Bringing 12 week old to L i f e time?

romigu

Maternity leave is over starting next week and I want to start getting back into my workout routine.  I go to the L i f e t i me in South Austin and had planned to go with LO but now I'm wondering how germy it is.  Has anyone brought their infant?  Do they just leave the babies in their car seats or do they play around with the toys?  He doesn't do too much now on his own so I'm wondering how much exposure he will have to the other children.  I would hate for him to get sick but I also really want to start working out at the gym again.  Any thoughts?

ronatxtx

DH and i joined at the end of December at the south location. I know for infants you have to schedule them 48 hours before you plan on being there. I took a tour of the kids center and wasn't overly impressed with the germ factor. The infant area is a small area in a corner but separate from all the other children. I believe it holds 7-9 infants. At 12 weeks i'm guesing they would be in their car seat or a swing, but they do have excasuers, etc in that little area. Also they don't change poopy diapers, you'd be called to come change.

Regarding the germ factor they went on and on about how kids aren't allowed to be sick, no runny noses, etc but when they showed us the center there was a child sitting right there with a very runny nose (both sides running straight into his mouth...eww!!) and a congested cough. That made my decision for me since my girls were preemies and RSV is way too scary.

 yahh...just call me debbie downer.. Sorry!

Mainer-in-Texas

I started bringing DD to the child center at four months. We go to the North Austin location, though. Unless it's different at the south location, I don't think you have a lot to worry about too much about germs at that age. They keep them in the infant room unless it's not very busy. And they still can't really move around and pick things up and put them in their mouths YKWIM? At that age she spent most of her time in a bouncer or swing. Or one of the ladies would lay her on her tummy or back and play with her, or sometimes they would just hold her so she could look around at the older kids. When she got a little older she would sometimes go in the excersaucer or jumperoo. So far, DD has been pretty healthy ::::knock on wood:::: but that could be pure luck. She did get RSV last winter, but, other than that, she's just had a few colds. And she could have gotten them a Gymboree or playgroup. I think it's worth giving it a try!

They start taking reservations for the infant room 2 days in advance, but you don't have to call at that time...it's just easier because they book-up pretty quickly. They will give you a pager so they can let you know if you need to come back and change a diaper or if your LO is having trouble settling down. 

burntorangetang

I think it'd be okay since they're in the infant room and either in a swing or their carrier.  I would recommend going during non-peak time though, it can be such a zoo with all the kids running around.  

romigu

Thanks for your input ladies!  I wanted to go to the 830 or 930 classes.  There shouldn't be too many kids at that hour right?  

FeistyFille

Mainer-in-Texas:

I started bringing DD to the child center at four months. We go to the North Austin location, though. Unless it's different at the south location, I don't think you have a lot to worry about too much about germs at that age. They keep them in the infant room unless it's not very busy. And they still can't really move around and pick things up and put them in their mouths YKWIM? At that age she spent most of her time in a bouncer or swing. Or one of the ladies would lay her on her tummy or back and play with her, or sometimes they would just hold her so she could look around at the older kids. When she got a little older she would sometimes go in the excersaucer or jumperoo. So far, DD has been pretty healthy ::::knock on wood:::: but that could be pure luck. She did get RSV last winter, but, other than that, she's just had a few colds. And she could have gotten them a Gymboree or playgroup. I think it's worth giving it a try!

They start taking reservations for the infant room 2 days in advance, but you don't have to call at that time...it's just easier because they book-up pretty quickly. They will give you a pager so they can let you know if you need to come back and change a diaper or if your LO is having trouble settling down. 

Ditto. That saved my life the first year. I think my kids did get sick, possibly from germs they picked up there, but it was just a simple cold.  Kids are going to get sick.  As you probably know, almost everyone in the world will contract RSV at least once by the time they're 2 years old and probably many times subsequently throughout their lives.  Worrying about that wouldn't stop me from doing anything unless my kid was very premature or had some underlying condition. When I took my boys there, they had a bucket for toys that were gummed by the other kids.  They'd wash it off before putting it back in circulation, just like they do at a daycare. Most of the time, my boys would be playing in a bouncer or sleeping in a swing. I think they liked the change of scenery just as much as I did.  Good luck!

NoVA-grl

I don't think I took DS there until he was almost 6 months old, but that was just because I was a nervous wreck about leaving him. I took DD for the first time when she was around 3.5 months old just because I had put my membership on hold.

At that age, she was sleeping in her carseat a lot so they would just leave her in there which was fine with me. Now that she is older she is usually in a jumperoo or on a play mat (or someone is holding her while she is fast asleep :-)

I will say, though, that sometimes it is hard to get a reservation in the infant room, so I would take advantage of not being on a set schedule yet and go during non-peak times (around lunchtime or early afternoon).

Good luck! Maybe I'll see ya there sometime!