"Classes" to Join With Baby?

dobrydney

Is anyone doing any type of baby and me classes/groups?  I know it may sound kind of silly with such little babies, but we're relatively new to the area and I thought it might help get us out and meet other young families.  I know there is a gym here that does baby gym and lists the minimum age as crawling, which I guess could be sooner than I think.  I looked into Music Together (I majored in music in college so was interested in it) and there isn't one close enough for it to be worth it.  I joined a local group via meetup.com but most of their stuff is geared towards older children.  Any other ideas for now or in the relatively near future? 

hologram87

When DD was younger I took her to the baby story time at Barnes and Noble.  Not a class, but still nice to get around other babies.   Now we do the toddler one, but I will take DS in a month or so to the baby one.

Maybe your local library has a story time?  or is there a Gymboree near you?  I think they offer baby classes.

cagoldi

We'll do Babies Love Music in a few months. We're too busy now with PT but I am hoping we can finish that up in June or July.

It's just a get-together at the library once a week where they all sit in a circle and sing fun kid songs.

rach1283

We have been taking Emmy to a level 1 music class at Gymboree since she was 8 weeks. She loves it! We started taking her mostly because I needed to get out of the house and that was someplace I felt comfortable taking her, even if she had a meltdown (she's a very fussy baby). She really seems to like it and it gives me good ideas of new things to do with her when we are playing.

This past week there were 5 other babies in the class. She seems to really enjoy watching the other babies and will "talk" to them and smile at them. It has been really nice to meet other moms with babies around the same age. My husband takes her during the week if he isn't working and I think he's actually starting to enjoy it. There are a few other dads who go too. I really do recommend classes, even though they are so young!

rach1283

@Sing2phins I'm not sure if all Gymborees have the same schedule but the level 1 I take LO to is on Saturdays at 11:45. It is right in the middle of the day but it hasn't been horribly inconvenient. If they have one near you on Saturdays I would check it out!

dobrydney

Sing2phins said:

I would love to do something like this, but from my research, most things are geared towards parents who SAH - they're all scheduled during the weekday.  I really wanted to sign up for Gymboree, but it's not worth the money if we can only ever make the "free gym" periods because everything else, like actual classes, is weekdays.

That's partially my issue too.  I work 9-5 and a lot of the stuff seems to be mid morning or early afternoon.

ETA:  Apparently my area is lame and we have no Gymboree.  :-(

dobrydney

We want to do pool stuff too.  The local YWCA does a "starfish" program with apparently fun songs and what not in the pool? starting at 6 months.  Not toooo far off!

CarrieB.

There's a community center near our home that has a "9-5ers" playgroup on Saturdays. We go to that a lot because it's nice for our baby and our toddler. We also have a membership to a children's museum and the zoo.

JGo517

@sing2phins check groupon for Gymboree sessions. I have seen a bunch of them lately. I haven't bought it because I thought DD was too young. Glad to hear others feel the same. But maybe I'll consider it for the summer when in home. The groupon makes it much more reasonable :-)

JGo517

LizB8943 said:

I was just looking into the Gymboree near us...no prices on the website so I guess I'll have to call or go in for the trial class. I don't know how much I'd be willing to spend for a 3-month old, guess I should go and check it out. 

The groupon I just saw (for classes on Long Island - not sure if prices are different in each state) was
$49 for 10 open gym sessions -$100 value
Or
$69 for 5 classes - $140 value

rach1283

@Sing2phins That is ridiculous! I pay $40/month for our Gymboree and we can go as much as we can to the level 1 classes (which is at most 2x per week). I can't believe how much more expensive it is in your area. Maybe this is one perk of living in Cleveland?!

dobrydney

Most of the stuff I seem to be finding has a 4 month minimum.  She's about 3 months and a week, so I can handle waiting a couple of weeks.  I'm really looking forward to doing the baby gym thing once she can crawl.  @cfox815 I'm going to look into baby yoga, I like regular yoga...so why not?!

[Deleted User]

DD takes classes at Romp n Roll- they are in VA/NC/MD and PA I think.  They start at 3 months and go up to 5 yrs.  It's about $60/month.

ellenrunyon

I just started going to story time at our local library ( free) and we might try kinder music, but it's pretty expensive. I'm going to try to get involved w a local moms club and I've been trying to go to lunch and things with my friends w older children. Turns out Marlowe finds them fascinating! Haven't been to the playground yet, but I think she will live to watch and I will hopefully meet other moms. I'm all about "free" right now. Im not working, and clothes, diapers, medical insurance and organic formula is costing us plenty . I need to spend that $$ on an upper boy massage...I'm about to fall apart from carrying her