed for The Baby Club programme started growing.
“I have been quietly brewing the idea for a long time,” she says.
“Mulling over how to transfer and recreate the comforting, supportive environment and invaluable connection with other mothers gained at a face-to-face baby club, in a TV series.”
Changing tack when her children were young, Hyman trained as an NCT teacher, running classes at the JCC and JW3. But her creative mind could not rest and, while struggling to juggle life with three young children, she threw herself back into TV. Working with a former colleague, she crystallised the idea of putting a baby group on TV. “I thought I had spotted a gap. But I felt sheepish about pitching it to the BBC. It seemed so simple. “But CBeebies wanted to broaden their appeal and thought this may be a solution. They loved it. It has taken many years to come together but I am very proud of the result.”
Following three years of research and development Hyman has now recorded the first 40 episodes of The Baby Club drawing on a pool of 35 babies and parents. A second series will air in August.
“It has been a challenge at times working with babies on set, and occasionally animals, too,” she says.
“We wanted to portray what goes on in a real baby club. Babies cry, they need to be fed or changed, they snatch toys and wander off. It may seem a bit chaotic but we want people to know it’s all fine and totally normal.”
‘The Baby Club’ airs every weekday on CBeebies at 10.20am and 2.20pm
