When did your NCT group grow/fizzle apart?

[QTPie]

When did people finally out grow their NCT group (ie kids and/or mums grew in different directions)?

Our kids are now Reception age and all go to different schools. Meeting up is rarely practical (everyone has busy lives and some of the kids are getting over tired). I am in touch with one NCT mum despite our kids not being close - so we have a friendship independent of our kids, which is lovely. Several of the other mums I like a lot, but there - very sadly - doesn't seem to be enough common ground.

I suppose it is natural, but feeling a bit sad. DS is making LOTS of friends in Reception - lovely kids - and the mums are really smashing too. But still feel likes the end of an era.

QT

[halfdrunkcoffee]

Mine never really got going in the first place, which I was quite disappointed about as I thought it would be a ready-made group of friends.

There were seven of us. I emailed everyone when our babies were about 8 weeks old. One lived 40 miles away and another just didn't reply to this email. Another tragically had a stillbirth at 34 weeks. The rest of us met up once for lunch, and said we should do this again. We couldn't find a mutually convenient date and then it fizzled out from there - I probably should have put more effort into it but nobody seemed very interested.

At DS's school nursery there are three children whose parents were all in the same antenatal class - they all live very near to each other and still meet up quite often.

[Gurraun]

Mine is still going strong and the kids are all in Reception. It is hard to meet up with the kids but we make sure we all meet up once a month or so. I also have a couple of close friendships from my group who I see on a 1 to 1 basis too. I think it is pot luck whether you gel or not.

[feelingmellow]

We (the mums) are still going strong 20 years on and meet several times a year. Our kids don't have anything to do with one another apart from being facebook friends.

[SophieBarringtonWard]

My NCT group all moved away from each other (we had our first babies together living in zone 2 London, none of us live there any more!). Our DC are 6 now, and 3 of us meet up about twice a year, go on holiday etc. None of us have any contact with the other 2 from our group, it just fizzled out especially once it became long distance.

[Bythepath]

Mine is still going nearly 5 years on, all the original kids go to different schools but we still see each other fairly often. We go out for dinner a couple of times a year too. I was very lucky with my group.

[RainbowInACloud]

Ours is still going strong and children are in reception. We meet up once or twice weekly (not everyone, just those who are free- can be different every week)

[JennyWren]

I think that you have done very well to get to school age. Our group met regularly for the first year but almost all of us went back to work about that point and it all fell apart - a couple who worked part time had the same days off each week and they kept meeting, but the rest of us dwindled to Christmas cards and then nothing.

[PenguinsIsSleepDeprived]

Fizzled out within a year. Good friends with one. Facebook friends with another. No idea about the others.

[WaitingForMe]

We're still going strong and DS is two next month.

DSS1 is nine and his mum still sees some of the members from her group.

[Velvetbee]

Ours is still going, we meet up for a weekend by the sea every summer, the kids are 17 now.

[Meglet]

We still meet in school holidays 8yrs on. I find it fascinating watching them grow up and develop such different personalities.

My friend dod say we were a crap NCT group, no sneezing out drug free births and bf 'til 2yrs for us . Maybe that's why we kept going.

[hiccupgirl]

Of the original 8, 5 of us still meet up now and again and I'm close friends with one of them and see them regularly.

The 3 dropped out very early on so it's been the 5 of us for nearly 5 yrs now and the kids are all in different schools.

[kaffkooks]

2 years on some of the mums from my NCT group are still in touch but I'm not. To be honest, I don't have a lot in common with them and have found a much more supportive group of friends through the local toddler group.

[unclerory]

People slowly dropped off, there were 5 couples originally, one couple we didn't see after the last NCT organised meetup. Another couple we didn't see after about a year then DH and I were dumped by the others after 3 years. In hindsight I wish we'd stopped making an effort long before that, those last two couples weren't really very nice people didn't have much in common with us. But friends for a season I guess. We made much better friends through the BFing group I attended and we see those friends still, different amounts depending on days off work/schools the kids attend etc. The men all get on as well which is great. Those couples I would do anything for and know they'd do the same, one of them was called at 2am when DS arrived early and looked after the DDs for 2 days until my Mum was able to get to us.