How old do you think a baby should be before you can leave them in a gym creche?

[BettyFriedan]

In attempt to deal with excessive cake eating get figure back have signed up for the local council gym. Was going to go at weekends so DH could look after 5 month DD, but noticed they have a creche. Occured to me i cd go in the week but DH went mental at the thought of PFB being left in a creche that young....What age did you all leave your babies in a creche like that?

[Seona1973]

I used the creche for ds from when he was about 18 months (too lazy to start before then!). I have seen much younger babies there though as they take them from 3 months. They are only there for a short amount of time so I dont know what your dh is worrying about.

[MollieO]

I left ds when he was 3 months but only for an hour and in the care of someone whom I knew (and happened to work at the gym creche). They would come and get you if there was any problem.

[TurtleAnn]

DS is 15 weeks old and I plan to pop him in this week for a 30-minute settle-in to see how he copes and then leave him about twice a week for 1 hour so I can swim.

DH is encouraging it so I can cope with the sleep deprivation and losing my marbles situation I find myself in at the moment.

[Oliveoil]

depends on the child

some are clingy, some are not

you are in the gym so say to the person that it is your first time and just go for a run for 30 mins then come back

if they are settled, then next time do a class etc

if they get screechy they can surely come and get you?

[eastendmummy]

I left DS when he was 6 months old in the gym creche and i was fine. It's easier when they're smaller before they get too clingy. I've found my DS much harder to leave there now he's 18 months.

[happyjules]

We have a wonderful creche and preschool at our country club. The staff couldn't wait for dd2 to start.
She started at 8 weeks as really needed the endorphins back due to pnd as I had been in the gym til 8 months!
She will be graduating ino the playgroup in september. I do know how fortunate we are to have this facility. Just go with your gut feeling

[CultureMix]

I've had both my DCs in the gym creche from very early on: DS1 at 10 weeks and DS2 at 6 weeks (started the day after the 6-wk check). Suits me as

• it's only for 90 mins (there's a 30-min trial session first), just long enough for a one-hour class (love my Step aerobics class, couldn't wait to get back after doing nothing for the entire pregnancy) and a quick shower
• had uncomplicated births and doc ok in each case
• the studio is literally next door to the creche, and they can - and will - fetch you if there are any problems and baby needs mummy; to me that is the deciding factor as I find that very reassuring; and indeed they have come to get me a couple of times as baby was hungry / unsettled
• at that age the baby tends to be awake a bit then sleep out the rest, the trick is to give him a feed just before dropping him off (BF so no bottles) and he should then be ok until you come back; I do stress to the staff that if they have ANY concerns to come fetch me asap, in the shower if need be! the staff are lovely and mainly experienced mums not teenagers which is also reassuring

You need to feel comfortable about leaving your precious LO but in my case it's worked out very well and I do enjoy my workouts. This is the only time in the week when baby isn't with me or directly in my care and it's nice to have that "me" time.
ps- make sure you get a good sports bra (I change into mine at the last minute, as I usually aim to get there 20 mins in advance for the final feed)