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Europe constantly seems to one-up us when it comes to high-end strollers (Bugaboo, Maclaren, Mutsy, Peg Perego, etc). and maternity leave (Sweden leads with 40 weeks of full-pay). Here in the States, we’re also behind when it comes to professionalizing the nanny industry. But we’re working on it. The only two nanny schools to be licensed by the New York State Education Department (NYSED) are right here in NYC.

Absolute Best Care Nanny Learning Center: Recently opened by one of the city’s top-rated placement agencies, the Absolute Best Care Nanny Learning Center teaches the basics such as infant care, CPR and First Aid plus Nanny Management. The latter covers potentially thorny issues that can creep up between employer and employee (and we’re not just talking about personality clashes). The Nanny Manager component focuses on how a nanny can effectively communicate with employers regarding the family’s culture (casual or formal? detail-oriented?), values, discipline methods and means of providing feedback. ABC co-founder Doug Kozinn says that without these discussions, “The nanny doesn’t know what the family expects, and the family doesn’t necessarily know what they’re looking for in a nanny, especially if it’s their first child.” He adds that while “families are looking for a higher level of service … nannies are craving a training system.”In keeping with the times, this nanny school also teaches students how to cook and clean using green techniques and products. The ABC Nanny Learning Center course is 50 hours. Take advantage of the grand opening sale until early 2010.
absolutebestcarenannylearningcenter.com.

The International Resource for Parenting: Uptown on West 215th Street, Claudia Williams’ nanny course is in its seventh year. Williams is a Licensed Clinical Social Worker with a Ph.D. in International Education. A smaller operation, the International Resource for Parenting doesn’t run classes as frequently, with sessions only in March and October, but Williams does customized nanny training for individuals year-round. Her program is 300 hours over the course of 10 weeks and even involves an internship at a daycare center or preschool! Williams’ class also includes CPR and First Aid instruction as well as NY State training to identify instances of child abuse. There are also units on how to teach kids music and movement and how to support language and literacy development. (212) 304-2192.

Because we’re competitive.

Your iPhone/BlackBerry has gone a long way in streamlining your life. Your MP3 player has helped you organize decades of music, including finding a home for all the songs from the Pretty in Pink soundtrack. But the whole pregnancy thing has thrown you for a loop, and no little piece of technology can help you navigate this strange new world. Time to go low-tech with some face-to-face interaction with live human beings … and a hula hoop.

This Wednesday, The Pregnant New Yorker is hosting an “alternative health event” featuring a panel of experts who will discuss tips for labor and delivery, breastfeeding, prenatal massage and yoga, and acupuncture. Joanna Lindenbaum, the woman behind Soulful Coaching for Busy Women, will be on hand to advise moms-to-be on managing their time and energy in the first few months of life with baby. (There’s no app for that.) And the piece de resistance - a prenatal hula hooping demo. It’s called Pre/Postnatal Hoopnotica Hoopdance and combines hula hooping with dancing. It doesn’t get much better than that.

Long live the 50s … minus the saddle shoes.

When: Wed. 9/16, 6:30-9pm; $10 in advance, $15 at the door. Register at thepregnantnewyorker.com.
Where: Yummy Mummy, 1201 Lexington Ave. (bet. 81st and 82nd Sts.)

We’re used to reading (and panicking) about the record number of young kids in the city and the competition for spots at both nursery and ongoing schools. And you’re probably aware of the waiting lists for public school kindergarten classes in Manhattan this year. So it’s refreshing to hear about a new school that’s opening.

Bilingual Buds, a Mandarin Chinese immersion preschool (and primary school), is coming to the UWS. The program is for kids from Mandarin-speaking as well as non-Mandarin-speaking households. Classes will be taught by native speakers, and preschoolers will spend most of the day learning math, science, language arts, art and music in Mandarin. They’ll also study many of these subjects in English. Bilingual Buds’ NY outpost opens this fall for preschool and Mommy & Me classes. The school will eventually expand to include kindergarten through third grade. Hey, there are benefits to learning to speak the most common language in the world.

These Buds are for you.

Bilingual Buds, 180 Riverside Blvd. (at 68th St.), 212-787-8088.

For more information on the school and upcoming events Bilingual Buds is hosting this summer, visit bilingualbudsnyc.com.

The irony of being in this age of information overload - it’s never been harder or easier to learn what to expect when you’re expecting.   Try Googling “pregnancy.”  Got time to sift through 137 million hits?  And we haven’t even started with Facebook, Twitter (and, of course, UB), and the parenting magazines and books.

