THE BBC's world affairs editor, John Simpson, became a father for the third time in 2006, when he was in his sixties. He said at the time that he got more sleep in Iraq, when he was covering the war there, than he did at home. I remember laughing about that.

Then my own son was born in 2007. I thought about John Simpson, dozing through the shelling, again recently because I found myself, after a spate of very early mornings, looking forward to… wait for it… having a root canal filled, because it would mean a good 25 minutes with my feet up in the dentist's chair and only the minor inconveniences of needles and drilling to contend with.

Like most mothers I split my time between work, domestic chores and looking after my son, and, if I ever want to see the bottom of the laundry basket again, I won't be giving up this routine any time soon. Every now and then, though, opportunity knocks for a bit of rest, a bit of a leisurely flick through the

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and an uninterrupted cup of coffee. I am talking about a kiddie day out — with dad or gran or aunty or An Other willing, caring soul.

However, while it might seem, to the non-parent particularly, that this is an obvious solution for tired mums everywhere, it is not always a straightforward one. Children take a lot of looking after under any circumstances and that goes double when they are outside of their usual environment. This means that successful mum's day off jaunts tend to be to places that are particularly child-friendly while also being interesting, accessible and affordable.

Luckily, Exmoor Zoo fulfils all of these criteria. It is a small, cheerful sort of zoo, and what it lacks in elephants it makes up for in charm. Kids love it. I do too. And, in our family, it has become the preferred dad's day out attraction.

One of the particularly appealing things about Exmoor Zoo is that it offers lots of opportunities for children to get really close to the animals. Mind you, this is not true of the rabbits, who have perfected the art of appearing to be asleep until they are just within ear-tugging distance of the average two-year old at which point they scoot under the nearest fence like… well like rabbits being chased by two-year olds.

Luckily, the two year olds are pretty easily distracted from scooting under the fence too, by the plentiful wandering peacocks, guinea fowl, and a good assortment of unusual hens, in addition to which cleverly designed open runs above the walkways mean that monkeys are constantly scampering overhead.

Most of the paths at the zoo are stroller-friendly, so little legs don't get walked off, and a lot of the enclosures have viewing windows at stroller/child-head height which means children don't need to be constantly lifted in order to get a good look. Add to this some nice covered picnic areas, plenty of scheduled events such as talks and petting sessions, a café and a fairly basic, but nicely open play area and you have a recipe for a terrific day.

Exmoor Zoo is owned and run by the Reynolds family. I spoke to Lynn Reynolds, just one of the clan involved in the business, who stressed the 'hands on' aspects of the facility, which also emphasises education and conservation. In addition to the family and other staff, volunteers help to keep the place ticking over (more always needed if you want to get to know a wallaby).

The general atmosphere is very welcoming as a result which is probably why the zoo has become a favourite meet-up spot for the local Netmums group, one of whom commented that, with entrance for kids under three free, a day there offered particularly good value for money.

There are plenty of scheduled events coming up at the zoo over the next few months, so it would be worth checking the website to keep track of anything that your family might be especially interested in. There are other appealing things on offer too, like the chance to be a zookeeper for a day or to sponsor an animal. But, nature being what it is, unscheduled events occur pretty regularly as well — the day before I spoke to Lynn, 15 baby snakes had made an appearance, which, she said, had proved a real crowd-pleaser.

But, getting back to mum's day off, Siobhan Freegard, Netmums director, warns that even with an exciting destination ahead, young children can still be anxious if they're out of their comfort zone and having a day out with someone they don't know very well. She suggests talking to your little one about the place they'll be visiting and also to the person taking them.

She adds that you should encourage your child to open up about any worries before the outing including little things like feeling nervous about asking to go to the toilet. This one is particularly pertinent to an Exmoor visit because the zoo is short on loos. Lynn explained that this was due to lack of mains sewerage, but anyway it is worth warning anyone who is looking after your child that a pit-stop needs to be scheduled for soon after arrival (the loos are near the entrance) so that no hasty races back up the hill are necessary. Siobhan also makes the point that you can help your children to feel in control of the day by letting them choose what clothes to wear, or snacks to pack, and, also, that asking them to phone you at lunchtime will be reassuring for everyone. A final topical point, with the current worries about E.Coli, is to talk to both your child and carer about hand-washing after petting the animals, and, perhaps, to pop a small bottle of antibacterial wash into your child's bag.

Another hit in our household is a 'Finda' book — pictures of animals stuck into an exercise book or onto stapled together sheets of paper which can be checked off when they're spotted (the internet is a good source of pictures of lemurs, parrots, tortoises etc). So you'll be making one of those won't you, mum? Straight after you've made the picnic, washed the T-shirts, written down the how-to-get-there instructions, packed the sun cream… and the spare outfit… and some extra raisins. Have a nice day off.