Baby, you're a great little mover…

PARENTS will soon get the chance to take their children clubbing when a new project which began in the US finally arrives in Scotland.

Baby Loves Disco, which runs daytime events for parents and children aged from six months to seven years old, has already swept America.

Using nightclub venues, the organisers employ professional DJs, play adult music, offer face-painting and healthy snacks for the children, and a bar for the grown-ups.

Now, following successful events in England, Glasgow mother Aida Santory is set to bring the discos to Scotland.

"I can't reveal any more at this stage but it's going to be a great opportunity for parents to do something fun with their kids instead of just going to a soft-play," she said.

"It's somewhere mums and dads will go together."

Dates and locations are yet to be confirmed, but Mrs Santory – mother to Isabelle, six, Carmen, three, and Lucia, seven months – has earmarked venues in Glasgow, Stirling and Edinburgh. She is aiming to hold the first disco by the end of April.

She added: "I know there is a sensitivity to alcohol being involved. But we've been able to see, with other events, that it is very easy to keep the alcohol away from the children, which is important, and having alcohol available isn't a must or a rule for us."

Naomi Timperley , 36, a professional face-painter from Manchester, brought the idea to the UK and launched events in London and her home city in September.

She said: "I thought it sounded fantastic and that it was something I would take my kids to."

Ms Timperley said her children, Olivia, five, and Elizabeth, two, were not put off by the fact that children's theme tunes never got a play.

She said: "The reason it is not kiddies' music is because we want the parents to dance as well. People have this misconception that children will only dance to Bob the Builder, when they will dance to anything." A key theme is giving parents an activity they enjoy for themselves.

She added: "A lot of parents don't get the opportunity to go out any more in the evening so this is a chance for them to do what they used to do before they had kids.

"They can socialise with each other, and they are actually doing something with their children rather than going to a plastic-ball-type place and sitting on the periphery.

"It's a break from the usual play circuit because the children are actually dancing with mum and dad, rather than you watching them doing something on their own."

She said venues were rigorously safety-checked and thoroughly cleaned to ensure they were suitable for young children. "I've got two kids myself and I wouldn't want them to be somewhere which wasn't suitable for them," she said.

Monthly events in London and Manchester attract between 200 and 300 on a Sunday or Saturday afternoon.

Classic 70s and 80s tunes are kept below 80 decibels to protect young ears and alcohol is kept out of reach of little hands.

The bar is in a separate adult-only room in Manchester, where the alcohol must stay.

Dancing with my baby – and we both love it
EMMA Beck, 37, has been along to her local event with seven-month-old daughter, Bella, and says they both had a great time.

"When you become a parent, you don't realise the world shrinks to the things you can do with a baby," she said.

When she heard about the event in Manchester, it sounded like the ideal kind of activity that she and her daughter could enjoy together.

"The music was geared to the parents, and it wasn't just mums – there were dads there as well," she said. "It was great, I was really surprised. There was loads to do, even for Bella at her young age.

"She was crawling around in the baby chill-out area and loved watching the other babies.

"Good music is good music, and one of the things that I have done with Bella since she was born was dance around the living room, and they do recommend dancing for bonding with your baby.

"It was quite nice to spend a couple of hours being active, and we met some nice people."

MAMA WAS A DISCO QUEEN
BABY Loves Disco was founded by Heather Murphy, 35, an American dancer who hosted the first event in her front room.

She approached a Philadelphia nightclub and was staggered by the response from parents.

The idea was taken to New York, with celebrities such as Chris Rock and Jerry Seinfeld attending.

Founded three years ago, events now take place in 22 cities across the US and UK.