Midwife Cara Muhlhahn, featured in Ricki Lake and director Abby Epstein’s film The Business of Being Born, is headlining a seminar to pare down the essentials for you.  A vocal advocate of home birth, she’ll explain birthing options plus touch on key topics related to maintaining a healthy pregnancy.  Other speakers at The Pregnant New Yorker’s “alternative health event” include a doula, registered dietitian, prenatal massage therapist, GYROTONIC/GYROKINESIS trainers and an acupuncturist.  You can also learn how to green your home for Junior.  And there will even be a Henna artist talking about temporary body painting for pregnant women.  Visuals included.

Tweet that.

When: Tue., 7/14, 6:30–9pm; $10.
Where: Kinespirit, 40 E. 23^rd St. (between Park and Madison), 3rd floor.
Register at thepregnantnewyorker.com.

You’ve developed a calm and cool demeanor when dealing with toddlers, in-laws, pushy co-workers and class parents. But sometimes, you just want to punch something.

Get out your aggression — and get a great workout at the same time — at Punch Fitness, a family-friendly boxing gym on the Upper East Side (also in Bridgehampton for the summer). Instead of an intimidating, bare bones, Million Dollar Baby-inspired studio, Punch is warm and welcoming with a strong female client base. Owner Adelino Da Costa will whip you into shape with his special system of jabs, kicks and crunches (prices range from about $109 to $145 for a sweat-inducing one-on-one session). Da Costa even trains women throughout their pregnancies, as evidenced by black-and-white photos of a rather ripped mom-to-be (though you should begin his workouts prior to getting preggo).

Your triceps may scream for mercy, but your stress level will stabilize.

1015 Madison Ave., lower level (bet. 78th & 79th St.), 212-288-2375, punchfitnesscenter.com.

Your friends and family are scattered across the globe (thank goodness), which means you’ve settled in the city by choice.

Nomadic parents-to-be are the stars of the new comedy Away We Go, starring John Krasinski and Maya Rudolph and directed by Sam Mendes, opens in NYC today. This film follows the journey of an expectant couple as they travel the country in search of the perfect place to put down roots and raise a family. Of course, the pair encounters misadventures along with way, thanks to a wacky assortment of relatives and old pals (who are either moving to Antwerp or anti-stroller).

You can relate.

Visit filminfocus.com.

Pumping and dumping, latching, proper positioning — you’re learning all the techniques, but breastfeeding is not going so swimmingly.

Stop by Yummy Mummy, a just-opened uptown boutique that focuses on everything related to breastfeeding. This full-service, one-stop-shop for new and expectant parents focuses on nursing products and resources, as well as classes on lactation-related topics taught by Certified Lactation Consultants. From nursing bras and pads to books and DVDs, the specialty store run by an UES native and mother is all about making the breastfeeding experience a little easier.

1201 Lexington Ave. (bet. 81st & 82nd St.), 212-87-YUMMY, yummymummystore.com.

Is ice cream for dinner every night bad for the baby? Should you eat entirely organic? Must you really gain that much weight with twins? More importantly, who can answer all these pressing pregnancy questions?

Make a date with registered dietitian (and mom) Meg Tubman at her cozy Tribeca studio, Fresh Start Nutrition. Specializing in maternal nutrition, Tubman offers one-on-one education and counseling for all stages from conception through postpartum. Whether it’s eating for fertility, pregnancy health and weight concerns or coping with a picky infant, she will work with your needs and goals to help you formulate a (realistic and attainable) plan of action. Even better, this French culinary grad focuses what you can eat (whole foods, yum) rather than what you can’t (major restrictions equal stress).

Go forth and snack.

Visit freshstartnutritionstudio.com.

When it comes to gaining entree into the city’s best schools, it’s a toddler-eat-toddler world.

Nursery University, a documentary on the competitive and uniquely NYC world of preschool admissions, opens today. The film follows five families with different backgrounds through the process of placing their kids in pricey and prestigious Manhattan nursery schools. Preschool directors weigh in on the mass hysteria about getting into Harvard, while parents wrestle with the social conundrums that ensue. Anyone who has felt the day-after-Labor Day crunch will relate.

Call it stranger than fiction.

Visit nurseryuniversitythemovie.com.

Frightening infant drowning statistics are enough to make you want to move to a land-locked state (not that you’d ever splash around in the East River). With beach season approaching, remember that learning basic swim skills helps significantly reduce risk of drowning, whether you’re 6 months or 36.

Next week, the West Side YMCA hosts its annual Splash Week, to help teach New York families about water safety basics. Each day, the center hosts free half-hour swim lessons in the pool, complete with vital tips and techniques (including pool, beach and water park safety) for all ages. The daily schedule breaks down by age for 6 to 24 months (11-11:30am), 3-4 years (11:30am-12pm), 5-6 years (12-12:30pm), 6-9 years (3-3:30pm), 9-12 years (3:30-4pm) and 18+ (7-8pm).

When: Mon.-Fri., 4/13-4/17; All ages; Free (register at 212-875-4214).
Where: West Side YMCA, 5 West 63rd St., ymcanyc.org.